Source: USA TODAY

On February 20, 2002, USA TODAY reported that "patriotic fervor in the wake of the terrorist attacks has helped revive an effort to post the words 'In God We Trust' in every school in the nation... 'This has exploded because of 9/11,' says Donald Wildmon, president of the American Family Association... Leaders of the fundamentalist Christian group have been working for three years to persuade states to display the national motto in school libraries, cafeterias and classrooms. The group even pledged to defend in court any legal...

Source: Newsday

On February 18, 2002, Newsday reported that "when Manny and Kathy Koukoulas moved into their new house in Commack [New York] four months ago, they put out their statue of the Virgin Mary The 3-foot-tall porcelain figure of the Madonna stood in the front lawn... Kathy Koukoulas, 38, was surprised when she shuffled through her mail one night last month and found an official-looking letter apparently sent by a local community organization asking her to remove the statue... 'Perhaps you will understand that this has become an annoyance to...

Source: The Deseret News

On February 18, 2002, The Deseret News reported that "with smoke from incense curling around the ceiling of Salt Lake City's Indian Walk-in Center Sunday, the city's Tibetans opened a day of celebration for the Year of the Water Horse. The prayers of the group, chanted in a traditional Sangal ceremony, joined the essence of the smoke as it permeated the open hall... Before performing religious rites directed toward a large photo of the Dalai Lama, spiritual and political head of the world's Tibetans, a circle of celebrants...

Source: The Syracuse Post-Standard

http://www.syracuse.com/news/syrnewspapers/index.ssf?/newsstories/20020217_rotrip.html

On February 17, 2002, The Syracuse Post-Standard featured the article "7,500 Miles to Redemption: Local man to represent community at Sikh event in India." It reported on the journey of Mark Lichtenstein, president of a local school board, to India: "For the 40-year-old Oswego County resident, the next 11 days will...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On February 17, 2002, The Atlanta Journal and Consitution featured an article on the trial of Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin. Formerly know as H. Rap Brown, he was "a combative man who attacked the racist political and economic system he saw as infecting America in the 1960s, first by registering voters and later by urging blacks to arm themselves... Then he... vanished for most of America after he took on a new name, new religion and new persona. As the soft-spoken Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, he joined a branch of Sunni...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 16, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that "Islam's two preeminent African American leaders... Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and W.D. Muhammad of the Muslim American Society [who were] separated by two decades of rivalry before reconciling two years ago, reaffirmed unity Friday in their first joint appearance in Los Angeles... Once united under Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, they split 25 years ago over doctrine, with W.D. Muhammad rejecting his father's blend of Islam and black nationalism...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 16, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that "this month's flap over whether Qurans containing anti-Jewish commentary should be pulled from public schools underscores a question of growing prominence in today's pluralistic times: How do you make sure ancient scriptures mesh with modern-day sensibilities?... The prevailing answer among scholars: You can't. No scripture is politically correct--nor, many scholars argue, should anyone expect it to be... Religious scholars say there is a plenty of political...

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/046/business/Airline_faces_bias_complaint+.shtml

On February 15, 2002, The Boston Globe reported "Airline faces bias complaint." It noted, "A 32-year-old Arab-American ... plans to file a discrimination complaint today that alleges American Airlines barred him from boarding a Boston-to-Los Angeles flight three months ago and publicly humiliated him because of his 'Arab name.'" The...

Source: The Detroit Free-Press

http://www.freep.com/news/metro/darab15_20020215.htm

On February 15, 2002, The Detroit Free-Press reported "Ford donates $2 million to Arab-American center." It noted, "In one of the largest contributions ever to an Arab-American group, Ford Motor Co. announced Thursday that it will give $2 million to the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) for projects that include a new museum and cultural center. ... The...

Source: The Boston Globe

On Tuesday February 14, 2002, The Boston Globe reported that "Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam had the right to exclude women from a 1994 speech at a Dorchester [MA] theater,... a state court ruled... The civil rights of Marceline Donaldson... who sued after she wasn't allowed to hear Farrakhan speak, were not violated, the Supreme Judicial Court decided... Donaldson did not prove that the speech, sponsored by a local mosque, was a public event."

Source: New York Daily News

On February 13, 2002, The New York Daily News reported that Councilman Simcha Felder is working to get "easier parking for observers of the upcoming Jewish Purim... as they deliver their traditional gifts or attend synagogues... Felder, of Brooklyn, has launched a lobbying campaign to get the alternate-side-of-the-street parking rules temporarily suspended for this Purim... Felder and more than 30 Council allies have reintroduced a bill to add Purim to the list of 29 legal and religious holidays on which the alternate-side...

Source: Northwest News Channel 8

http://www.kgw.com/kgwnews/oregonwash_story.html?StoryID=36712

On February 13, 2002, The Northwest News Channel 8 reported that "a Zen Buddhist organization has received approval to open a monastery and seminary in a vacant elementary school after weeks of debate over whether to allow the move... The Zen Community of Oregon, which was formed in the...

Source: The New York Times

On February 12, 2002, The New York Times reported that "barely six months ago, Buddhism -- Tibetan and Zen -- was on a phenomenal upsurge in the New York area, attracting eager students to rural monasteries and urban meditation centers. Then came the attacks on the United States and the American war in Afghanistan. Nonviolence is no longer in fashion, particularly in New York, where the scars go deep and wounds are still fresh months after the destruction of the World Trade Center... Messages of peace and compassion that once...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On February 12, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "the 'Hiroshima Flame' kindled 57 years ago from embers of the atomic bombing of Japan... wends its way across America... Its escorts are a diverse group: a seemingly indefatigable Japanese nun who's walked across the United States four times, a Native American elder from Massachusetts, an idealistic 15-year-old girl from Honolulu, and others united in the hope that their unusual spiritual pilgrimage will foster world peace... The five-month journey...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 11, 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported that "leaders at one of the largest Buddhist temples in the Vietnamese community on Sunday criticized a decision by Garden Grove [CA] officials to restrict parking for a popular service on the eve of the Lunar New Year... 'They've blocked too many streets for such an important day,' said the Rev. Thich Phap Chau of the Vietnam Temple, which attracts about 1,000 worshipers... 'People only come here for mass and they leave,' Chau said. 'It's just like going to church on Christmas...