Author: Tom Kisken

Source: The Ventura County Star

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/nov/05/statues-ceremonies-create-countys-first-hindu/

Priests sitting on a cushioned platform chanted in Sanskrit. Women in saris danced. Husbands and wives washed marble statues of Lord Shiva and other Hindu gods in holy water from the Ganges River.

On a sweltering Friday, in a business park behind the Ventura...

Author: Anju Bhargava

Source: The Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anju-bhargava/out-of-many-one-diwali-il_b_778973.html

Diwali is a joyous festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists (Dharmic traditions) and the festive spirit expressed by those of "any, all and no faith." Though celebrated for different reasons, it has evolved from a pan-Indian festivity uniting multicultural...

Source: The Buddhist Channel/CDN

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=40,9652,0,0,1,0

For the first time in Bhutan’s history, the Buddhist nation’s government seems ready to grant much-awaited official recognition and accompanying rights to a miniscule Christian population that has remained largely underground.

The authority that regulates religious organizations will discuss in its next meeting – to be held by the end of December...

Author: Rachel Donadio

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/world/europe/05cordoba.html?ref=religion_and_belief

The great mosque of Córdoba was begun by the Muslim caliphs in the eighth century, its forest of pillars and red-and-white striped arches meant to convey a powerful sense of the infinite. With the Christian reconquest of Spain in the 13th century, it was consecrated as a...

Author: Douglas Todd

Source: The Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Diwali+festival+reaches+across+cultures/3768473/story.html

The shops and restaurants in Vancouver's Punjabi Market are laying out tables this week covered with candles, fireworks, sweets and saris to prepare for the popular festival of Diwali on Friday.

Marked by street signs in both the English and Punjabi...

Author: Chris Stedman

Source: The Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-stedman/atheist-students-find-the_b_775707.html

Atheists are leading the charge for interfaith cooperation. If that sounds contradictory, allow me to confirm: I just saw it with my own eyes.

Last weekend, more than 200 college students and 100 faculty and staff from across the United States converged in...

Author: Nicole Azores-Gococo

Source: The Emory Wheel

http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=28940

Members of the Hindu Students Association (HSA) brought the colorful joy and festivity of Indian culture to Emory’s campus through Friday evening’s celebration of Diwali. Food, entertainment and education about Hindu tradition and beliefs helped more than 400 Emory student attendees share the beautiful and enlightening significance of the...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Staten Island Advance

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/island_hindu_community_steps_u.html

In a gesture of interfaith and international compassion, Staten Island's Hindu community has come together to bring some measure of relief to victims of the Pakistani floods.

Several dozen boxes of supplies were sent to the region yesterday, in a gesture, members of the community...

Author: Frank Thomas

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/01/rally-tries-to-build-bridges.html

They marched in silence, more than 150 of them.

Some were white; others, black. Some were Christian, and others were Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, agnostic or atheist.

They marched in yesterday's Rally for Inclusion...

Author: Perla Trevizo

Source: The Chattanooga Times Free Press

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/oct/31/souths-religious-diversity-growing/?local

Opposition to school-organized prayers before football games.

A ban on Bible-verse high school banners.

Resistance to a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

All these recent incidents are just signs...

Author: Jim Robbins

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/us/01monks.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

On a rural American Indian reservation here, amid grazing horses and cattle, a Buddhist lama from the other side of the world is nearing completion of a $1.6 million meditative garden that he hopes will draw spiritual pilgrims.

“There is something pure and powerful about this landscape,...

Author: Aron Heller

Source: The Washington Post

Wire Service: AP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/31/AR2010103101249.html

When Hillary Rubin immigrated from the U.S. to Israel, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and descendant of a famed Zionist visionary felt that she had finally arrived in her true home.

But now that religious...

Author: Mitchell Landsberg

Source: The Los Angeles Times

Author: Paul R. Kopenkoskey

Source: The Huffington Post

Wire Service: RNS

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/29/american-indian-and-christian_n_775645.html

Smoke wafts upward as the Rev. Mike Peters blows on the Knick-Knick, a sacred herbal blend of spearmint leaves, red willow bark, sage, sweet grass and bayberry bush.

"As the smoke goes up, the Creator's...

Author: Ghassan Rubeiz

Source: The Daily Star

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=120826#axzz13ZFLKlsM

Mutual distrust leads many Palestinians and Israelis to think of peace as a mirage. Since religion plays a significant role in justifying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, politicians need the help of religious leaders in their search for a solution.