Source: The Associated Press

[abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021206_1493.html]

On December 6, 2002 The Associated Press reported that "a college junior who lost a Kentucky merit scholarship when he decided to major in religion is suing the state, claiming it discriminates against students wanting to obtain degrees in religious studies by denying them funding. According to the lawsuit, Cumberland College junior Michael Nash was awarded $2,900 under the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship program in his freshman and...

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On December 4, 2002 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that "while her fifth-grade classmates at Truman Elementary School in Pacific listen to the adventures of Harry Potter, Merry Noella Skaggs chooses to sit in the library and read other books. Martha Skaggs says her daughter's teacher should not read the best-selling books in class because they teach kids about witchcraft, which she considers a religion. 'They won't give equal time to other religious books,' said Skaggs, who identified herself as Pentecostal. 'If...

Source: USA Today

On December 4, 2002 USA Today reported that "when religious pluralism hits home � 22% of U.S. households now have more than one faith under one roof � the party's over for a growing number of families. Divorce is three times more prevalent in interfaith families with children than in same-faith households, according to the first national statistical look at the issue... The American Religious Identification Survey 2001 (ARIS) finds that of all U.S. adults who have had children with someone of another faith, 10% are divorced, compared...

Source: Sunspot.net

http://www.sunspot.net/bal-ar.digest03dec03.story

On December 3, 2002 Sunspot.net reported that "Annapolis [MD] police charged three men with assault and committing a hate crime yesterday, alleging that they attacked a Middle Eastern cab driver, made ethnic slurs and told him to go back to his country. Charged with felony and misdemeanor assault and a hate crime were Ray Charles Bailey, 21, of Southern Hills Drive in Arnold; David Jacob Grobani, 19, of...

Source: religionwriters.com

http://www.religionwriters.com/public/tips/120202/120202a.html

On December 2, 2002 religionwriters.com reported that "the first week in December includes the celebration of Advent, Hanukkah, and Eid al-Fitr, and Christmas and Kwanzaa aren't far behind. After a year of constitutional controversies regarding religion, the winter holidays are yet another venue for debating the meaning of religious symbols in the public square....

Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

http://www.eeoc.gov/press/12-2-02.html

On December 2, 2002 the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that "Cari M. Dominguez, Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), today announced the issuance of updated guidance, in the form of a new Compliance Manual section, on the prohibition against national origin discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 'With American...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On December 2, 2002 The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "a recently released survey by San Francisco's Institute of Jewish and Community Research shows that a far higher percentage of people in Marin County [CA] than in the rest of the country embrace alternative religions or no religion at all. The findings, gathered from random telephone interviews of 604 people in April and May of 2000, do not mean the famously wealthy and liberal suburban county is full of barefoot pagans wearing robes and worshiping in the...

Source: Chicago Daily Herald

On November 27, 2002 the Chicago Daily Herald reported that "a smorgasbord of religions will emphasize the spiritual side of Thanksgiving next week. Participants in the DuPage Interfaith Thanksgiving Service will include Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Sikhs, Bahais and theosophists. The annual service began in the early 1990s after members of the DuPage Interfaith Resource Network decided they could find common ground in recognizing that Thanksgiving goes deeper than turkey and football. The ceremony will...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

On November 21, 2002 The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "the Marin Community Foundation has awarded more than $60,000 in grants to 14 congregations throughout the county that are actively involved in community-building efforts. A variety of religious faiths are represented, ranging from Bridge the Gap (a partnership by Sausalito Presbyterian Church and the Marin City Church of God) to the Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon and the Novato-based International Association of Sufism. A grant to St. Andrews...

Source: The Oregonian

On November 15, 2002 The Oregonian reported that "a protest Sunday in downtown Portland against a possible war in Iraq is drawing support from Palestinians, Jews, Catholics, Buddhists, Quakers and Scientologists, among others. Frank Fromherz, director of the Portland Catholic Archdiocese Office of Justice and Peace, said the peace activists will call on the U.S. government to find nonviolent solutions to threats such as terrorist attacks."

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On November 14, 2002 The Houston Chronicle reported that "the Children's Museum of Houston celebrates this diversity with the return of its annual Festivals of Light exhibit, which is open today through Jan. 20. The exhibit showcases eight religious and cultural observances. They are Diwali, Ramadan, Santa Lucia, Hanukkah, Las Posadas, Christmas, Kwanzaa and the Lunar New Year during its free Thursday Family Nights - starting this evening - and as WonderWeekend festivities through Feb. 2. Children can see how the...

Source: The Becket Fund

http://www.becketfund.org/litigate/MedicineWheel.html

On November 13, 2002 The Becket Fund reported that "in November 2002, The Becket Fund filed an amicus curiae brief [Wyoming Sawmills Inc. v. U.S. Forest Service, et al] with the 10th Circuit, on behalf of itself and a wide variety of Christian, Jewish and Muslim organizations, including the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, the General...

Source: PBS

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week610/profile.html

On November 8, 2002 PBS reported that "there is a mystical tradition among Muslims that was once widely popular, drawing followers from every branch of Islam and from other religions too. It's Sufism, which is under attack now by Muslim fundamentalists for being too liberal, but which is drawing more and more interest in the U.S. It's best known in the West for the dance of the...

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

On November 6, 2002 The Atlanta Journal and Constitution reported that "Mexicans in metro Atlanta commemorated Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a celebration rooted in both their indigenous traditions and their adopted Christianity. Several hundred people viewed 13 homemade altars at a celebration in Forest Park sponsored by the city and the Mexican consul general's office Saturday. The celebration... shares its philosophy with that of other cultures such as those in Asia and Africa in which ancestor...

Source: Intelligencer Journal

On November 5, 2002 the Intelligencer Journal reported that "because they find meaning and comfort in ancient traditions that pay respect to nature and the turn of the seasons, the Bezzards, one-time Methodists, practice Wicca, a modern faith reconstructed from the earth-based beliefs of pre-Christian peoples. Their daughter, Jessica, 25, was the first in the family enamored of Wicca. As a nonconforming 15-year-old, she became intrigued with Wicca's belief in the divinity of nature, as represented by a god and goddess, and...