Source: Star Tribune

On January 15, 2001, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on the "frequent fights and verbal conflicts" between African-American and Somali students at Minneapolis' Roosevelt High School. Student council member Matt Oxendale attributes the conflict to the Somali students' "trying too hard and too fast to fit in." Senior Fred Powell said the Somalis "think they're better than us." Another senior said that the fact that both groups are the most populous at the school sets up "a subconscious power struggle...Junior Nimco Ahmed said...

Source: U.S. News...

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On January 15, 2001, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Americans United for the Separation of Church and State is demanding that a 50-by-80-inch bronze plaque inscribed with the Ten Commandments and a biblical passage be removed from the Allegheny County Courthouse wall. Representatives of the International Reform Bureau presented the plaque on April 8, 1918. The nonprofit organization says the plaque "violates the First Amendment's establishment clause -- 'Congress shall make no law...

Source: Star Tribune

On January 14, 2001, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that many members of Generation X, born between 1960 and 1980, "treat religion more as a matter of personal choice than a duty or responsibility handed down from past generations...In an August 2000 Gallup Poll, some 85 percent of Gen X respondents said religion was important to them personally and more than 60 percent said religion can solve all or most of today's problems...What some scholars and church leaders fear, however, is that this increasingly personal faith...

Source: The Kansas City Star

On January 13, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported on religious leaders' hopes and fears for the new century. One area of concern is the direction of the economy. With Bush's "proposal of tax cuts that will benefit the wealthy," said the Rev. Loy C. Drew of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Kansas City, the poor will be coming to faith-based organizations more often for help with food, shelter, and the payment of bills. Another area of concern are the problems in the Middle East. Ahmed El-Sherif, president of the...

Source: The Tampa Tribune

On January 13, 2001, The Tampa Tribune reported that "the Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg put together a four-day conference, 'Religions in Dialogue: From Conflict to Trust,' featuring international religious leaders and local clergy." The goal of the conference was to foster communication among different religions and to help them live peacefully together. The conference included discussions about Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., as two examples of men who were committed to interfaith cooperation. It...

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 13, 2001, The Boston Globe reported on a national survey of 1,507 Americans on religion and public life. It found that "Americans have a deep belief in the power of religion to solve social ills but also have a deep suspicion of too much religion in political life...A majority of those surveyed said deeply religious politicians should be willing to compromise on issues such as abortion, gay rights, and the death penalty." When asked what would happen if Americans were to become deeply religious, majorities said it...

Source: The Times-Picayune

On January 13, 2001, The Times-Picayune reported on a "new study by Public Agenda, a secular, nonpartisan think tank that interviewed 1,507 Americans in the three weeks after the presidential election." According to the researchers, many Americans fault "a general loss of religious influence" for family instability and loss of civility. The study showed that a majority of these same Americans say it does not matter which religion becomes more influential in America. It also showed that less than half of respondents think that a...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On January 13, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that Church Women United, a church women's group committed to interdenominational harmony, fired half its staff--a total of seven employees--before Christmas. "Now at least two of its member organizations are considering withdrawing funds....Church Women United leaders say it includes 500,000 Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox women. Ongoing programs include World Day of Prayer and an anti-violence campaign."

Source: New York Daily News

On January 11, 2001, the New York Daily News reported that "Sophia Vackimes, curator of the photography exhibit "Botanica! Lotions, Potions, Orishas and Saints," will give a talk and present a slide show Saturday highlighting the cultural and religious phenomenon of the neighborhood botanica at the Flushing Library Auditorium. A botanica is a small retail shop that supplies religious practitioners, artisans and others of different religious beliefs with ceremonial goods. There you may find jars filled with ritual objects,...

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

On January 10, 2001, The Christian Science Monitor reported that "according to an in-depth national report released today, a large US majority wants religion's influence on society to increase...Americans remain deeply concerned about a loss of moral moorings in the US, and they are looking to religion as the best means to right the ship." People are concerned about the rise of materialism, greed, and a general "loss of moral moorings in the US," and look to religion to help reestablish a moral framework....

Source: The Kansas City Star

On January 8, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that "continuing social and political reform remains necessary if America's most disadvantaged residents are to gain the equality for which civil rights pioneers fought, a national civil rights scholar and activist said Sunday evening in Kansas City." Lawrence Rubin, recent executive chairman of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, spoke at an interfaith community worship service, part of the 2001 Greater Kansas City Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. Rubin stated that...

Source: Jet

On January 8, 2001, Jet magazine reported that "a broad coalition of U.S. religious leaders has issued a statement calling" for the eradication of racism from our institutions. "The endorsers represented, among others, the National Congress of Black Churches, the Southern Baptist Convention, Roman Catholic bishops, the National Council of Churches, the Greek Orthodox archdiocese, Judaism's three major branches, national Muslim organizations and Native American religions...The interfaith National Conference for Community and Justice, which...

Source: The Boston Globe

On January 8, 2001, The Boston Globe reported that "Catholics, Protestants, and Jews yesterday welcomed a Supreme Court decision upholding the right of Mormons to build a giant temple in Belmont, saying the decision guarantees continued freedom for religious groups in Massachusetts." Many religious groups were watching the case, in which neighbors asked to have the temple bulldozed, arguing that allowing the temple "violated a constitutional prohibition against the government establishment of religion."

"At stake in the...

Source: The Washington Post

On January 7, 2001, The Washington Post reported the conversion of thousands of Latinos nationwide to Islam. Hispanics are "the country's fastest-growing ethnic group," and Islam is "the nation's fastest-growing religion." There are 1 billion Muslims worldwide, and "the Muslim population in the United States is estimated at more than 4 million, nearly six times the number in 1970." The American Muslim Council, an advocacy group in Washington, estimates that 25,000 of these are Hispanic. "The largest communities are in New York...