Civic

Supreme Court Decides Not to Review Indiana Ruling over Ten Commandments

May 30, 2001

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On May 30, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "a hotly contested ruling that an Indiana city must remove a statue containing the Ten Commandments from outside City Hall will not face Supreme Court review, a divided court said." A lawyer supporting display of the Commandments said that the high court's decision not to review the case would "only add to the confusion surrounding the displays of Ten Commandments in communities across the country." His opponents, however, said that "the Supreme Court decision not to review...

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Worries about Discrimination under Faith-Based Initiative Are Unfounded, Say Some

May 28, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

On May 28, 2001, The Washington Post published an opinion piece by Nathan J. Diament, the director of public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, in which he rebutted one of the criticisms of Bush's faith-based initiative. "Now opponents of the faith-based initiative...claim that allowing federal grants to institutions enjoying the exemption [from the Civil Rights Act of 1964] amounts to subsidizing employment discrimination with taxpayer dollars. Their assumption is that faith-based hiring by...

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Protestors Demand Catholic Church Allow Women to Be Ordained

May 27, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On May 27, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that opponents of the Catholic Church's ban on the ordination of women protested outside the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston, where seven men were recently ordained as priests.

School Board Criticized for Mishandling Suit over Religious Songs Sung by School Choir

May 27, 2001

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On May 27, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch published an opinion piece that charges the Columbus school district with being "seriously out of tune on the issue of religion in the schools...Last June student choirs at Columbus Alternative High School and Fort Hayes Arts and Academic High School sang songs with a Christian theme...As a result, several parents complained that the performances amounted to school sponsorship of religion...School board members didn't want to come up with a policy" limiting the religious content of choral...

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Offensive Term in House Testimony Increases Worries about Faith-Based Initiative

May 25, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On May 25, 2001, The New York Times reported that the Rev. John D. Castellani, president of the drug-treatment program Teen Challenge International U.S.A., used the term "completed Jews" in testimony before a House subcommittee. "The term 'completed Jews' is now in use by some evangelical Christians and Jewish converts to describe Jews who have accepted Jesus as their savior. To many Jews it is offensive...Jewish and civil liberties groups are using the testimony as fresh evidence that the president's initiative will result in...

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Jehovah's Witnesses Gather to Encourage People to Study Scripture Independently

May 25, 2001

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On May 25, 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that "fifteen thousand Jehovah's Witnesses from across the Midwest are expected to gather at Comiskey Park [in Chicago] for a three-day convention encouraging people to study scripture for themselves. 'We feel while many people have their own religion, much of it has been inherited, and very few people actually know why they are what they are,' said Jesse Graziani, news service representative for the Jehovah's Witnesses."

Bush Promotes Faith-Based Initiative Before Cleveland Audiences

May 25, 2001

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On May 25, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported that "Bush came to Cleveland yesterday to promote his faith-based initiative in visits to a food pantry and a school for the disabled...Ohio is one of only five states to embrace charitable choice. The state's county welfare agencies award $ 25 million a year to faith- based organizations."

Utah Man Convicted of Polygamy

May 24, 2001

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On May 24, 2001, The San Diego Union-Tribune published an op-ed article by Henry Mark Holzer, a First Amendment rights expert and a professor emeritus at Brooklyn Law School, in which he condemned the conviction of Tom Green for polygamy. Holzer wrote that "the First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion." The Supreme Court ruling in a similar nineteenth-century case, Reynolds vs. United States, "reeks with blatant racism." The justices in that case condemned polygamy because it was "almost exclusively a...

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Judge's Ruling Forbids School-Sponsored Baccalaureate Services

May 23, 2001

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On May 23, 2001, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "in a ruling yesterday afternoon from his courtroom in Johnstown [Pennsylvania], U.S. District Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith told the 1,000-student school district that it couldn't hold the May 31 baccalaureate service in the school auditorium, sponsor the service or conduct rehearsals for it. Doing otherwise would be a First Amendment violation, Smith ruled...Berlin Brothersvalley was [thus] ushered out of the dwindling minority of school districts still conducting...

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Indian Community in Queens Growing

May 22, 2001

Source: Newsday

On May 22, 2001, Newsday reported that "evidence of the explosive growth of Queens' Indian population is showing up in neighborhoods across the borough, way beyond the borders of the community's historical base in Jackson Heights...The population growth is welcomed by Indian community and religious leaders who have learned that higher population numbers can be translated into a stronger political base, better social services and wider opportunities for future generations."

Update: Hindus, Muslims, and Vegetarians Sue McDonald's over Use of Beef Flavoring in Fries

May 20, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On May 20, 2001, The New York Times reported on an observant Hindu, Brij Sharma, who "is one of three plaintiffs representing the Hindus and vegetarians of America in a lawsuit filed on May 1 in Seattle that accuses McDonald's of deliberately misleading its American customers." In 1990, McDonald's announced that it was switching from beef fat to "100 percent vegetable oil" to cook its French fries. Sharma "and other American Hindus were outraged to learn that McDonald's French fries are seasoned in the factory with beef flavoring...

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New Orleans Clergy Cautious about Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

May 19, 2001

Source: The Times-Picayune

On May 19, 2001, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported on a panel of pastors and social workers that convened in New Orleans to hear about Bush's plans for his faith-based initiative. "They were notably cautious...Clergy panelists stressed the traps implicit in accepting federal money to do the social work of their ministries...They worried about limits on what they could preach, and to whom; the potential loss...of independence...; and a reluctance to become sophisticated accounting agencies."

Interfaith Dialogue with Dalai Lama Finds Ways for Diverse Religions to Coexist Peacefully

May 19, 2001

Source: Star Tribune

On May 19, 2001, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on an interfaith dialogue with seven local clergy and the Dalai Lama. The topic of the panel was "'How Can Diverse Religions Communities Create Peace in the World?' In their response, the Dalai Lama and this distinguished panel promoted the idea that religions can be diverse without being a lot different. 'All religions carry same teaching, same goal, same potential,' the Dalai Lama said."

Seminar at UCLA Explores How to Bring Peace to Middle East

May 19, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On May 19, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "a daylong seminar on ways to bring peace to the Holy Land...held...at UCLA by a coalition of liberal Jewish peace activists, Muslim organizations and Christians." The seminar is called "The Israeli-Palestinian Crisis: New Conversations for a Pluralist Future."

Monks Lead Movement to Revive Christin Meditation Practices

May 19, 2001

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On May 19, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "Christian meditation is crossing denominational lines and attracting thousands of spiritual seekers, especially baby boomers." The article reported on two monks who "lead international movements that promote meditation not as new spiritual practice but as a return to a contemplative form of prayer developed in early Christianity...They were in Houston last week giving joint presentations on meditation."

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