Interfaith

Kansas City Interfaith Council Passes Resolution on Public Prayer

February 28, 2001

Source: The Kansas City Star

On February 28, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that, in response to the prayers invoking the name of Jesus Christ and President Bush's inauguration, "the Kansas City Interfaith Council adopted a resolution last month suggesting that 'those who offer prayers on civic occasions in which all citizens are entitled to participate be mindful and respectful of the religious diversity within our nation and prepare their utterances so as to recognize our heritage of religious freedom.'" The article reported that "public prayer is...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

February 28, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On February 28, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "Jewish groups are expressing strong reservations about President Bush's" new faith-based initiative. Their biggest concern is that the government will compromise the separation between church and state by funding social services with religious content. "Many Jews already feel like outsiders in a pluralistic-faith society, and they don't want Bush's initiative to encourage Southern Baptists, for example, in their stated mission to convert Jews to Christianity...Other concerns with...

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American Jewish Committee Announces Interfaith Document on Faith-Based Initiatives

February 27, 2001

Source: press release

http://www.ajc.org/press/default.htm?show.asp?ID=182

On February 27, 2001, the American Jewish Committee issued a press release saying that "a two-year initiative aimed at finding common ground among diverse religious and public interest groups on government funding of social services provided by religious organizations issued today its landmark report, “In Good Faith: A Dialogue on Government Funding of Faith-Based Social Services...More than 17...

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U.S. Responds to Earthquake in India

February 26, 2001

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On February 26, 2001, the Omaha World-Herald reported that "three speakers - each representing a different faith - gathered Sunday afternoon at Omaha's Hindu Temple to offer insight on how to grapple with the deep and troubling questions raised by the" recent earthquake in Gujarat. "More than 60 members of the Hindu Temple spent all or part of the weekend fasting...$13,000 has been raised to help rebuild Gujarat."

Op-Ed Articles Respond to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

February 26, 2001

Source: The New Republic

On February 26, 2001, The New Republic published a piece by Benjamin Soskis on Bush's new faith-based initiative. He says that social scientists have done no empirical research yet that supports the claim that "faith-based programs work best...The unquestioning faith in faith's instrumentality is also compromised by the fact that studies [that support the claim of religious programs' superiority] define religion institutionally...and thus fail to differentiate between religion's social and doctrinal components...Given that much of...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

February 26, 2001

Source: Dayton Daily News

On February 26, 2001, the Dayton Daily News reported on the concerns of members of the religious community and others "about how [Bush's new faith-based initiative] would work. They fear a blurring of the First Amendment-sanctioned line between religion and state. They wonder about the possibility of religious groups' misusing tax dollars to woo converts, religious institutions losing autonomy, and the government slighting less mainstream religions." Another concern is that Bush may be "attempting to 'push the burden on the...

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Op-Ed Articles Respond to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

February 26, 2001

Source: The New Republic

On February 26, 2001, The New Republic published a piece by Jeffrey Rosen, in which he supported charitable choice legislation. He defends religious organizations' right "to discriminate on the basis of religion in hiring and firing staff [and] the right to define their organizational mission," as long as they do not discriminate against beneficiaries. He also defends religious organizations' right to discriminate on the basis of sex and sexual orientation when hiring and firing, as long as churches "own up to the beliefs and...

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Nation of Islam Moves Toward More Inclusiveness

February 25, 2001

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On February 25, 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that "the vitriolic race rhetoric that has characterized the Nation [of Islam] in the past...seems to have disappeared since last year's annual Saviour's Day celebration." At the celebration, the group's leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, said "it was time to reach out to other groups, the Nation of Islam continues to try to paint itself in a friendlier light." The president of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago sees this as a signal of "a return to the core...

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Muslim Public Affairs Council Wary of Faith-Based Initiatives

February 23, 2001

Source: Muslim Public Affairs Council

http://www.mpac.org/statements/pr-faithinitiative-jan00.htm

A recent press release by the Muslim Public Affairs Council "cautions the American Muslim community against a hasty endorsement of the proposed legislation." The press release cites concerns about unconstitutional entanglement between religion and state, the potential for proselytizing to accompany pure social welfare activities, and the danger that Muslims and other...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

February 23, 2001

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/23/ED85551.DTL

On February 23, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle published an editorial on Bush's new faith-based initiative. The editorial pointed out that "the government heads into treacherous territory any time it tries to judge what is and what is not an acceptable religion." Many people put certain religions that are...

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Presbyterians Learn About Muslims in a Program at a Mosque

February 23, 2001

Source: The Arizona Republic

On February 23, 2001, The Arizona Republic reported that about 100 Faith Presbyterian Church members came to a program at a south Phoenix mosque that was meant to address their misconceptions about Muslims. The group reported that they learned a lot about Muslims. As one church member said, "You have to learn about each other in order to get along with each other."

Interfaith Coalition Lobbies for Affordable Housing

February 23, 2001

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/23/MNN118531.DTL

On February 23, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the religious-based San Francisco Organizing Project will be gathering "more than 3,000 people in San Francisco to press top state and city officials to produce more affordable housing... The project draws support from 40 religious...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

February 23, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On February 23, 2001, The Boston Globe reported on the debate over Bush's new faith-based initiative. Among the questions being debated: Should federal grants be available even to controversial faith-based groups? "How will government agencies ensure that money meant for social services won't be spent on religious activities and that clients won't be proselytized? Can government agencies distinguish sham groups from legitimate social ministries without showing favoritism? And can religious groups accept government oversight and stay...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

February 21, 2001

Source: Star Tribune

On February 21, 2001, the Minneapolis Star Tribune published an article that brings up one of the biggest problems with Bush's faith-based initiative. "The state cannot be in the business of deciding which faiths pass muster and which do not. If they are law-abiding and their programs are effective, it would seem you have to take them all or take none. You allow proselytizing in all or in none." For example, the Salvation Army "injects its Christian philosophy deep into its programs." If the Salvation Army can do this, the article asked...

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