Civic

St. Louis Celebrates Pagan Picnic

June 17, 2002

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On June 17, 2002 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on a "two-day Pagan Picnic in Tower Grove Park [in St. Louis, Missouri]... Sponsored by the Council For Alternative Spiritual Traditions, the picnic is a chance for pagans to celebrate being pagans, said River Higginbotham, chair of this year's 10th-annual event. Local pagans also see it as an educational opportunity - a chance to let the public know what paganism is all about... Higginbotham estimated [that the picnic] attracted about 2,500 people this year. Over the...

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Sikh Man Fired: Turban Violates NYPD Uniform Policy

June 17, 2002

Source: Newsday

On June 17, 2002, Newsday featured the Editorial: "Police Department Should Rethink Policy on Turbans" which focused on the case of Amric Singh Rathour. "Rathour should not be forced to compromise the fundamental tenets of his religion unless officials show that his turban and beard put him or the public at risk when he writes tickets and directs traffic... Canada's Supreme Court ruled a decade ago that it was discriminatory to prohibit turban-wearing Sikhs from police work without safety reasons. Why shouldn't the same standard apply...

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Boston Suburb Hosts Local Forum on Discrimination Against Arab-Americans

June 16, 2002

Source: The Boston Globe

On June 16, 2002 The Boston Globe reported on the upcoming forum "After 9/11: Freedom and Tolerance in the US and Watertown," in Watertown, MA. The event "is sponsored by the Justice with Peace Task Force of Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety and The World in Watertown... The idea for the forum came from a woman of Russian descent, Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, who heard... stories from her Arab-American friends who were having problems... Two guest speakers will address civil liberties issues and fighting...

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Increase in Hate Crimes in Texas

June 15, 2002

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On June 15, 2002 The Houston Chronicle reported that "hate crimes reported in Texas rose 50 percent last year with dramatic jumps in those aimed at Arabs and Hispanics, the Texas Department of Public Safety reported."

Mosque Grand Opening Attracts Area Leaders in Utah

June 15, 2002

Source: The Deseret News

On June 15, 2002 The Deseret News reported on "the grand opening of the newly expanded Khadeeja Masjid in West Valley City, [Utah]. The expansion of the mosque triples its size and adds a copper-colored dome... Gov. Michael Leavitt, Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, University of Utah President Bernie Machen and Elder Cree-L Kofford ... of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are among those scheduled to attend the grand opening. The public is also invited... [Area] Muslims now number somewhere between 15,000 and 20,...

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Boston Area Haitians Practice Vodou in Private

June 15, 2002

Source: The Boston Globe

On June 15, 2002 The Boston Globe featured an article on the vodou practice of the Haitian community in Boston. "Wesleyan scholar Elizabeth McAlister says vodou historically has been a force for good in Haiti, intimately woven with the struggle for civil rights and against poverty... Yet the... popular misperceptions and a relatively small Haitian community in Boston means vodou in this area is practiced in the privacy of homes and basements, unlike in New York or Miami, which have larger vodou populations and occasional public...

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National Interfaith Alliance Expands Membership and Programs

June 15, 2002

Source: New York Daily News

On June 15, 2002 the New York Daily News featured an article on "the Interfaith Alliance, with headquarters in Washington, [which] claims 150,000 members who represent 69 faiths, ranging (alphabetically) from African Methodist Episcopal to Zoroastrian, a religion dating to ancient Persia. Members represent themselves, not their denominations... [and membership] grew by 20,000 last year alone... The alliance was founded in 1994 to counter the political activities of the religious right... The Interfaith Alliance plans to...

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Clergy Sexual Abuse Across Traditions

June 15, 2002

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On June 15, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle featured an article on clergy sexual abuse cases. The article outlines the open way the International Society for Krishna Consciousness handled allegations of sexual abuse and how that differs from the actions of the Catholic Church. "The Krishna case, which is still in the courts, alleges that dozens of children of Hare Krishna members were abused in the 1970s at church boarding schools in Texas, West Virginia and New York... Hare Krishna spokesman Anantanda Dasa... [said]...

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Editorial Challenges Remarks at Republican Party of Texas Convention

June 14, 2002

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On June 14, 2002 The Houston Chronicle featured the Editorial "Church and Hate" discussing "religious bigotry... At its state convention in Dallas, the Republican Party of Texas on Saturday adopted a platform that falsely declares the United States to be a 'Christian nation,' when the United States was the first to eschew an official church and to guarantee freedom of creed and conscience. The platform also retains language that commits the party to work 'to dispel the myth of separation of church and state.'"

Alarm Over Anti-Muslim Comments at Southern Baptist Convention Meeting

June 12, 2002

Source: The New York Times

On June 12, 2002 The New York Times reported "Church Head Won't Repudiate Comments." The article noted that "the new head of the Southern Baptist Convention has rejected calls to repudiate what a Muslim group is calling 'bigoted' and 'hate-filled' statements made by one of its pastors. The Rev. Jack Graham, elected the convention's president on Tuesday, said the Rev. Jerry Vines' comments about Islam were 'accurate.' Vines, a former convention president, told conventioners at a pastors' conference Monday that many of this country...

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NCCJ Denounces Racial and Ethnic Profiling at Annual Meeting

June 12, 2002

Source: The Buffalo News

On June 12, 2002 The Buffalo News reported that "as government officials urge Americans to help uncover would-be terrorists, a national anti-bigotry group says those efforts must not include racial and ethnic stereotyping... Brian Foss, executive vice president of the National Conference for Community and Justice... was the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the NCCJ's Western New York Regional Chapter at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo... Speaking before the event, Foss warned that racial and ethnic profiling are on the rise...

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