Interfaith

Religious Bias Found In Public Sector

March 19, 2009

Author: Bae Ji-sook

Source: The Korea Times

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/03/113_41615.html

Koreans are guaranteed with the constitutional right to any religious belief, but some schools and civil service offices have been found to have practiced religious bias, the government said Thursday.

Forty-five cases of such bias have been reported to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism since October last...

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Sikh, Hindu Minorities "Disappointed, Isolated And Oppressed"

March 18, 2009

Author: Staff Writer

Source: IRIN

[irinnews.org/HOVReport.aspx?ReportId=83524]

"We feel disappointed, isolated and oppressed," said Ravil Singh, a Sikh leader in Nangarhar Province, eastern Afghanistan, adding that local people "are good to us".

He spoke to IRIN about the problems facing the Sikh and Hindu minorities in Afghanistan.

"Before the war [1979] there were 16,673 Sikh and Hindu families in Kabul, Nangarhar, Ghazni, Khost, Kandahar and Helmand provinces. In the past 30 years...

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A Round Of Applause for Fremont, USA

March 18, 2009

Author: Jay Youngdahl

Source: East Bay Express News

http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/a_round_of_applause_for_fremont__usa/Content?oid=946026

One of the most important and unforgettable phrases uttered in my lifetime was Rodney King's plaintive plea, "Can we all get along?" King's aphorism exemplifies a central issue of our time. How can people from different backgrounds and cultures happily, respectfully, and...

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Plan Would Limit Prison Chapel Books

March 17, 2009

Author: Solomon Moore

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/us/18prison.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

A broad swath of religious organizations and civil liberties groups — often on opposite sides of contentious issues — have joined together to condemn a proposed rule that they say would prohibit some religious texts in federal penitentiary libraries.

The Bureau of Prisons in January...

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Believers Gather to Pray for Imprisoned Baha’i Leaders

March 16, 2009

Author: Laura Oleniacz

Source: The Winchester Star

http://www.winchesterstar.com/showarticle_new.php?sID=6&foldername=20090316&file=pray_article.html

Believers of different faiths gathered Sunday afternoon to pray for seven Baha’i leaders who have been in prison in Iran for nearly a year for their religious beliefs.

Local followers of the Christian, Muslim and Baha’i faiths...

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World Religions Thrive In Muncie Community

March 15, 2009

Author: Ivy Farguheson

Source: The Star Press

http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20090315/NEWS01/90314010/1002

Every once in a while Khalid Sajjid’s Christian friends in Muncie ask him why he doesn’t drink alcohol at parties or why he prays five times a day.

But those questions don’t stop him from practicing his Muslim faith.

In fact, they strengthen it.

“I am happy with my faith...

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Worldly Religions Find Their Way to Franklin

March 15, 2009

Author: Victoria Gray

Source: The Citizen of Laconia

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090315/GJNEWS02/703159979/-1/CITNEWS

Those interested in learning about world religions don't need to go to Harvard Divinity School, or even a closer university or college. They only have to go as far as West Main Street, where a series of interfaith dialogues begins today at Franklin Congregational Christian...

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Ex-R.I. Priest Who Follows Two Faiths Faces Ouster

March 15, 2009

Author: Richard C. Dujardin

Source: The Providence Journal

http://www.projo.com/news/content/priest_03-15-09_QMDMFI7_v3.1dc7473.html

Even as a Brown University student, Ann Holmes Redding was never far away from controversy.

She was barely into her freshman year in 1968 when she joined a black student walkout to get the university to admit more blacks — a move that resulted in a near quadrupling of the number of...

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Faith Helps Grievers: Interfaith Panel Discussion Thursday Addresses Topic

March 15, 2009

Author: Leslie Boyd

Source: Citizen-Times

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009903150312

Death is one thing all humans share and most also believe something happens to the spirit after death.

Faith can comfort those left grieving, no matter what form that belief takes.

The North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement and Mountain Area Interfaith Forum present a panel discussion, “...

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Increasingly Diverse Religious Practices Affirm Spiritual Importance Of New Home

March 14, 2009

Author: Dayna Harpster

Source: News-Press

http://www.news-press.com/article/20090314/LIFESTYLES/903140330/1013

If you say grace for your food, why not blessings for your home?

Increasingly, people of varying faiths are embracing an old spiritual tradition and inventing versions of their own.

For centuries, Catholic blessings have ranged from the simple practice of placing crosses in doorways to a prayer procedure...

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Like Gandhi, Obama Believes In Power Of Interfaith Prayers

March 13, 2009

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Obama-believes-in-power-of-prayers/articleshow/4258625.cms

President Barack Obama, who has acknowledged Mahatma Gandhi as one of his inspirations, prefers to have interfaith prayers at rallies, and has thus opened "a new frontier of religious politics".

Prayer has become more common at presidential...

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Egyptian Christian's Recognition Struggle

March 13, 2009

Author: Christopher Landau

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7888193.stm

Maher al-Gohary has converted from Islam to Christianity. In spite of facing death threats, he's engaged in a legal battle to have his changed religion recognised on his official Egyptian documents.

We drive through the chaotic streets of Cairo to meet Mr Gohary's lawyer at a petrol station.

His client lives in hiding, and doesn't...

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Celebrating Differences: Group Draws Inspiration From Diversity

March 13, 2009

Author: Marta Hepler Drahos

Source: Traverse City Record-Eagle

http://www.record-eagle.com/faith/local_story_072221617.html

Bonnie Smith came from a Catholic background and wanted to be a nun until she discovered boys.

Now she's a deacon in the Episcopal church -- and a founding member of a new area faith diversity council called Area Council on Religious Diversity, or ACORD. The group also includes representatives of the Unitarian...

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U.S. Buddhists, Hindus Back Evolution, Says Study

March 13, 2009

Author: Ashfaque Swapan

Source: New America Media/India West

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=5dbb57b1707ee3b07cb20c2abc5994e4

Despite virtually unanimous support in the scientific community, there is considerable public skepticism in the U.S. about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, with 39 percent believing in the theory, according to a Gallup poll.

...

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One Priest, Two Faiths, And Lots Of Questions

March 12, 2009

Author: Daniel Burke

Source: Religion News Service

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=17707

Friday afternoons find the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding at the Al-Islam Center in Seattle, reciting Muslim prayers.

Come Sunday, she heads about two miles south to kneel in the pews of St. Clement's of Rome Episcopal Church.

"My experience and my call is to continue to follow Jesus," said Redding, an Episcopal priest for the past 25...

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