Source: The Times-Picayune

On May 19, 2001, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported on a panel of pastors and social workers that convened in New Orleans to hear about Bush's plans for his faith-based initiative. "They were notably cautious...Clergy panelists stressed the traps implicit in accepting federal money to do the social work of their ministries...They worried about limits on what they could preach, and to whom; the potential loss...of independence...; and a reluctance to become sophisticated accounting agencies."

Source: Newsday

On May 18, 2001, Newsday reported that "after an unusual effort to hold an interreligious dialogue about conflict in the Middle East, [New York City] clergy said that they hoped to meet again in hopes of finding ways to help ease tensions. But the Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders who met at Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan said their intense, private discussion gave a sense of how deep the conflict runs."

Source: The Boston Globe

On May 18, 2001, The Boston Globe reported on a talk called "Peace Is the Way" given by Thich Nhat Hanh, a 74-year-old exiled Vietnamese monk and former anti-Vietnam War activist. The talk was given at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston and was expected to attract a crowd estimated at 3,000. "A vast array of Americans...have adopted Nhat Hanh's teachings of 'engaged Buddhism,' simple meditation practices that he says can help ordinary people experience the beauty of life."

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On May 18, 2001, the Omaha World-Herald reported that "Nebraska's American Civil Liberties Union chapter sued to force the City of Plattsmouth to remove a Ten Commandments marker that has stood in a city park for 36 years...The lawsuit alleges that a marker in Plattsmouth's Memorial Park, which lists the Ten Commandments and includes Jewish, Christian and American symbols, violates the First Amendment's prohibition of an 'establishment of religion.'" The lawyer representing the city said that "there is absolutely no constitutional...

Source: The Boston Globe

On May 17, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "the Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously yesterday that Mormons have a legal right to erect a giant steeple, topped by a golden angel, atop their new temple in Belmont [Massachusetts]. The decision...broadly affirms the right of religious groups to decide the scale and features of houses of worship...In the Belmont case, a handful of residents of Belmont Hill filed two suits to block the temple."

Source: The Arizona Republic

On May 16, 2001, The Arizona Republic published an article defending a task force that "told the Gilbert [Arizona] Town Council that problems of racism, homophobia and religion-based unease...can't be dealt with on an ad hoc basis. There needs to be a permanent body in place - a town Human Relations Commission - to help focus on the problems and deal with them." The task force's request is a response to the recent activities of terrorist groups like the Devil Dogs, a group of young men with an ugly history of violence, in an...

Source: The Record

On May 15, 2001, The Record reported that "lawyers for the Orthodox [Jews in Tenafly, New Jersey] introduced into evidence a pile of photographs...of signs that churches had posted on the right of way in the borough...The leader of Tenafly's Orthodox community demonstrated to the court that the borough allows some groups to use the right of way, but not the Orthodox, who need the utility poles to mark the boundaries of the eruv." One councilman said he voted to take down the eruv because "he sensed 'a lot of fear and hatred' coming...

Source: American Muslim Council

On May 15, 2001, the American Muslim Council issued a press release in which they reported that "the Director of the White Faith-Based Initiative, Dr. John Dilulio, met at his office in the White House with Dr. Yahya Basha, President of American Muslim Council (AMC) and Imam Hassan Qazwini, leader of the Islamic Center of America and member of the Board of Directors of (AMC). The discussion centered on relations with the American Muslim Community and the concerns raised by Rev. Jerry Falwell's comments calling on the White House to...

Source: The Boston Globe

On May 13, 2001, The Boston Globe reported on "a growing number of women embracing Islam in Greater Boston, and in one mosque, the Islamic Society of Boston in Cambridge, they outnumber new Muslim men by as much as 2 to 1." These women insist that, contrary to popular belief in America "in fact Islam is more forward-thinking about gender than many Western traditions...In modelling a more egalitarian form of Islamic culture in the United States than in some parts of the world, these women also say they may influence Muslims worldwide...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On May 5, 2001, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "Pope John Paul II plans to become the first pontiff to step through the doors of a mosque...He and his Syrian hosts hope for a moment of unity between the world's two largest faiths...'The whole visit itself is a very important symbol that in a way is a reversal of the Crusades,' said John Voll, associate director of the Georgetown University Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. 'He's not going to the mosque to convert or conquer people; he...

Source: Newsday

On May 5, 2001, Newsday reported that, "led by the Rev. Noel Vanek, pastor of The Church- in-the-Gardens, a Congregational church in Forest Hills [New York], and chairman of Interfaith Dialogue, the renovation of the three-bedroom single family house on Lucas Street in Springfield Gardens [by Habitat for Humanity]...is all but completed...Vanek has been active, mostly raising funds, for as long as Habitat for Humanity has been around, but this house was a first for Interfaith Dialogue, "a group of eight Forest Hills religious organizations...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On May 5, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "most Sundays at Wilshire United Methodist find the congregation worshiping, studying the Bible and practicing hymns separately in four languages: Korean, Spanish, English and Tagalog. But next month for Pentecost, as it does three other times annually, the congregation's groups will unite in one service. The events are delicate juggling acts, involving multilingual tag teams, that typify the ethnic complexity of Los Angeles...Church officials continually work to ensure that each...

Source: The Baltimore Sun

On May 4, 2001, The Baltimore Sun reported that "the Carroll County commissioners voted yesterday to embrace a character development program lauded by a fundamentalist Judeo-Christian group, becoming the first locality in Maryland to promote traits in county [government] workers it deems critical to good citizenship...Critics say such government-sponsored programs are cause for concern because they promote religious values and might violate the First Amendment."

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On May 4, 2001, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "the centuries-old Amish tradition of allowing teen-agers to serve apprenticeships in sawmills and woodworking shops clashed yesterday at a Senate hearing with the government's desire to ensure workplace safety. The Amish want the law changed so that when their sons leave school [after eighth grade] they can legally work in family owned shops."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On May 4, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "legions of the county's faithful [in Ventura County, California] spent Thursday toting Bibles, singing Christian hymns and raising their arms to the sky in celebration of the annual National Day of Prayer...The references to Jesus Christ at several of the events had one Jewish rabbi hoping next year's event is more multidenominational."