Interfaith

Hindu Baccalaureate Service to Continue at University of Nevada

July 19, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: NEWS TRACK India

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/7366

Hindu Baccalaureate Service (Dikshant Utsav) held for the first time in Western USA at prestigious University of Nevada-Reno (UNR) in May last, will be a regular annual feature.

Organised by acclaimed Indo-American leader Rajan Zed in collaboration with Indian Student Organisation of UNR, it will bless graduating class in the traditional Hindu style...

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Theologians Call on Religious Leaders to Respect Women

July 18, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Deutsche-Welle

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3492956,00.html

Leaders of the world's major religions need to focus more on the needs of women, theologians told a Saudi-organized conference this week.

Clerics need to "restore the dignity of women," Juan Jose Tamayo, director of theology at Madrid's Juan Carlos III university, told a roundtable on Thursday, July 17.

The roundtable was...

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Pope Benedict XVI Meets Non-Christian Leaders

July 18, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Australian

[theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24039586-2702,00.html]

Leaders of non-Christian faiths have met Pope Benedict XVI, who hailed the shared moral values of the world's major religions.

About 20 religious leaders from the Jewish, Hindu, Islamic and Buddhist communities gathered to meet the Pope and the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney George Pell in the Chapter Hall at St Mary's Cathedral this morning.

The meeting came hours before the main...

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Turkmen, Uzbek Faith Groups Still Under Pressure

July 18, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: Institute for War & Peace Reporting

http://www.iwpr.net/?p=bca&s=b&o=345801&apc_state=henh

The state of religious freedoms in both Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan remains as poor as ever, with both governments suspicious of Muslim and non-Muslim faith groups alike.

At a White House meeting on July 14 dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the United States’ International Religious Freedom Act, President...

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Kansas City Rates High for Interfaith Efforts

July 15, 2008

Author: Vern Barnet

Source: KansasCity.com

http://www.kansascity.com/255/story/704758.html

Two Italian Muslim leaders visited the United States last month to learn about interfaith work. How did Kansas City compare with Washington, Los Angeles, New York and Detroit?

Pretty well.

Under the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, the International Visitors Council here welcomed Wagih Saad Hassan Hassan (...

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Flushing, Just Outside Manhattan, is Proud of Its Religious Diversity

July 15, 2008

Author: Paige Kollock

Source: Voice of America News

[voanews.com/archive/flushing-just-outside-manhattan-proud-its-religious-diversity]

The neighborhood of Flushing in New York City borough of Queens, just outside Manhattan, has been a model for religious freedom since the 1600s. Back then, members of The Society of Friends, or Quakers, began arriving in what was then a Dutch colony, fleeing religious persecution in England.

The colony's director-general barred the Friends from practicing...

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South Asian Students Sample U.S. Religions

July 11, 2008

Author: Tim Johnson

Source: Burlington Free Press

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080711/NEWS02/807110310/1007/NEWS02

For a tour showcasing "religious pluralism" in the Burlington area, the first stop was appropriate enough: the First Unitarian Universalist Society, which not only embraces a diversity of faiths, but displays their symbols on the walls of its sanctuary....

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Universities Struggle to Keep the Faith

July 11, 2008

Author: Louise Brown

Source: The Toronto Star

http://www.thestar.com/living/Religion/article/458352

There is nowhere for Muslims to pray at McGill; the Montreal university shut the prayer room three years ago, arguing religious space has no place on a secular campus.

But at the University of Toronto, Muslims and anyone else who wants to pray between class can choose from among more than eight prayer rooms, including four at the airy new...

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Sierra Club Lauds R.I. Interfaith Power & Light

July 10, 2008

Author: Ted Nesi

Source: Providence Business News

http://www.pbn.com/stories/33623.htm

An interfaith group that is working to raise awareness about climate change was spotlighted today in a Sierra Club report on faith-based environmentalism.

Rhode Island Interfaith Power & Light, founded in January 2007 by a dozen of the state’s religious leaders, describes itself as “an interfaith ministry devoted to deepening the connection between ecology...

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Minorities Push for Secular Constitution in Muslim Bangladesh

July 8, 2008

Author: Anto Akkara

Source: Ecumenical News International

[eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=2064]

A joint forum of Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities in Bangladesh is lobbying quietly for the restoration of a secular constitution that was abolished 20 years ago making Islam the state religion in the Muslim-majority nation.

"We are trying our best to make our voices heard," Nirmal Rozario, organizing secretary of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, told Ecumenical News...

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A Time of Prayer, A Time of Peace in New Mexico's Jemez Mountains

July 8, 2008

Author: Staff Writer

Source: The Sikh News Network

http://www.sikhnet.com/daily-news/a-time-prayer-a-time-peace-new-mexicos-jemez-mountains

In the lovely heights of the Jemez Mountains, in the quaint New Mexico town of Espanola, the 3HO Foundation and the natural food company Yogi Tea co-sponsored the 23rd annual International Peace Prayer Day at the Ram Das Puri campsite. The event began at 2 pm and featured an...

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University Creates New Chair to Explore Abrahamic Religions

July 7, 2008

Author: Nick Mackenzie

Source: Religious Intelligence

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=2262

Oxford University is to create a new Chair in the Study of the Abrahamic Religions, following a benefactor’s gift of £2.5 million.

The chair, due to be filled from the start of the 2009/10 academic year will study the three religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam – all of which refer to the teachings of...

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Muslim Leaders Say Faith Gaining Ground in U.S.

July 5, 2008

Author: Richard Vara

Source: The Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/5873419.html

Despite the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, acceptance of Islam politically and socially is on the increase in the U.S., [n]ational Muslim leaders gathered in Houston said Saturday.

"American Muslims have become an important global force," said Sayyid M. Syeed, director of the Islamic Society of North America's...

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