Source: New York Daily News

On January 11, 2001, the New York Daily News reported that "Sophia Vackimes, curator of the photography exhibit "Botanica! Lotions, Potions, Orishas and Saints," will give a talk and present a slide show Saturday highlighting the cultural and religious phenomenon of the neighborhood botanica at the Flushing Library Auditorium. A botanica is a small retail shop that supplies religious practitioners, artisans and others of different religious beliefs with ceremonial goods. There you may find jars filled with ritual objects,...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On January 10, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor reported that "according to an in-depth national report released today, a large US majority wants religion's influence on society to increase...Americans remain deeply concerned about a loss of moral moorings in the US, and they are looking to religion as the best means to right the ship." People are concerned about the rise of materialism, greed, and a general "loss of moral moorings in the US," and look to religion to help reestablish a moral framework....

Source: The Kansas City Star

On January 8, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that "continuing social and political reform remains necessary if America's most disadvantaged residents are to gain the equality for which civil rights pioneers fought, a national civil rights scholar and activist said Sunday evening in Kansas City." Lawrence Rubin, recent executive chairman of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, spoke at an interfaith community worship service, part of the 2001 Greater Kansas City Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. Rubin stated that...

Source: Jet

On January 8, 2001, Jet magazine reported that "a broad coalition of U.S. religious leaders has issued a statement calling" for the eradication of racism from our institutions. "The endorsers represented, among others, the National Congress of Black Churches, the Southern Baptist Convention, Roman Catholic bishops, the National Council of Churches, the Greek Orthodox archdiocese, Judaism's three major branches, national Muslim organizations and Native American religions...The interfaith National Conference for Community and Justice, which...

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 8, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "Catholics, Protestants, and Jews yesterday welcomed a Supreme Court decision upholding the right of Mormons to build a giant temple in Belmont, saying the decision guarantees continued freedom for religious groups in Massachusetts." Many religious groups were watching the case, in which neighbors asked to have the temple bulldozed, arguing that allowing the temple "violated a constitutional prohibition against the government establishment of religion."

"At stake in the...

Source: The Washington Post

On January 7, 2001, The Washington Post reported the conversion of thousands of Latinos nationwide to Islam. Hispanics are "the country's fastest-growing ethnic group," and Islam is "the nation's fastest-growing religion." There are 1 billion Muslims worldwide, and "the Muslim population in the United States is estimated at more than 4 million, nearly six times the number in 1970." The American Muslim Council, an advocacy group in Washington, estimates that 25,000 of these are Hispanic. "The largest communities are in New York...

Source: The New York Times

On January 7, 2001, The New York Times reported that, "after more than three decades of debate, the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America inaugurated an alliance...that will allow them to share clergy members, churches and missionary work." Each "church will retain its own structure and worship style," but the contract, "Called to Common Mission," "brings together two denominations that have long been separated by fundamental differences over the role and authority of bishops." The alliance was celebrated...

Source: The Tampa Tribune

On January 6, 2001, The Tampa Tribune reported that Hillsborough County's proposed 2001-2002 school calendar "includes a day off in September coinciding with the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The calendar also shows a spring break from March 25 to April 1, 2002, which would span both Easter and Passover." Jewish parents call the proposed changes to the calendar "a step in the right direction." Phyllis Rogoff, a Jewish parent who served on the district's calendar committee, said the changes...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On January 3, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "this holiday season, the staff and volunteers at Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston, located in the Montrose area, did its part to ease [the] burden of loneliness and need through various holiday programs and activities." The organization "exists to build collaborations among Houston's faith communities and business, civic and philanthropic organizations to address critical human and community needs." The organization's programs include Meals on Wheels, which...

Source: The Boston Herald

http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business/cap01012001.htm

On January 1, 2001, The Boston Herald reported that "research conducted for the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding shows that some two-thirds of a sample of ethnically diverse workers have experienced or witnessed some form of religious discrimination or bias in the work place. More than half said such incidents affect their job performance. Almost 45...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On January 1, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that a unity agreement between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will be formally signed on Saturday at the Washington National Cathedral. The Called to Common Mission pact "allows members of the two denominations to receive communion in each other's churches and call either an Episcopal priest or a Lutheran minister their pastor." The agreement stems from the recognition that "both denominations have more in common than not....

Source: India New England News

In January, 2001, India New England News reported on Saraswati Mandiram, the Institute of Holistic Health, Music, Yoga, Science and Philosophy, in New Hampshire. It celebrated the official anniversary of the Baghavad Gita, a text which "is central to the institute's teachings. Holistic health...does not just focus on the physical self but also on the health of the spirit, mind and emotions. One of the institute's stated goals is to provide a place of worship...that will 'explore and promote the good in both Eastern and Western...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 31, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that while many were celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, hundreds of Muslims gathered in the San Fernando Valley this year for Eid-al-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which "commemorates what Muslims believe was God's revelation of their holy book, the Koran, to the prophet Muhammad nearly 1,400 years ago. It is a month of prayer, reflection, goodwill toward those less fortunate and fasting from dawn to dusk. Eid al-Fitr...is celebrated with family and feasts, and...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 31, 2000, in the Los Angeles Times , a professor of human development at Cal State offered a solution to the conflict that arose at Mariners Elementary School in Newport Beach when "a local rabbi and some of his congregation demanded the dismantling of holiday lights" put up at the school. The rabbi "called the act 'provocative,' saying it 'disfranchised' non-Christian students." At the same time, however, a Jewish mother "has been free to address classrooms of students about Hanukkah." The author suggests...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On December 30, 2000, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that religious experts cite a recent growth of religious life on college campuses, and the accompanying trend of students coming home from school with religious beliefs different than their families. "Some students," they say, "are turning toward a more lasting commitment to religion, while others are looking for a type of spirituality different from the beliefs they got from their parents." The result may be a feeling of alienation from parents, who may not...