Source: The Chicago Tribune

On July 6, 2002, The Chicago Tribune reported that "two Cook County sheriff's police deputies will be allowed to wear religious head coverings while on duty, the sheriff's office announced Friday, apparently resolving a controversy that tested the limits of religious freedom on the job... Sgt. Larry Davidson, an Orthodox Jew, will be permitted to wear his yarmulke, and Crystal Clark, a Muslim, will be allowed to wear a scarf. But both must cover their religious headwear with a department-issued cap or hat."

Source: The Providence Journal

http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/projo_20020706_cthicks6.835aa.html

On July 6, 2002, The Providence Journal featured an editorial by Prof. Douglas Hicks of the University of Richmond entitled "Let's Pledge to Respect Differing Beliefs." The piece emphasizes that "'One nation under God' means different things to different Americans... Both critics and supporters of the...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On July 6, 2002 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch featured an article on the interfaith bridges being built at the City Museum in St. Louis's Salaam-Shalom Circus, "a year-round circus class with Muslim and Jewish children and their parents." The participants come from the Central Reform Congregation where "parents eagerly embraced the chance for an interfaith experience... Their partners in the interfaith bridge building are parents and children from Clara Muhammad School... Along the way, the parents have even invited one...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/07/06/MN157497.DTL

On July 6, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Rev. David Benke, "a high-ranking Lutheran pastor, has been suspended from his duties and ordered to apologize to all Christians for participating with Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and Hindus in an interfaith prayer service in New York's Yankee Stadium after Sept. 11......

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On July 6, 2002, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "a Christian law firm is suing a San Francisco Bay Area school district, alleging it violated the Constitution with its way of teaching the Islamic religion to students. At issue is a world history lesson conducted at Excelsior School in the Byron Union School District... in October 2001. In a seventh-grade class, students reportedly were required to participate in various exercise simulations including selecting a Muslim name, wearing traditional Muslim...

Source: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/77353_citizen05.shtml

On July 5, 2002 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that this fourth of July in Seattle, "311 immigrants from 65 countries celebrated becoming American citizens at the Ethnic Heritage Council's 18th annual naturalization ceremony... The event drew hundreds more spectators and a long list of speakers,...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On July 5, 2002 The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "campuses across the nation, from Stanford to the University of Oklahoma and the State University of New York at Binghamton found that after the terrorist attacks they were unprepared for the new interest in Islam and the Middle East... They are now scrambling to beef up in the fields. In many cases, the hiring process, which usually takes more than a year, is being fast-tracked to get specialists into the classroom."

Source: The Chicago Tribune

On July 5, 2002 The Chicago Tribune featured an article on Chicago's Latino Muslim population, "a group consisting of perhaps tens of thousands of Spanish-speaking individuals who share Islam, but privately, without an overarching network or broad cultural background to support them... Among more established Muslim groups in Chicago and nationwide, however, a growing conviction has emerged that this subset of American Islam deserves a greater voice... One sign is that issues particular to Latino Muslims will headline a...

Source: Newsday

On July 5, 2002 Newsday reported that due to immigration, more Muslim students are attending Jericho High School in a predominantly Jewish area of Long Island, NY. "Hoping to learn more about a religion that for many Long Islanders remains steeped in mystery, and sometimes outright suspicion,... about a dozen Jericho social studies teachers spent two days this week attending a 15-hour seminar on Islam at the high school... The seminar, which included sections on Islamic phrases, the role of women, the history shared by Jews, Christians...

Source: The Council on American-Islamic Relations

On July 3, 2002 The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a press release "condemning a decision by Illinois' Cook County Sheriff's Department to strip police powers from an Orthodox Jewish deputy after he refused to remove his yarmulke, or religious skullcap, while on duty... The Washington-based Islamic advocacy group says it has offered to take up the case of the Jewish deputy, who was reassigned to clerical duties one day after CAIR offered public support for a Muslim deputy who is being...

Source: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

On July 3, 2002 The Fort Worth Star-Telegram featured an article on a gathering in Dallas of thousands of Christians to applaud the words of Benny Hinn, a celebrated faith healer, as he explicitly condemned Islam. "Several area ministers, joining the Grapevine-based Pentecostal on stage last week at American Airlines Center in Dallas, clapped and nodded their approval. The line between Christians and Muslims, they said later, is the difference...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 3, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that last week's two U.S. court rulings concerning religion in the public square demonstrate the strong "disagreements over the relationship between God and public life in America... First, a federal appeals court ruled that religion could not be part of a daily ritual of public school life... The next day, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious schools could receive public school dollars... The Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, executive director of the Washington-based Interfaith...

Source: New Jersey Law Journal

Source: Statesman Journal

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=44359.

On June 30, 2002, the Statesman Journal of Salem, Oregon featured an article on the recent Pledge of Allegiance ruling. "The decision created instant furor, in part because the pledge is an American icon. But it may have just as much to do with people’s relationship with God — or lack thereof... In America, God means different...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On June 29, 2002 the Los Angeles Times reported that "FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III thanked Muslim Americans on Friday for providing 'substantive assistance' to the government investigation of the Sept. 11 attacks... In a controversial appearance before the American Muslim Council, Mueller noted that some people associated with the group have made statements in the past that were supportive of terrorism... But the FBI director said the organization has moved into the mainstream of American life and that 'we must all be...