Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/112965_aboard18.shtml

On March 18, 2003 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that "it is here... abroad the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf... on folding metal chairs, that shipmates utter private secrets and confessions, gather in Wicca circles for meditation, study Bible verses, offer up devout prayers to Allah, work their rosary beads, celebrate the Jewish Sabbath... The number of...

Source: The Associated Press

Source: The New York Times

Source: Los Angeles Times

On March 16, 2003 the Los Angeles Times printed an editorial by Benjamin J. Hubbard stating that "peace activists must remember that the potential for war in Iraq is prompting differing responses from religious communities. According to the Web-based religion site beliefnet.com, liberal Protestant, Roman Catholic and Muslim groups tend to oppose the war, and Jewish groups want to exhaust other alternatives before any invasion. Southern Baptists (and presumably most other evangelicals) favor the war. The pope opposes war, former...

Source: The Omaha World-Herald

On March 16, 2003 The Omaha World-Herald reported that "hundreds of people marched in Omaha Saturday chanting, 'Drop Bush, not bombs...' The march through downtown Omaha was part of a 11/2-hour rally staged by the Act to Stop War Coalition, a loosely knit group of local people opposed to a U.S. invasion of Iraq... On Saturday, exhortations against war came from such speakers as former U.S. Rep. John Cavanaugh; the Rev. Damian Zuerlein of Our Lady of Guadulupe Catholic Church; Rabbi Craig Marantz of Temple Israel; Ibrahim...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On March 15, 2003 The Houston Chronicle reported that "Orthodox Christians worldwide continue to celebrate the restoration of icons to their churches after a bitter and at times violent iconoclastic - literally 'image smashers' - movement that racked Eastern Christianity for about 120 years... The Sunday of Orthodoxy, which is celebrated on the first Sunday of the Orthodox Lent, is one of the few services that draws the various branches together and beyond ethnic or national churches, said the Rev. John Stephanopoulos, dean of...

Source: The Sacramento Bee

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/6271004p-7224953c.html

On March 14, 2003 The Sacramento Bee reported that "This Saturday, the many worlds of Islam will be on display at Masjid Annur Islamic Center [in CA]. American Muslims of Pakistani, Egyptian, Saudi, Jordanian, Palestinian, Malaysian, Libyan and Moroccan descent, among others, will re-create an international bazaar with an array of unique clothes, artwork, videos and...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On March 14, 2003 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "the Jewish holiday of Purim and the Hindu festival of Holi will be celebrated next week. Christianity's Holy Hilarity Sunday will follow on April 27, a week after most believers observe Easter... In Purim, which begins at sundown Monday and runs through sundown Tuesday, comedy masks pain. The holiday commemorates how the Jews in ancient Persia survived a genocidal plot by Haman, royal adviser to King Ahasuerus... playfulness is exhibited in the festival Holi (pronounced...

Source: Beliefnet

Source: The Boston Globe

On March 11, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "for a small town (Hull, Iowa), it was an unusual crime: a gas station robbed, two teens shot. The suspect? An unnamed Hispanic male... Suddenly, a ripple of fear rolled through the area's small but growing Latino community as longtime residents shook their heads and pointed fingers... But when the two white youths who were wounded confessed in court last month that they had invented the story after shooting themselves, both in the left shoulder, and taking $1,800 from the register,...

Source: The Omaha World-Herald

On March 7, 2003 The Omaha World-Herald reported that "the Rev. David Benke, suspended president of the synod's Atlantic District, didn't dodge questions Thursday about his prayer at a post-Sept. 11 interfaith event. Benke lectured at Concordia University, describing his congregations' responses to the World Trade Center attacks... He said the disaster and his 30 years of ministry in New York City's melting pot help explain why he joined non-Lutheran clergy at 'A Prayer for America' at Yankee Stadium - an act that led to his...

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 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: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2820377.stm

On March 4, 2003 the BBC News reported, "The findings from the recent census also show many Christians in the region are returning to their evangelical roots. Devon and Cornwall had a population of 1,576,186 when the census was taken in 2001. Most describe themselves as Christian...

Source: The Sikh Coalition

On March 4, 2003 The Sikh Coalition reported that "The Sikh Coalition and Amric Singh (Rathour) filed a federal lawsuit challenging the New York Police Department's (NYPD) "no turban" policy. Amric Singh was terminated by the NYPD in August 2001 for refusing orders to remove his turban and trim his beard, both required by his religion... A contingent of Sikh police officers from Canada and Great Britain joined Amric Singh at the press conference. The Sikh officers stressed that the turban did not impede their ability to perform...