Author: George Conger

Source: Christianity Today

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/marchweb-only/112-53.0.html

Jesus saves, the Episcopal Church teaches, but a growing number of its clergy and leaders believe other faiths may lead to salvation as well. Long divided and distracted by questions of sexual ethics, the Episcopal Church (along with most mainline Protestant communities) are facing a cultural and theological shift...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Scoop Politics

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0903/S00302.htm

A new edition of the New Zealand Police’s ‘A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity’ was launched today by Police Commissioner Howard Broad and Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres at an event to mark Race Relations Day at Police National Headquarters, in Wellington.

The new edition of the guide contains updated material on...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Economist

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13377308

By American standards, German culture wars are mild affairs. A spat in Berlin over teaching religion in schools may be an exception. Next month the city will vote on whether schools should teach the subject as an alternative to an ethics course. The debate is only partly about how God fits into the classroom; it is...

Author: Joe Millican

Source: Abbotsford News

http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/news/41861847.html

As he translated the words of Punjabi speakers unable to communicate in English, Abbotsford city councillor Moe Gill may not have been aware he was part of a historic occasion on Monday night.

However, a public hearing to debate the merits of Abbotsford’s fourth Sikh temple was considered just that by a...

Author: Jenna Lyle

Source: Christianity Today

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/blears.announces.new.interfaith.week/22888.htm

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has announced plans for England’s first ever inter-faith week.

‘Inter Faith Week’ will take place from 15 to 21 November to strengthen inter-faith relations and celebrate the contribution of faith groups to society.
...

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Baptist Press

http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/BPnews.asp?ID=30128

Religious expression in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan may soon become even more restricted, according to a warning from a nonpartisan federal panel that keeps tabs on the global status of faith groups.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has reported that Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon is preparing to sign a religion...

Author: Graeme Paton

Source: Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/5039275/Druids-Rastafarians-and-atheists-in-new-religious-studies-classes.html

Lessons will also focus on Druids and Rastafarianism as part of a syllabus designed to boost understanding of religious diversity around the world.

Attitudes by different faiths towards same sex...

Author: Gene Johnson

Source: The Associated Press

Author: Laura Meckler

Source: The Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123785559998620329.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

In the early days of his administration, President Barack Obama has developed an unusual pattern as he talks about religion: He regularly puts nonbelievers on the same footing as religious Americans.

It is a rare gesture for a U.S. political leader. But what makes Mr. Obama's outreach...

Author: Rachel Zoll

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.douglasdispatch.com/articles/2009/03/24/news/religion/doc49c96bebecaf3315509173.txt

A wide-ranging study on American religious life found that the Roman Catholic population has been shifting out of the Northeast to the Southwest, the percentage of Christians in the nation has declined and more people say they have no religion at all.

...

Author: Ben Harris

Source: JTA

http://jta.org/news/article/2009/03/24/1003944/coalition-plans-interfaith-campus-in-omaha

An interfaith coalition in Nebraska is testing the viability of what is believed to be an American first: a joint campus to house a Jewish, Muslim and Christian house of worship.

The plan, under development by a local nonprofit called the Tri-Faith Initiative, would join a mosque, a...

Author: Electa Draper

Source: The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11974138

Call it a leap of faiths — there's a reason a committed Muslim such as Emad Hussain attends a Methodist church and why he will raise his Muslim children in its sanctuary.

Hussain fled Iraq in 2007 after he survived an attack by militants on his workplace and became a target, but he left without his wife and two young sons.

It...

Author: Kathryn Kennedy

Source: The Daily Reflector

http://www.reflector.com/news/institutions-trying-to-be-more-inclusive-with-public-prayer-504837.html

One must only drive around Greenville to see how religiously diverse the community is today.

The city houses all the world's major religions, Mayor Pat Dunn pointed out: The Al-Masjid Islamic Center, Congregation Bayt Shalom, The Hindu...

Author: Jill Laster

Source: The Kentucky Kernel

http://kykernel.com/2009/03/22/event-highlights-common-beliefs-in-islam-christianity/

Although Christianity and Islam have many differences, the faiths share two key beliefs: loving God and loving one’s neighbor.

On Monday, two scholars will discuss those shared beliefs during “A Common Word,” a Christian-Muslim Dialogue event at 7 p.m. in...

Author: Connie Paige

Source: The Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/03/22/college_has_faith_in_its_unity_effort/

An elderly Jewish woman who had fled Hungary during the Holocaust was taking courses at Merrimack College a couple of years ago when she encountered Padraic O'Hare, executive director of the campus Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations...