Author: Patricia Leigh Brown

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/us/20shaman.html

The patient in Room 328 had diabetes and hypertension. But when Va Meng Lee, a Hmong shaman, began the healing process by looping a coiled thread around the patient’s wrist, Mr. Lee’s chief concern was summoning the ailing man’s runaway soul.

“Doctors are good at disease,” Mr. Lee...

Author: Gary Scharrer

Source: The Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6624521.html

Christmas will stay in Texas textbooks, State Board of Education members said Thursday while reviewing early recommendations for new social studies standards.

The board will not approve the new curriculum standards for public schools until next year, but wanted to assure constituents they will not accept a...

Author: Carrie Johnson

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091702530.html?wprss=rss_politics/fedpage

Nearly 60 groups concerned with civil rights, labor, health and education urged Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Thursday to renounce a Bush-era memo allowing religious charities that receive federal grant money to...

Author: Stuart Laidlaw

Source: The Toronto Star

http://www.thestar.com/living/religion/article/696581

With Ramadan ending in the coming days, Imam Habeeb Alli is making a special point of what he calls the greatest act of charity a Muslim can make during this holy month – signing an organ donor card.

"We cannot ignore this duty to donate our organs," says Alli, secretary of the Canadian Council of Imams.

Throughout the year,...

Author: Judith Sudilovsky

Source: Ecumenical News International

http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=3369

Indicating a loaf of sweet braided bread on the table, the Muslim man, asked a group of Jews sharing the meal with him: "Why do you eat only this type of bread at the Sabbath meal?" 

Haysam Pakir, a 30-year-old Muslim from Nablus, a Palestinian city in the northern part of the West Bank, was speaking at a dinner...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV2fNDWAnYs

A flourishing Muslim population, combined with increased attendance during Ramadan, has lead to a severe shortage of mosques. In Northern Virginia, one congregation has found a unique way to address its lack of prayer space. 

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Bahá’í World News Service

http://news.bahai.org/story/728

People’s spiritual beliefs affect their attitude toward climate change, with religious groups increasingly helping to frame humanity’s response to environmental issues.

That was one of the messages from a session at the 33rd annual conference of the Association for Baha’i Studies, held in mid-August in Washington, D.C. The gathering drew nearly 1,000...

Author: Staff Writer

http://despardes.com/?p=7176

A small village in the Uttar Pradesh State is setting an example of religious amity, with its Hindu residents hosting iftar for their fellow Muslim villagers.

“Serving Muslims during the holy month gives us a unique sense of satisfaction,” Indrajeet Pandey, a 48-year-old resident of Naubatpur village, told Indo Asian News Service (IANS) on Thursday, September 17.

In Ramadan, the holiest month in Islamic calendar, the...

Author: Waqar Gillani and Sabrina Tavernise

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/world/asia/17pstan.html

A Christian man detained on blasphemy charges was found dead in his jail cell on Tuesday in eastern Pakistan. Human rights groups here said he appeared to have been killed, perhaps in collusion with the authorities.

The death of the Christian, Robert Fanish, 20, is part of a rising trend of violence against...

Author: Mandy Stoltzfus

Source: Lancaster Online

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/242200

Witches and pagans who traveled to Adamstown on Saturday for a festival "Celebrating Earth Spirituality" were greeted by a steady rain and praying Christians in a silent protest.

The gathering held at Stoudtburg Village and hosted by Reading Pagans & Witches proved to far less controversial than the debate that brewed in the days...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Islam Online

http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1252187975629&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout

Joining the chorus of voices opposing a minaret ban, Switzerland’s Roman Catholic bishops have urged voters to reject a far-right campaign to ban minaret construction in the country.

"A general ban on minaret construction...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: American Muslim Voice

http://www.amuslimvoice.org/index.html

To pay homage to the 9/11 terrorist attack victims, the American Muslim Voice Foundation along with Multifaith groups and community organizations held a candle light vigil, on Sept. 11, at Lafayette Park, SE Quadrant (in front of the White House) in Washington DC.

The event included an Iftar (breaking of the Ramadan fast) as the...

Author: Ron Todt

Source: Google News

Wire Service: AP

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j4n1LLmQm_9M6UcVQdozlNOd0JAAD9ALB34O0

In the rolling hills of deeply religious rural Pennsylvania sits Stoudtburg Village, a tiny hamlet modeled on a German town. On weekends, tourists come here to visit shops on the ground floors of closely set three-story houses painted bright...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: PBS Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/by-faith/jewish/september-11-2009-interfaith-relations-eight-years-on/4168/

People of many faiths and religious backgrounds joined Muslims on September 3 at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC  for a prayer service and Ramadan dinner to...

Author: Priya Saxena

Source: Collegiate Times

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/14152

Plans to build a cultural center and apartments at 102 Mountain Breeze Dr. in Blacksburg have been resubmitted to town officials and will be considered at meetings beginning next week.

The cultural center will function as a religious center, but it will not focus on one religion. Rather, the center will provide a place to practice Hinduism, Sikhism and...