Civic

Ohio Interfaith Association Works for Peace and Human Rights

February 16, 2001

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On February 16, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported on the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, which has 350 members from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Baha'ism, Islam and Judaism. All are volunteers. "The missions of the association...are to educate its members and the public about customs of different faiths and to provide interfaith public worship and ceremonies related to local and global concerns." The association's projects, which range from peace-training programs in public schools to the creation of...

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Controversy over Faith-Specific Prayers at Legislative Meetings

February 15, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

On February 15, 2001, The Washington Post reported on the controversy over faith-specific prayers at the meetings of legislative bodies. "Maryland and Florida, for instance, both have rules that prayer should be non-sectarian." Some counties deal with the problem by rotating faiths in their choice of religious speakers at meetings; others have given up on prayer altogether. Other legislative bodies instruct the religious leaders who come to speak to keep their prayers nonsectarian. "But some say prayer in and of itself is...

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Catholics and Muslims Forge Interfaith Bonds

February 14, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 14, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on the second annual meeting between top West Coast Catholic and Muslim leaders. The meeting "was designed to promote better understanding between the faiths and forge partnerships to counter what they see as the evils in secularized society, including abortion and pornography." It is a chance for those attending to build friendships that will lead to "local interfaith cooperation and action," and to deepen their understanding of spiritual matters by engaging in dialogue with...

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Denver Citizens Strategize to Prevent Lawsuit over Display of Ten Commandments

February 12, 2001

Source: Rocky Mountain News

On February 12, 2001, the Denver Rocky Mountain News reported that "the threat of a civil liberties lawsuit may result in city voters casting ballots to save the Ten Commandments tablet in front of [Denver] City Hall by giving it away, or by selling about 45 square feet of property to a private group...The American Civil Liberties Union...contacted the city last September to call the tablet an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment...The tablet was provided to the city in 1958 by the Fraternal Order of Eagles." The...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

February 12, 2001

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On February 12, 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that in a recent speech about black history at a Chicago church, the Rev. Jesse Jackson "issued warnings about faith-based social service programs funded by the government...[He said the] 'church must not...compromise its independence.'"

Op-Ed Articles Respond to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

February 11, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 11, 2001, the Los Angeles Times published a piece by Judith F. Daar, a professor of law at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, California, in which she criticized Bush's new faith-based proposal. Daar writes, "I am concerned that no longer will separation of church and state mean the government cannot fund religious organizations' missions to preach the tenets of their faith. Instead, separation could merely require that in so proselytizing, religious groups must also lend a helping hand to the downtrodden. To say that...

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Op-Ed Articles Respond to Bush's Faith-Based Initiative

February 11, 2001

Source: Los Angeles Times

On February 11, 2001, the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed piece by Judith F. Daar, a professor of law at Whittier Law School in, Costa Mesa, California, in which she criticized Bush's new faith-based initiative. She sees a trend in the Bush administration of disregarding the First Amendment regarding the separation of church and state. "From the multiple utterances of God and Jesus in the inaugural ceremonies to removing funding for international family planning organizations, we have seen President Bush's own faith dictate...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

February 11, 2001

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On February 11, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "social-service leaders and the legal watchdogs who monitor them" are threatening to sue "faith-based groups that take the federal dollars President Bush is touting...Civil-liberties groups would be most likely to sue over allegations of religious coercion of social-service clients or over discriminatory hiring practices among those agencies that seek employees from their own faith." A leader from one of these groups predicts 20 to 30 lawsuits across the country, which...

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American Chooses the Life of a Hindu Holy Woman

February 10, 2001

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On February 10, 2001, The Houston Chronicle published an article on 29-year-old Sadhavi Bhagwati, formerly Phoebe Garfield. "The Stanford University graduate was transformed into a living Hindu saint, or holy woman, in four years. In Hinduism, a saint is a person who has attained a high level of personal sanctity through meditation and good works. The individual's guru or swami bestows the rank. A male saint is known as a sadhu; a woman is called sadhavi. Bhagwati is a leading figure of Parmarth Niketan," a Hindu religious...

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Use of Jesus' Name in Bush's Inauguration Discussed

February 10, 2001

Source: The Washington Post

On February 10, 2001, The Washington Post published an article on the responses it received to a question it posed in January: "Should religious leaders and laypeople who pray in public use only universal terms such as 'Almighty God' and 'Lord'? Or should they offer their customary prayers?...Of the 194 readers who responded...104 said that only universal language should be used in prayers [at public occasions]. Sixty-eight people supported specific references to Jesus, Allah, Krishna or other deities, and 22 opposed public...

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Bush Appoints Minister to Faith Office

February 10, 2001

Source: The Boston Globe

On February 10, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "the Rev. Mark Scott of Dorchester[ Mass.] was appointed yesterday to coordinate community outreach in President Bush's new Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Scott, 38, is the director of the Ella J. Baker House, a faith-based home that provides educational and other services to troubled teenagers. Scott will be responsible for identifying social ministries and community groups around the country that could be candidates for federal funds to fight poverty...[He]...

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Mixed Reactions to Funding of Faith-Based Organizations

February 10, 2001

Source: The New York Times

On February 10, 2001, The New York Times reported that "the day after President Bush established the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, John J. DiIulio Jr., its first director, attended a public discussion of his new office at the National Press Club in Washington...The discussion (a full transcript is available at http://pewforum.org/events/0130/) revealed some of the fundamental differences in perspective dividing supporters and opponents of 'faith-based...

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U.S. Responds to Earthquake in India

February 8, 2001

Source: The Boston Herald

On February 8, 2001, The Boston Herald reported that "the local Indian community plans to adopt families, villages and schools in the earthquake-ravaged Gujarat region and target donations and long-term support...The groups decided to pool their efforts in order to get the most for each dollar raised...The meeting of 22 Indian social organizations in Cambridge Sunday brought together Hindus, Moslems, Jains and Sikhs, and people from diverse Indian regions and ethnic groups." One local group, Hindu Swayansewak Sangh, has raised...

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Ashcroft's Appointment Marks Shift In Role of Pentecostals

February 7, 2001

Source: Star Tribune

On February 7, 2001, the Minneapolis Star Tribune published an article by Donald E. Miller, which said that "the Senate approval of John Ashcroft as attorney general signals an important shift in the religious demography of the United States. For years, the religion of choice for members of Congress and major presidential appointments was from the so-called Protestant mainstream denominations...But now we have a Pentecostal, a member of the Assemblies of God, holding one of the nation's most influential political posts...Pentecostals...

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U.S. Responds to Earthquake in India

February 5, 2001

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On February 5, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported on the response of metro Atlanta's Indian faith communities to the earthquake in Gujarat. Many members of the the Bochasanwasi Swaminarayan Sanstha Hindu Temple in Clarkston, Georgia, "are channeling their energy toward BAPS Care International, a nonprofit relief organization that is providing food, shelter and medical aid to tens of thousands of the tragedy's survivors." A community prayer service at BAPS, drew more than 1,000 members of this...

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