Author: Julia Duin

Source: National Review Online

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-duin111201.shtml

I first met Imad Shehadeh at a press conference — and an uncomfortable press conference at that. Several of us in the media, along with some Christian clergy, were sitting in a hotel room in Amman earlier this year listening to a Catholic and three evangelical Protestants talk about being Christian in overwhelmingly Muslim...

Source: The Denver Post

On November 12, 2001, The Denver Post featured an article on traditionally pacifist relgious groups. "Their religions call for pacifism. Popular opinion calls for revenge. With America at war, balancing those opposing forces is complicated for many members of Quaker, Mennonite and Church of the Brethren congregations. Pastors of those denominations in the Denver area said some of their peace-minded parishioners have found it difficult to push for peace at a time when polls show as many 90 percent of Americans support the war."

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On November 12, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "the greatest challenge facing the nation's largest ecumenical agency is not getting along with U.S. Muslims -- although terrorism, humanitarian relief and Muslim/Christian cooperation will be on the agenda when its General Assembly meets this week in Oakland..In recent years, the group has been struggling to reinvent itself, broaden its membership base and stay out of debt. Although the National Council of Churches encompasses 36 Protestant denominations and...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On November 11, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution featured an article on "Atlanta couples where one partner is Muslim and the other is of a different faith. In interviews with four such couples, all said the events of Sept. 11 had a profound influence on their relationships. They've questioned each other about their cultures. Two couples said the attacks have brought them closer."

Source: The New York Times

On November 10, 2001, The New York Times reported that Dr. Ahluwalia, an American Sikh who is chairman of the department of preventive medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, "had already passed through a metal detector and been scanned by a hand-held wand, setting off no warning beeps. So, he said, he was stunned when the guardsman told him to remove his turban...Sikh travelers say that since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks they have been singled out for questioning by the police and security workers at American...

Source: Star Tribune

On November 10, 2001, the Star Tribune reported that "about 450 people met Thursday night at Luther Seminary in St. Paul [Minnesota] to seek common ground between the two faiths. Mark Swanson, director of the Islamic Studies Program at Luther, said, 'Muslims and Christians must work together in times of crisis.' He 'rejects' claims, he said, that the current situation is a clash between Christianity and Islam."

Source: The Hartford Courant

On November 10, 2001, The Hartford Courant reported on "dozens of Muslim physicians in Greater Hartford -- and thousands across the country -- who are the face of Islam to many non-Muslims. For many Americans, Muslims in the healing professions may be the only Muslims they know...Dr. Shahid Athar of Indianapolis, president of the Islamic Medical Association of North America, said there are about 20,000 Muslim physicians in the United States...In the first few days after the attacks, Athar said, he got a couple of harassing phone...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

http://www.gc.cuny.edu/folio/index.htm

On November 10, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "while much is made of America's spiritual renewal, the number of adults with no religious identification more than doubled in the past decade, according to a...study, released recently by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York...The survey fills a gap left by the U.S. Census, which does not ask about religion...The survey also found that:...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On November 9, 2001, The Plain Dealer featured the article "Three faiths agree: War is hell; Mainstream Islam, Judaism and Christianity have developed similar principles on the moral use of force, but extreme elements in each faith have also distorted religious teachings with murderous results."

Source: Deseret News

On November 8, 2001, the Deseret News reported that "the NBC crew covering the 2002 Winter Games had a chance to satisfy its 'natural curiosity' about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during a production seminar in Salt Lake City this week...The church's presentation included a video featuring two prominent Utah members of the faith — football star Steve Young and a former Miss America, Sharlene Wells Hawkes...The presentation [was] made at NBC's request."

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On November 8, 2001, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that "if religious-themed ornaments for the state Capitol holiday tree are submitted, they are as likely as any others to be displayed on the tree, Department of Administration Secretary George Lightbourn said Wednesday. 'We're not in the censorship business,' Lightbourn said in response to the filing of a federal lawsuit trying to overturn what some residents say is the state-guided refusal to accept ornaments with a religious theme for display on the tree......

Source: The Boston Globe

On November 8, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "a compromise has been reached that will likely keep a traditional Christmas display on public view, but privately controlled...Selectmen voted unanimously last week to give up town ownership of two creches...According to the plan, two churches in Norwood would accept joint ownership of the creche formerly displayed at Town Hall...The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts had been considering a lawsuit against the Town of Norwood, on the grounds that town-owned displays...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On November 6, 2001, The Plain Dealer featured an article on the Center for Religious Inquiry in New York City, which is run by a Reform Rabbi in close partnership with the rector of New York's Episcopal St. Bartholomew's Church where the center has been housed since its founding in 1999. The center offers a "catalog of courses, seminars, lectures and foreign tours."

Source: The New York Times

On November 6, 2001, The New York Times reported that the Orthodox Jewish ritual known as sitting shmira has taken on new dimensions in the wake of Septeber 11. In New York at the makeshift morgue for victims of the terror attacks, students from Stern College for Women fulfill the Jewish comandment "to keep watch over the dead, who must not be left alone from the moment of passing until burial... working in shifts from Friday afternoons until nightfall on Saturdays, the holiest part of the week. The rest of the time, the task is...

Source: The Democrat and Chronicle

http://www.rochesternews.com/1105story3.html

On November 5, 2001, The Democrat and Chronicle reported, "Many faiths seek unity amid conflict: Special rite in Rochester draws 120 worshippers." The event "began with the blowing of a Jewish shofar, followed by Buddhist bells and a Muslim call to prayer. They were at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church yesterday -- Christians, Jews, Muslims and representatives of other faiths -- to remember...