Source: The Lawrence Ledger

Source: The Associated Press

Source: World-Herald

On April 27, 2003 the World-Herald reported that "speakers at a meeting of Catholic reformists Saturday in Omaha urged more involvement by laypeople in the face of a growing shortage of priests and in the wake of the denomination's sexual-abuse crisis... Georgia Keightley, a lay theologian from Crawford, Neb., told the 50 people at the Call to Action Nebraska Conference 2003 that laypeople must become more active in their local parishes' ministries. The group met at First United Methodist Church in Omaha... The message she delivered...

Source: The News-Times

Source: Pakistan Link

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=57e63a9660ab4e863c81fe2679cf89db

On April 22, 2003 the Pakistan Link reported on "the Al Momineen Sunday School at the Downtown [Sacramento, CA] Mosque in full session as the group of about 20 members of the Woodland Presbyterian Church arrived to a reception committee comprising the Mosque President Bashir Chaudhry, Imam Mumtaz Qasmi, Mr. Shahid...

Source: The Associated Press

Source: Alameda Times-Star

On April 21, 2003 the Alameda Times-Star reported that "just the idea that [Amina] Wadud had challenged the accepted readings of the Quran -- readings or critical analysis that support the view of women's inferiority to men -- gave her instant star status... Wadud's paper -- 'Pluralism and Invisibility: Hagar, Then and Now' -- looks at the absence of named women in the Quranic text, scholarship related to the text, and by extension the Muslim world, using the unnamed scriptural figure Hagar, a single mother, as a case in point......

Source: The Denver Post

On April 20, 2003 The Denver Post printed an editorial by Judith Simmer-Brown stating that "the word 'hope' isn't used much in the Buddhist tradition, but the words peace and joy are used a lot. We believe that only by looking into the heart of suffering can one find peace and joy... In the most difficult environment, we can also find the most precious qualities. I'm confident in our ability to transform the real circumstances by working with the mind... The more enraged or despairing we are about war, the more we contribute to...

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/109/living/One_faith_many_faces+.shtml

On April 19, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "there's a new magazine competing for women's attention. It's called Azizah. And this multiracial, multiethnic quarterly by and about 'muslimah,' as Muslim women are called in Arabic, goes beyond the inaccurate but persistent portrayals of them as silent, inactive doormats... In Azizah, a...

Source: The Honolulu Advertiser

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Apr/19/il/il11afaith.html

On April 19, 2003 The Honolulu Advertiser reported on the Sun Mission in Hawaii... "The [Buddhist] sect is related to the Tendai sect of Mount Hiei, Kyoto, Japan... 'By making pure heart, we can become one with everyone and the universe. Together we can pray to change humanity thereby creating peace on this earth...' [Bishop] Lorraine Yamauchi...

Source: The Mecury Sun

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/5624219.htm

On April 13, 2003 The Mecury Sun reported that "in response to an increase in calls from Muslim women to Bay Area battered women's hotlines, the Islamic Society of North America is setting up the West Coast's first 'helpline' for domestic violence tailored to the Muslim community... The helpline, which starts Tuesday, is the Palo Alto organization's first step in creating an...

Source: Boston Globe

On April 12, 2003 the Boston Globe published an interview with Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld in which she discussed the participation of women in the ritual of Seder. The article reported that "While attending an Israeli Seder years ago, Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld started to read a blessing. An Orthodox man, declaring that it violated religious law for a woman's voice to be heard at the Passover meal, covered his ears and sang while she spoke. For years, women typically were left with tasks such as cooking for the Seder but were denied...

Source: Indian Country

http://www.indiancountry.com/article/1050072510

On April 11, 2003 the Indian Country reported that "the Pentagon identified Pfc. Lori Piestewa as one of the soldiers found dead during the rescue of an American POW in Iraq. Sen. Tom Daschle D-S.D. spoke of the Hopi warrior on the floor, April 7. 'Private Piestewa is the first Native American woman in the U.S. armed forces ever to die as a result of combat. She was 23 years old. She leaves behind two...

Source: Religion and Ethics Weekly

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week632/calendar.html

On April 11, 2003 Religion and Ethics Weekly reported that "on Wednesday night, Jews will gather for a Seder, a special dinner, where they retell the story of their ancestors' exodus from Egypt. The Seder ritual is guided by a special book called the Haggadah. In recent years, in addition to the traditional observance, some Jewish groups have developed Seders...

Source: Ethnic News

http://www.arc.org/C_Lines/ArcColorLines.html

On April 10, 2003 Ethnic News printed an editorial by Suzan Shown stating that "as the Interior Department is protecting the Delhi Sands fly from developers in its 1,200 acres of Southern California sand dune habitat, the same federal agency is letting water, mining, and farming development trump Indian religious freedom in the same state... Nationwide, federal agencies are giving a green light to private...