Source: The Associated Press

On September 30, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "the founders of North America's oldest Jewish house of worship came to Rhode Island more than 250 years ago... In the centuries since, Newport's Touro Synagogue has become a symbol of religious freedom, a place where presidents, celebrities and foreign leaders have come to honor the legacy. Now, the Orthodox congregation is preparing to bring the synagogue into the 21st century with a multimillion-dollar restoration and expansion project aimed at attracting more...

Source: The Deseret News

On September 28, 2002 The Deseret News reported that "religious groups around the country are finding ecological issues hard to ignore. Clergy are speaking from the pulpit on global warming and Arctic drilling, and practicing what they preach in their own churches, synagogues, temples and mosques... Across faiths, the environmental movement has been evolving slowly over the past decade or more. Denominations have started looking into their traditions, examining how their beliefs could be applied to ecological issues and...

Source: State-Times/Morning Advocate

On September 28, 2002 the State-Times/Morning Advocate reported on different religious traditions and their beliefs about cremation. It stated, "cremation is common among Eastern religions. Hindus in India have crematoriums that are open all the time. The families quickly prepare the body, and family and friends go to the funeral pyre. Since the Buddha was cremated, most Buddhists follow this example. In Islam, cremation is forbidden, based on rituals regarding the dead found in the Quran and Sunnah. Muslims consider...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On September 27, 2002 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "the [Glenmary] study estimates that Ohio has 142,255 Jews, 41,281 Muslims and 2,004 Bahais. It found 34 Buddhist, 19 Hindu, nine Sikh and seven Jain groups in the state but gave no membership estimates... This year's study included groups such as Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs for the first time. For Muslims, the 1.6 million national figure included only those who regularly attend mosques that reported figures; for Eastern religions, it included only the...

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

http://www.dispatch.com/news/religion/faith-story.php?story=dispatch/news/features02/sep02/1508151.html

On September 27, 2002 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "Sundown Thursday marks the beginning of a Muslim holiday commemorating the Prophet Muhammad's ascent to heaven and return to earth on the same night. Muslims believe the stone from which Muhammad rose is in the Dome of the Rock...

Source: The Associated Press

On September 25, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "religious groups around the country are finding ecological issues hard to ignore. Clergy are speaking from the pulpit on global warming and Arctic drilling, and practicing what they preach in their own churches, synagogues, temples and mosques. Across faiths, the environmental movement has been evolving slowly over the last decade or more. Denominations have started looking into their traditions, examining how their beliefs could be applied to ecological issues and...

Source: Worcester Telegram...

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16995

On September 22, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "a Jewish man serving a life sentence for murder has sued the state for refusing to provide him with kosher meals. Alan J. Cotton, serving a life sentence for a 1966 first-degree murder, claims the state's refusal to provide him with kosher meals has deprived him of the right to live as a devout Jew....

Source: The Associated Press

On September 22, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "Minnesota's religious landscape became more diverse in the 1990s, although the state remains mostly Lutheran and Catholic, according to a survey of U.S. religious institutions. From 1990 to 2000, the state has seen double digit percentage increases for Jews and the Latter-day Saints. Muslims were also counted in significant numbers for the first time. The research also found that Minnesota has more evangelical Christians and fewer mainline Protestants... Minnesota is...

Source: The New York Times

On September 18, 2002, The New York Times reported on "the study, 'Religious Congregations and Membership: 2000'... Because the Census Bureau does not ask about religion, some scholars regard this study, first done in 1971, as the most comprehensive assessment available of the changes in American religious affiliation. The study is based on self-reporting by religious groups, a method that the study's authors acknowledge is imprecise because religious groups can inflate their numbers. The study was conducted by Glenmary...

Source: Los Angeles Times

On September 17, 2002 the Los Angeles Times reported that "the beginning of the school year brought the opening of a new Jewish high school in the San Fernando Valley--New Community Jewish High School--and Kehillah Jewish High School in San Jose. They are the fifth and sixth high schools aimed at non-Orthodox Jews to open in California since 1990, joining Tarbut in Irvine, Milken Community High School in the Sepulveda Pass and Jewish high schools in San Francisco and San Diego. Parents interviewed for this article repeatedly...

Source: The Boston Globe

On September 15, 2002 The Boston Globe reported on how "across the rural South... the Jewish community [has dwindled] over the years as younger generations... move to urban areas offering more opportunities."

Source: Equal Time

http://eastbay.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2002/09/16/smallb3.html

On September 13, 2002 Equal Time reported that "few U.S. employers list the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur as employee holidays. The same goes for Ramadan, the most religiously significant time of year for the world's 1 billion Muslims. But as the workplace has become more racially, ethnically and religiously diverse, firms have tried to...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On September 12, 2002 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "a prayer breakfast sponsored by St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce offered the opportunity for interfaith prayer. Held at the St. Petersburg Hilton, the event underscored a renewed commitment to faith in this country, Baker said. Ronald Tihal, 71, a Hindu and a retired headmaster from Guyana, South America, was among more than 400 people who attended the service sponsored by the St. Petersburg Ministerial Association,...

Source: The Plain Dealer

On September 12, 2002 The Plain Dealer reported that "throughout the [Northeast Ohio] region - in a Muslim mosque in Parma, at a Jewish candle-lighting ceremony downtown and in a daylong Buddhist walk of remembrance crossing nearly the entire city - people of all faiths joined in gestures of unity and respect... as thousands of worshippers gathered in special services, prayer vigils and communitywide events to commemorate the anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in American history."