Civic

Two Voices on the Role of Religion in Democracy

May 1, 2004

Source: The Kansas City Star

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/living/religion/8560007.htm

On May 1, 2004 The Kansas City Star published responses by a Buddhist monk and a Baptist Reverend to the question: "Should religion play a part in our democratic system of government?" The Rev. Tony Cobbins, pastor of Canaan Missionary Baptist Church, said: "I personally feel that religion should definitely play a role in the democratic process......

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Congressman Reprimanded for Omitting "Under God" in the Pledge

April 30, 2004

Source: The First Amendment Center

http://www.fac.org/rel_liberty/publiclife/news.aspx?id=13261

On April 30, 2004 The First Amendment Center reported, "In an unusual public reprimand, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi chastised Rep. Jim McDermott of Washington for omitting the words 'under God' while leading the House in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. It is unusual for the leader of a political party to publicly chastise a member of the party's rank-...

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Government Struggles To Prevent Spread of Extremist Islam

April 30, 2004

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/international/europe/30FRAN.html

On April 30, 2004 The New York Times reported, "France has long maintained one of the strictest antiterrorism programs in Europe, in part because the country was hit early by Islamist terror and because it has the largest Muslim population on the Continent. Many other countries in Europe have been far more tolerant in allowing radical discourse to flourish in...

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Vandalism Against Jewish Couple May be Tied to Prayer Lawsuit

April 30, 2004

Source: The Forward

http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=liss200404291107

On April 30, 2004 The Forward reported, "Police suspect a link between the recent defacement of the home of Steven and Carol Rosenauer and the Jewish couple's legal crusade to stop the recitation of the Lord's Prayer at school board meetings in Bradenton, a city in Manatee County near Sarasota. On April 9, during Passover, the Rosenauers discovered that their home had been...

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Time to Abandon the "No Turbans" Policy

April 29, 2004

Source: The Sikh Coalition

On April 29, 2004 The Sikh Coalition issued a press release stating: "The New York City Police Department should adopt the recommendation of an administrative law judge that a Sikh traffic enforcement agent be allowed to wear his turban on the job, the Sikh Coalition said today. Administrative Law Judge Donna Merris recommended yesterday that Jagjit Singh Jaggi, who resigned rather than be forced to wear a hat, be reinstated and allowed to wear a turban while working as a traffic enforcement agent. The judge's recommendation...

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Citing Free Speech, Chicago Couple Can Buy a Brick for Jesus

April 29, 2004

Source: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty

http://www.becketfund.org/press/2004/042904.html

On April 29, 2004 The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty reported, "Robert and Mildred Tong today won a decisive victory in their battle to 'buy a brick' in a Chicago park near their home that says 'Jesus is the Cornerstone.' U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo issued a broad and emphatically worded opinion and order in Robert Tong and Mildred Tong v. Chicago Park District in which...

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Editorial: OR Mayor Demonstrates the Power of Taking a Stand

April 28, 2004

Source: The Oregonian

http://www.oregonlive.com/editorials/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1083153773240511.xml

On April 28, 2004 The Oregonian published an editorial noting, "Tuesday, the organizers of the Mayors' Prayer Breakfast of Washington County canceled the event, which had been planned for May 5. The event's demise this year is a small, and potent, demonstration of what can happen when good people refuse to...

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MN Council of Churches Work With Hmong American Partnership to Aid Refugees

April 28, 2004

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0428/p02s01-ussc.html

On April 28, 2004 The Christian Science Monitor reported on the 15,000 Hmong refugees in Wat Tham Krabok, an unofficial refugee camp some two hours from Thailand, who have languished, largely forgotten, since the UN closed its last Hmong refugee camps in the mid 1990s. "Now, the United States is offering to resettle all who want to come, provided they aren't criminals and can...

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Call to Prayer Verdict Provokes Outrage in Hamtramck

April 28, 2004

Source: The Detroit Free Press

http://www.freep.com/news/locway/pray28_20040428.htm

On April 28, 2004 The Detroit Free Press reportedm "The Hamtramck City Council's unanimous approval Tuesday night of a plan to allow the Muslim call to prayer to be broadcast on loudspeakers five times a day in Arabic has outraged many of the city's Polish Catholic residents. They said they'll start a petition drive to bring the issue to a vote. Others have said they'll file lawsuits...

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Southern Baptists Join Muslims and the NCC to Help the Uninsured

April 27, 2004

Source: The Associated Baptist Press

http://www.abpnews.com/abpnews/story.cfm?newsId=4235

On April 27, 2004 The Associated Baptist Press reported, "Perhaps only a problem as daunting as the 40-plus million Americans lacking health insurance could bring together officials from groups as diverse as the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Council of Churches, and the Islamic Society of North America. Those groups as well as Catholic, Jewish, Pentecostal and other...

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Ohio Mosque Responds to Imam's Arrest With Open House

April 26, 2004

Source: The Cleveland Plain Dealer

http://www.cleveland.com/search/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/108297690628468

On April 26, 2004 The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported, "Ray Mickol will not be converting to Islam anytime soon, but the Catholic West Sider and his family left Sunday's open house at the Cleveland Islamic Center's Grand Mosque with two large plates of Middle Eastern delicacies and smiles that could not have been bigger. Mickol, his daughter...

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Controversy Over the Call to Prayer Reverberates Across the Nation

April 26, 2004

Source: The Detroit News

http://www.detnews.com/2004/religion/0404/29/a01-133933.htm

On April 26, 2004 The Detroit News reported, "Next month, Hamtramck will become one of the few cities in the United States where the Islamic call to prayer is broadcast onto public streets. The impact of that decision is reverberating across the nation. Loudspeakers on an old brick building in Hamtramck have become a symbol of the struggle between tolerance and tradition, and...

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