Source: New York Daily News

On October 29, 2000, the New York Daily News reported that "Hillary Rodham Clinton accused state Republicans yesterday of "exploiting" the bombing deaths of 17 U.S. sailors by blitzing voters with phone calls that charge she has "Arab" donors who embrace such terrorism." The article continues, "The GOP phone banks are targeting more than 1 million voters - one message for Jews, another for non-Jews. Non-Jews hear that 'the Daily News reported...Clinton attended a $50,000 fund-raiser where she accepted a plaque and money from an...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On October 28, 2000, the Los Angeles Times printed comments from Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious leaders on whether Halloween should be celebrated as a holiday. Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi of the Islamic Society of Orange County stated that "Halloween has no place in Islam. It was an old pagan holiday of the witches and the dead. Later some Christians tried to Christianize it by calling it "All Saints Day." However, there are still many Christians who resent it and consider it a bad holiday. Some even call it a "helliday."...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On October 27, 2000, the Los Angeles Times published an article entitled "Aiming to Scare the Devil Out of You: Conservative Christians are Finding Alternatives to Halloween." Christian-themed haunted houses use real-life terror themes like drunken driving, gang shootings and drug overdoses, taking back "a pagan holiday and giving it back to God's Glory" according to Shawn Anthony, a 29-year-old pastor and director of Harvest Outreach, a national evangelical organization aimed at teenagers. 42 Orange County churches participated...

Source: The New York Times

On October 27, 2000, a front page story in The New York Times reported, "Yesterday, as Mrs. Clinton's campaign aides began returning about 100 checks from members of the American Muslim Alliance, Muslims across the country were reminded of how difficult it remains for them to make inroads into American politics and how disputed remarks about other parts of the world can derail the acceptance of Muslim Americans here. Mrs. Clinton said on Wednesday that the checks, from a fund-raising event in June, were being returned because of '...

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

On October 27, 2000, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article on some Christians' responses to Halloween: "To many Christians in the Bay Area, this night, when identities and inhibitions are shed and children turn into candy-crazed creatures out for a sustained sugar fix, is anything but the benignly spooky trick-or-treat ritual most relish. To them, Halloween is, well, evil. Far from being harmless, they believe, the holiday is harmful to one's faith and goes against church doctrine. They see it as a celebration of...

Source: The Washington Post

On October 27, 2000, The Washington Post reported that, "Connecticut Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman said he is stung by concerns raised about his candidacy for vice president by Arab American groups, which are clearly hurting the Democratic ticket in several key states. In an interview with WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo, Mich., Lieberman, the first Jewish major-party nominee for national office, said, 'I'm hurt [by such criticism]. They have a right to what they choose to do. The fact is I've worked very closely with Arab American groups.' He...

Source: The New York Times

On October 26, 2000, The New York Times reported that "With children everywhere discussing the costumes and treats they expected for Halloween, it was natural enough that a teacher at Olinda Elementary School would assign her students to read a book themed to the holiday. But then a parent objected that Halloween was offensive to people of her faith. The teacher turned to her principal, Brenda Clark, who resolved the problem by suggesting the child be assigned a different book. That was the right solution, according to an expert...

Source: The Baltimore Sun

On October 26, 2000, The Baltimore Sun reported on a Labyrinth located on the Bayview Campus of Johns Hopkins' Medical System. One walker stated that as she "walks the labyrinth, its smooth concentric paths carry her inward like a current. Approaching from the parking lot, she senses energy flowing from the classic design. It's as if she were at the shore, she says, watching the waves. Just looking at the circular formation feels really relaxing to me, she says at the beginning of the path. I wait here until I have an internal cue...

Source: Council on American-Islamic Relations

On October 26, 2000, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported that, "after lengthy consideration, the Board of Directors of the Southern California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) has concluded that we can no longer be a part of the Muslim-Jewish dialogue group initiated last year. Regrettably, we note that our Jewish partners in the group have rejected the issuance of a joint statement condemning the ongoing bloodshed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. We feel that if the...

Source: The Times Picayune

On October 25, 2000, The Times Picayune reported that "school-sanctioned student-led prayers at public school football games, a practice ruled unconstitutional nationwide this year by the U.S. Supreme Court, have led to a parent's complaint against Natchitoches Parish schools. A letter from the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union asks the school district to stop the practice within 10 days or face a lawsuit. Through a spokeswoman, Superintendent Elwanda Murphy said: 'We will abide by the law.'

"'The...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On October 24, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that, "a group of religious leaders gathered Monday to protest Proposition KK, a controversial measure that would forbid the City Council from enacting a citywide wage law. The measure is backed by the city's luxury hotels. During a half-hour demonstration on the 3rd Street Promenade, representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Buddhist faiths quoted religious texts to demonstrate against the measure and support paying local hotel workers a living wage. 'This is not a new...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On October 23, 2000, The Houston Chronicle reported that, "as the bloodshed continued in the Middle East on Sunday, 11 children in The Woodlands lighted a single white candle and prayed for peace. They were among about 200 people of different faiths - Muslims, Jews, Christians of various denominations - who gathered at a community center to pray for an end to the violence on the other side of the world and for a return to negotiations toward an elusive peace there. 'A feeling of helplessness, a feeling of hopelessness, has...

Source: The Daily News

http://www.bgdailynews.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?200010/06+diversity20001006_news.html+2001006

On October 23, 2000, The Daily News (Bowling Green, Kentucky) published an article entitled, "Religious Diversity Unfolds."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On October 22, 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported that, "The number of hate crimes reported in Los Angeles County and in California is rising. The increase in itself is alarming, and our concern is compounded by recent acts such as the destructive, hate-filled vandalism last month at the West Valley Hebrew Academy, a Jewish school in Woodland Hills. Analysts, however, note that the elevated hate crime figures may be due as much to increased awareness and reporting as an increase in bigoted acts. To begin reducing the scourge of...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On October 22, 2000, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that, "the U.S. Supreme Court continues to place restrictions on prayer and religious activity involving public schools. But several DeKalb County high schools are testing the limits of the law by having Baptist ministers serve as chaplains to school football teams. The ministers, including televangelist Bishop Eddie Long and some of his associates at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, provide pregame prayers and devotionals. 'It has a...