Source: Daily News

On March 24, 2003 the Daily News reported that "whether Christian, Jew, Buddhist, animist, Muslim or a practitioner of any other faith, Muriel Stockdale believes we're more alike than different... Though we may be divided by what we believe, we're united in our devotions to those beliefs, Stockdale said... That's why Stockdale, 50, has joined fellow filmmakers Manech Ibar and Casey Meade Rothstein-Fitzpatrick, both 27, to create 'New York Spirit,' a documentary of how we pray."

Source: The Omaha World-Herald

On March 18, 2003 The Omaha World-Herald printed an editorial stating that "Rose Rose has won permission from city fire marshals to have a sweat lodge in her back yard in southwest Omaha for another year. The decision, while it doesn't please everyone, was for the best... Rose, of the Northern Ponca and Santee Sioux tribes, uses the sweat lodge for spiritual purposes. It is an important cleansing and purifying ritual for many Indian tribes. That should earn her more leeway - and perhaps more understanding from her neighbors,...

Source: Tricycle

http://www.tricycle.com/currentissue/enkyo_ohara.html

On March 17, 2003 Tricycle reported that "Sensei Enkyo O’Hara is abbot of the Village Zendo, in Lower Manhattan. A Zen priest, she is a dharma heir in the Maezumi-Glassman line of the White Plum Sangha of Soto Zen Buddhism. She serves as an elder in the Zen Peacemaker Order, part of an interfaith network integrating spiritual practice with peacemaking and social action... [She said in an...

Source: The New York Times

Source: Beliefnet

Source: The Harvard Crimson

On March 12, 2003 The Harvard Crimson reported that "three civil rights leaders urged Muslim Americans and others to speak out against government encroachment on civil liberties at panel at the [Harvard] Divinity School yesterday morning... The discussion, which was part of the two-day Islam in America 2003 conference, focused on violations of American Muslims' civil rights since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks... Panelists said ethnic profiling stemming from restrictive national security measures has become a prominent...

Source: Newsday

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-limusl103166000mar10,0,2788189.story

On March 10, 2003 Newsday reported that "they hail from Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt and other nations. They share the same religion: Islam... They gathered yesterday at the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury to celebrate International Women's Day and to talk in part about what it is like to be a Muslim woman in the...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On March 5, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "when state lawmaker Lois McMahan chose not to participate in a Muslim prayer at the House of Representatives in Olympia, Wash., it was, she says, for private reasons, and they may have stayed private had she not answered the questions of a reporter... 'It's an issue of patriotism,' McMahan, a conservative Christian, reportedly said. 'The Islamic religion is so ... part and parcel with the attack on America. I just didn't want to be a part of that... Even though the mainstream...

Source: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/111090_mcmahan05.shtml

On March 5, 2003 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that "Rep. Lois McMahan will apologize on the state House floor today for comments she made about her decision to sit out a prayer delivered Monday by a Muslim cleric that opened the session, legislative staff members said... McMahan, a Republican from Gig Harbor, did not mean to offend anyone when she...

Source: Islam-Infonet

On March 4, 2003 Islam-Infonet issued a press release stating that "the Southern California office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA), along with other civil rights and religious organizations, will hold a noon news conference in Anaheim to call for an FBI investigation of recent bias-related attacks on Muslims in California and New Jersey...

The Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group reports that a Muslim teenager was severely beaten February 22 in Yorba Linda, Calif., by a group...

Source: CAIR

On March 4, 2003 CAIR issued a press release stating that "(CAIR) today called on state and national Republican leaders to condemn a walkout by two members of that party during a Muslim prayer opening Monday's session of the Washington State House of Representatives... 'Such divisive actions by elected leaders can only serve to increase discrimination against ordinary American Muslims and harm our nation's image and interests worldwide,' said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. Awad urged state and national Republican leaders to repudiate the...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On March 4, 2003 The Plain Dealer reported that "to enter the Women's Prayer Breakfast for Peace in Cleveland yesterday, participants passed photos of Iraqis - a girl flashing a peace sign, a smiling housewife, a farmer, a soldier and a Baghdad street vendor... 'War is about people - not just about governments,' a sign under the photos read... A sizable percentage of women oppose war, but their opinions haven't been heard, said the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell. Campbell is chairwoman of The Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and...

Source: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/110881_prayer04.shtml

On March 4, 2003 The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that "when a Muslim cleric offered the opening prayer before the [WA] state House of Representatives yesterday, at least two lawmakers stepped off the chamber floor... 'The Islamic religion is so... part and parcel with the attack on America. I just didn't want to be there, be a part of that,' [Rep. Lois McMahan...

Source: Islamic Horizons

On March 1, 2003 Islamic Horizons reported that "in 2002, MCCHS (Muslim Community Center for Human Services) started a domestic violence counseling program and established a relationship with area women's shelters. MCCHS, which cannot afford to operate a shelter, receives calls from women in distress and from shelters where women are taking refuge, offers counseling, and assists in their rehabilitation. MCCHS strives to council families before relationship problems become serious and irresolvable... Muslim leaders and imams have a...

Source: Beliefnet

http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp?pageLoc=/story/121/story_12160_1.html&storyID=12160&boardID=52221

On February 25, 2003 Beliefnet printed an editorial by Sherna Hough Deamer, stating that "it’s hard to believe that I’ve come to love the Fast. In the Bahá’í calendar, the 19-day month of fasting comes between the hospitality of the Intercalary Days (February 26 to March 1) and the...