Interfaith

Rabbi Honored with Cronkite Award

April 13, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 13, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Steven B. Jacobs, a Woodland Hills [California] rabbi who has championed social justice issues and traveled to Kosovo on a 1999 peace mission with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, will receive the third annual Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award. Jacobs...has been outspoken nationally and locally on labor and race issues."

Religion-Based Program Tries to Rehabilitate Prisoners

April 12, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On April 12, 2001, The New York Times reported on the InnerChange Freedom Initiative, a religion-based program in a medium-security prison near Des Moines "that would seem likely to interest the Bush administration...It works under contract with the state to rehabilitate felons." The article reported that results from the program "are still emerging." Whether the program would be excluded from government funding under Bush's faith-based initiative because acceptance of a religious message is central to its work "remains to be seen...

Read more about Religion-Based Program Tries to Rehabilitate Prisoners

Survey Reveals Reservations of Public Toward Faith-Based Initiative

April 11, 2001

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On April 11, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor reported that "the extent of Americans' reservations over [Bush's] faith-based initiative, as shown in a new nationwide poll, indicates that the proposal may have a tough time getting through Congress...On eligibility to receive funding, most Americans would not extend that right to non-Judeo-Christian groups, such as Muslims, Buddhists, Nation of Islam, or the Church of Scientology. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints squeaks by with just 51 percent backing...

Read more about Survey Reveals Reservations of Public Toward Faith-Based Initiative

Survey Reveals Reservations of Public Toward Faith-Based Initiative

April 11, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

On April 11, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "most Americans strongly support the basic idea behind" Bush's faith-based initiative, "but they oppose key elements of the proposal," according to a national survey. Among the worries of the public are fears that Christian groups will be favored, that religious groups will discriminate in their hiring practices or try to force their views on those they're helping, and that federal funding will force religious organizations to "to water down their views."

Survey Reveals Reservations of Public Toward Faith-Based Initiative

April 11, 2001

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On April 11, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "most Americans favor President Bush's plan for directing public money to faith-based charities, but many don't support funding Muslims, Buddhists or the Nation of Islam, according to a poll...Only 38 percent favored giving money to Muslim mosques or Buddhist temples. Twenty-nine percent said the Nation of Islam should be eligible, and 26 percent said the Church of Scientology should be eligible."

Members of Some Religious Groups Refuse to Vote

April 10, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

ON April 10, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on religious groups who abstain from voting in elections. "As far as [a Jehovah's witness is] concerned, he's already voted--for God...Some ultraconservative Christian groups don't vote as another way of keeping themselves apart from a sinful society...The Mennonites believe that society is never warranted in taking a life, even in the course of law enforcement. The clash between their views and society's mores has led some members of the faith to decide not to participate in the...

Read more about Members of Some Religious Groups Refuse to Vote

Editorial Calls Public Wary of Government Funding of Religious Groups

April 9, 2001

Source: The American Prospect

On April 9, 2001, The American Prospect published an article by Wendy Kaminer on "rival religious groups fighting over federal funds" from Bush's faith-based initiative. She writes that "the public probably opposes the funding of unpopular religions more than it supports religious equality."

Mixed-Faith Couples Face Challenges

April 8, 2001

Source: The Denver Post

On April 8, 2001, The Denver Post reported on the challenges that face couples of mixed religious faiths. "The bumping together of religion and tradition isn't as simple for couples of different faiths deciding how to raise their children, practice their beliefs and cope with their families...Christian ministers are mixed on whether they will co-officiate at [wedding] ceremonies...'There are [only] a couple hundred' rabbis across the country who will co-officiate with a minister, said one Denver rabbi."

Accommodation of Religious Employees Can Be a Balancing Act

April 8, 2001

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On April 8, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported on the difficulty businesses sometimes have satisfying Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which requires employees to accommodate their employees' religious beliefs. "The employer must try to balance an employee's commitment to religious fidelity with workplace propriety and business needs," as well as with the need to avoid offending other employees.

Catholic School in Queens Holds Appeal for Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims

April 8, 2001

Source: New York Daily News

On April 8, 2001, the New York Daily News reported on St. Benedict Joseph Labre School in Richmond Hill, in Queens. It is a Catholic school, but "about 20% of the students are Sikhs, 20% are Hindus and 5% are Muslim." Many of the Hindu and Sikh mothers "said they like the structure, morality and emphasis on education at St. Benedict Joseph Labre." Administrators and students report that everyone at the school respects differences in religion or racial background.

Jewish Leaders Desire Overhaul of Education about Christianity

April 8, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On April 8, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "over the last several decades, the Catholic Church has made extraordinary changes in the way it talks about Jews and Judaism...[It] now goes out of its way to" present Jews in a favorable light. "At the same time, Jewish educators have not significantly changed" the negative way they portray Christians. "Some prominent Jewish leaders are beginning to question whether they, like their Catholic counterparts, need to overhaul the way they teach their children." Their desire for...

Read more about Jewish Leaders Desire Overhaul of Education about Christianity

Boston-Area Minister Promotes Faith-Based Initiative as Help to Fellow Blacks

April 7, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On April 7, 2001, The New York Times reported on Rev. Eugene F. Rivers of Dorchester, Massachusetts, who "is getting national attention as he lauds the possibility that a conservative Republican administration may provide a vital tool for helping fellow blacks and criticizes those religious conservatives who appear to be resisting" Bush's faith-based initiative. Mr. Rivers said, "The faith-based initiative is really a new opportunity for communities serving the poor to develop new leadership and policy issues."

ACLU Protests Public Schools' Field Trip to a Church

April 7, 2001

Source: The Times-Picayune

On April 7, 2001, The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that "the American Civil Liberties Union has formally protested a New Orleans public school field trip to a church where students were urged to give their lives to Jesus Christ...Teachers at six or more middle and high schools bused almost 1,000 students...[to a church] to see a play about classroom violence, the fragility of life and the importance of faith in Jesus Christ as the only key to salvation."

Interfaith Organizations Expand their Missions

April 7, 2001

Source: New York Daily News

On April 7, 2001, the New York Daily News reported on two interfaith groups: the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding and the National Conference for Community and Justice. "The growth in [other] organizations working specifically on togetherness among faiths frees their groups to expand their missions. The National Conference and the Tanenbaum Center have moved on to such matters as diversity in the workplace, religion's role in solving conflicts and development of leaders in institutions with histories of...

Read more about Interfaith Organizations Expand their Missions

House Approves Controversial School-Prayer Bill

April 6, 2001

Source: The Tampa Tribune

On April 6, 2001, The Tampa Tribune reported that "a House panel approved a school-prayer bill...after a raw debate over whether it would encourage spirituality or engender intolerance among students. The bill would permit prayer at graduations and student gatherings at secondary schools if both school boards and students agree." The bill remains controversial among legislators, parents, educators, and community members.

Pages