Interfaith

Southern Baptists Target Hindus in Conversion Efforts

October 23, 1999

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On October 23, 1999, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that on Monday, October 25th, the SBC is publishing its latest prayer guide on Hinduism and how Baptists should pray for the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. Subash Razdan, who chairs the board of trustees for the National Federation of India-American Associations, stated: "What are they trying to do, start a holy war?...You can make Christianity look good, but don't make any other religion look bad." Paul Courtright, an expert on Hinduism...

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Southern Baptists Target Hindus in Conversion Efforts

October 21, 1999

Source: The Washington Post

On October 21, 1999, The Washington Post published an article on the new prayer guide published by the SBC for Christian prayer toward Hindus during Divali, the Hindu festival of lights. The first sentence of the prayer guide reads: "More than 900 million people are lost in the hopeless darkness of Hinduism." The guide continues: "Pray that Hindus who celebrate the festival of lights would become aware of the darkness in their hearts that no lamp can dispel." Suresh Gupta, president of the Durga Temple in Fairfax, Virginia,...

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Interfaith Group in Texas Debates Whether to Accept Muslim Congregation

October 13, 1999

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On October 13, 1999, The Houston Chronicle reported that The Woodlands Religious Community, Inc. has voted to unanimously change its mission statement so that it can include non-Judeo-Christian faiths. The language of the statement was changed from Judeo-Christian to "people of faith, called by our traditions to compassion." Joy Jamaluddin, a member of the Islamic congregation who applied to participate in the interfaith organization, stated: "I believe that this will clear the way for our participation in Interfaith." The...

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Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility

October 10, 1999

Source: The Boston Herald

On October 10, 1999, The Boston Herald published an article about the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). The ICCR, established in 1971, is a nationwide coalition of 275 religious groups who invest in companies and then use the shareholder resolution process to effect the investment practices they consider unethical. The organization has been involved with the divesting of holdings in South Africa to protest Apartheid and recently has been targeting the tobacco industry.

Interfaith Group Holds "Educational" Weddings

October 9, 1999

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On October 9, 1999, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis held four wedding demonstrations of marriages in the Baha'i, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish traditions. The event took place at the Partnership's annual dinner held at Temple Israel in Ladue, Missouri. The couples participating in the weddings had already been married within the past 18 months. The ceremonies were abbreviated and the presiding clergy explained the particular wedding rituals.

Stop the Hate Rally in Arizona

October 8, 1999

Source: The Arizona Republic

On October 8, 1999, The Arizona Republic reported that an interfaith rally, attended by approximately 80 people from various faiths, was held on October 7th in downtown Phoenix, AZ protesting hate violence in their communities and across the nation. Phoenix's Stop the Hate rally, sponsored by the InterFaith Action Coalition of Arizona and No Longer Silent: Clergy for Justice, was one of about 350 events held nationwide as part of a campaign launched by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and The Interfaith Alliance. Priscilla...

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Religious Accommodation in the Workplace

October 4, 1999

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On October 4, 1999, The Columbus Dispatch published an article on the increasing flexibility that some businesses are showing in accommodating religious practice in the workplace. National Electric in Columbus, Ohio has allowed its Muslim workers to leave their jobs for up to an hour and a half for Friday prayers. National Electric, with more than 300 workers, originally said no to the proposition made by mostly Somalian Muslim employees over a year ago, but then the Council on American-Islamic Relations intervened for the...

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Roman Catholic Cardinal Francis George Trying to Build Bridges to Other Faiths

September 27, 1999

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On September 27, 1999, the Chicago Sun-Times reported on a speech given by Cardinal Francis George at Holy Names Cathedral in Chicago on September 26th that urged Catholics, Muslims, and Jews to work together to create a more civil world. Cardinal George stated: "If we cannot talk civilly among ourselves with deep respect, then the world will remain the bloody place it had been in the century that has just passed." The Cardinal wants to strengthen the Muslim-Catholic dialogue in the Chicago area, while suggesting that Catholic...

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Minnesota's Religious Organizations Are Working to Stop Gun Violence

September 25, 1999

Source: Star Tribune

On September 25, 1999, the Star Tribune published an article on the efforts of Minnesota religious organizations and congregations to stop gun violence. Churches are lobbying the state legislature in Minnesota and Congress in Washington to improve efforts against hate crimes, and are inviting speakers to talk about violence and its prevention. Rev. Rufus Campbell of Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Paul stated: "Our political leaders fail to come to grips with the depth of evil and the power of evil that guns have over...

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Interfaith Group in Texas Debates Whether to Accept Muslim Congregation

September 25, 1999

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On September 25, 1999, The Houston Chronicle reported that the application of an Islamic group for membership in Interfaith of the Woodlands, a social services organization in The Woodlands, Texas that only serves congregations within the Judeo-Christian heritage, has created a debate among the 16-member board of directors of The Woodlands Religious Community, Inc. Rabbi James Brandt, a board member representing the Beth Shalom Congregation, stated in an August 26th letter: "How can it make any sense to include the Christian...

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Ban on Pentagrams Lifted in New Mexico School District

September 24, 1999

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On September 24, 1999, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the public school board in Roswell, New Mexico voted 4-1 to lift a ban on students wearing pentagrams, a Wiccan symbol. The school district had a ban on any "attire associated with gothic, satanic or occult-type activities such as pentagrams, etc.," but the pentagram has been excluded from this group because the district faced legal action from Kathryn King, a local minister of Wicca who says she knows approximately a dozen students in the district who...

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Controversial Efforts of Jewish Conversion During High Holy Days

September 23, 1999

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On September 23, 1999, The Christian Science Monitor published an article on the Southern Baptist Convention's push to convert Jews. The prayer guide for Jewish conversion asks members to focus on praying for a Jewish population in a particular place in the world each day and "to pray each day for Jewish individuals...by name." The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) intends to do the same for Muslims during Ramadan, for Hindus during Divali, and for Buddhists during the Festival of Lights. Abraham Foxman, national...

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Jewish Congregation in California Hosts Interfaith Service on Reconciliation and Healing

September 19, 1999

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 19, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that Temple Knesset Israel in Los Angeles, which saw a swastika painted on the entranceway to the temple's preschool with the phrase "Jews die" on August 14th, hosted an interfaith service to speak out against the recent surge of hate crimes and to promote reconciliation and healing. Leaders from Jewish, African American, Central American, Latino, and Asian communities spoke at the service, which was held the day before Yom Kippur.

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