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...

Source: Sacramento Bee

On July 25, 1999, the Sacramento Bee reported that the United Against Hate Gospel Concert took place on July 24th at the Samuel C. Pannell Community Center in the Sacramento area of California. More than 200 people attended the interfaith concert to show support for one another in the aftermath of the three synagogue arsons. Rev. Ronald E. Bell, a Progressive Church of God in Christ minister who planned the event, stated: "These events are vitally important because people need to know that any time a church is attacked, we're all...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 23, 1999, the Los Angeles Times published an article on the efforts of Los Angeles Muslims and Jews to renew efforts to create a code of ethics for civilizing Muslim-Jewish relations. In the wake of the national controversy over the appointment of Salam Al-Marayati to a national counter-terrorism commission, the two sides are trying to salvage public relations. Mather Hathout, spokesman for the Islamic Center of Southern California, stated: "We have got to learn how to disagree-with respect and civility and a touch of...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On July 18, 1999, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution published an article on the persistent vandalism taking place at the Greater Atlanta Vedic Center in Lilburn, Georgia. "In one nine-month period, the Vedic Center was vandalized five times, including one incident in which a window was broken and an obscenity written in mud on the front wall." The Gwinnett Interfaith Alliance, which is currently undergoing expansion to include more of metro Atlanta, will lead a forum on hate crimes on July 19th at the Mercer...

Source: The Morning Call

On July 15, 1999 the Morning Call published an article entitled, "Cultural Diversity to be Tracked: Researchers Will Study Religious Diversity in Schuylkill." The article reported that researchers, E. Allen Richardson and Catherine Cameron, from Cedar Crest College in Pennsylvania are working in conjunction with Harvard University to track what changes a Hindu temple has brought to the mostly Christian community of Summit Station, Pennsylvania. "The researchers will first look at how the Pottsville-area Christian community has...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On July 10, 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported that many Jewish and Christian leaders have joined Muslims in defending Al-Marayati's record on terrorism. Rabbi Leonard I. Beerman, founding rabbi of Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles, stated: "This assault on Salam Al-Marayati by a consortium of Jewish organizations is for me, as a rabbi and as a Jew, an appalling display of ignorance, mindlessness and arrogance." Gene Lichtenstein, editor in chief of the Jewish Journal, has come to Al-Marayati's defense, along with Rep. David Bonior...