Source: The Hartford Courant

On December 26, 2001, The Hartford Courant featured an article on the Christmas dinner and gift giving for those in need at the Shiloh Baptist Church in Hartford, CT. "What distinguished this dinner from previous years, was the increase in the number of volunteers, said the Rev. King T. Hayes, pastor of Albany Avenue church. Forty-eight had signed up to help Hayes said... 'Some are Jewish, some from the Unitarian Church and they are of all races... The bottom line is helping somebody. They feel the joy of helping somebody.'"

Source: UPI

http://upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=24122001-033546-7201r

On December 24, 2001, UPI reported on the "Fund to soothe wounds of hate." It noted that "A Sikh temple in Palermo, N.Y., and an Episcopal church in Hanna City, Ill., will receive cash gifts from a unique Boston fund this Christmas ... The Boston Piano Religious Trust gives $500 grants to houses of worship damaged or destroyed in hate crimes." Gobind Sadan USA, a Sikh center in New York, and St. John's...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On December 23, 2001, The Houston Chronicle featured an article on the "Sacred Sites" of Houston, TX. "Houston has thousands of houses, centers and buildings of worship and prayer for literally every faith known: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and others. What it does not have is the large-scale, sacred architecture built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and found in older, major cities like New York, according to Stephen Fox, a Rice University architectural historian... Compared with those other...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 22, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "December is the time at Christian private schools for lessons and carols, for Advent wreaths and archangels--whether you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or still sampling religions. Although some prep schools remain enclaves for certain faiths and cultures, other religiously affiliated schools enroll students of all traditions while making no apologies for holding to the schools' holiday heritages... 'Most schools, even though they may want to ground children of that...

Source: The Hartford Courant

On December 20, 2001, The Hartford Courant reported that in Manchester, Connecticut, the "Unitarian Universalist Society's... Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans -- ahead of the popular curve -- has been celebrating winter solstice for a dozen years. This year's event will celebrate solstice in the Norse tradition, using animal totems... For pagans, wiccans and other earth-based religions, the winter solstice marks the start of a new year. The winter equinox occurs when the Western Hemisphere is tilted farthest from the...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On December 19, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor featured a lengthy article on interfaith marriages saying that "at holiday time, interfaith couples can teach the nation about getting along with those of different religions." The article focused on several families and how they negotiate the holiday season as interfaith families. "Most sociologists believe that the number of interfaith unions will continue to increase in the United States... Currently, 50 percent of Jews marry non-Jews, and half of Catholics marry...

Source: Newsday

On December 19, 2001, Newsday reported that a "fire that swept through the gift shop of the world's largest Gothic cathedral," the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. "From its inception, the cathedral was chartered not just as the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York but as a house of prayer whose bronze doors were open to all people... Indeed, in recent years, sermons have been delivered by rabbis, Zen Buddhists and African animists. The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, retired U.S. Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf...

Source: The Providence Journal

http://projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/opinion/06719201.htm

On December 18, 2001, The Providence Journal featured an opinion piece by Dr. Doug Hicks "Workplace understanding without 'Secret Santas.'" It began: "The best debates about religious diversity take place beside the water cooler in the December-holiday season at the office." Further, "September's terror has forced Americans to take a fresh look at themselves. They have discovered...

Source: The Providence Journal

http ://p rojo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/opinion/06719201.htm

On December 18, 2001, The Providence Journal featured an editorial on holidays in the workplace. "Many bosses decide, with a wink and a nod, to recast their Christmas parties as 'holiday' parties, but then still decorate in green and red and play Christmas carols. Such watering-down seems to work. The Christians can see their tradition in abstract form, and non-Christians find it less directly offensive. But it's not a real solution......

Source: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

On December 17, 2001, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that "almost all companies count Christian celebrations as their only official religious holidays, with employees of other faiths often forced to work on their holy days or use vacation time for a holiday off... Still, a growing number offer floating holidays or other schedule adjustments that allow workers to stay home on the days that matter to them... A survey this year by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious...

Source: The New York Times

On December 17, 2001, The New York Times reported that "there is a creche in the East Room of the White House this year, as there has been every December since... 1967. But last week there was also a Hanukkah party with a kosher buffet among the glittering forest of White House Christmas trees, and last month there was the first iftar dinner held in the Executive Mansion, complete with fresh dates and Muslim prayers, to break the daily fast during Ramadan... The many gods in American life are alive and well at the White House,...

Source: The Seattle Times

On December 16, 2001, The Seattle Times reported that, in Seattle, "two Christian pastors, a Jewish rabbi and a Muslim layman talked about how people of different faiths can learn to trust each other in these troubled times... In the aftermath of Sept. 11, interfaith groups -- especially those featuring Jews, Christians and Muslims -- are finding a renewed sense of purpose. Though Christian-Jewish dialogues have taken place for decades in Seattle, it has only been in recent years -- and especially since Sept. 11 -- that such groups...

Source: The Boston Globe

On December 16, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "two more displays will soon join the Christmas creche on the town common [in Norwood, MA] this holiday season. Norwood selectmen, with little discussion, approved the applications... for a kiosk celebrating religious diversity and a billboard supporting separation of church and state.

Source: The Deseret News

http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,355012326,00.html

On December 15, 2001, The Deseret News reported that the "First Unitarian Church of Salt Lake City... will hold its 10th annual Solstice... The Rev. Silvia Behrend said the event is more than just a fun celebration for the church — it is also a religious-oriented event that welcomes the renewal of life... She believes the solstice event can bring additional Christmas meaning...

Source: The Hartford Courant

On December 14, 2001, The Hartford Courant reported that at a recent school board meeting in Coventry, CT, "parents were upset about the wording of a memo School Superintendent Michael Malinowski sent to principals. The memo urged them to be mindful of the separation of church and state. Malinowski sent the memo after discovering that a creche and a cross had been put up in the school system... In impassioned speeches, parents said that in striving to be politically correct, the school system is being intolerant by not exposing...