Author: Tim Cocks

Source: Reuters

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/07/14/baghdad-church-bombings-leave-tiny-christian-minority-trembling/

A spate of bombs targeting churches in Baghdad this week has Iraq’s minority Christian community trembling at the prospect of being the next victim of militants trying to reignite war.

Iraqi Christians, one of the country’s...

Author: Declan Walsh

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/13/swat-valley-refugees-sikhs-taliban

Flight from the Taliban has been a bittersweet experience for Darsha Singh, a turbaned Sikh farmer sitting on the steps of an ancient, glittering shrine just outside Pakistan's North-West Frontier province.

For two months he has been living at the Panja Sahib gurdwara, an ornate temple that is...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: WebWire

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=99117

The ACLU’s fight to stop a Texas school district from punishing a five-year old student for wearing his long hair in braids as an expression of his American Indian heritage and beliefs has drawn support from a diverse group of American Indian tribes and scholars, religious freedom organizations and representatives of a variety of faith traditions.

...

Author: Michele Chabin

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext

When Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat decided in June to open a municipal parking lot that had been closed on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, his office said he was simply being practical.

Extra parking is needed to help ease lines of double-parked cars near the Old City that have become an impenetrable maze for emergency vehicles and “an issue of...

Author: Florence Dethy

Source: The Toledo Blade

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090713/NEWS16/907130334

Joseph Zielinski is proud to be an American.

In America, he said, if you choose to be open to new ideas, to be open to new cultures, "we'll give you all you can handle."

And yesterday evening, in the spirit of camaraderie and brotherly love, almost 100 people of myriad faith...

Author: Simran Singh Khalsa

Source: SikhNet

http://www.sikhnet.com/news/first-time-sikh-participation-south-east-european-prayer-breakfast

A group of 150 dignitaries and friends from 18 countries came together from May 22-24 in the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 6th Annual South East European Prayer Gathering.

I was honored to be the first Sikh representative to attend, and...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/03/06/local_tv_archive_shia_muslim_church_worship_feature.shtml

BBC Staffordshire TV spoke to the Shi'a Muslims who have found a place to worship in a New Baptist Church in Burton Upon Trent...

Shi'a Muslims in Burton upon Trent have been struggling to find a venue to...

Author: Jodi Deike

Source: World Faith News/ECLA News Service

http://www.wfn.org/2009/07/msg00086.html

Representatives of nearly 30 religious organizations gathered July 7 in Washington D.C. for a "Faith Leader Summit on Health Care." The summit kicked off a collective effort to build support among Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu leaders for comprehensive reform of the U.S. health care system.

"I think the faith community has a critical role in...

Author: Adelle M. Banks

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=18368

Members of a new White House advisory council mapped out plans to link government and religious groups, from interfaith service projects to regional town halls on fatherhood, during a two-day meeting that ended Thursday (July 9).

Eboo Patel, founder of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, said his task force of the Advisory Council on Faith...

Author: Brent Ainsworth

Source: Contra Costa Times

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_12811998

Out of the estimated 150 Marin County residents who are active in local Baha'i faith groups, about one-third are of Persian descent. The political unrest and violence going on in Iran has them quaking.

On Saturday night, local Baha'is will congregate in Belvedere with members of other faiths for a prayer service for human rights and religious...

Author: Nomaaan Merchant

Source: ABC News

Wire Service: AP

Author: Jemimah Noonoo

Source: The Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6522162.html

At an East Galveston beach, Mari Barkhausen is waist-deep in the cool, brown water. After repeating Hebrew blessings, she is immersed once, twice. When she emerges from the water a third time, she is a Jew.

She hugs her rabbi, looking to the shoreline at her husband and two sons who are waiting for their mikveh, the...

Author: Don Baumgart

Source: Indian Country Today

http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/living/49709412.html

For the second year, visiting Tibetan monks and members of the Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe shared an evening of culture.

The monks are members of the Gaden Shartse Monastery, currently exiled to India to escape Chinese government repression in their homeland.

Six monks in red and saffron robes were joined on stage by Maidu...

Author: Adelle M. Banks

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/on_all_things_religious_obama_turns_to_dubois1/

From a sparsely adorned office building a stone’s throw from the White House, Joshua DuBois carefully navigates the delicate line between church and state.

Each morning, he sends a devotional message to President Obama’s BlackBerry. He...

Author: Lise Fisher...