Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

On June 13, 2002 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported "St. Louis clergy protest remarks on Islam made at convention." The article noted that "area religious leaders gathered at Christ Church Cathedral downtown Wednesday to call for a retraction of remarks made about Islam at the convention by the Rev. Jerry Vines, former president of the denomination. ... Local leaders of the Episcopal, Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Presbyterian, United Methodist, Disciples of Christ, and Baptist faiths and other community leaders joined together...

Source: People for the American Way

http://www.pfaw.org/news/press.asp?id=415

On June 13, 2002, People for the American Way issued a press release, "Bush Lauds Southern Baptist Convention After SBC Leader Denounces Religious Pluralism, Islam." The statement noted that, "On June 11, President George W. Bush addressed the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) via satellite. While Bush lauded the SBC for upholding the ideals of religious tolerance, civility and the...

Source: The New York Times

On June 12, 2002 The New York Times reported "Church Head Won't Repudiate Comments." The article noted that "the new head of the Southern Baptist Convention has rejected calls to repudiate what a Muslim group is calling 'bigoted' and 'hate-filled' statements made by one of its pastors. The Rev. Jack Graham, elected the convention's president on Tuesday, said the Rev. Jerry Vines' comments about Islam were 'accurate.' Vines, a former convention president, told conventioners at a pastors' conference Monday that many of this country...

Source: Council on American-Islamic Relations

Source: The Washington Post

On June 9, 2002 The Washington Post featured an article on the Montagnards, "a name meaning 'Mountain People' given to indigenous tribes of the central highlands, tribes renowned for fighting alongside U.S. Special Forces during the Vietnam War... They fled a Vietnamese government crackdown on Montagnards who participated in demonstrations demanding freedom of religion and a return of homelands they say have been illegally seized for conversion into massive rubber and coffee plantations... The church where they practiced an...

Source: The Orange County Register

http://www.ocregister.com/sitearchives/2002/6/8/news/faith00608cci3.shtm

On June 8, 2002 The Orange County Register reported that "Muslims in Orange County [California] have been busy trying to reshape the image of Islam among non-Muslims, taking their messages of neighborliness to freeway billboards, putting books and videos on Islam on library shelves...

Source: The Columbus Ledger-Inquirer

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/living/3423442.htm

On June 8, 2002 the reported "Faiths gather over dinner: Religious groups raising money for Habitat project." The article described an interfaith discussion group of Muslims, Christians, and Jews created after September 11. "The goal was simply to become more knowledgeable about one another's faith. ... Now, the three faith communities are planning...

Source: Omaha World-Herald

On June 8, 2002 the Omaha World-Herald featured an editorial that supports "an American rabbi, Daniel S. Brenner's... fascinating suggestion for what should be done with the World Trade Center site... Build a mosque there, he says. And put in a synagogue and a church as well. Or erect an inter-religious center where believers of diverse backgrounds can come together to discuss and honor their different gods in an atmosphere of mutual respect... The point, he says, is to show the world that America's religious...

Source: Newsday

On June 8, 2002 Newsday featured an article on two new houses of worship in New York, reporting the stories of the Messianic Jewish synagogue and the United Methodist Church simultaneously. "After decades of dreaming, years of planning and months of construction, the Beth Emanuel Messianic Congregation in Holbrook and the Ban Suk United Methodist Church in Old Westbury are about to move into new homes."

Source: The New York Times

On June 7, 2002, The New York Times reported that a Pennsylvania "judge fined 20 members of an Amish sect today for refusing to put bright orange reflective triangles on their horse-drawn buggies, ruling that public safety overrode any religious objections... The Swartzentruber Amish argued that the garish symbols violated their beliefs. The members were ordered to pay 27 fines of $95 each for failing to use the triangle, a symbol that alerts other travelers to a slow-moving vehicle... Instead of the triangles, the...

Source: The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=4361405&BRD=1425&PAG=461&dept_id=154733&rfi=6

On June 6, 2002 The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle featured an article on an interfaith prayer gathering in Kansas City, Missouri, in remembrance of September 11. "The event will end with prayers for peace by selected individuals representing the Christian, Muslim,...

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On June 1, 2002 The Houston Chronicle reported Muslims and Buddhists are joining Southern Baptists and other Christians in a campaign to persuade Tennessee voters to reject a state lottery... 'There's probably not any other issue, except maybe Sept. 11, that would pull all these groups together,' said the Rev. Skip Armistead, a United Methodist pastor in Madison and a chairman of the Gambling Free Tennessee Alliance... The anti-lottery forces are led by the Southern Baptists and United Methodists, representing some 4,300...

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

On May 31, 2002 the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported the Bush administration held a conference in Pittsburgh "to build support for allowing federal funds to pay for community services programs run by faith-based organizations... The conference, which is scheduled to travel to other cities, is an attempt to build momentum for the president's No Child Left Behind Act, which was passed in January... The act gives school districts more control of how they address student underachievement. With it, districts can create...

Source: The Boston Globe

On May 30, 2002 The Boston Globe reported that political and religious leaders in Worcester [MA] condemned the spray painting of swastikas on the outside of City Hall and others found across from US Representative James McGovern's office... 'I think when acts of hate like this occur, it's important for the community to come together and condemn it,' said McGovern. 'I don't think we can let these acts of anti-Semitism go unchallenged'... McGovern said it was disappointing after the community had come together after the...

Source: The New York Times

On May 29, 2002 The New York Times reported that "Roman Catholic immigrants have long brought regional devotions from their home countries to New York City... But today, with the same churches accommodating more than one immigrant group, some parish priests say groups of the faithful are laying claim to both space and time within parishes for their own shrines and patron saint celebrations, sometimes with a fervor reawakened only by the competition... In parishes like St. Cecilia, [in East Harlem, NY] priests say there is no...