Author: Jennifer Medina

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/nyregion/26convert.html?emc=tnt&tntemail0=y

She kept the tree, but decorated it exclusively in blue, white and silver. She invited friends for a festive dinner, but paused to light Sabbath candles.

For Charlotte Jett, this Christmas was unlike any other. For the first time, it was more her mother’s celebration than her own. Ms...

Author: Suli Yi

Source: VOA News

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/lifestyle/-US-Buddhists-Join-in-Christmas-Celebration-80088737.html

It has long been true that Christmas is not just for Christians any more.  Many people, of many different religious persuasions or of no persuasion at all, celebrate the day and the season.  Followers of Buddhism in the Washington area are among the...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hElFS86oCxzHGTzgPbDw4qMom_AAD9CP5TTG0

Mesaba Airlines, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines Inc., has to pay $130,000 in a settlement involving a religious discrimination lawsuit.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit in September 2008, claiming...

Author: Michael Hastings

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/22/AR2009122203537.html

Christians in Iraq are preparing for a muted holiday season, with one bishop in the southern city of Basra calling for a ban on public festivities while other congregations across the country have canceled services and cautioned worshipers to keep their celebrations...

Author: Erin Donaghue

Source: The Gazette

http://www.gazette.net/stories/12232009/bethnew184058_32563.php

To tree or not to tree? It's only one of the many dilemmas county Sikhs are faced with around the holiday season. And for followers of the faith, there seems to be just as many approaches to melding their own traditions with the Santas, reindeer, presents and elves that are pervasive in the communities in which they live.

For...

Author: Chelsea J. Carter

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD9CP680G0

Bombs targeted Iraqi Christians and Shiite Muslims Wednesday, killing at least eight people and wounding four dozen before coinciding religious observances that will take place under heavy guard.

Insurgents have routinely...

Author: Adam Harrington

Source: CBS 2

http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/capitol.atheist.display.2.1387754.html

A conservative activist and Illinois comptroller candidate was escorted from the Illinois State Capitol building Wednesday when he tried to remove a sign put up by an atheist group. 

William J. Kelly, a Chicago Republican, announced Tuesday that he planned to take down the sign put up by the Freedom...

Author: Timothy Williams

Source: The New York Times

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Times Leader

Wire Service: AP

http://www.timesleader.com/news/ap?articleID=3460377

Santa, a snowman, an elf and other secular figures have joined a nativity scene at a northeastern Pennsylvania courthouse, resolving a controversy over the display of religious holiday symbols in a public space.

Luzerne County commissioners had removed the creche (CRESH') and menorah from the...

Author: Francis X. Rocca

Source: The Pew Forum/Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=19330

Jewish leaders warned of new strains in Catholic-Jewish relations after Pope Benedict XVI moved his controversial wartime predecessor, Pope Pius XII, one step closer to possible sainthood.

Benedict signed a decree on Saturday (Dec. 19) recognizing Pius' "heroic virtues" and declaring him "venerable." That new status makes...

Author: Derek Moore

Source: The Press Democrat

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091221/NEWS/912219968?Title=Ban-on-angels-stars-on-county-Christmas-trees

Sonoma County's top official on Monday ordered the removal of stars, angels and other religious symbols from Christmas trees in county buildings after a complaint that the decorations violate constitutional protections.

...

Author: Bob Smietana

Source: The Tennessean

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091220/NEWS06/912200370/1971

When Daoud Adudiab first heard that the Islamic Center of Columbia was on fire, he prayed the damage would be minimal.

But when he arrived at the center on Feb. 9, 2008, he realized the mosque could not be saved. Then he noticed the graffiti spray painted on the foundation of the building — three swastikas and the...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Los Angeles Times

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09354/1022372-84.stm

Congregants at Temple Beth El who had gathered to celebrate the last night of Hanukkah were met by a group of neo-Nazi demonstrators who waved red-and-black swastika flags outside the Reform synagogue in Riverside, Calif., on Friday evening.

Rabbi Suzanne Singer said she suspects that the demonstration -- the third such...

Author: Abhay Kumar

Source: Deccan Herald

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/42377/muslim-donates-land-temple.html

Author: Surapan Boonthanom, Viparat Jantraprap and Jason Szep

Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BI0TD20091219

Suspected Muslim insurgents blew up a gas tank near a school in southern Thailand on Saturday, killing three Buddhist villagers and wounding two including a local leader, police said. 

The blast appeared intended for a senior official of Bajao district in Narathiwat, one of Thailand's three southernmost...