Civic

Sikh Coalition Meets with Chancellor Joel Klein

July 16, 2007

Source: Discrimination and National Security Initiative

http://korematsu.blogspot.com/

(New York, NY) July 16, 2007 – The Sikh Coalition met with Chancellor Joel Klein today to discuss ways to make schools safe for Sikh children. As head of New York City’s Department of Education, the largest school system in the United States, Klein expressed his concern about bias incidents in schools and pledged to work with the Sikh Coalition on an ongoing basis.

Today’s meeting...

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From Muslim Youths, a Push for Change

July 15, 2007

Author: Michelle Boorstein

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/14/AR2007071400985.html

Attending what Muslim American activists say is the highest-level meeting ever between Muslim American youths and U.S. officials, Mohamed Sabur couldn't help but notice a frustrating paradox.

Part of what motivated the 23-year-old to leave computer science for politics...

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Religious Leaders Build Bridges: Calgary Muslims, Christians Initiate Monthly Dialogue

July 15, 2007

Author: Graeme Morton

Source: Calgary Herald

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=a098ed4b-4ad1-42c2-a805-3eff888cfda3

A group of Calgary clergy and lay people are quietly building bridges between the city's Christian and Muslim communities in the wake of fears of rising interfaith tensions.

In a recent report, the Association for Canadian Studies said 1,500 people polled...

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Muslims' Scarves OK in License Pics

July 14, 2007

Author: SHARON COOLIDGE

Source: The Enquirer

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/NEWS01/707140395/1077/COL02

Two suburban Cincinnati Muslim women were wrongly asked to remove head scarves before their driver's license photos were taken.

When made aware of the gaffe in late May, the Ohio Department of Public Safety sent an e-mail to the state's 216 registrar offices reminding them...

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It's Not a Christmas Tree, it's a 'Peace and Harmony' Fir

July 13, 2007

Author: KRISTEN MILLARES BOLT

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19739953/

Welcome to the port's holiday forest. There may be firs or hemlocks, spruces or pines at Sea-Tac Airport this holiday season, but there will not be a Christmas tree.

Not by definition, anyway.

Nor will menorahs or Buddhas be present.

So recommended the Port of Seattle's Holiday Decorations Advisory Committee on Thursday.
...

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A Prayer and a Protest: Reno Hindu's Visit to U.S. Senate Historic

July 13, 2007

Author: Lisa Mascaro

Source: Las Vegas Sun

http://politics.lasvegassun.com/2007/07/a-prayer-and-a-.html

WASHINGTON — A couple of days ago, when it became known that a Hindu chaplain from Reno would be giving his religion’s first-ever opening prayer for the U.S. Senate, offices of a Christian values organization in Mississippi didn’t think twice about bad karma.

The American Family Association tapped its 3 million-...

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Imams' Lawyer Receives Second Death Threat

July 13, 2007

Author: Abdi Aynte

Source: The Minnesota Monitor

http://www.minnesotamonitor.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2062

For the second time in a few months, the attorney for the six Muslim imams who were removed from a plane last year at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport has received a death threat sent from Minnesota.

Among other threats, the party responsible for the letter warns the attorney that they "can use [rocket propelled grenade] rounds...

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US Senate Opens with Hindu Prayer

July 12, 2007

Author: Aziz Haniffa

Source: Rediff India Abroad

http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/jul/12zed.htm

History was created in the United States Senate at 9.30 am on Thursday, when Rajan Zed, the Hindu chaplain of the Indian Association of Northern Nevada, opened the Senate with a Hindu prayer.

This is the first such instance since the formation of the powerful Upper House in 1789.

A few Christian fundamentalists protested and began screaming,...

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Diverse Groups Review Valdosta's Court Ban

July 12, 2007

Author: CAROLE HAWKINS

Source: Florida Times-Union

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/071207/geo_183883789.shtml

Valdosta has examined a rule that prevents people from wearing headgear in courtrooms Wednesday, but has not decided how to update it.

City and court officials met Wednesday with representatives of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, and the Georgia Association of Muslim Lawyers, or...

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Hindu Prayer in Senate Disrupted: Three Protesters in Senate Gallery Arrested

July 12, 2007

Source: MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19729245/

WASHINGTON - A Hindu clergyman made history Thursday by offering the Senate's morning prayer, but only after police officers removed three shouting protesters from the visitors' gallery.

Rajan Zed, director of interfaith relations at a Hindu temple in Reno, Nev., gave the brief prayer that opens each day's Senate session. As he stood at the chamber's podium in a bright orange and burgundy robe, two women and a man began shouting...

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Boston Mosque Rises Above the Fray

July 12, 2007

Author: Jane Lampman

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0712/p13s03-lire.html

More than 2,000 people gathered in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood last month for a highly symbolic moment – the capping of the minaret on a new mosque. A joyous occasion, the event sparked greater emotion than usual because construction of the Islamic Society of Boston's Mosque and Cultural Center had been stalled for more than two...

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Priest Offers Look at Shinto in DY Lecture

July 12, 2007

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Daily Yomiuri

Wire Service: AP

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/culture/20070705TDY16001.htm

Shinto priest Mitsutaka Inui provided a rare glimpse into various aspects of the nation's indigenous religion at an English seminar on Shinto held in Osaka last week.

The seminar was organized to celebrate the first anniversary of the launch of The Daily Yomiuri's Kansai...

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