Author: Tim Funk

Source: Charlotte Observer

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/16244400.htm

At a time when religion has become a code word for confrontation, even violence, around the world, Charlotteans will be asked over the next five months to focus more on the similarities among Jews, Christians and Muslims -- all of whom claim Abraham as a spiritual ancestor.

Starting today, the Levine Museum of the New South will...

Author: Prakash Chand Dubey

Source: Oh My News

Author: William Yardley

Source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/us/13trees.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

SEATTLE, Dec. 12 -- Fourteen Christmas trees that were abruptly sent to storage on Friday were back on display Tuesday in the main terminal of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, neither taller nor brighter than they had been before but clearly drawing more attention.

“I saw people taking pictures,...

Author: Angelique Walker-Smith

Source: IndyStar

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061213/OPINION01/612130368/-1/ZONES04

Have you heard? It's official. Christmas is back at Wal-Mart.

The specific mention of Christmas is no longer persona non grata within the array of the many holidays retailed at this time of year. But for many people of faith, the retailing of holy seasons like...

Author: LOIS E. BECKETT and EVAN H. JACOBS

Source: The Harvard Crimson

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516372

The task force charged with replacing Harvard’s Core curriculum has dropped its headline-grabbing proposal for a “Reason and Faith” requirement - a category that would have made Harvard the only Ivy to require its undergrads to study religion.

The committeehas also suggested a new course requirement on...

Author: Cassandra Spratling

Source: The News Sentinel/Detroit Free Press

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/living/16229194.htm

DETROIT - The exterior of the D'Amore-Braver home glows with sparkling Christmas lights, adding a festive flair to their street in a Troy, Mich., subdivision.

Inside on a recent Monday evening, Arnie and Andrea and their two sons, Alex and Andrew, string lights and place bows and ornaments to adorn...

Author: Phil Haslanger

Source: The Capital Times

Source: Ekklesia

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_061212rom.shtml

Churches in Romania have denounced calls from an anti-discrimination body for a French-style ban on religious symbols from schools in order to protect the state's secular character and ensure "freedom of conscience" for pupils - Jonathan Luxmoore for Ecumenical News International.

"The presence of religious symbols in schools is not the result of an...

Author: Jonathan Tilove

Source: Pew Forum

Wire Service: RNS

http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=12156

The new Congress will, for the first time, include a Muslim, two Buddhists, more Jews than Episcopalians, and the highest-ranking Mormon in congressional history.

Roman Catholics remain the largest single faith group in Congress, accounting for 29 percent of all members of the House and Senate, followed...

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6167695.stm

Iran's foreign minister has rejected criticism of a two-day conference being held in Iran to examine whether the Holocaust actually happened.

Manouchehr Mottaki told participants the event did not seek to confirm or deny the Holocaust, but rather to allow people to "express their views freely".

Israel's prime minister has condemned the gathering as "a sick phenomenon".

President...

Author: Martin Marty

Source: Sightings

http://marty-center.uchicago.edu/sightings/archive_2006/1211.shtml

Two events this season led me to go back to the Sightings archive, to a column dated October 29, 2001 ("Listening to Lactantius"). Giving evidence of our passion always to be current, we cited Lactantius from the years 302 and 303, because what he wrote then spoke so directly to current affairs. Incident one here is the flap over...

Author: Judyth Piazza

Source: News Blaze

http://newsblaze.com/story/20061201142620tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html

As the demographics of the U.S. military have changed in recent years, the military has become more intent on facilitating religious practices of all of its members.

Chief Master Sergeant Aphrodite Kafka, an Orthodox Christian, who has served in the Air Force for decades, has seen...

Author: Deepti Hajela

Source: The Shreveport Times

Wire Service: AP

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061210/LIVING/612100310/1004/LIVING

NEW YORK -- Christmas morning is a bonanza for my nephews and nieces, box after box from loving aunts, uncles and grandfolk. I love watching them open all the gifts, but I have to admit to a twinge of envy, even now...

Author: Pamela K. Taylor

Source: The American Muslim

http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_elephant_in_the_room_at_the_wise_conference/0012228

Attending the WISE conference organized by the ASMA society in late November was a tremendous experience. It was humbling to be sitting next to women from around the globe who had done so much, spoken out so fearlessly, and risked...

Author: Glenn Lovell

Source: The Mercury News

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2006/12/11/christmas-back-in-stores/

The battle over Christmas in major retail stores across America was fought, and Christmas has won -- at least for now.

After last year's...