Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On March 3, 2003 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "the chaplain in all U.S. military services is an officer and a full member of the armed forces. No matter what his or her rank, even if it is general or admiral, he or she is addressed simply as chaplain... All branches of the armed services require chaplains to have at least one graduate degree in theology or pastoral care from a seminary. All need the continued sponsorship of their faith group. If that sponsorship is dropped, unless they find another denomination...

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Source: The Washington Post

On March 1, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "federal appeals court yesterday voted to let stand its much-criticized ruling banning teacher-led recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, a decision that sets the stage for a possible battle in the Supreme Court over patriotism and religion... The court did take one step back, however. Its original ruling not only barred schools from sponsoring the pledge but also struck down the 1954 federal law that officially added the words 'under God' to the pledge -- thus...

Source: Islamic Horizons

On March 1, 2003 Islamic Horizons reported that "Busloads of Muslim Americans from across the U.S. joined tens of thousands of fellow citizens of many faiths in Washington on Jan. 18-- in 20 degree temperatures-- to demand peace. The rally, preceding Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, was part of the ongoing preemptive antiwar movement. The most popular chant was 'No War For Oil,' and the crowd carried placards saying: 'Regime Change Starts at Home' and 'Would Jesus Bomb Them?' Organizers said that it was the largest showing...

Source: The Associated Press

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...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On February 24, 2003 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "church member Julia Forman, 85 and originally from Puerto Rico, organized the first Spanish Mass... at St. Cecelia the year before the Irigoyens moved to the United States. As Maria remembers it, about 100 people attended the services in those days... Lost in an unfamiliar country, adrift in a new culture, they were drawn to the only place they felt at home: St. Cecelia Catholic Church... in Clearwater [FL], where there was a Spanish Mass... 'I felt comfortable someone...

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

On February 24, 2003 the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that "Jews, Muslims and Christians are more similar than some may think, according to panelists at a program Sunday in celebration of the Muslim Festival of Eid... Program panelist, Rev. George Puthursseril from St. Andrew Catholic Church thought 'A Shared Holiday, Three Faiths, One Tradition' event should have been renamed... 'It should be one faith, three traditions,' he said. 'All three religions presented here are all monotheistic, all believe in one God. It'...

Source: Gwinnett Daily Post

http://www.gwinnettdailyonline.com/GDP/archive/article97AFAF0AFA724A0A8C29C754B2BD5D25.asp?printerFriendly=true

On February 23, 2003 the Gwinnett Daily Post reported that "more than 1 out of 10 Gwinnett residents are Hispanic or Latino. Eight out of 100 are Asian... Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and other faiths are practiced in more than 400 places of worship in...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On February 23, 2003 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "Lakeview Presbyterian Church [in FL], which scoffed at white flight and stayed behind to minister in a changing neighborhood, now finds itself at odds with the people it befriended. At issue is a 145-foot-tall cellular phone tower... The church, which has 106 active members, wants to let Verizon Wireless erect a tower much taller than its 80-foot steeple as a way to bring in money for its ministries. Neighbors want no part of it... They say the towering structure would...

Source: The New York Times

On February 22, 2003 The New York Times reported that "on a bright, tropical Sunday, the pews at Kawaiahao Church are filled with the faithful: locals in suits or flowered muumuus, tourists in shorts, conspicuous with their name tags and camera bags... The Hawaiian rendering of the Lord's Prayer, with the soft, round vowels of the native language, tumble over the crowd like a wave coming in to shore. 'E ko makou makua iloko o ka lani...' But the tourists, many reading along from a program, are not the only ones who do not...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On February 22, 2003 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "a pagan couple have sued school officials in Union County, Tenn., after they claimed their daughter was harassed for not playing the Virgin Mary in a school play... Greg and Sarajane Tracy say the school district promoted religion, denied their daughter's right to free exercise of her own religion and failed to protect her from verbal and physical abuse... The parents said their daughter, India, was reprimanded for not wanting to play the Virgin Mary in a school play,...

Source: The Baltimore Sun

http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-md.fund21feb21,0,7364070.story?coll=bal%2Dlocal%2Dheadlines

On February 21, 2003 The Baltimore Sun reported that "a coalition of religious groups has started an interfaith community development fund that will lend money to developers who build businesses, housing and community centers in needy neighborhoods throughout the region... The nonprofit Faith Fund has...

Source: Press Republican

http://www.pressrepublican.com/Archive/2003/02_2003/022120038.htm

On February 21, 2003 the Press Republican reported that "built in 1932 by P.J. Murtagh of Plattsburgh, the old-brick and slate-roof [World War I Memorial Chapel] is online to receive overdue attention... In December 2001, City of Plattsburgh Mayor Daniel Stewart appeared before the Interfaith Council of Plattsburgh and Clinton County to lobby for the chapel’s...

Source: Episcopal Divinity School

http://www.episdivschool.org/whatsnew/peace%20pins.htm

On February 20, 2003 the Episcopal Divinity School issued a press release stating that "announced today the school's call to conscience action in response to the growing crisis between the United States and Iraq.  EDS has created a series of peace pins on which the name of an Iraqi child and a dove is printed. These pins are designed as a visible reminder of the human cost...