Source: The Times-Picayune

On April 10, 2003 The Times-Picayune reported that "members of First Unitarian Universalist Church are celebrating their congregation's 170th year in New Orleans as a small bastion of spiritual liberalism embedded in conservative New Orleans... Continuing a recent tradition, members of the congregation of 100 or so ended a regular Sunday service March 23 by laying a wreath on the grave of the Rev. Theodore Clapp, a robust, colorful figure who in 1833 founded what would become First Unitarian Universalist after being expelled as a...

Source: Religion Writers

http://www.religionwriters.com/public/tips/040703/040703b.shtml

On April 7, 2003 the Religion Writers reported that "since the Iraq war began, Muslims - and those sometimes mistaken for Muslims - say they have experienced discrimination and hate in the United States. Police are investigating possible hate crimes in Illinois, Indiana, Oregon, Wisconsin, California, and Arizona. After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, hate crimes against...

Source: The Record

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MzYyNzY3

On April 5, 2003 The Record reported that a "controversy that brewed after a shopkeeper attempted to stage a Wiccan festival in borough parks provided some of the impetus behind portions of a new ordinance, Borough Attorney Anne Marie Rizzuto said. Disputes that arose from soccer groups jockeying to...

Source: Religion...

Source: The Associated Press

On April 4, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "Tempe [AZ] has declared its city buildings a haven for local Muslims who may face war-related harassment or threats, making it the first Phoenix-area community to officially do so... 'City buildings have always been safe havens,' Tempe's diversity coordinator, Rosa Inchausti, said in a note to department heads last week. 'People need to know that anyone can go into any city building if they are feeling harassed or threatened.'"

Source: New California Media

http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=fbaa55f50a76329013d829cd77fe710d

On April 4, 2003 New California Media reported that "February was an unusual month at Vive La Casa shelter in Buffalo, NY, and not only because its aid workers helped process three times the normal number of applications for people from the U.S. seeking asylum in Canada. It was unusual because of...

Source: Religion...

Source: The Boston Globe

On April 4, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "officials from the Muslim American Society are in discussions with FleetBoston Financial Corp., asking the bank to re-examine its recent decisions to close at least 15 accounts of individuals or institutions with Arabic names... Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, said Fleet 'is a test case' and the effort might spread to other large national banks that he said might be engaging in discriminatory practices... Fleet spokesman James E....

Source: Los Angeles Times

On April 3, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "the 91-year-old cross overlooking Ventura is being targeted by a group that contends the city has run afoul of 1st Amendment guarantees against establishment of a state religion... The cross is on public land in Grant Park, a rambling, sage-studded expanse atop 800-foot-high Mission Hill. The cross will be at the heart of a meeting next week between city officials and an attorney for three Ventura County residents upset by its religious symbolism... A member of Americans United...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On April 3, 2003 The San Francisco Chronicle printed an editorial by Annie Nakao stating that "I attended an unusual awards ceremony in San Francisco last week, to honor some folks who did the right thing in another dark time not so long ago... They were quite a bunch: a beloved philanthropist, a Buddhist priest, a couple of newspaper publishers, two lawyers, the ACLU of Northern California and the American Friends Service Committee. Their deed? Aiding Japanese Americans in the days following Pearl Harbor, when this...

Source: The Sun

http://www.sunspot.net/bal-ca.pagans01apr01.story

On April 1, 2003 The Sun reported that "gathered in the cramped but comfortable basement of a Finksburg church on a recent Friday night, the pagans joked about the difficulties of raising children and staying married. They riffed on contradictions they've found in the Christian Bible. They shared frustrations about growing up overweight, gay and apostate... Outside, not a single protester walked the dark,...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/03/31/TampaBay/Mood_cautious_at_Musl.shtml

On March 31, 2003 the St. Petersburg Times reported that "after war broke out in Iraq, organizers of... the annual Islamic Charity Festival [in Tampa, FL]... discussed postponing the festival, which local Muslims hold to offer food and clothing to mostly non-Muslim needy residents... Corporations could be counted on in past years to provide soft drinks...

Source: Statesman Journal

http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=59203

On March 30, 2003 Statesman Journal reported that "forty people sought solace Saturday at Loucks Lecture Hall where they gathered to listen to Buddhist nun Gen Kelsang Dechen. That’s twice as many who turned out two weeks ago � before the Iraq war started � to hear Dechen speak... Dechen, who lives at the Mahasiddha Buddhist Center in Portland, didn’t speak specifically about...

Source: Daily News

On March 30, 2003 Daily News reported that "a four-day Greek festival that has been held by a Whitestone church each June for the past 25 years is getting a thumbs-down this year from the local community board... Community Board 7, which covers Whitestone along with Flushing and neighboring communities, will recommend that the city deny Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church the permits it needs to hold the fair, said district manager Marilyn Bitterman... Then, complaints from neighbors and the Greater Whitestone Taxpayers Civic Association...

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cranes30mar30,1,3411647.story?coll=la%2Dhome%2Dleftrail

On March 30, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "in the mind of peace advocate Michiko Pumpian, the crane is mightier than the sword -- and, for that matter, more persuasive than protest marches... The tall, graceful bird is a symbol of peace in her native Japan, and the 48-...