Author: Matthai Kuruvila

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/23/MN4011T9I0.DTL

The nation and the Bay Area in particular are increasingly interreligious places, and more people than ever view other faiths as equal to their own.

Yet religion is often seen as divisive, and many institutions, from prisons to hospitals, are grappling with what it means to have...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Economist

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11784873

As an intellectually gifted Jewish New Yorker who had reached manhood in the mid-1950s, Marc Schleifer was relentless in his pursuit of new cultural and spiritual experiences. He dallied with Anglo-Catholicism, intrigued by the ritual but not quite able to believe the doctrine, and went through a phase...

Author: Tim Murphy

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=16141

Citing changing demographics and a steady increase in complaints from people of faith, a federal agency on Tuesday (July 22) released an updated compliance manual on religious discrimination in the workplace.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued the guidance after consultation with religious groups, employers, and labor...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Information Matters

http://information.snehah.com/2008/07/nevada-to-have-hilltop-interfaith.html

October has been designated as "Gandhi Month" by a team of Nevadans in USA who want to celebrate his 139th birth-month to highlight his message regarding human and spiritual rights.

Lead by Right Reverend Gene Savoy Jr., bishop of International Community of Christ, and Rajan Zed, acclaimed...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/5897354.html

The request befuddled Leah Daughtry. The experienced political hand in charge of planning next month's Democratic National Convention — a self-described "black chick from Brooklyn" and ordained Pentecostal minister — didn't know what to tell the atheists.

Daughtry, 44, was preparing for an Aug. 24...

Author: Christopher Landau

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7515495.stm

A major gathering of the world's religious leaders has called on governments to combat the association between religion and terrorism and promote constructive dialogue between those of religious faith.

In a communique issued at the end of the conference in Madrid, religious leaders affirmed their shared concern for family life and the environment, and urged...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: NEWS TRACK India

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/7366

Hindu Baccalaureate Service (Dikshant Utsav) held for the first time in Western USA at prestigious University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) in May last, will be a regular annual feature.

Organised by acclaimed Indo-American leader Rajan Zed in collaboration with Indian Student Organisation of UNR, it will bless graduating class in the traditional Hindu style...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Deutsche-Welle

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3492956,00.html

Leaders of the world's major religions need to focus more on the needs of women, theologians told a Saudi-organized conference this week.

Clerics need to "restore the dignity of women," Juan Jose Tamayo, director of theology at Madrid's Juan Carlos III university, told a roundtable on Thursday, July 17.

The roundtable was...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Australian

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24039586-2702,00.html

Leaders of non-Christian faiths have met Pope Benedict XVI, who hailed the shared moral values of the world's major religions.

About 20 religious leaders from the Jewish, Hindu, Islamic and Buddhist communities gathered to meet the Pope and the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney George Pell in the Chapter Hall...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Institute for War & Peace Reporting

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bca&s=b&o=345801&apc_state=henh

The state of religious freedoms in both Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan remains as poor as ever, with both governments suspicious of Muslim and non-Muslim faith groups alike.

At a White House meeting on July 14 dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the United States’ International Religious Freedom Act, President...

Author: Vern Barnet

Source: KansasCity.com

http://www.kansascity.com/255/story/704758.html

Two Italian Muslim leaders visited the United States last month to learn about interfaith work. How did Kansas City compare with Washington, Los Angeles, New York and Detroit?

Pretty well.

Under the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, the International Visitors Council here welcomed Wagih Saad Hassan Hassan (...

Author: Paige Kollock

Source: Voice of America News

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-07-15-voa27.cfm

The neighborhood of Flushing in New York City borough of Queens, just outside Manhattan, has been a model for religious freedom since the 1600s. Back then, members of The Society of Friends, or Quakers, began arriving in what was then a Dutch colony, fleeing religious persecution in England.

The colony's director-general barred the...

Author: Tim Johnson

Source: Burlington Free Press

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080711/NEWS02/807110310/1007/NEWS02

For a tour showcasing "religious pluralism" in the Burlington area, the first stop was appropriate enough: the First Unitarian Universalist Society, which not only embraces a diversity of faiths, but displays their symbols on the walls of its sanctuary....

Author: Louise Brown

Source: The Toronto Star

http://www.thestar.com/living/Religion/article/458352

There is nowhere for Muslims to pray at McGill; the Montreal university shut the prayer room three years ago, arguing religious space has no place on a secular campus.

But at the University of Toronto, Muslims and anyone else who wants to pray between class can choose from among more than eight prayer rooms, including four at the airy new...