Source: American Civil Liberties Union

Source: Beliefnet.com

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/133/story_13327_1.html

On September 26, 2003 Beliefnet.com ran a story from the Religion News Service that reported: "Five Amish farmers in rural Michigan are suing the local health department, charging that strict enforcement of septic system rules is violating their religious freedom. Health agency officials maintain that Amish families in Gladwin County, 150 miles north of Detroit, must install septic systems...

Source: Vietnam News Agency

http://www.vietnamtourism-info.com/article_940.shtml

On September 25, 2003 the Reference on Vietnam Tourism posted a Vietnam News Agency article that reported that the Cham ethnic group was celebrating Kate Festival at the Cham Village in Phuoc Huu commune, Ninh Phuoc district, Ninh Thuan province: "The festival, held annually on the first ten days of the seventh month of the Cham Calendar, is an occasion for the Cham people to express their...

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/6563587.htm

On August 19, 2003 the Philadelphia Inquirer printed an editorial stating that "around the United States increasing numbers of employers - including law enforcers - have concluded there is no good reason for denying religious expression on-the-job, such as female Muslim workers wearing the head covering some consider intrinsic to their faith... In Chicago's Cook County...

Source: The Providence Journal

http://www.projo.com/news/content/projo_20030818_touro18.789c7.html

On August 18, 2003 The Providence Journal reported that "more than 150 spectators and dignitaries packed into Touro Synagogue yesterday for a lesson on history, religion and, courtesy of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, a firsthand demonstration of politics... There to witness the annual...

Source: Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/stories/081603dnrelafrican.ad3fc.html

On August 15, 2003 Dallas Morning News reported that "Voodoo, Santeria and other religions with African roots are drawing followers in the United States among immigrants and black Americans interested in their ancestry, their leaders say... But their practice can result in clashes with neighbors and police over rituals such as animal sacrifices...

Source: Chicago Tribune

http://www.chicagotribune.com/archives

On August 15, 2003 the Chicago Tribune reported that "Thich Nhat Hanh, a renowned Buddhist monk and prolific author... will bring his cross-cultural message to Chicago on Aug. 22, in a public talk titled 'Building a Century of Peace.' About 3,500 of the 5,000 tickets for the speech at Loyola University's Joseph Gentile Center have been sold, many of them to students and other young people, said Laurie Lawlor, an...

Source: The Dallas Morning News

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/6522371.htm

On August 13, 2003 The Dallas Morning News reported that "when Mary Kappes is feeling stressed, or wrestling with a problem, she often finds herself walking in circles... She goes to small clearing in a wooded area behind the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, Texas. There, to the buzz of cicadas, she walks the circular pathway of a labyrinth built by members three years ago...

Source: Beliefnet

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/130/story_13040_1.html

On August 4, 2003 Beliefnet reported that "Santa Fe [NM] Municipal Judge Frances Gallegos has placed offenders enrolled in her new alternative sentencing program -- a tai chi class complete with a Japanese-style tea service and meditation aided by acupuncture... Instructor Mark De Francis, a doctor of oriental medicine who works as a psychologist for the state Corrections Department, said he...

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/la-fg-voodoo3aug03,0,5089491.story

On August 3, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "Adnor Adely... is excited by the recent government decree giving the centuries-old practice of voodoo the status of an officially recognized religion. Voodoo priests — houngans — like him will soon be authorized to perform any civil service a Roman Catholic priest can, officiating at births, marriages and funerals... 'Voodoo...

Source: Toledo Blade

[toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030802/NEWS10/108020120]

On August 2, 2003 the Toledo Blade reported that "a Toledo couple known for their efforts in promoting interfaith programs have launched a new organization, the Multifaith Council of Northwest Ohio, to better facilitate understanding and acceptance among the area’s diverse religious communities... 'What’s so different about us? We’re all God’s children even though we may take different spiritual paths,' said Woody Trautman, a...

Source: Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1543317,00.html

On August 1, 2003 the Denver Post reported that "in recent weeks, [minister Gerald] Muhammad has moved from the margins of Denver's faith community to the middle of the intense debate over the July 5 shooting of 15-year-old Paul Childs by a Denver police officer... The developmentally disabled boy, who was black, was killed after refusing to put down a knife... Muhammad's...

Source: The Anti-Defamation League

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/DiRaB_41/4288_41.htm

On July 30, 2003 The Anti-Defamation League issued a press release stating that "(ADL) today urged the Speaker of the House of Representatives to schedule a floor consideration of a measure condemning bigotry and violence against Arab-Americans, South Asian-Americans, Muslim-Americans and Sikh-Americans on the House agenda. Resolution 234 was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on...

Source: The Jersey Journal

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1059387008155480.xml

On July 28, 2003 The Jersey Journal reported that "the Islamic Educational Center of North Hudson took its message to a new demographic yesterday: Latinos... In a one-day celebration at the Union City center, Muslims and Latino converts sought to teach their neighbors, the vast majority of whom are Latino, about the Spanish Moors, who ruled Spain from the...

Source: Whittier Daily News

On July 27, 2003 the Whittier Daily News reported that "Louvenia Ortega came to the Hsi Lai Temple [CA] for a one-week monastic retreat to learn more about Buddhism... She started out by getting mad and failing as a group leader. She discovered that is a good way to learn... Everybody wanted to tell her what to do, so she lost her temper, the Hacienda Heights resident said... They came from as far as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vancouver and as close as Monrovia and Whittier, each paying an $80 registration fee. The retreat is open to...