Source: The New York Times

On July 24, 2001, The New York Times reported that, "in Canada, Mr. Bush's [faith-based] initiative would be superfluous, because the government has financed faith-based organizations for most of the last 100 years without any worry that church and state were too close." Now the Canadian government is cutting back on funds to social services, however. The president of the housing corporation at Newtonbrook United Church siad, "I don't think it's good to have everything done by the government. But I think that maybe this has...

Source: American Muslim Council

On July 23, 2001, the American Muslim Council reported that "a coalition representing nine major Muslim groups in New Jersey issued a joint statement today expressing its dismay over anti-Muslim bigotry in remarks made last week by the campaign of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim McGreevey. This bigotry was manifest in attempts to ostracize the American Muslim Alliance, a mainstream American Muslim civic organization." McGreevey said "he would refuse to attend events organized by the group or accept donations from its members...

Source: The Boston Globe

On July 23, 2001, The Boston Globe published an editorial on Bush's faith-based bill, which said, "the bill ought to die in [the Senate] for sheer lack of clarity." Its guarantee to religious groups of autonomy and its prohibition of proselytizing, for example, are contradictory, the piece said. "The United States has thrived by keeping church and state at arm's length."

Source: Newsday

On July 23, 2001, Newsday published an editorial that said, "The House has just passed a constitutionally iffy bill...It's an improvement on the costly 'faith-based initiative' originally proposed by President...Bush, but it still needs a lot of work to merit passage by the Senate...The best thing the House did was shrink the new tax breaks the bill would offer to charitable givers...[However,] organizations, religious or otherwise, that violate state antidiscrimination laws shouldn't be eligible for federal funding."

Source: The Washington Post

On July 23, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "state officials announced that the petition drive [to repeal Maryland's new gay rights law] has netted 47,539 valid signatures, enough to delay the law's implementation and put the matter before Maryland voters...The drive owes its unexpected success to an unusual coalition of Catholics, Baltimore Muslims, social conservatives and Christian activists...Coalition leaders are largely ignoring the law's stated intent of extending legal protections to gays and focusing instead on...

Source: The Harford Courant

On July 22, 2001, The Harford Courant published an editorial on the faith-based initiative recently passed in the House, which said, "the House inadvisably strengthened what Thomas Paine called 'the adulterous connection of church and state.'...It will now be up to the Senate to say no to a well-meaning but constitutionally offensive."

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On July 22, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution featured an article on the differing views of the Gwich'in Indians of Arctic Village and the Inupiat Eskimos of Kaktovik on Bush's proposal to drill for oil in Alaska. Gwich'in Indians rely on caribou for sustenance, and hold caribou and the land as sacred. Drilling for oil threatens both; tribal leadership sees it as a matter of human rights. In 1971, the Inupiat yielded their tribal claims to land for a cash settlement and title to some land and undelying...

Source: Newsday

On July 21, 2001, Newsday reported on Dr. Uma Mysorekar, President of the Hindu Temple Society of North America, who contributed $1 million to help finance its community center. Born in India, she has a private gynecology practice and is heavily involved in social work. Her philosophy is, "Every human being must have a religion, no matter which religion."

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On July 21, 2001, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "some future neighbors of the North Coast Church campus [an evangelical church] say the 365,000-square-foot complex -- as big as three typical Wal-Mart stores -- will destroy the area's country character with bright lights, big buildings and an increase in traffic. And, a neighborhood group says the City Council could face a lawsuit if it approves the project."

Source: The Dallas Morning News

On July 21, 2001, The Dallas Morning News reported on Abdul Haqq, a Sufi shaykh, "a disciple of a Muslim mystical tradition that is more than 1,200 years old." He converted from Judaism 25 years ago. For the past 20 years, he has traveled "around the country explaining Sufism to non-Muslims and...carrying a spiritual power to fellow Sufis...Even many Muslims don't approve of Sufism...Sufism is a tradition with similarities to Jewish Hasidism and to some Christian religious orders."

Source: The Baltimore Sun

On July 20, 2001, The Baltimore Sun reported that "the House voted mostly along party lines...to approve a bill to allow more federal money to go to religious charities that deliver social services...The leaders secured the votes after pledging that changes would be made to the bill after it goes to the Senate to bar religious groups that receive federal money from discriminating on other grounds, particularly against homosexuals...The bill faces an uncertain future...in the Democratic-led Senate."

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On July 20, 2001, The Houston Chronicle published a piece on people demonstrating outside the Chinese consulate in Houston who "are calmly drawing attention to the Chinese government's persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual movement...The Chinese government has sent thousands of Falun Gong followers to prison or labor camps...As long as the United States nourishes liberty and China's rulers war against it, relations between the two nations will not and cannot be smooth."

Source: Council on Islamic-American Relations

On July 20, 2001, the Council on Islamic-American Relations reported that "CAIR is calling on Muslims in New Jersey and nationwide to express their support for a gubernatorial candidate's refusal to disassociate himself from that state's Muslim community, despite pressure to do so...New Jersey Republican candidate Bret Schundler has come under fire for speaking at a meeting of the American Muslim Alliance (AMA)." The Anti-Defamation League found Schundler's presence at the meeting "troubling," because of "unspecified...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On July 19, 2001, The Plain Dealer reported that "a guard at a Grafton [Ohio] prison is suing the state, claiming that his bosses won't let him pray behind bars. Dawoud Kareem Muhammad...filed a First Amendment claim in U.S. District Court in Cleveland...His attorney...said the prison discriminated against Muhammad because employees can wear crucifixes under their uniforms," but he is not allowed to wear a skullcap under his uniform hat.

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On July 19, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution published an editorial, which said that "President Bush's faith-based initiative is about to be done in" by Democrats concerned about discriminatory hiring practices. "The more important issue, of course, is not who is hired or not hired to work in the programs but the recipients of the services. The issue that faith-based groups can affect a change in a recipient's behavior...has been drowned out by the insidious attacks of" Bush's opponents.