Author: Oralandar Brand-Williams

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090408/LIFESTYLE04/904080375/1041/Passover+effort+feeds+needy

Like thousands around the world, Metro Detroit's Jewish community begins the observance of Passover at sundown today.

For Michelle Shapiro, Passover, the exodus of Israelite slaves from Egypt, is about giving back to the community and the less...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: InFocus News

http://www.infocusnews.net/content/view/33149/135/

The controversy over reports of an FBI informant infiltrating southern California mosques and the FBI’s overall conduct toward American Muslims were subjects of a Senate hearing last month, generating vague answers from FBI Director Robert Mueller and generating even more concern in a community already feeling fearful and unfairly targeted in a post-9/11...

Author: Josephine Lim

Source: Canadianimmigrant.ca

http://canadianimmigrant.ca/onlineexclusives/newsitems/article/3612

The Canadian government is supporting two new projects aimed at helping Muslim youth address discrimination and promote cross-cultural understanding.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will provide $441,000 dollars for My Canada, a project that provides access to multi-faith sessions for both Muslim and non-...

Author: Dil Neiyyar

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7989108.stm

Sikhs say they are not being allowed to wear a kirpan - or ceremonial knife - in public places even though the law says they can.

Some have been refused entry to amusement parks and even government buildings because of fears the blade poses a security or safety threat.

The confusion has prompted the Department of Communities and Local Government to...

Author: Nathan Glassman

Source: The Justice Online

Author: Daniel Burke

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=17845

President Obama named nine advisers to the White House office for religious and community groups on Monday (April 6), adding a gay rights leader, an Orthodox Jew, a black bishop and others to an eclectic 25-person council.

The bulk of the council, which will advise Obama on certain domestic and foreign policy issues, was appointed last month...

Author: Le Roy Standish

Source: The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/04/06/040709_1a_Prayer.html

Those fighting to keep God out of public meetings have been attending the meetings themselves.

Armed with note pads, laptops and digital audio recorders, members of the Western Colorado Atheists and Free Thinkers have been filling the pews at Mesa County...

Author: Mark E. Rondeau

Source: The Bennington Banner

http://www.benningtonbanner.com/ci_12053134

Local Baha'i are speaking out to draw attention to the plight of seven members of their faith in Iran who have been arrested and are reportedly charged with spying for Israel.

Arrested in Iran

The seven, five men and two women, were serving as ad hoc administrators for the Baha'i faith at the national level in Iran.

This faith has...

Author: Michael Kunzelman

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/01/AR2009040102132.html

A Santeria priest who sued a Texas city for denying him permission to sacrifice a goat as part of a religious ceremony asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to let him resume the ritual in his home.

Jose Merced, 46,...

Author: Philip Jenks

Source: World Faith News

http://www.wfn.org/2009/04/msg00011.html

POVERTY: A TIME FOR SHARING, an interfaith religion special, will be broadcast Sunday, April 26 on the CBS Television Network. Check your local station for exact time.

Half of humanity lives on less than $2 a day. A billion people worldwide cannot read or write. Poor children die in great numbers from preventable diseases. Global poverty and its killing effect is...

Author: Holly Yan

Source: The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/040109dnmetbillboards.3b5b112.html

These clearly aren't signs from God.

This week, drivers in Dallas and Fort Worth will notice billboards sponsored by local atheists and agnostics.

"Don't believe in God? You are not alone," the billboards read. The signs, featuring a...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7972892.stm

A graffiti artist and teenage martial arts participant have been honoured in a ceremony recognising "unsung heroes" of the Muslim community in Britain.

Other award recipients included an alternative therapist, a Church of Scotland minister, and a master player of the Middle East instrument, the Oud.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, facing a row over...

Author: Michael Conlon

Source: Reuters

http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKTRE52T47G20090330

For some atheists in the United States it's a bright new day with the election of President Barack Obama and a move away from religion-shaped government policies of past years.

Others aren't so sure, and it remains to be seen whether a friendlier climate translates into more people publicly embracing an atheist or non-...

Author: Jacqueline L. Salmon

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702178.html

A behind-the-scenes controversy has broken out among Muslim American leaders over a coalition of Muslim organizations' threat to cut off contact with the FBI because of what it calls the agency's "McCarthy-era" tactics.

The coalition of two dozen Muslim American groups...

Author: Charles Honey

Source: The Grand Rapids Press

http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/03/east_grand_rapids_man_challeng.html

Muhammad Rasoul, chief operating officer of Global Forex Trading, has been in back-to-back meetings since 5:30 a.m., starting with a conference call to Japan and London. He hopes to be home in time to put his two younger kids to bed.

But in this typical...