Source: Democrat and Chronicle

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/news/0922story1_news.shtml

On September 26, 2002 the Democrat and Chronicle reported that "in the year after the 9/11 tragedy, many Rochester [NY]-area Muslims join their counterparts nationwide in feeling very much under the microscope, singled out, under scrutiny -- their most cherished beliefs often misunderstood. Yet those feelings have only strengthened their conviction to reach out to...

Source: The Boston Globe

On September 25, 2002 The Boston Globe reported that a "coalition of civil rights groups and liberal House Democrats has mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign to block President Bush's faith-based initiative in the Senate unless the bill explicitly prohibits religious charities from discriminating when hiring. Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat, is leading the unusually personal effort by House lawmakers to influence the language in a Senate bill that is aimed at spurring charitable giving and increasing grant...

Author: Kevin Eckstrom

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/muslims_to_pray_for_soul_of_america_at_capitol1/

Swapping prayer rugs for massive plastic rain tarps, an estimated 3,500 Muslims gathered at the foot of the U.S. Capitol on Friday (Sept. 25) to pray for “the soul of America” in a grassroots demonstration of religious and national pride.

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Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On September 25, 2002 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "approximately 200 people gathered at the first Greater Pittsburgh Pagan Pride Day on Sunday at 100 Acre House on 100 Acre Drive. Some women at the Pagan picnic proudly identified themselves as witches. Others said they practiced Wicca, the 'Old Religion' based on pre-Christian religious practices of the Irish, English, French or Italians. Some Pagans base their beliefs on the practices of Druids and ancient Celtic-...

Source: The Associated Press

On September 25, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "religious groups around the country are finding ecological issues hard to ignore. Clergy are speaking from the pulpit on global warming and Arctic drilling, and practicing what they preach in their own churches, synagogues, temples and mosques. Across faiths, the environmental movement has been evolving slowly over the last decade or more. Denominations have started looking into their traditions, examining how their beliefs could be applied to ecological issues and...

Source: Citizen-Times

http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/20730

On September 25, 2002 Citizen-Times reported that "Franklin Graham does not see himself picking up the mantle of his father's legacy. Nor does he consider himself a crusader against Islam, though Graham said he worries too few people realize the extent to which the country has been 'Islamized.' 'I do have experiences in my life that formulated why I believe what I believe but I am not on an...

Source: The Boston Herald

On September 25, 2002 The Boston Herald reported that "the number of hate crimes in Massachusetts rose dramatically in the year of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, largely as a result of a backlash against Muslims and Arabs, according to a new state report. A total of 576 incidents were reported in 2001, up 24 percent from the 463 reported in 2000, according to the Governor's Task Force on Hate Crimes. Among them were 133 crimes motivated by religious bias, a 43 percent increase over the previous year's...

Source: The Daily News of Los Angeles

On September 24, 2002 The Daily News of Los Angeles reported that "Patricia Abdullah... [a] white Muslim woman from Sherman Oaks donated a life-saving kidney to... Mike Jones... [an] African-American Christian man in a Sept. 25 [2001] operation performed by two surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center - one Jewish, the other German. A year later, Abdullah wants us to know this: The quality of her life has not diminished after donating a kidney to Jones. It's gotten better... from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, at the Sizzler...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On September 24, 2002 The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "Michael Wenger... Dean of Buddhist Studies at the San Francisco Zen Center... has booked the Castro Theatre for three days, starting today, for a series of films with Buddhist sensibilities, including Doris Dorrie's "Naked," which is getting its North American premiere. Called Real to Real: Buddhism and Film, the festival features nine movies and a cross-section of speakers... Real to Real may be the only festival in San Francisco that features...

Source: Chicago Daily Herald

On September 23, 2002 the Chicago Daily Herald reported that "the growing diversity in the Streamwood, Bartlett and Hanover Park area is reflected in the variety of places of worship. Swami Narayan Temple - the largest Hindu temple in the Northwest suburbs - is in Bartlett. So is the only Jain temple in Illinois... and a Lutheran Christian Church that caters primarily to Chinese and Taiwanese members opened in Streamwood about five years ago... True Light Lutheran Christian Church draws from the greater Chicago area, where...

Source: Worcester Telegram...

Source: The Boston Globe

On September 22, 2002 The Boston Globe printed a book review that stated, "the religious quest for a 'divine power' with 'cosmic answers' is the engine propelling Kristin Hahn's uplifting road narrative In Search of Grace. Hahn, a Los Angeles-based film producer and coauthor of the acclaimed travelogue Anthem, recently crisscrossed our land participating in the worship practices of over a dozen religions."

Source: The Seattle Times

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134540244_townhall22m.html

On September 22, 2002 The Seattle Times reported that "about 1,000 people from the local Muslim, Arab, Sikh, Cambodian, Somali and other communities attended the forum, organized by the nonprofit Hate Free Zone Campaign of Washington. The goal: to let attending officials know that 'the impacts of Sept. 11 policies have been disproportionately...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On September 21, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle featured an article on the Glenmary study. "Nationally, the study reflected growing spiritual diversity in the United States by including such once-exotic faiths as Islam, Buddhism and Zorastrianism for the first time...     But the way the study counted American Muslims - and did not include millions of African American Christians - has sparked a statistical brouhaha... Researchers estimated Friday that the report, titled 'Religious Congregations and Membership in the...

Source: The Virginian-Pilot

On September 21, 2002 The Virginian-Pilot reported that "in... two weeks, the 2002-03 season of the Nexus interfaith dialogue program begins... [E]ach of these public forums will showcase one faith group at a time. Five to seven panelists representing one local congregation will tell... about their faith. Within the month following each presentation, the Nexus audience will visit a worship service of the featured faith group... Recently, PBS's 'Frontline' did an online interview with [Diana] Eck, who is a Harvard professor...