Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0719/p06s02-woeu.html?s=hns

On July 19, 2004 The Christian Science Monitor reported, "On orders from Russia's parliament, Moscow prosecutors are probing a question that could create new limits on free speech: When does artistic expression cross the line into criminality? A group of artists are being charged with 'inciting religious hatred' for lampooning religious ideology in a controversial...

Source: The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Source: Knight Ridder

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9185734.htm

On July 18, 2004 Knight Ridder reported, "Sunday was an Assyrian Christian festival commemorating mass baptisms by Jesus and the apostles. Iraq's approximately 180,000 Assyrians and a large number of their Muslim neighbors celebrate the festival, called Nusardil, by splashing, if not dousing, each other with water. Many children and young adults use the occasion to mount high-spirited water...

Source: ArabicNews.com

http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/040717/2004071726.html

On July 17, 2004 ArabicNews.com reported, "The Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi and Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria and Patriarch of Saint Mark Diocese presided yesterday on the signing of an agreement on Muslim-Christian dialogue. Sheikh Hamid El-Rifae, Chairman of the International Islamic Forum and Gergis Saleh, Secretary General of the Middle East...

Source: UN News Service

Source: The American Prospect

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=8125

On July 16, 2004 The American Prospect reported that, "if conventional wisdom is to be believed, John Kerry has a religion problem -- namely, that Americans think he’s insufficiently devout. From the inner circle of the Kerry campaign to the front page of the Washington Post, every pundit in America has advice for Kerry on how to...

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.fac.org/rel_liberty/publiclife/news.aspx?id=13697

On July 15, 2004 The Associated Press reported that, "an Ohio judge cannot post the Ten Commandments in his courtroom because it violates the Constitution, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to uphold a lower court's decision that ordered Judge James DeWeese of Richland County Common Pleas Court in Mansfield...

Source: The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/saudi/story/0,11599,1260867,00.html

On July 14, 2004 The Guardian reported, "Saudi schoolchildren are being taught to disparage Christianity and Judaism in a textbook issued by the education ministry, a report said yesterday. The book forms part of the kingdom's revised curriculum - supposedly cleaned up after complaints that demonising the west had become endemic in Saudi schools. A lesson for six-year-olds reads...

Source: Voice of America

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=55C5237A-383D-4382-9C063652B9903509

On July 14, 2004 Voice of America reported, "British soldiers and police in Northern Ireland have clashed with protesters during a second night of violence following parades commemorating a 17th century Protestant victory over Catholic forces. Catholic protesters threw Molotov cocktails and rocks Tuesday night at a police station in Lurgan...

Source: ACLU Press Release

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0713/p07s01-woiq.html?s=hns

On July 13, 2004 The Christian Science Monitor reported, "Facing a rising tide of persecution, Iraq's tiny Christian minority has a terrible choice: stay and risk their lives, or leave and abandon those left behind. Afraid of an Islamic future in which they would be outcasts, thousands are trying to flee. 'It's like a huge amount of people lined up at the starting line...

Source: Anti-Defamation League

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ChJew_31/4534_31.htm

On July 12, 2004 Anti-Defamation League issued a press release that reported, "For the first time a meeting of Jewish interfaith experts and worldwide representatives of the Holy See produced a joint declaration that expressed, 'the total rejection of anti-Semitism in all its forms, including anti-Zionism, as a more recent manifestation of anti-Semitism.'  Given the rise in global anti-Semitism...

Source: Beliefnet/Slate

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/148/story_14856_1.html

On July 12, 2004 Beliefnet/Slate reported, "One of America's two political parties is extremely religious. Sixty-one percent of this party's voters say they pray daily or more often. An astounding 92 percent of them believe in life after death. And there's a hard-core subgroup in this party of super-religious Christian zealots. Very conservative on gay marriage, half of the members of this...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0712/p06s01-woap.html?s=hns

On July 12, 2004 The Christian Science Monitor reported, "As governments across Asia grapple with a rising tide of HIV/AIDS, attention is turning to the role that faith-based groups can play in combating the virus. Around 100 such groups are attending the 15th International AIDS Conference, which opened [in Bangkok] Sunday amid fresh warnings of an escalating epidemic....

Source: SBS-The World News