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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

Source: The Detroit News

Wire Service: AP

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...

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...

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...

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...

Author: SRIREKHA N. CHAKRAVARTY

Source: India Post News Service

http://www.indiapost.com/members/story.php?story_id=5967

NEW JERSEY: The New Year may light up a historic development in the State of New Jersey - the recognition of October 15th through November 15th of each year as "Diwali Month."

This, following a landmark resolution-AJR-123 introduced by Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula in 2006 and supported by Senator Barbara Buono with...

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...

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...

Author: MAYA KREMEN

Source: North Jersey Media Group

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk0NSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA0OTgzOCZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTM=

PROSPECT PARK -- Mayor Mohamed Khairullah took office in Prospect Park Monday.

The mayor's voicemail is full of pleas. Two residents want handicapped parking permits. A man...

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...