Source: The World/ Public Radio International

http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/6830

Religion is used to bring people together. And the narratives of many religious writings often speak of and aim to teach mankind's love for one another. But the reality is that we live in a world in which religion is and has been used as the main driving force that divides people. We discuss religion and its role in global affairs with Prof. Diana Eck.

Author: Diana Eck

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/12/24/good_neighbors/

IN "THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY," Madeleine Albright writes how she often scribbled on her briefing papers, "Learn more about Islam."

I agree, and that's not just Islam in the abstract, but Islam as practiced by countless and diverse Muslims all over the world, including here in Boston. In a world and...

Author: Lorna Martin

Source: The Observer

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1978539,00.html

A Sikh schoolboy, who prompted an inter-faith vigil to promote peace, respect and tolerance after claiming his hair was chopped off by racist thugs, invented the story.

The 15-year-old, in tears, gave a graphic description of a vicious verbal and physical attack by four white males who struck as he walked near his home in...

Author: Bobby Ross, Jr.

Source: The Christian Chronicle

Source: Baha'i World News Service

http://news.bahai.org/story/496

Although it was negotiated at the height of the Cold War, a 25-year-old international agreement on freedom of religion or belief remains as relevant today -- and perhaps even more so -- said speakers at a major United Nations-sanctioned observance here in late November.

Some 350 participants representing more than 60 governments, UN agencies, and various international non-governmental organizations -- including the Baha'...

Author: Qaiser Felix

Source: Asia News

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=7827&geo=2&size=A#

Peshawar – The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has protested about the approval of a law in North West Frontier Province (NWFP), which is inspired by Islam and allegedly harks back to Taleban decrees. The law just passed in the Pakistani province bordering Afghanistan has been described as a "cause for concern for all other faiths...

Author: Kristen Gelineau

Source: WVEC.com

Wire Service: AP

http://www.wvec.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8M3F89G4.html#

The small beige signs bearing black Arabic script have been appearing all over town on buses and at colleges.

Are they secret messages from terrorists? one panicked bus rider asked. Should the FBI be contacted? What do they mean??

Actual translation: "Paper...

Source: Catholic News Service/UCA News

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=22395

ANURADHAPURA-VIHARAHALMILLAWA, Sri Lanka – Milanka Kumari, a 15-year-old Buddhist girl, smiles as she holds hands with two Catholic friends she met during her first group interreligious encounter.

"We appreciate Catholic schoolchildren sharing their joy and kindness with us," beamed Kumari, who spoke with UCA News during a Dec. 12...

Source: Philadelphia Daily News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/nation/16264787.htm

A New Jersey Reform rabbi and a Methodist pastor may celebrate different holidays this month, but they have something to rejoice together - one is giving a kidney to the other.

After almost a year of waiting to hear good news, Rabbi Andrew Bossov, of Mount Laurel, Burlington County, found out this week that doctors...

Author: Kim Barker

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0612170430dec17,1,7561863.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

ROTAN BATU, Thailand -- This gated community looks like a typical suburban subdivision, filled with identical two-story homes, potted plants and yellow plastic garbage bins. Children ride bicycles. Women ask their neighbors for a can opener...

Author: Julian Knight

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6168800.stm

Emma Dellaway, 25, from south London, likes to know that the money sitting in her current account is not doing harm.

"I don't have much money, as I am just starting out on my career, but what I do have should not be used unethically," she says.

"I hate to think of arms going to some African country funded, however indirectly, from my account."...

Source: New Straits Time

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Sunday/National/20061217100042/Article/index_html

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians should not abuse the freedom they have to openly debate and criticise issues.

Deputy Umno Youth head Khairy Jamaluddin said he was all for the open atmosphere, where government policies and leaders could be criticised by the media and where issues could be discussed, but warned that there were...

Author: Aatif Ali Bokhari

Source: The Arab American News

http://www.arabamericannews.com/newsarticle.php?articleid=7045

DETROIT -- A group of local Muslim activists here responded to a number of questions put forth by the Metro-Detroit Jewish community this past week.

"In Our Own Words ... Muslim Voices in Detroit: Messages to the Jewish Community," took place at Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, Thursday night. A mostly...

Author: Ibrahim Ramey

Source: The American Muslim

http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/true_muslims_must_never_deny_the_european_holocaust/0012306

History will recall the tragedy of the genocide that slaughtered some six million European Jews between the rise of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party in 1933 and the culmination of the Second World War in Europe in May, 1945....

Author: Tara Bahrampour

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/14/AR2006121401943.html

Where Yalda Jafari comes from, there are no churches or synagogues. In fact, girls in her northern Afghanistan town had no schools for five years under the Taliban.

As if to make up for lost time, the 16-year-old sophomore from Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville...