Interfaith

Minority Groups Brace for Backlash in Case of War with Iraq

February 11, 2003

Source: Daily News

On February 11, 2003 the Daily News reported that "community and religious leaders in Brooklyn are praying for peace - but bracing for war... Hoping to prevent a possible backlash that a war in Iraq might incite against certain ethnic communities in the borough, city officials and activists gathered yesterday for a forum dubbed 'We Are All Brooklyn...' Leaders from Brooklyn's Jewish, Muslim, South Asian and African-American communities were joined by staffers from Mayor Bloomberg's office and the NYPD. The event was organized by the...

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Multi-Religious Memorial Services for Columbia Crew

February 10, 2003

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On February 10, 2003 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "Pawan K. Rattan looked around the Hindu temple during an interfaith memorial service Sunday for the crew of space shuttle Columbia and noticed Jews, Indians and Christians in the crowd...The crew of Columbia's last mission, which included an Israeli, an Indian and five American-born astronauts, was a 'flight of a rainbow of cultures...' More than 100 people went to the Hindu Temple of Florida on Lynn Road to celebrate that diversity... For Rabbi Eric Lazar, the...

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Celebrations of Saraswati Puja

February 9, 2003

Source: The Morning Call

On February 9, 2003 The Morning Call reported that "n India, the celebration of the Saraswati Puja is so widely marked that schools close for the day and Hindu families gather at temple for hours of worship and feasting... Indian-Americans relegate the celebration to a Saturday, when schools are already closed. But as festivities at the Hindu Temple Society in [New Jersey's] Hanover Township, Lehigh County, this weekend showed, the customs still observed on this continent manage to preserve the day as something special... In Hindu...

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Community for Interfaith Celebration in Washington

February 8, 2003

Source: The Olympian

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20030208/living/24239.shtml

On February 8, 2003 The Olympian reported that "Jody Rush was raised a Christian. His wife, Hilari Hauptmann, grew up in a Conservative Jewish household. Their son, Gabe, attends Hebrew school at Temple Beth Hatfiloh, where Hauptmann recently became a member... As a family, they also belong to the Community for Interfaith Celebration (CIC), a small spiritual community in...

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Religious Leaders Express Differing Opinions over President's Speech

February 7, 2003

Source: The Dallas Morning News

On February 7, 2003 the Dallas Morning News reported that "Religious leaders reacting to President Bush's State of the Union speech seemed generally pleased with his proposal to further address the AIDS crisis in Africa but remained divided over his plans for confronting Iraq as well as domestic issues relating to cloning, abortion and faith-based groups... Madhi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, said the president's words did not change his stand against war. Joining the applause...

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Multi-Religious Memorial Services for Columbia Crew

February 4, 2003

Source: The Florida Times-Union

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/020403/met_11654049.shtml

On February 4, 2003 The Florida Times-Union reported that "spiritual leader Imam Zaid Malik of Jacksonville's Islamic Center of Northeast Florida yesterday afternoon led about 80 Al-Furqan Academy students in a short prayer, honoring the men and women who lost their lives in the Columbia space shuttle accident... Malik encouraged the students and...

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Multi-Religious Memorial Services for Columbia Crew

February 3, 2003

Source: Palm Beach Post

http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/today/news_e3d3af3f

On February 3, 2003 the Palm Beach Post reported that "as the pictures of the space shuttle, its crew and Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla flashed on a screen at a [Palm Beach, FL] Hindu temple, 27-year-old Priti Patel had such mixed feelings... Although many Indians knew before the accident that Chawla was the first astronaut born in India,...

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Multi-Religious Memorial Services for Columbia Crew

February 3, 2003

Source: Sun and Weekly Hearld

http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/020303/tp1ch11.htm?date=020303&story=tp1ch11.htm

On February 3, 2003 the Sun and Weekly Hearld reported that "across Florida and around the world, people of many faiths offered prayers Sunday for the victims of a space tragedy that transcends doctrines... It would be hard to assemble a more diverse group: five men, two women; five white, one black, one East Indian;...

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New Edition of "Encyclopedia of American Religions"

February 1, 2003

Source: Cape Cod Times

On February 1, 2003 the Cape Cod Times reported that "The new edition of J. Gordon Melton's 'Encyclopedia of American Religions' describes 2,630 U.S. and Canadian religious groups, categorized into 26 'families' of faith"... The six families that contain the largest number of distinct groups are Pentecostal; Spiritualist, Psychic, New Age; Buddhism, Shintoism, Japanese New Religions; Hinduism, Jainism Sikhism; Majick; and Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox)... "Two points emerge to Melton from all his counting, tracking and compiling. The...

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Interfaith Service to Rededicate Torah

January 31, 2003

Source: The Union Democrat

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=9834

On January 31, 2003 The Union Democrat reported that "thanks to three local Christian churches, The Motherlode Jewish Community [in New Jersey] can rededicate a century-old, fire-damaged Torah... The Community will hold an interfaith recognition service for the churches, which helped raise the $3,000 needed for the Torah's restoration, at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 at Murphys...

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Threatened Islamic Center Offers Reward for Information

January 30, 2003

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.dominionpost.com/a/news/2003/01/30/bg/

On January 30, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "an Islamic group targeted by vandals and threats is offering $500 for information about the perpetrators, whose actions have been condemned by some local Christian and Jewish leaders... The latest incident occurred Friday, when someone used a chain saw to cut down and steal a sign for the Islamic Society of Western Maryland's mosque on the...

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Opening Prayers in Maryland Senate Spark Debate

January 30, 2003

Source: The Washington Post

On January 30, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "while some lawmakers have complained about ministers praying 'in Jesus's name,' some religious leaders are saying they don't see why they should eliminate Jesus from a prayer to accommodate other faiths... The matter arose when, in recent Senate sessions, some ministers didn't stick to the Senate policy of making the blessings ecumenical... The latest episode came last week when the Rev. Reginald Thomas of Greater Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church in Baltimore ended...

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"Sacred Space" Art Exhibit in Wichita, Kansas

January 30, 2003

Source: The Wichita Eagle

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/5066994.htm

On January 30, 2003 The Wichita Eagle reported that "an award-winning art exhibit that helped spread religious understanding in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks languishes in a 4-by-8-foot storage locker, waiting for a home. The exhibit will move wherever it's welcome, said Diane Thomas Lincoln, the Wichita State University art professor who directed its...

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