Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On July 6, 2002, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "a Christian law firm is suing a San Francisco Bay Area school district, alleging it violated the Constitution with its way of teaching the Islamic religion to students. At issue is a world history lesson conducted at Excelsior School in the Byron Union School District... in October 2001. In a seventh-grade class, students reportedly were required to participate in various exercise simulations including selecting a Muslim name, wearing traditional Muslim...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/07/06/MN157497.DTL

On July 6, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Rev. David Benke, "a high-ranking Lutheran pastor, has been suspended from his duties and ordered to apologize to all Christians for participating with Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Hindus in an interfaith prayer service in New York's Yankee Stadium after Sept. 11......

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On July 6, 2002 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch featured an article on the interfaith bridges being built at the City Museum in St. Louis's Salaam-Shalom Circus, "a year-round circus class with Muslim and Jewish children and their parents." The participants come from the Central Reform Congregation where "parents eagerly embraced the chance for an interfaith experience... Their partners in the interfaith bridge building are parents and children from Clara Muhammad School... Along the way, the parents have even invited one...

Source: Newsday

On July 5, 2002 Newsday reported that due to immigration, more Muslim students are attending Jericho High School in a predominantly Jewish area of Long Island, NY. "Hoping to learn more about a religion that for many Long Islanders remains steeped in mystery, and sometimes outright suspicion,... about a dozen Jericho social studies teachers spent two days this week attending a 15-hour seminar on Islam at the high school... The seminar, which included sections on Islamic phrases, the role of women, the history shared by Jews, Christians...

Source: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/77353_citizen05.shtml

On July 5, 2002 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that this fourth of July in Seattle, "311 immigrants from 65 countries celebrated becoming American citizens at the Ethnic Heritage Council's 18th annual naturalization ceremony... The event drew hundreds more spectators and a long list of speakers,...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 3, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that last week's two U.S. court rulings concerning religion in the public square demonstrate the strong "disagreements over the relationship between God and public life in America... First, a federal appeals court ruled that religion could not be part of a daily ritual of public school life... The next day, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious schools could receive public school dollars... The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, executive director of the Washington-based Interfaith...

Source: The Council on American-Islamic Relations

On July 3, 2002 The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a press release "condemning a decision by Illinois' Cook County Sheriff's Department to strip police powers from an Orthodox Jewish deputy after he refused to remove his yarmulke, or religious skullcap, while on duty... The Washington-based Islamic advocacy group says it has offered to take up the case of the Jewish deputy, who was reassigned to clerical duties one day after CAIR offered public support for a Muslim deputy who is being...

Source: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

On July 3, 2002 The Fort Worth Star-Telegram featured an article on a gathering in Dallas of thousands of Christians to applaud the words of Benny Hinn, a celebrated faith healer, as he explicitly condemned Islam. "Several area ministers, joining the Grapevine-based Pentecostal on stage last week at American Airlines Center in Dallas, clapped and nodded their approval. The line between Christians and Muslims, they said later, is the difference...

Source: Statesman Journal

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=44359.

On June 30, 2002, the Statesman Journal of Salem, Oregon featured an article on the recent Pledge of Allegiance ruling. "The decision created instant furor, in part because the pledge is an American icon. But it may have just as much to do with people’s relationship with God — or lack thereof... In America, God means different...

Source: Newsday

On June 29, 2002 Newsday reported on an interfaith conference in New York City designed to help religious leaders "sustain their post-9/11 ministry." The conference was attended by "approximately 800 priests, pastors, imams, rabbis and other spiritual leaders from the metropolitan area... 'Leaders of faith communities are the first line (of defense) in mental health,' said Rabbi Stephen Roberts, president of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains, who chaired the daylong conference sponsored by the American Red Cross last month in...

Source: The Buffalo News

On June 29, 2002 The Buffalo News reported that various congregations in Western New York State "have come to the aid of refugees from some of the most dangerous parts of the world to assist them as they start a new life in the area... St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church... in the Town of Tonawanda recently heeded the call when it sponsored a four-member family from Bosnia. The church was expecting a Christian family, but the family is Muslim... 'As Christians we are all called to love all people, regardless of background...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On June 29, 2002 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "in the classrooms of a small Episcopal church... Hindu members of the Swadhyaya movement (pronounced Swad-HI-ya), a sect little more than 50 years old... chant and study... The arrangement is treated with aplomb by the two vastly different religious communities... The St. Petersburg Swadhyayees have met since the late 1980s. The group, one of 350 in the United States, started with two people. Today there are 50 families, which include many children. Members come from...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

http://www.myholygita.com

On June 29, 2002 The Houston Chronicle reported that the Chinmaya Mission of Houston, Texas has published "'The Journey to the Truth,' a multi-media CD-ROM set, [which] contains not only the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's most sacred writings, but presents the Scriptures in user-friendly formats suited for children, adults and even for those who can manage only a few minutes a day... 'This is primarily for people who do not have...

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16483

On June 28, 2002, The Associated Press reported that "a federal appeals court judge has put his own controversial Pledge of Allegiance decision on hold while the court decides how to respond to calls for a rehearing."

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On June 28, 2002 The Houston Chronicle reported that "the Supreme Court approved the use of tax-funded vouchers for religious school tuition." This decision could reshape "the symbolic line between church and state and... the parameters of public school financing... In a 5-4 decision, the bitterly divided justices declared constitutional the 6-year-old tuition voucher program for low-income students in the troubled Cleveland Municipal School District... The court's conservative majority said the use of vouchers...