Source: The Tampa Tribune

On September 10, 1999, The Tampa Tribune reported that Jews are offended at the Southern Baptist Convention's plan to pray for Jews to convert to Christianity during the High Holy Days. David Freidman, the congregation president at Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, NC, stated: "To do this at this time of year is a little bit startling...I find it rather sad that they place their emphasis on converting Jews, rather than looking for common ground and discourse among all faiths." The Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission...

Source: The Denver Post

On September 10, 1999, The Denver Post reported that Lydia White Calf, a former student at the Naropa Institute in Colorado, has filed a lawsuit against the school for allowing an unqualified teacher to inappropriately practice sacred Lakota rituals and ceremonies as part of a Naropa course. The teacher in question, Weston Aguila 'Eagle' Cruz, claimed to be a member of the Yaqui tribe, but tribal officials said that nobody under that name is a registered member. White Calf's lawsuit claims that she raised her suspicions about Cruz...

Source: The New York Times

On September 9, 1999, The New York Times reported that the ACLU has sued the Sycamore Community School District in Ohio for closing on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on the basis that the school district is favoring one religion over another. Officials at the school district, located in a suburban district 15 miles northeast of Cincinnati, said that they decided to close for those two days only because so many students had been absent in previous years that it disrupted instruction. Bruce Armstrong, the district's superintendent,...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 5, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that not everybody will be celebrating a new millennium. Baha'is will celebrate the year 156, Muslims will be in the year 1420, and Jews will be in the year 5760 along with a total of 40 other calendars in use around the world which locate people in a time other than 1999. Even disputes about the Gregorian calendar in both the past and present offer a different moment for the millennium. Shimel Erfanian, a Baha'i, stated: "To us, the new millennium has no real significance...But...

Source: Chicago Sun-Times

On September 2, 1999, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that an interfaith service was held on Tuesday, August 31st, at O'Hare Airport to kick off the Chicago Commission on Human Relations' Unity Month. Clarence Wood, chairman of the commission and president of the Human Relations Foundation, stated: "We're trying to send a message that Chicago is working to be a bias-free city...This is the third annual Unity Day at O'Hare." However, Wood also noted that 1999 has been a troubling year, with 138 hate crimes reported in Chicago thus...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On August 29, 1999, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the 24 leaders of faith groups that make up the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis issued an educational statement denouncing Christian Identity: "We find the Christian Identity movement not only an affront and embarrassment to all persons who identify themselves with the name Christian, but a cruel mockery of the very values, principles and narratives which shape the entire Christian tradition. This racism, bigotry and hatred is deplorable." The...

Source: The Washington Post

On August 26, 1999, The Washington Post reported that mosques and churches from the Maryland Counties of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's have gathered donations and offered prayers for the earthquake victims in northwestern Turkey, where 12,000 people died and 33,000 people were injured on August 17th. Relief officials said that the Washington area has a main source of aid. Relief contributions are being accepted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations at (202) 659-CAIR and the Turkish Relief Association at 1-877-TURKEY9...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On August 25, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that a nine-day World Festival of Sacred Music will take place in religious sites throughout the city of Los Angeles beginning October 9th, 1999. With the Dalai Lama as a primary sponsor of the event, more than 80 concerts have been scheduled, most of which will take place in churches, synagogues, and temples. The music of Asia and the South Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, South America, and eastern Europe will be featured. Tickets are priced from $5, and some of the events are...

Source: The Indianapolis Star

On August 24, 1999, The Indianapolis Star reported that 800 people representing a multitude of faiths attended the Interfaith Vigil for World Peace at the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Bloomington, Indiana. The vigil was part of the Dalai Lama's 12-day visit to Bloomington, where he was leading the Kalachakra for World Peace. In the 70-minute vigil, there were 20 minutes of silent prayer and meditation before a globe placed in the center of the church. Sister Mary Margaret Funk of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech...

Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

On August 23, 1999, The San Diego Union-Tribune published an article on the Dalai Lama's visit to Bloomington, Indiana. As many as 5,000 people are expected to converge on Bloomington to watch him perform the Kalachakra for World Peace, which is a "series of Buddhist rituals and teachings intended to bring personal enlightenment and foster world peace." People from all over the country are going to Indiana to attend the events, which cost $40 to $50 for daily admissions. The Dalai Lama's current trip to the United States...

Source: The Washington Post

On August 21, 1999, The Washington Post reported that the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Maryland held a 10-day prayer session for rain in the drought-stricken Mid-Atlantic region. The ceremony, called Satha Chandi Homam, praises the Devi, the Mother Goddess, and is the first of its kind held in the United States. The ritual requires the services of at least 10 specially trained priests from India. During the 10 days, rain appeared three times, but the priests don't take the credit. "It's God's holiness that gives the rain or...

Source: USA TODAY

On August 19, 1999, USA Today published an article on the place of religion in cyberspace. Some, like Richard P. Cimino and Don Lattin, authors of Shopping for Faith, assert that the Internet is a "vast, chaotic spiritual supermarket (that) allows people to go directly to source material - ideas they might not be exposed to in their church." Cimino and Lattin state that the most significant effect of computers on religion over the coming years will be to "forge direct links between individual believers and religious groups,...

Source: The Indianapolis Star

On August 14, 1999, The Indianapolis Star reported that Sister Mary Margaret Funk of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Beech Grove, Indiana has organized an interfaith peace vigil for a select group of 800 men and women on August 23rd at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Bloomington. Many will be Buddhist leaders from Asia, Europe, and North America with representatives also attending from Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, and Islam.

Source: Los Angeles Times

On August 1, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that the House of Representatives passed The Religious Liberty Protection Act on July 15th, which states that local and state officials must bend their rules to accommodate religious claims unless there is a compelling need to do otherwise. Organizations such as the American Jewish Congress, People for the American Way, the Christian Coalition, and Focus on the Family are in support of the legislation, but the ACLU and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund are opposed to the bill because...

Source: Akron Beacon Journal

On July 31, 1999 Akron Beacon Journal featured an article on the research of Northern Ohio's religious diversity by Pluralism Project affiliates. The "growth in religious diversity has been examined by two Kent State University researchers... Dr. David Odell-Scott, associate professor of philosophy... and Dr. Surinder M. Bhardwaj, a professor of geography... received a 1998 grant through the Pluralism Project at Harvard University to map the religious diversity of Northern Ohio... As a result of that work, the researchers have...