Source: The Baltimore Sun

On March 30, 2002, The Baltimore Sun reported that the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD may have to rethink their required mealtime prayer because of a pending case in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. "In January, a federal judge ruled that the Virginia Military Institute's practice of leading cadets in a mealtime grace - nearly identical to the academy's - violates separation of church and state... The case highlights the tensions between constitutional protections of religious freedom and the military's often conservative...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On March 30, 2002, The St. Petersburg Times featured the article "seder helps bridge gap between two faiths" on the Seder organized by members of the Women's Guild at St. Anthony Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, FL. The event was conducted in partnership with "Sally Charloff... and Gloria Goldman... [from] Temple Beth David Jewish Center... [who] led and assisted the Guild women in conducting this traditional Passover meal... During the seder ceremony, Goldman recited the Hebrew prayers while Charloff read the English...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On March 29, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle featured a story about a Thai Temple's food and fundraising efforts. "Neighborhoods have food secrets that aren't really that secret to people who have lived there for a while. ... The buffet of Thai food set out every Sunday morning by members of the Wat Mongkolratanaram in Berkeley is one of those finds. From about 9 a.m. until the food runs out at 2 or 3 p.m., members of the Thai Buddhist temple offer an expansive lunch to the public. They have been cooking and serving...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On March 28, 2002, The Columbus Dispatch featured a story in the weekend section about a local Persian restaurant, Nanak Sweet Shoppe...

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On March 28, 2002, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that San Diego "area residents of Palestinian and Israeli descent joined Tuesday night to urge a peace built on mutual respect to end the bloodshed in the Middle East... Some of the speakers at Church of the Good Samaritan in La Jolla [CA] called on the U.S. government to become more actively involved in brokering a settlement of the recent upsurge in killings in Israel and adjoining Palestinian territories... 'We're here calling for dialogue. We're not on...

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28721-2002Mar27.html

On March 28, 2002, The Washington Post reported "President, Moran Are Urged to Shun Gifts; Muslim Donors Target of Raids." The article explained that "The American Jewish Committee has called on President Bush and Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) to turn over to victims' families political contributions from officers of Muslim organizations raided by federal...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On March 27, 2002, The Plain Dealer featured an article on a Cleveland area Seder, or Passover meal, at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Jewish temple which "fed almost 400 Christians eager to nibble and sing their way through an interfaith Seder. The Reform congregation... welcomed guests from 29 churches... Passover, the most widely observed Jewish holiday, marks the moment when believers say God freed the captive Jews from Pharaoh in Egypt... The Seder means 'order' for the traditional course of the meal's events... Rabbi Melinda Mersack...

Source: The Hartford Courant

On March 25, 2002, The Hartford Courant featured the story "Leaders Bridge Religious Divide." The article described the visit of Rabbi Stephen Fuchs to the Muhammad Islamic Center of Hartford. The article noted, "He gave a passionate, yet informal half-hour sermon, standing before more than 70 people -- including two-dozen visitors from his own ministry, Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford. Fuchs spoke of the need for Jews and Muslims to maintain a dialogue to better understand each other. ... 'If we join hands I believe...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On March 24, 2002 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that at Marian Middle, a Catholic girls school in St. Louis, MO, a teacher "is using the book 'Farewell to Manzanar,' a first-person account of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II," to help teach eighth grade students about September 11. "Since the attacks of Sept. 11, Muslims in the United States have been under intense scrutiny and have faced widespread harassment. Hundreds of cases of threats, beatings and firebombings have been reported,...

Source: The Boston Globe

On March 23, 2002, The Boston Globe featured an article on "the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, a coalition of 98 churches, synogogues, unions, and community groups that ranks as one of the country's most successful grass-roots organizations... In its six-year history, the group has successfully lobbied the state" on a wide variety of issues including housing and education. "Since its founding in 1996, GBIO has stayed away from the pie-throwing, sit-in tactics favored by some activist groups, with an eye toward engaging an...

Source: Pew Charitable Trusts

http://www.pewtrusts.com/ideas/ideas_item.cfm?content_item_id=992&content_type_id=18&issue_name=Religion%20in%20public%20life&issue=17&page=18

On March 20, 2002, The Pew Charitable Trusts released the results of their recent poll entitled "Americans Struggle with Religion’s Role at Home and Abroad" from The Pew Research Center For The People and The...

Source: The Boston Herald

On March 20, 2002, The Boston Herald reported that "firefighters and police from throughout Massachusetts joined lawmakers and religious leaders yesterday in a State House tribute to the victims of Sept. 11...

At an interfaith service in the House chamber, Imam Talal Eid of the Islamic Center of New England condemned the attacks... 'Those people do not represent the faith of Islam... They committed a murder against humanity,' Eid said."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On March 18, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that "four years ago, a 'ground blessing' celebrated plans to build an interfaith chapel on the campus of Chapman University in Orange [CA]... The 1998 'ground blessing'... included Jews, Muslims, Mormons and Wiccans. The Juaneno Indians provided a tobacco blessing... After a long dispute,... the City Council in January approved another revised plan for the 12,000-square-foot Wallace All Faiths Chapel--the final chapter in a lesson on the difficulties of finding the nexus...

Source: The New York Times

On March 17, 2002, The New York Times reported that Rev. Billy Graham's "sterling reputation as a healer and bridge-builder" was shattered when the tape of a 1972 conversation with former President Nixon in the Oval Office was made public by the National Archives. "Three decades after it was recorded, the North Carolina preacher's famous drawl is tinny but unmistakable on the tape, denigrating Jews... Mr. Graham, who is now 83 and in poor health, quickly issued a four-sentence apology, but he did not acknowledge making the...

Source: The New York Times

On March 17, 2002, The New York Times reported that "from the 8th to the 14th centuries in Spain, Christians, Jews, and Muslims coexisted peacefully in an era that historians refer to as the "convivencia," or living together. On Thursday, the Newark Museum, [in Newark, NJ], will open a 'Garden of Remembrance: A Memorial to September 11,' inspired by the gardens of the convivencia. Baptist, Episcopal, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders will participate in the dedication... 'The garden was designed for...