Source: The Boston Globe

On October 6, 2002 The Boston Globe reported that "the Bush administration is giving $25 million to 21 groups, including several that are deeply religious in nature... The grants represent the first tangible result of President Bush's 'faith-biased initiative,' which stalled in Congress amid fierce debate over how religious programs can take government money without running afoul of the constitutional separation of church and state... Several religious groups were among the grant winners, including Virginia-based Operation Blessing...

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

On October 4, 2002 The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that "the Postal Service issues its holiday stamps in October to continue interest in collecting. Next Thursday, four holiday stamps, all 37 cents, will be issued commemorating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the Muslim Eid. Contemporary Christmas stamps, featuring snowmen, will be issued later."

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On October 4, 2002 The Columbus Dispatch reported that " Mosaic, [a] 500-member congregation, is a mix of community residents and college students, many international, said the Rev. Darryl Phillips, pastor. The church, which previously met in elementary schools and buildings at Ohio State University, has held services at the movie house the past three years. [On the other hand], some worship places aren't visible to a high volume of traffic, such as that of the Jain Center of Central Ohio, which is nestled in an office...

Source: The Associated Press

On October 3, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "a charity founded by Pat Robertson is to receive $500,000 in the first wave of grants under President Bush's 'faith-based initiative,' which the religious broadcaster had criticized. In March, Robertson said on his '700 Club' television show that the program to give federal money to religious organizations that provide social services was a 'Pandora's box' that could make legitimate religious charities dependent on government and finance cults that 'brainwash' prospective...

Source: Religion News Service

On October 2, 2002 Religion News Service reported that "more people learned of [Carlton Pearson's] 'gospel of inclusion'... [which] says simply, 'I exclude nobody from the redemptive work of the cross.' Pearson says he thinks the focus of many of his evangelical brethren, who believe a personal confession that Jesus is savior gains one entrance to heaven, has been wrongly placed... 'I believe that Jesus redeemed the entire world,' not just particular brands of Christians. While Pearson's doctrine of inclusion has motivated the...

Source: Buffalo News

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20021002/1036867.asp

On October 2, 2002 Buffalo News reported that "religious leaders from a variety of faiths gathered outside the Lackawanna Mosque on Tuesday to pledge their support for the local Muslim community in response to the arrests of six Lackawanna men charged with supporting the al-Qaida terrorist network... religious leaders said they wanted to make a statement as a preventative measure...

Source: Asbury Park Press

http://www.app.com/app2001/story/0,21133,623888,00.html

On September 30, 2002 Asbury Park Press reported that "as the number of Muslim families in the Shore area increases, so have their efforts to reach out to the community and dispel misconceptions about their religion. 'We want to try to clarify the negative stereotypes,' said El Mansoury, who spoke at a church in Point Pleasant and at the Uni-tarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth...

Source: The Deseret News

On September 28, 2002 The Deseret News reported that "religious groups around the country are finding ecological issues hard to ignore. Clergy are speaking from the pulpit on global warming and Arctic drilling, and practicing what they preach in their own churches, synagogues, temples and mosques... Across faiths, the environmental movement has been evolving slowly over the past decade or more. Denominations have started looking into their traditions, examining how their beliefs could be applied to ecological issues and...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

http://www.dispatch.com/news/religion/faith-story.php?story=dispatch/news/features02/sep02/1508151.html

On September 27, 2002 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "Sundown Thursday marks the beginning of a Muslim holiday commemorating the Prophet Muhammad's ascent to heaven and return to earth on the same night. Muslims believe the stone from which Muhammad rose is in the Dome of the Rock...

Source: Citizen-Times

http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/20730

On September 25, 2002 Citizen-Times reported that "Franklin Graham does not see himself picking up the mantle of his father's legacy. Nor does he consider himself a crusader against Islam, though Graham said he worries too few people realize the extent to which the country has been 'Islamized.' 'I do have experiences in my life that formulated why I believe what I believe but I am not on an...

Source: The Associated Press

On September 25, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "religious groups around the country are finding ecological issues hard to ignore. Clergy are speaking from the pulpit on global warming and Arctic drilling, and practicing what they preach in their own churches, synagogues, temples and mosques. Across faiths, the environmental movement has been evolving slowly over the last decade or more. Denominations have started looking into their traditions, examining how their beliefs could be applied to ecological issues and...

Author: Kevin Eckstrom

Source: Religion News Service

http://www.religionnews.com/index.php?/rnstext/muslims_to_pray_for_soul_of_america_at_capitol1/

Swapping prayer rugs for massive plastic rain tarps, an estimated 3,500 Muslims gathered at the foot of the U.S. Capitol on Friday (Sept. 25) to pray for “the soul of America” in a grassroots demonstration of religious and national pride.

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Source: The Daily News of Los Angeles

On September 24, 2002 The Daily News of Los Angeles reported that "Patricia Abdullah... [a] white Muslim woman from Sherman Oaks donated a life-saving kidney to... Mike Jones... [an] African-American Christian man in a Sept. 25 [2001] operation performed by two surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center - one Jewish, the other German. A year later, Abdullah wants us to know this: The quality of her life has not diminished after donating a kidney to Jones. It's gotten better... from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, at the Sizzler...

Source: Chicago Daily Herald

On September 23, 2002 the Chicago Daily Herald reported that "the growing diversity in the Streamwood, Bartlett and Hanover Park area is reflected in the variety of places of worship. Swami Narayan Temple - the largest Hindu temple in the Northwest suburbs - is in Bartlett. So is the only Jain temple in Illinois... and a Lutheran Christian Church that caters primarily to Chinese and Taiwanese members opened in Streamwood about five years ago... True Light Lutheran Christian Church draws from the greater Chicago area, where...

Source: The Associated Press

On September 22, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "Minnesota's religious landscape became more diverse in the 1990s, although the state remains mostly Lutheran and Catholic, according to a survey of U.S. religious institutions. From 1990 to 2000, the state has seen double digit percentage increases for Jews and the Latter-day Saints. Muslims were also counted in significant numbers for the first time. The research also found that Minnesota has more evangelical Christians and fewer mainline Protestants... Minnesota is...