Author: Michah Rynor

Source: University of Toronto Campus News

http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin6/070214-2928.asp

European governments are currently debating whether or not to ban certain Islamic garb worn by Muslim women due to their concerns that veils and hijabs cause civil strife, discourage assimilation and help disguise terrorists and lawbreakers.

The Canadian debate has been far less dramatic but it continues to be a topic of discussion,...

Source: Indian Catholic

http://www.theindiancatholic.com/newsread.asp?nid=6082

HONG KONG (UCAN) -- The Colloquium of Six Religious Leaders of Hong Kong has tempered joy over the 10th anniversary of the territory's return to China with concern about the rise in family violence. In a message for Lunar New Year, the six leaders note that local residents rejoice in the success of the "one-country, two-systems" principle that has applied since Hong Kong reverted from British to...

Source: Esquimalt News

http://www.esquimaltnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=10&cat=23&id=832669&more=

Canada’s legions of Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, Rovers, Sparks, Brownies, Guides and Pathfinders are getting ready to join 25 million other young people around the world in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Scouting movement.

This year’s official Scout-Guide Week runs Feb. 18-24. It not only marks the...

Author: MARY EVELYN TUCKER and JOHN GRIM

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i23/23b00901.htm

As reported last year in the Millennium Ecosystems Assessment, we humans are destroying the life-support systems of the planet at an alarming rate. The data keep pouring in that we are altering the climate and toxifying the air, water, and soil so that the health of humans and other species is at risk. The population...

Author: Dan Dewitt

Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/13/Hernando/Green_burials_voted_d.shtml

BROOKSVILLE - In a cemetery planned for a 5-acre tract near Istachatta, the markers would have been wooden slabs or crosses.

The bodies would have been buried without embalming; the caskets were to be wooden boxes meant to decompose quickly.

That is Bosnian tradition, said Vedad Sakovic,...

Author: Ilene R. Prusher

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0213/p01s03-wome.html

AJLUN, JORDAN - High-tech gadget in hand, a man trudges down from a rural hilltop with the information he was seeking about a journey that took place some 4,000 years ago.

The means are modern: Using a tiny global-positioning device to measure their location via satellite and a map superimposed on topographical images provided...

Author: Eboo Patel

Source: The Washington Post

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2007/02/environmental_stewardship_an_o.html

The first time I met the Rev. Richard Cizik, vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, we talked about earth, not heaven.

He told me that the most important new initiative among evangelicals is "creation care." Google it and you will...

Author: Andrea Useem

Source: Pew Forum

Wire Service: RNS

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=12716

When Aurora Turk was growing up in Mexico City, being Catholic was a given. "It was taught to me by the nuns at school and my mother at home," she recalled. "My whole world was Catholic."

But Turk's adult life has been marked by religious exploration.

Married to a Brooklyn-born Jew, the 38-year-...

Author: Bettye Wells Miller

Source: The Press-Enterprise

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_peace12.2641186.html#

SAN BERNARDINO - Under threatening skies Sunday afternoon, more than 300 residents enjoyed dances, chants and songs reflecting the community's religious diversity, then prayed for peace in their city.

The Interfaith Festival for Peace in Our Community, sponsored by the San...

Source: Asian Image

http://www.asianimage.co.uk/display.var.1183613.0.religions_unite_for_conference.php

The European Council of Religious Leaders, tackles the topic of Muslims and terror in Birmingham in its first UK conference.

The ECRL event 'Muslims in Britain' takes place at Birmingham's Sikh temple, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha, and Soho Road's Civic Centre.

With sessions entitled 'Terror and Fear' and 'Muslims in...

Author: Anto Akkara

Source: Christianity Today

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/february/37.114.html

When Jyoti Adhikari became a Christian, her husband, who came from a traditional Hindu family, could not stomach the thought. But Adhikari didn't flinch, even though her husband divorced her.

"I have no regrets. I am rejoicing in the Lord," said Adhikari, who looks after her teenage son now. Since her conversion, Adhikari...

Author: Alison Channon

Source: The Brandeis Hoot

Author: Rev. David Gray, Dr. Eboo Patel, et. al.

Source: The Washington Post

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2007/02/congress_needs_an_interfaith_c.html

The National Prayer Breakfast, an annual gathering of inspiring speeches and solemn moments of silence, recently drew President Bush and hundreds of lawmakers when it was held in Washington. This year, the event was unusual in that...

Author: Peter Smith

Source: The Courier-Journal

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070209/NEWS01/702090469/1008/NEWS01

In 2004, a group of Louisvillians overcame everything from deep-seated suspicions to bureaucratic red tape to bring two teenage music groups -- one Israeli, one Palestinian -- to town for a series of concerts for peace.

Now they are attempting something...

Author: Michele De Meglio

Source: Brooklyn Heights Courier

http://www.brooklynheightscourier.com/site/tab8.cfm?newsid=17834712&BRD=2384&PAG=461&dept_id=552854&rfi=6

They’re a huge part of people’s lives, so why not involve churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship in disaster preparedness?

Such thinking spurned the creation of a Web site devoted to providing...