Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On November 4, 1999, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published an article on the Southern Baptist Church's prayer guide meant to help members of the denomination convert Hindus to Christianity. The guide is available on the Internet at the International Mission Board's Web site.

Source: Los Angeles Times

On November 3, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that city leaders in Buena Park, CA turned down a proposed $50-million Hindu complex on Tuesday, November 2nd. The complex would have included the nation's most lavish Hindu temple, a 20,000-square-foot structure with golden walls and spires, and the second biggest temple outside of India after the Hindu temple in London, England. The Buena Park City Council voted to oppose zoning changes necessary for the Hindu complex to be built, since the site is located in the city's "...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On November 1, 1999, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that 60 Metro Atlanta Hindus attended a rally on Sunday, October 31st at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta to protest the SBC's prayer guide to convert Hindus. Signs held by the protesters stated, "Bigotry and Hatred, the world can live without" and "Truth is one. Wise call it different." Shyam Tiwari, a software developer, attended the rally: "It's basically the pain we feel because of the denigration of Hindus and Hinduism by Southern Baptists...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On October 23, 1999, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that on Monday, October 25th, the SBC is publishing its latest prayer guide on Hinduism and how Baptists should pray for the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. Subash Razdan, who chairs the board of trustees for the National Federation of India-American Associations, stated: "What are they trying to do, start a holy war?...You can make Christianity look good, but don't make any other religion look bad." Paul Courtright, an expert on Hinduism...

Source: The Associated Press

On October 23, 1999, The Associated Press published an article entitled, "Ex S. Baptist Leader Chides Church" by Julia Lieblich. The article reports the reaction of Keith Parks, former president of the International Mission Board for the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), to the new prayer guides being published by the SBC. Parks was president of the Mission Board for 13 years, until he left for the more moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in 1990. Parks stated that he was "no longer acceptable" to new convention leaders...

Source: The Washington Post

On October 21, 1999, The Washington Post published an article on the new prayer guide published by the SBC for Christian prayer toward Hindus during Divali, the Hindu festival of lights. The first sentence of the prayer guide reads: "More than 900 million people are lost in the hopeless darkness of Hinduism." The guide continues: "Pray that Hindus who celebrate the festival of lights would become aware of the darkness in their hearts that no lamp can dispel." Suresh Gupta, president of the Durga Temple in Fairfax, Virginia,...

Source: The Long Island Voice

On September 29, 1999, The Long Island Voice published an article on the problems that the Vedic Heritage Shree Hanuman Mandir temple in Hempstead, New York is having with some community residents. In June of 1999, a Hempstead police officer responded to a complaint lodged by a neighbor of the temple who expressed concern over smoke from fires lit within the temple, which are part of a three-hour cleansing and prayer ritual called havan. The police officer came with a building department official and doused the fire,...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 11, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that thousands of Hindus are expected to attend a festival and parade called Ganesh Chaturthi, which honors Ganesh, the Hindu god known as the remover of obstacles. The celebration is to take place at Huntington Beach, CA on Saturday, September 11th and is sponsored by the local chapter of Maharashtra Mandal, an organization of more than 4,000 Marathi-speaking people in Southern California. Archana Dongre, event organizer and a freelance writer for Hinduism Today, stated...

Source: Akron Beacon Journal

On July 31, 1999 Akron Beacon Journal featured an article on the research of Northern Ohio's religious diversity by Pluralism Project affiliates. The "growth in religious diversity has been examined by two Kent State University researchers... Dr. David Odell-Scott, associate professor of philosophy... and Dr. Surinder M. Bhardwaj, a professor of geography... received a 1998 grant through the Pluralism Project at Harvard University to map the religious diversity of Northern Ohio... As a result of that work, the researchers have...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 29, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Hindu Festival of Chariots, the 23rd annual Americanized version of the celebration held in Orissa, India, will take place on Sunday, August 1st. Instead of three chariots, three 10-story floats, which represent the effigies of Krishna, his brother Balarama, and his sister Subhadra, will be pulled by people in a festive procession down Ocean Front Walk from Santa Monica to Venice. This festival in India marks the end of summer and the growing season. The celebration will...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On July 18, 1999, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution published an article on the persistent vandalism taking place at the Greater Atlanta Vedic Center in Lilburn, Georgia. "In one nine-month period, the Vedic Center was vandalized five times, including one incident in which a window was broken and an obscenity written in mud on the front wall." The Gwinnett Interfaith Alliance, which is currently undergoing expansion to include more of metro Atlanta, will lead a forum on hate crimes on July 19th at the Mercer...

Source: The Morning Call

On July 15, 1999 the Morning Call published an article entitled, "Cultural Diversity to be Tracked: Researchers Will Study Religious Diversity in Schuylkill." The article reported that researchers, E. Allen Richardson and Catherine Cameron, from Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania are working in conjunction with Harvard University to track what changes a Hindu temple has brought to the mostly Christian community of Summit Station, Pennsylvania. "The researchers will first look at how the Pottsville-area Christian community has...

Source: The Morning Call

On July 15, 1999, The Morning Call published an article entitled, "Hindu Temple in Schuylkill County Still Under Slow Construction: A Lack of Steady Donations Pushed Back Completion Date." The article reported on the inability of builders to proceed with construction of the largest Hindu temple in North America because of a lack of funds.

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On July 12, 1999, the Omaha World-Herald reported that ground had been broken for a new addition to the Hindu temple in Omaha, Nebraska. The temple, which is housed in a converted restaurant, will be transformed to look like an authentic Indian temple with two towers and intricately-carved brick. Since the Omaha congregation was first organized in December of 1994, more than 700 names have been added to the mailing list and attendance at Sunday pujas has risen from 25 to 100. The congregation has also just hired a full-time priest...