Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On June 2, 2001, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "St. Louis will host at least six major religious gatherings downtown between [June] and early October...Religious bodies gather to pray, elect their leaders, study Scripture and use their considerable influence to affect public policy." Roman Catholics will gather at the St. Louis Archdiocese Eucharistic Congress. The Women of Faith, a for-profit evangelistic group from Plano, Texas, will be meeting as well. Other cities will also host gatherings of religious groups...

Source: The Seattle Times

Source: Star Tribune

On June 2, 2001, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on Diana Eck's new book, A New Religious America (HarperSanFrancisco). "Eck describes a radical change in the religious landscape of America and the challenges that change presents to our history of religious tolerance...The fundamental question, according to Eck, is how far will our religious tolerance extend?...Much of Eck's well-researched, well-written and quite readable book presents a history of the growth of Buddhist, Muslim and Hindu religious practice in America."

Source: The National Journal

On June 2, 2001, The National Journal reported that "the German government-criticized in the past for not addressing the issues of racism and intolerance strongly enough, and alarmed about the spike in hate crimes-is moving ahead with a broad-based legal and educational campaign...designed to change people's behavior and attitudes...And they have asked for help from...American Jewish organizations and educational groups."

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On June 1, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported that "some students and parents object to the singing of explicitly religious lyrics in public schools. These critics -- including the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, which filed a lawsuit against Columbus schools last month on behalf of three families -- think the practice violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause." The Council on American-Islamic Relations' Ohio chapter's president said he has no problem with the songs as long as they are initiated by students...

Source: Harvard Magazine

On June 1, 2001 the Harvard Magazine reported that "At 8:45 A.M. on February 20 a Wiccan priestess led the daily service of morning prayers in Memorial Church. 'Chapel has long afforded, since 1886 at least, a pulpit to non-Christians,' says the Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes, Pusey minister in the Memorial Church. Harris is 'the first Wiccan priestess of whom we are aware.'"

Source: The Jerusalem Post

On June 1, 2001, The Jerusalem Post reported that "lined up along the Holocaust Memorial Wall across from the United Nations headquarters, Jewish, Christian, and Hindu leaders wore yellow stickers and spoke out in solidarity with Afghan Hindus, who are being forced by the nation's ruling Taliban movement to wear saffron- colored garments...Jewish and Israeli leaders condemned the [Taliban's dress-code] ruling, declaring it reminiscent of the Nazi era and the Holocaust."

Source: iviews.com

Source: The Washington Post

http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A311-2001May31.html

On May 31, 2001, The Washington Post reported that "Six D.C. firefighters filed a federal lawsuit yesterday alleging that Fire Chief Ronnie Few illegally interfered with their religious beliefs by ordering them to cut their hair or trim their beards to conform with a department grooming policy...The lawsuit seeks a court order that would declare the policy violates the...

Source: The Denver Post

On May 30, 2001, The Denver Post reported on "sacred dancers [who] praise God through movement...Some dance for their congregations, others as a private form of prayer...They share a conviction that movement deepens the spiritual experience...Sacred dance...has a place in many religions and was part of the early Jewish and Christian church."

Source: The Washington Post

On May 28, 2001, The Washington Post published an opinion piece by Nathan J. Diament, the director of public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, in which he rebutted one of the criticisms of Bush's faith-based initiative. "Now opponents of the faith-based initiative...claim that allowing federal grants to institutions enjoying the exemption [from the Civil Rights Act of 1964] amounts to subsidizing employment discrimination with taxpayer dollars. Their assumption is that faith-based hiring by...

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

On May 27, 2001, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that "legislation passed by Congress last year now tips the scale in favor of religious institutions in many land use disputes. And a Franklin church is on course to become the first in Wisconsin to test the law in court...Rev. Ardyth Johnson's Faith Community Church wants to build a meeting house and fellowship hall on 10 acres zoned residential...Johnson...has told the city her church may file suit under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act if...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On May 27, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported on the religious studies department of UC Santa Barbara, which "brings together the jumble of modern culture and reassembles it under the heading of religion. Though the standard university approach to the study of religion draws heavily from the Protestant, Catholic and Jewish traditions,...Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Native Americans and others get equal time here...Instead of promoting any one religious faith, all of them are researched and analyzed." A dean of the...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On May 26, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported on the Chung Mei Buddhist Temple. Outreach to the greater Houston community is one main focus of the temple. "To accommodate their English-speaking guests, the temple this month began offering four-week courses on meditation and vegetarian cooking in English. Buddhist chanting classes and flower arrangement classes, also in English, are in the works. The temple also offers a practical course in Buddhism for those interested in the religion."

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On May 25, 2001, The Columbus Dispatch reported that "Bush came to Cleveland yesterday to promote his faith-based initiative in visits to a food pantry and a school for the disabled...Ohio is one of only five states to embrace charitable choice. The state's county welfare agencies award $ 25 million a year to faith- based organizations."