Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On December 19, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor featured a lengthy article on interfaith marriages saying that "at holiday time, interfaith couples can teach the nation about getting along with those of different religions." The article focused on several families and how they negotiate the holiday season as interfaith families. "Most sociologists believe that the number of interfaith unions will continue to increase in the United States... Currently, 50 percent of Jews marry non-Jews, and half of Catholics marry...

Source: The Oswego Palladium-Times

On December 19, 2001, The Oswego Palladium-Times published the editorial "Alleged hate crime brings shame to county." It described the arson at Gobind Sadan as "a black eye for Oswego County." The crime "has drawn national media attention, while the investigation is being assisted by not only local law authorities, but state and federal officials as well. ... Oswego County District Attorney Dennis Hawthorne said, 'The seeds for such conduct of those arrested were planted in their minds for several years, possibly by an...

Source: Newsday

On December 19, 2001, Newsday reported that a "fire that swept through the gift shop of the world's largest Gothic cathedral," the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. "From its inception, the cathedral was chartered not just as the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York but as a house of prayer whose bronze doors were open to all people... Indeed, in recent years, sermons have been delivered by rabbis, Zen Buddhists and African animists. The Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, retired U.S. Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf...

Source: The Providence Journal

http ://p rojo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/opinion/06719201.htm

On December 18, 2001, The Providence Journal featured an editorial on holidays in the workplace. "Many bosses decide, with a wink and a nod, to recast their Christmas parties as 'holiday' parties, but then still decorate in green and red and play Christmas carols. Such watering-down seems to work. The Christians can see their tradition in abstract form, and non-Christians find it less directly offensive. But it's not a real solution......

Source: The Boston Globe

On December 18, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "President Bush celebrated Eid al-Fitr yesterday, inviting Muslim children to the White House for holiday cookies and a poem... Bush noted that Eid, the three-day Muslim festival that... marks the end of the Ramadan holy month, coincides this year with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah and the Christian season of Advent. 'So it's a good time for people of these great faiths - Islam, Judaism, and Christianity - to remember how much we have in common,' he said... Until he declared war...

Source: The Providence Journal

http://projo.com/cgi-bin/story.pl/opinion/06719201.htm

On December 18, 2001, The Providence Journal featured an opinion piece by Dr. Doug Hicks "Workplace understanding without 'Secret Santas.'" It began: "The best debates about religious diversity take place beside the water cooler in the December-holiday season at the office." Further, "September's terror has forced Americans to take a fresh look at themselves. They have discovered...

Source: The Kansas City Star

On December 17, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that "about 6,000 people filled Bartle Hall [in Kansas City]... to observe the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting. They heard messages of tolerance and enlightenment spoken in a context of war... some Muslims chose the day to praise the Kansas City area and the tolerance they have enjoyed here... Representatives of other religious communities also attended Sunday's celebration."

Source: The New York Times

On December 17, 2001, The New York Times reported that "there is a creche in the East Room of the White House this year, as there has been every December since... 1967. But last week there was also a Hanukkah party with a kosher buffet among the glittering forest of White House Christmas trees, and last month there was the first iftar dinner held in the Executive Mansion, complete with fresh dates and Muslim prayers, to break the daily fast during Ramadan... The many gods in American life are alive and well at the White House,...

Source: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

On December 17, 2001, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that "almost all companies count Christian celebrations as their only official religious holidays, with employees of other faiths often forced to work on their holy days or use vacation time for a holiday off... Still, a growing number offer floating holidays or other schedule adjustments that allow workers to stay home on the days that matter to them... A survey this year by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious...

Source: The Boston Globe

On December 16, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "two more displays will soon join the Christmas creche on the town common [in Norwood, MA] this holiday season. Norwood selectmen, with little discussion, approved the applications... for a kiosk celebrating religious diversity and a billboard supporting separation of church and state.

Source: The Seattle Times

On December 16, 2001, The Seattle Times reported that, in Seattle, "two Christian pastors, a Jewish rabbi and a Muslim layman talked about how people of different faiths can learn to trust each other in these troubled times... In the aftermath of Sept. 11, interfaith groups -- especially those featuring Jews, Christians and Muslims -- are finding a renewed sense of purpose. Though Christian-Jewish dialogues have taken place for decades in Seattle, it has only been in recent years -- and especially since Sept. 11 -- that such groups...

Source: The Boston Globe

On December 16, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "spurred by years of downsizing, rightsizing, and job insecurity, US employees are at the forefront of a grass-roots movement that is quietly creating a spiritual revival in the workplace... Religion and spirituality, normally taboo in corporate america, are suddenly on the agenda as some employees search for more meaning at work and as some business leaders seek more socially responsible approaches to business and new ways to motivate and inspire workers."

Source: The Post-Standard

http://www.syracuse.com/news/syrnewspapers/index.ssf?/newsstories/20011215_rnfire.html

On December 15, 2001, The Post-Standard reported "3 Arrested in Temple Fire." The article noted, "Three teen-agers told police they plotted to burn down a Sikh temple in Palermo last month because they thought the people who worshipped there supported the recent terrorist attacks. ... In their statements to police, the teens...

Source: The Lansing State Journal

http://www.lsj.com/news/local/011214indians_3b.html

On December 14, 2001, The Lansing State Journal reported, "Indian community helps food bank feed the hungry." The article noted, "Leaders of the area's Indian community Thursday apologized for donating only $10,000 to the Greater Lansing Food Bank this year. But food bank officials were thrilled to receive the money from one of their largest donors during a lunch for senior citizens...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On December 14, 2001, The Los Angeles Times reported, "At Mosque, Relief and Thanks." While members of the King Fahd mosque community were feeling "gratitude," the alleged bomb plot "also set off another round of acrimony between Muslim and Jewish organizations." The article reported that "The Muslim Public Affairs Council called on the Justice Department to freeze the JDL's assets, just as federal authorities recently shut down the Holy Land Foundation" and "the Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] demanded that the Anti-...