Source: The Interfaith Alliance

Source: LA Daily News

On March 24, 2003 the LA Daily News reported that "although there's been no surge in hate crimes in the city since the war in Iraq began, Mayor James Hahn and other local leaders counseled tolerance Monday among the Los Angeles' many diverse communities... 'In this time of heightened anxiety and uncertainty, it's important to stay true to who we are as a people and as city,' Hahn said. 'No matter how stressful these times are, there is no excuse for anyone to treat anyone as a scapegoat or to rely on stereotyping...' Councilmen Dennis...

Source: The Argus

On March 23, 2003 The Argus reported that "Japanese-American civil rights groups are joining Muslim and interfaith groups outraged over new wartime security measures calling for Arab immigrants seeking political asylum in the United States to be locked up until the government can verify their reasons for coming here... Officials with the Department of Homeland Security say the measures announced last week also are being taken to 'advise members of the Iraqi community of the FBI's responsibilities in protecting them from hate crimes...'...

Source: The Boston Globe

On March 23, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "months of walking down a cold, dirty, traffic-clogged stretch of Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge transformed Christopher Penczak into an urban pagan... Already a practicing witch, Penczak, like most pagans - those who practice earth-based religions - deeply reveres forests and pastures, not trash-littered sidewalks and MBTA bus depots. His spirit felt trapped by the concrete, but his brain had no intention of abandoning a hard-won job at a city recording studio. So he decided...

Source: News Observer

http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2366598p-2207123c.html

On March 23, 2003 the News Observer reported that "the United States is waging a war fraught with religious overtones, but leaders of Triangle churches, synagogues and mosques [in NC] are steering far clear of the fray. On the first weekend of war in Iraq, they are sticking to eternal themes of peace and love, saying the politics of war have no place in the pulpit. The reasoning is...

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-sublopez23mar23,0,5305794.column

On March 23, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "they've been gathering every Friday morning at 7 o'clock since Sept. 11, 2001, trying to keep the world from unraveling... Muslim and Jew, Hindu and Christian, Buddhist and Sufi, one of these and one of those. It's a Los Angeles crowd, for sure, and a nice idea... Love, peace, common ground... this flock of clergy and...

Source: Newsday

On March 23, 2003 Newsday reported that "in the midst of the weak U.S. economy and in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the EEOC has seen a spike in workplace bias complaints nationwide - but particularly in the categories of age and religious discrimination, which have skyrocketed... Although the filing of a complaint does not necessarily mean that anti-bias laws have been violated, age discrimination cases rose 14.5 percent in 2002 to nearly 20,000 nationwide compared with the preceding year. Some experts say the increase indicates that older...

Source: St. Petersburg Times

On March 23, 2003 the St. Petersburg Times printed an editorial stating that "to get a job as a residential counselor/houseparent at the United Methodist Children's Home in Decatur, Ga., you have to be at least 21 years old, a high school graduate and 'a professing Christian.' The job announcement goes on to explain that while non-Christians 'have done much good in our world,' the Children's Home is 'an agency of a Christian Church' and in order to preserve that identity, only Christians will be hired... You have to appreciate...

Source: The Boston Globe

On March 22, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "the protesters who gathered on City Hall Plaza for the city's first interfaith antiwar march yesterday joined hands and prayed aloud to Jehovah, to Allah, to Jesus, and to Buddha for peace in Iraq. Then, in unison, they condemned the man they say is the real ultimate power behind the war: George W. Bush... Led by four Buddhist monks, nearly 200 protesters chanted songs, banged drums, and stuck daffodils in their hair as they walked from Cambridge to Copley Square, past the State...

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12067-2003Mar22.html

On March 22, 2003 The Washington Post reported that "so far, nothing exists of the Muslim Youth Camps of America except the name and some preliminary sketches of a main lodge with a domed prayer hall. Yet, the proposal to build a $2 million Islamic summer camp in Iowa has become a kind of Rorschach test -- a hazy picture in which supporters and opponents see...

Source: Buffalo News

On March 22, 2003 the Buffalo News reported that "in the nearly five years that the Rev. Stepan Kuklich has donned his gold-embroidered robe to stand behind the wooden screen and sing Sunday Mass in Ukrainian, his unusual American congregation has pleased and surprised him. 'They don't speak Ukrainian at all and they come and they pray,' Kuklich said at the end of one service with air scented with incense and the sound of bells from the altar. 'I'm just glad that they find a way to be part of the church...' When Kuklich first arrived...

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-religreact22mar22,0,436663.story

On March 22, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "prayers go out for civilians and for the U.S. troops in Iraq. But some from various denominations oppose Bush's actions... Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles: 'With American troops in harm's way, let us pray earnestly for a quick resolution to the present conflict in Iraq with a minimum...

Source: The Arizona Republic

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0321backlash21.html#

On March 21, 2003 The Arizona Republic reported that Arizona "residents are bracing for a renewed wave of hate crimes against Muslims and others, like what happened after Sept. 11, 2001, when a Mesa man was killed because he wore a turban... The FBI has warned that the war with Iraq, or another terrorist attack, could trigger such crimes,...

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On March 21, 2003 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that "with war under way it is no longer time for debate but for prayer, Bishop Donald Wuerl told Catholics gathered for noon Mass at St. Mary of Mercy Church, Downtown... Later in the day, flanked by Muslim, Jewish and Protestant religious leaders, he would issue an interfaith statement with similar themes, which also warned the community against falling into religious or ethnic bigotry... About 350 people attended the noon Mass, slightly more than usual but not enough...

Source: The Denver Post

On March 20, 2003 The Denver Post printed an editorial stating that "in the tense days ahead, we urge Coloradans to resist any temptation to make our Muslim neighbors the focus of anger toward Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein... Although Hussein's Ba'athist Party is markedly secular - indeed, some may properly say the dictator has been anything but devout - he recently 'rediscovered' his Islamic roots in a transparent attempt to win sympathy among the world's 1.5 billion Muslims... It's important to keep in mind that Saddam Hussein...