Author: Aamer Madhani

Source: USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-04-09-insideiraqchristians_N.htm

Salma Younan remembers the day when an al-Qaeda fighter came to her home and demanded she renounce Christianity and convert to Islam.

She told him she would rather die than turn her back on her faith. "My blood is not as precious as my savior's," she recalls saying.

Security in her Baghdad...

Author: Stuart Laidlaw

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/616530

It's not just Christians who flock to houses of worship at Easter.

Muslims do it, too.

"In Canada, Easter has become the third Muslim holiday, after the two Eids," says Nadir Shirazi, a Toronto multi-faith co-ordinator at the University of Toronto.

Friday is the traditional big day for Muslims to attend afternoon prayers, but the North...

Author: Jacqueline L. Salmon

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/09/AR2009040904063.html?hpid=topnews

Faith organizations and individuals who view homosexuality as sinful and refuse to provide services to gay people are losing a growing number of legal battles that they say are costing them their religious freedom.

The lawsuits have resulted...

Author: Philip Lim

Source: AFP

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090409/lf_afp/lifestylesingaporereligionsociety;_ylt=AhGUXVdFE1fOFytnFoYXUD47Xs8F

Believers gather at the New Creation Church every Sunday for upbeat services conducted in ultra-modern surroundings that are helping make Christianity the religion of choice for Singaporeans.

The venue, a plush 1,200-seat auditorium equipped...

Author: Amy Sullivan

Source: TIME Magazine

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1890257,00.html

At this rate, Barack Obama may need to start his own version of the old Stephen Colbert "This Week in God" segment. On Monday, the President held forth to the Turkish Parliament on the contributions of Muslim-Americans and noted that he had Muslims in his family. Later that same day, Obama prompted cheers from secularists when he...

Author: John Darling

Source: Mail Tribune

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090409/NEWS/904090321

Leaders of several faiths are gathering Saturday in Medford to protest the persecution of members of the Bahai Faith under the Iranian government and to show support for a resolution by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., calling for the release of prisoners being held in Iraq for their faith.

The...

Author: Martin Weil and Susan Kinzie

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/07/AR2009040704634.html

The senate at the University of Maryland at College Park has voted to eliminate the invocation from the school's commencement ceremony.

The recommendation, which must be approved by the university's president to take effect, was intended to be more sensitive...

Author: Josephine Lim

Source: Canadianimmigrant.ca

http://canadianimmigrant.ca/onlineexclusives/newsitems/article/3612

The Canadian government is supporting two new projects aimed at helping Muslim youth address discrimination and promote cross-cultural understanding.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will provide $441,000 dollars for My Canada, a project that provides access to multi-faith sessions for both Muslim and non-...

Author: Harry Vassallo

Source: Malta Today

http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/2009/04/08/t5.html

Although Catholicism is the declared religion of 98% of the population, virtually every other form of religious faith is also represented in Malta. On the one hand we have the kaleidoscopic variety provided by the world’s most organized religion, in the world’s most Catholic country and on the other we have the kaleidoscope made of minute fragments of...

Author: Richard C. Dujardin

Source: The Providence Journal

http://www.projo.com/news/content/mothers_circle_04-08-09_BHDV7N1_v26.3862d44.html

“Why is this night different from all other nights?” the youngest asks as the family gathers around the table for the Passover Seder.

But at the home of Franklin and Mary Beth Schneider, a more fitting question might be, “Why is this Passover different...

Author: Noha El-Hennawy

Source: The Los Angeles Times

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2009/04/egypt-bahais-under-attack.html

The homes of some members of Egypt's Bahai minority came under violent attack by Muslims this week in a rural area in southern Egypt.

The attacks erupted in the village of al-Shuraniya in the upper Egyptian province of Sohag where Muslim residents gathered outside the...

Author: Nathan Glassman

Source: The Justice Online

Author: Karin Hamilton

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=17858

The Army's top chaplain has come under fire from some Jews for issuing a call for a day of prayer and fasting that falls on the first day of Passover.

Maj. Gen. Douglas Carver, a Southern Baptist and Army Chief of Chaplains, had issued the prayer call in response to the rising suicide rates among soldiers. Last year, the Army reported the...

Author: Daniel Burke

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=17845

President Obama named nine advisers to the White House office for religious and community groups on Monday (April 6), adding a gay rights leader, an Orthodox Jew, a black bishop and others to an eclectic 25-person council.

The bulk of the council, which will advise Obama on certain domestic and foreign policy issues, was appointed last month...