Civic

SALDEF Encourages Sikh Americans to Explore Career Opportunities with FBI

January 4, 2007

Source: Sikh News Network

http://www.sikhnet.com/Sikhnet/news.nsf/NewsArchive/275355A348E54DCC8725725900627D27!OpenDocument

Washington D.C. -- The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) and the management of the Tri-State Sikh Cultural Society have invited the Pittsburgh Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to speak with the community on Sunday January 7, 2006.

Sikh American youth...

Read more about SALDEF Encourages Sikh Americans to Explore Career Opportunities with FBI

Q&A: First Muslim Rep. in Congress

January 4, 2007

Author: Michael Isikoff

Source: Newsweek

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16474497/site/newsweek/

Jan. 4, 2007 - Keith Ellison, 43, a Democrat from Minneapolis, was sworn in today as the first Muslim member of the U.S. Congress. In this interview with NEWSWEEK's Michael Isikoff, Ellison talked about his decision to use a Qur'an once owned by Thomas Jefferson for the ceremony, the recent controversy generated by Republican congressman Virgil Goode’s...

Read more about Q&A: First Muslim Rep. in Congress

Ellison Strikes Themes of Inclusion, Social Justice

January 4, 2007

Author: Steve Share

Source: Workday Minnesota

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_2835

ST. ANTHONY - The eyes of the world were on Washington, D.C. Thursday as Democrat Keith Ellison took the oath of office as the first Muslim member of the U.S. Congress, representing Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District. Two days earlier, he received a rousing send-off at a Minnesota union hall.

The community send-off for Ellison drew a...

Read more about Ellison Strikes Themes of Inclusion, Social Justice

The Spirituality of Congress

January 4, 2007

Author: James L. Evans

Source: Dallas News

http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/

We may enjoy some level of separation of church and state in this country, but there hardly exists anywhere a separation of faith from public office. There is spiritual vitality in virtually every branch of government; from President Bush's Methodism all the way to the disciplined Catholicism of Justices Alito, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Roberts, faith and government are linked arm in arm....

Read more about The Spirituality of Congress

Atheists Challenge the Religious Right

January 4, 2007

Author: Jane Lampman

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0104/p13s01-lire.html

For some time, the religious right has decried "secular humanism," a philosophy that rejects the supernatural or spiritual as a basis for moral decision-making. But now, nonbelievers are vigorously fighting back.

Only a small percentage of Americans admit to being nontheists (between 2 and 9 percent, depending on the poll), but...

Read more about Atheists Challenge the Religious Right

"Religious Intolerance Does Not Exemplify Nation's Values," a Commentary by Bill Maxwell

January 3, 2007

Author: Bill Maxwell

Source: Ventura County Star

http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/opinion/article/0,1375,VCS_125_5252123,00.html

CHASE CITY, Va. -- The Christmas holidays brought me to southern Virginia, where Republican Rep. Virgil Goode recently made headlines.

When the majority of voters in most parts of the nation have told the GOP they are weary of blatant intolerance and crude attacks against people...

Read more about "Religious Intolerance Does Not Exemplify Nation's Values," a Commentary by Bill Maxwell

Airport Hesitant to Grant Muslim Prayer Room

January 3, 2007

Author: EMILY GURNON

Source: Pioneer Press

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/16370149.htm

Somali immigrants passing through Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport want a private place to say Muslim prayers. The airport suggests they share a room with people of other religions.

Like a new couple learning to dance, immigrants and their adopted countries often trip each other up, and the prayer-room issue is...

Read more about Airport Hesitant to Grant Muslim Prayer Room

Priest Brings Zen to S.F.'s Neediest Souls

January 3, 2007

Author: Justin Berton

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/03/MNG73NC2QC1.DTL

Inside the community room of the Raman Hotel, a single-room occupancy hotel at Howard and Sixth streets, Jana Drakka set up a makeshift altar for a tenant named Guillermo who had died a week earlier.

"Memo," as his fellow residents and caseworkers knew him, was a 76-year-old World War II...

Read more about Priest Brings Zen to S.F.'s Neediest Souls

First Muslim in U.S. Congress to Use Historic Koran

January 3, 2007

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: Reuters

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010300790.html

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, attacked for planning to use the Koran at his swearing-in instead of a Bible, will use a copy of the Muslim holy book once owned by Thomas Jefferson, an official said on Wednesday.

Representative-elect...

Read more about First Muslim in U.S. Congress to Use Historic Koran

Social, Religious Funds Have Big Returns

January 2, 2007

Author: Tim Paradis

Source: Las Vegas Sun

Wire Service: AP

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/invest-econ/2007/jan/02/010202184.html

NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street presumably isn't a place where those hoping to mend their ways in the new year might turn for inspiration. But some investors looking to better align their social or religious convictions with their investments have found...

Read more about Social, Religious Funds Have Big Returns

Inmate Religion Law Upheld in Virginia

January 2, 2007

Author: Matt Reed

Source: The Washington Times

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20070101-114037-6846r.htm

RICHMOND -- A federal appeals court has upheld a federal law that protects the rights of prison inmates to practice their religion.

The state of Virginia had challenged the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), contending that Congress had exceeded its...

Read more about Inmate Religion Law Upheld in Virginia

Touting the Muslim Culture in the Bible Belt

January 2, 2007

Author: KATHY HANRAHAN

Source: The Buffalo News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070102/1005965.asp

JACKSON, Miss. - This mid-sized Southern city with its thriving Baptist, Methodist and Catholic churches may seem an unlikely home for one of the only museums in the United States devoted entirely to Muslim culture.

Still, the International Museum of Muslim Culture opened in April...

Read more about Touting the Muslim Culture in the Bible Belt

Pages