Source: The State Journal-Register

On June 14, 2001, The State Journal-Register reported that "a decades-old law that prohibits anyone from being paid to tell fortunes was reaffirmed by unanimous vote of Hillsboro [Illinois] City Council. The issue came up...when [the Coven of the] Mystic Moon [asked to] hold a fund-raising festival on city property at Lake Hillsboro. Among the games and activities to be offered would be readings of Tarot cards and fortune-telling...The practice of divination, or fortune-telling, is part of their religion, [a member of the...

Source: The Associated Press State & Local Wire

On June 13, 2001, the Associated Press State & Local Wire reported on a three-day Hinduism conference at the Vivekananda Monastery and Retreat in Ganges, Michigan. "Vedanta in the Third Millennium," is expected to attract about 500 people. The leader of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of Chicago said that "the idea of doing this conference is to make the people aware of their spiritual identity."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 13, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "long before this week's controversial Supreme Court decision, hundreds of public schools across Southern California had been renting out space to churches without fanfare or controversy...Five years ago, the state modified its education code to give religious groups equal access to public-school campuses during off hours...So far, the arrangements have gone...smoothly."

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On June 12, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor reported that the Supreme Court ruled that "an evangelical Christian group has a right to meet after hours in public-school classrooms despite the religious content of the group's meetings." The ruling "may help pave the way for Bush administration plans to expand government partnerships with faith-based social-service groups.

Source: The Washington Post

On June 12, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "public schools throughout the Washington area have increasingly allowed religious activities on their campuses, a practice that was reaffirmed yesterday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Christian youth group could hold after-school meetings at a public school in Upstate New York." An ACLU legal director in the area said the decision "reaffirms what people understood. They have to treat all clubs equally, including nonreligious clubs and religious clubs."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 12, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "the Supreme Court strengthened the free-speech rights of religious groups...ruling that a Christian youth group must be permitted to hold an after-school Bible study class in a public elementary school...The court's opinion stressing the rights of religious advocates should give a boost to President Bush's 'faith-based' initiative...In dissent, Justice David H. Souter said the ruling appears to stand 'for the remarkable proposition that any public school opened for civil...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On June 12, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported that "the U.S. Supreme Court...ruled that schools cannot prohibit religious groups from using their classrooms after students have been dismissed for the day...The justices ruled against the Milford school district in upstate New York [which] had rejected a request from a local religious organization, the Good News Club," to use one of its classrooms after school hours.

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 10, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on Iranian immigrant and Muslim Dariush Farshidian, who was "weary of four years in INS detention both on Terminal Island and in Bakersfield, [California]...He needed $5,000 to post bond." In a letter to fellow Iranian Pooya Dayanim, Farshidian asked for help, conveying his "anger at U.S. treatment of INS detainees and his fear of imprisonment, if not execution, by Iranian officials...Several members of the Iranian Jewish community [including Pooya] quickly rallied to Farshidian's...

Source: The Washington Post

On June 10, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "A baccalaureate will be held...for graduating seniors of Gar-Field, Hylton and Potomac high schools, as well as for private school and home-schooled students, at Christ Chapel" in Woodbridge. "The baccalaureate, a religious service for graduates, will include participation by Christian, Jewish and Muslim speakers."

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On June 10, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on a parking lot that lies below St. Paul's United Methodist Church and Al-Masjid Ul-Jame, "a bustling mosque run by the Islamic Society of the East Bay [California]...The landscaped lot is shared by the Methodists, who use it Sunday mornings, and the Muslims, who fill it up for Friday prayers...This island of interfaith real estate found its way into a new book by Harvard University professor Diana Eck, titled A New Religious America."

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On June 9, 2001, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that "the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee has announced that Marcus White has succeeded Jack Murtaugh as executive director...11 different denominations and faith groups collaborated through the Interfaith Conference to address social concerns and promote understanding among faith traditions...White's goals include building on interfaith relations, creating opportunities for congregations to address racism, and providing new ways for people to learn about...

Source: The Deseret News

On June 9, 2001, The Deseret News reported that "the University of Utah and Brigham Young University are working together to bring an international conference to Utah next year" called "Minority Religions, Social Change and Freedom of Conscience." At the conference religion scholars from around the world will "share their insights and perceptions concerning the reaction and adaptation of individuals, religions and secular institutions to the growing diversity in many countries...The thrust behind the international nature of the...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On June 9, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that about 30 St. Louis area churches tolled their bells during the executions of Timothy McVeigh and Juan Raul Garza, as a "'reminder to all who hear them that all of us are diminished by continuing acts of murder in our names.'...Some Catholic, United Methodist and United Church of Christ churches in this region are joining a nationwide grass-roots anti-capital punishment movement called 'For Whom the Bells Toll.'"

Source: The New York Times

On June 9, 2001, The New York Times reported that "a poll this spring by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that while three-quarters of those polled supported [Bush's faith-based initiative], 78 percent said that religious organizations getting government dollars should not 'be allowed to only hire people who share their religious beliefs.'...The Supreme Court has upheld the Title VII exemption allowing primarily religious groups to hire on the basis of...

Source: The Tampa Tribune

On June 9, 2001, The Tampa Tribune reported on the International Christian Fellowship church. "Filipinos from as far as Orlando, Winter Haven and Tampa attend services at the church, which has grown from two couples holding Bible studies together to about 60 members...People from diverse religious backgrounds also are attracted to the nondenominational church."