Source: Newsday

On July 7, 2001, Newsday reported on the support services that many religious groups offer to members with AIDS. "But many searching for a religious sanctuary say they aren't finding the healing and warmth promised at many houses of worship. Instead, some say, they find hypocrisy and rejection...Even at houses of worship that actively reach out to AIDS and HIV sufferers [including some Episcopalian and Catholic churches, the Congregational United Church of Christ, the First United Methodist Church, many synagogues, and some Buddhist retreats...

Source: The Arizona Republic

On July 6, 2001, The Arizona Republic reported that "Arizona's diverse faith community will kick off an anti-hate campaign...in response to a White-power leader's plans to recruit here for the White Aryan Resistance...Congregations will begin a 'Not in Our State' campaign, coordinated by...the National Conference for Community and Justice. The American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Arizona Catholic Conference and numerous churches have signed on with the campaign ."

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On July 6, 2001, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Harvard religion professor Diana Eck, "in her recently released book, 'A New Religious America'...has declared the United States the most religiously diverse nation in the world...Since 1991, when she started Harvard's Pluralism Project, she and her research assistants have searched for religious diversity from sea to shining sea."

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On July 5, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor reported that "the [Bush] administration and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives made some changes last week to the Community Solutions Act (HR 7) that deal directly with a central issue of concern to critics [of Bush's faith-based initiative]: the separation of church and state." Under the changes, "religious groups that receive grants would now be required to keep any religious activity or instruction separate from the government-funded programming......

Source: The Kansas City Star

On July 4, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that the nearly all white congregation of the Full Faith Church of Love West, installed the Rev. Don Lewis, an African-American, as its new senior pastor. "Guests at the installation included Charangit Hundal of the Sikh gurdwara and Anand and Dipti Bhattacharyya of the Hindu temple."

Source: The Commercial Appeal

On July 3, 2001, the Memphis The Commercial Appeal reported that "Memphis Police officer Mahajj Abdul-Baaqee doesn't mind explaining to his fellow officers" how to respect Muslim traditions while they conduct investigations. "In May, he was selected by the city's Office of Multicultural and Religious Affairs to serve as liaison for the Islamic community...As the face of Memphis changes, the need for liaisons to deal with everything from crime issues to cultural differences in the growing multiethnic communities increases."

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 2, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that "now, with more Latino churches springing up within the Protestant evangelical movement, in which individual churches have substantial autonomy, more Latino church leaders are signing up for Economic Development 101," imitating the faith-based economic development promoted by many African-American churches.

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On July 2, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that "Bush's Texas record on faith-based programs has been mixed and in many cases not fully evaluated...In the most decisive setback yet, the Legislature this spring chose not to continue a Bush-backed plan passed in 1997 that allowed religious youth facilities to escape state inspections." One critic of faith-based programs said the evidence suggests that they are "'unmanageable, unregulated, prone to favoritism and co-mingling of funds.'...On the welfare reform front, however,...

Source: Lancaster Sunday News

On July 1, 2001, the Lancaster Sunday News reported that "the plan is to transform the Mennonite Church, based in Elkhart, Ind...and the General Conference Mennonite Church (GC), based in Newton, Kan., into one denomination called Mennonite Church USA...The transformation could heal a rift that began in the 1860s when the GCs wanted Sunday School, more mission work, and more English used in services and the MCs wanted to continue with German and more traditional and conservative ways."

Source: The Washington Post

On July 1, 2001, The Washington Post reported on the American Jewish Committee's 'Children of Abraham' project, which involved "publishing a book on Islam for Jewish readers and a book on Judaism for Muslims, then marketing them as a package to promote understanding between the two faiths...But [the] project is generating more interfaith arrows than embraces, as some Muslims have assailed portions of the guide to Islam and criticized the committee's choice of author...The author has gone into hiding under heavy security...

Source: The Fresno Bee

On June 30, 2001, The Fresno Bee reported that "several Fourth of July celebrations will be offered...by the Fresno faith community: The Interfaith Alliance of Central California's Celebration of Diversity picnic, a Sikh vegetarian brunch, will be held...at California State University, Fresno...The Fresno Rescue Mission will host a barbecue dinner and fireworks show for [the] homeless."

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On June 30, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church and St. John Vianney Catholic Church, who are neighbors, "for the first time...will embark on an adult foreign mission trip together [to Dublin, Ireland]...The two-week trip has three goals: to help at two cash-strapped camps that bring together Catholic and Protestant children; to offer a model of how Catholics and Protestants from Houston can work together; and to learn more about the believers who have been their neighbors for years."

Source: The Arizona Republic

On June 30, 2001, The Arizona Republic published a piece on "the recent exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings at the Phoenix Art Museum [that] featured a series called 'Four Freedoms.' My favorite is Freedom to Worship... This image is just as vital to our society today as it was when Rockwell painted it in 1943... We should give thanks for this precious right not only on the Fourth of July, but every day."

Source: Sojourners

In its May-June 2001 issue, Sojourners published an article about what it is like to be a Muslim woman. "To many Westerners, Muslim women have been unknown others...Islam and Christianity have much in common, [many Muslim women] say...For many Muslim women who are immigrants, faith serves as a guiding element in negotiating drastically different cultures...Discrimination is a common experience for many Muslim women in the [U.S.]."

Source: The New York Times

On June 30, 2001, The New York Times reported that "former President Jimmy Carter, who last year broke with his denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, over its increasingly conservative direction, has been host to two meetings of leaders of moderate Baptist groups to seek 'common ground' among them." Carter "said a common effort among moderate Baptists could cooperate with other groups, including African-American and European Baptists, and even, he said, the Southern Baptist Convention."