Civic

Voter Registration Drive for Muslims

September 18, 1999

Source: The Washington Post

On September 18, 1999, The Washington Post reported that the American Muslim Council is calling for a wide-scale voter registration drive for Muslims. Aly Abuzaakouk, executive director of the American Muslim Council, said that many of the country's 7 million Muslims come from countries where free voting and free elections are rare: "When you are voteless, you are weightless...It's a matter of education. A lot of them don't realize how important voting is. We are targeting that, by the election 2000, we should have at least 2...

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Sikh Priest Arrested for Carrying Kirpan

September 17, 1999

Source: The Plain Dealer

On September 17, 1999, The Plain Dealer reported that Gurbachan Singh Bhatia, a Sikh priest from Ohio, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon after a minor traffic incident. The 69-year-old Bhatia, the first Sikh priest in Northern Ohio, was carrying a kirpan, or small knife, which is a Sikh religious symbol that shows one's willingness to defend one's faith. In previous court cases, the 1st District Ohio Court of Appeals overturned a Cincinnati Municipal Court conviction of a Sikh man for carrying a concealed weapon in...

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Interfaith Group Publishes Guide to Workers' Rights

September 11, 1999

Source: The Plain Dealer

On September 11, 1999, The Plain Dealer published an article on the efforts of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice and its affiliates to educate American workers on their rights in the workplace. One affiliate, the Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues, has issued what the Labor Department has acknowledged as a comprehensive guide to workplace rights. The 56-page manual deals with minimum wage and overtime compensation, health and safety standards, freedom from discrimination in the workplace, and the right...

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Housing as a "Sacred Right"

September 10, 1999

Source: The New York Times

On September 10, 1999, The New York Times reported that more than 300 religious leaders in the United States - Roman Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Buddhists, and Muslims - have signed a letter to President Clinton declaring housing a "sacred right" and asking the government to take measures to help the poor obtain access to permanent shelter. The letter faults the government for reducing the number of vouchers for subsidized housing from 230,000 in the 1980's to about 90,000 last year. The letter asks the government to provide at...

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Controversy Over School Closings for Jewish Holy Days in Ohio

September 9, 1999

Source: The New York Times

On September 9, 1999, The New York Times reported that the ACLU has sued the Sycamore Community School District in Ohio for closing on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on the basis that the school district is favoring one religion over another. Officials at the school district, located in a suburban district 15 miles northeast of Cincinnati, said that they decided to close for those two days only because so many students had been absent in previous years that it disrupted instruction. Bruce Armstrong, the district's superintendent,...

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News Article Generates Controversy in American Muslim Community

August 28, 1999

Source: Star Tribune

On August 28, 1999, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis published a response by Ibrahim Hooper, Washington, D.C. National Communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), to a second article written by Daniel Pipes, director of Philadelphia-based Middle East Forum, in the August 24th issue of the Star Tribune. Hooper challenges several of the claims that Pipes makes in his article. First, Hooper calls Pipes' distinction between patriotic and chauvinist Muslims spurious. Second, Hooper states that CAIR has...

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Prayers and Aid for Earthquake Victims in Turkey

August 26, 1999

Source: The Washington Post

On August 26, 1999, The Washington Post reported that mosques and churches from the Maryland Counties of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's have gathered donations and offered prayers for the earthquake victims in northwestern Turkey, where 12,000 people died and 33,000 people were injured on August 17th. Relief officials said that the Washington area has a main source of aid. Relief contributions are being accepted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations at (202) 659-CAIR and the Turkish Relief Association at 1-877-TURKEY9...

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World Festival of Sacred Music

August 25, 1999

Source: Los Angeles Times

On August 25, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that a nine-day World Festival of Sacred Music will take place in religious sites throughout the city of Los Angeles beginning October 9th, 1999. With the Dalai Lama as a primary sponsor of the event, more than 80 concerts have been scheduled, most of which will take place in churches, synagogues, and temples. The music of Asia and the South Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and eastern Europe will be featured. Tickets are priced from $5, and some of the events are...

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News Article Generates Controversy in American Muslim Community

August 24, 1999

Source: Star Tribune

On August 24, 1999, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis published a rebuttal by Daniel Pipes to an article by Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR that was published on August 14th in the Star Tribune. Hooper's August 14th article was a response to an article Pipes wrote that appeared in the August 1st edition of the Star Tribune. Pipes contends that CAIR has apologized for Hamas and Osama bin Laden and has promoted terrorism, intimidated "patriotic Muslims who disagree with CAIR's chauvinist agenda," permitted a "potential unindicted...

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The Blair Witch Project Continues Stereotypes Against Witches

August 22, 1999

Source: The New York Times

On August 22, 1999, The New York Times published an article on how The Blair Witch Project continues the trend of negative bias against witches. Selena Fox, who helped found one of the oldest Wiccan nature preserves in the country, the Circle Sanctuary in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, considers it one long slur against witches: "If the film had been called 'The Blair Cherokee Project,' people would recognize the negative stereotypes."

Religion and the Internet

August 19, 1999

Source: USA TODAY

On August 19, 1999, USA Today published an article on the place of religion in cyberspace. Some, like Richard P. Cimino and Don Lattin, authors of Shopping for Faith, assert that the Internet is a "vast, chaotic spiritual supermarket (that) allows people to go directly to source material - ideas they might not be exposed to in their church." Cimino and Lattin state that the most significant effect of computers on religion over the coming years will be to "forge direct links between individual believers and religious groups,...

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News Article Generates Controversy in American Muslim Community

August 14, 1999

Source: Star Tribune

On August 14, 1999, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis published Hooper's reply to PIpes' August 1st commentary. Hooper points out that Daniel Pipes has a history of a "troubling bigotry toward Muslims." Citing several quotes from the writings of Pipes and commentaries on his work, Hooper shows that Pipes has a controversial stance toward Muslims. In 1983, a Washington Post book review states that Pipes displays, "a disturbing hostility to contemporary Muslims...he professes respect for Muslims but is frequently contemptuous of...

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Religion and the Internet

August 11, 1999

Source: The Boston Globe

On August 11, 1999, The Boston Globe reported that Lycos Inc., a major Internet search engine, will discontinue an advertisement placed by Jews for Jesus after many complaints from members of the Jewish community. Jews for Jesus paid $1700 to Lycos for a banner to appear at the top of computer screens for the first 40,000 people who typed in the word "Jewish" as a search term. The advertisements began to run on July 6th, but complaints were not received by Lycos until July 29th. On July 30th, Lycos pulled the advertisement, saying...

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News Article Generates Controversy in American Muslim Community

August 1, 1999

Source: Star Tribune

On August 1, 1999, the Star Tribune published an article written by Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, on the situation of Islam in America. Pipes separates the American Muslim community - "immigrants and native-born converts alike" - into two categories: integrationists and chauvinists. The integrationists have no problem being patriotic Americans while holding fast to their Muslim beliefs. Many of these integrationists "present Islam as the fulfillment of American values and see Muslims as a very positive force to...

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House of Representatives Passes Bill on Religious Liberty

August 1, 1999

Source: Los Angeles Times

On August 1, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that the House of Representatives passed The Religious Liberty Protection Act on July 15th, which states that local and state officials must bend their rules to accommodate religious claims unless there is a compelling need to do otherwise. Organizations such as the American Jewish Congress, People for the American Way, the Christian Coalition, and Focus on the Family are in support of the legislation, but the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund are opposed to the bill because...

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