Author: Staff Writer

Source: Indian Express

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sc-rejects-plea-for-separate-religious-identity-for-sikhs/569032/

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition requesting a separate religious identity for Sikhs. 

The petition filed by J S Sethi said the community which is issued birth certificates under the Hindu law faces an uphill task to...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: United Press International

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/01/19/American-Copts-plan-White-House-rally/UPI-86521263936600/

The Coptic Christian community in the United States said it would protest Egyptian suppression of religious minorities at a rally in front of the White House.

Cairo faced an international backlash for its treatment of the...

Author: Adam Nossiter

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/world/africa/20nigeria.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Armed with guns, machetes, torches, and bows and arrows, Christian and Muslim antagonists in central Nigeria’s religiously volatile city of Jos have been fighting for three days in sporadic clashes that have left dozens dead, witnesses and local news a...

Author: Martin Vennard

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8446662.stm

Bolot, a young evangelical preacher in Kyrgyzstan, says he has already been arrested twice since setting up a new church.

He says he is the victim of a new law on religion, which critics say severely restricts religious freedoms and is forcing some groups underground.

Under the law, new religious groups have to have at least 200 members before...

Author: Robert F. Worth

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/world/middleeast/19syria.html

As darkness falls over the vast Syrian desert and the first winter stars emerge, a trail of modern-day pilgrims is slowly climbing the stone steps of this remote cliff-top monastery.

They are a motley crew of religious seekers and backpackers from a dozen countries, some hoping for divine wisdom, others merely...

Author: Kevin Wiatrowski

Source: Tampa Bay Online

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/17/na-local-coptic-christians-protest-persecution/

A fatal shooting last week in southern Egypt drew hundreds of Coptic Christians to the streets of Tampa in protest Saturday afternoon.

Members of Coptic churches from Clearwater, Tampa and Sarasota attended the rally. People waved posters...

Author: Rachel Donadio

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/18/world/europe/18pope.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

Pope Benedict XVI, in a visit to Rome’s main synagogue, sought to soothe tensions between Catholics and Jews on Sunday, though he and Jewish leaders aired one main point of contention: whether the church did enough against the Holocaust.

At least one prominent Italian rabbi...

Author: Mary Garrigan

Source: Rapid City Journal

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/lifestyles/article_ed9bd4fe-0224-11df-8958-001cc4c002e0.html

It’s always hard for Baktash Aazami to think about the religious persecution that Baha’i believers suffer back in his native Iran, but Tuesday was an especially difficult day for him and other Baha’i in the Black Hills.

“It’s really...

Author: Manuel Roig-Franzia

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011603140.html

At night, voices rise in the street. Sweet, joyful, musical voices in lyric Creole. A symphony of hope in a landscape of despair.

"It doesn't mean anything if Satan hates me, because God loves me," sing the women at Jeremy Square, their faces almost invisible in the...

Author: Ethan Cole

Source: The Christian Post

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100116/obama-declares-religious-freedom-as-natural-right/

President Obama proclaimed Jan. 16 as Religious Freedom Day in the United States in commemoration of a statute passed by America’s forefathers that declared freedom of religion as a natural right of all humanity.

“Long before our Nation’s...

Author: Martin Lea

Source: Dorset Echo

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/4854415.Multi_faith_peace_gardens_at_the_Nothe/

The roots of a unique project are being laid to create a symbol of peace and harmony.

People of all denominations are working to transform the former Quakers burial ground at the Nothe in Weymouth into a multi-faith peace garden.

The overgrown site next to the Nothe Tavern was cleared...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/16/AR2010011600848.html

Vandals threw a rum bottle at a mosque in the first attack on a Muslim house of worship after almost a dozen similar assaults on churches in Malaysia the past week, police said Saturday.

Police have dismissed the attacks as...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AFP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jXIQ9JvnslGT10QTKUHdgEFW562Q

The United States said it was "deeply concerned" at the arrests Saturday of Coptic Christians heading to show support for fellow Copts killed and injured in Egypt earlier this month.

"The United States is deeply concerned by today's arrests of...

Author: Luigi Sandri

Source: Ekklesia

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/11030

Pope Benedict XVI has called for the Roman Catholic Church to be given legal recognition in Muslim-majority but politically secular Turkey, which has faced criticism of its treatment of religious minorities as it seeks to become a member of the European Union.

Receiving Kenan Gürsoy, the new Turkish ambassador to the Vatican, on 7 January 2009, Pope Benedict said that Catholics...

Author: Jim Jones

Source: Star-Telegram

http://www.star-telegram.com/local/story/1897561.html

Do Christians hate Muslims? Are all Muslims terrorists? Do Jews greedily control the banking and entertainment industries?

Such negative stereotypes based on fear, suspicion and misinformation need to be dispelled, local religious leaders say.

"It’s critical," said the Rev. Bob Roberts, pastor of NorthWood Church in Keller, whose...