Islam

People of all faiths flock to U.S. Ukrainian churches in acts of solidarity

March 8, 2022

The diverse group showed up, one after another, so that when the pews were full, people spilled into the aisles at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Parma, Ohio.

“It was a standing-room crowd that came to pray and show unwavering solidarity,” said Lee C. Shapiro, regional director of the American Jewish Committee’s Cleveland chapter.

Since the...

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'Becoming Muslim' podcast asks converts, what happens after you see the light?

March 9, 2022

Conversion stories are an American tradition.

The stories are often the same, no matter what religion is involved. Someone was lost, then they were found. Or they were wandering in the dark and then, as Hank Williams Sr. once put it, they saw the light.

But what happens next? On the day after? And the day after that? And the year after that?

Source:...

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Supreme Court sides with FBI in suit brought by Muslim Americans on spying

March 4, 2022

A unanimous Supreme Court on Friday dealt a setback to three Muslim Americans who are trying to sue the FBI for religious discrimination over surveillance in their place of worship after 9/11.

The narrow opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, reverses an appeals court ruling that would have allowed the suit to move forward over...

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US bishops back high school football coach in Supreme Court prayer case

March 3, 2022

The U.S. bishops’ conference had a friend-of-the-court brief filed on its behalf on March 2 in support of a former high school football coach who sued a school district after he lost his job in 2015 for refusing to stop kneeling and praying on the fifty-yard line after games.

Joseph Kennedy, the coach, eventually sued the Bremerton School District in Washington State in 2016 over its stance that he couldn’t continue his post-game ritual. The Supreme Court agreed to take up the case, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District on Jan. 14.

“The...

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Do schools respect student-athletes' modesty and religious freedom? Resolution encourages uniform accommodations

February 24, 2022

Inspired in part by the Norwegian beach handball team — which protested requirements that they wear bikinis as uniforms — the Utah House passed a resolution to recognize modesty and religious freedom rights for student-athletes.

Utah first lady Abby Cox and Muslim Civic League executive director Luna Banuri joined HCR16...

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Doug Emhoff highlights Black interfaith contributions as new project launches

February 24, 2022

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff lauded the interfaith work of Black religious communities for “saving lives” through distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations and for continuing efforts to get out the vote when he spoke at a midweek Black History Month event.

“Over the past year, Black faith communities have been working as trusted voices in their communities and getting the right facts and information out to their neighbors,” he said in remarks Wednesday (Feb. 23) at an online event co-hosted by the White House and the Black Interfaith Project. “This has led to millions upon...

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Health care provider pays $75,000 in 'scrub skirt' religious bias suit

February 2, 2022

A Tennessee-based health care provider will pay $75,000 to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit involving an Apostolic Pentecostal nurse who wanted to wear a “scrub skirt” to work. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said the company denied the nurse’s right to religious accommodation.

Wellpath LLC hired Christian nurse Malinda Babineaux in 2019 to provide health services at Central Texas Correctional Facility in San Antonio. After accepting the Texas job offer, Babineaux informed the company’s human resources team that her religious beliefs required her to...

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Black Muslim life honored in new online portrait exhibit

February 11, 2022

A new online exhibit featuring portraits of Black Muslims was launched by Sapelo Square, a Black Muslim education and media collective, on Feb. 2. Captured in dramatic lighting and paired with audio clips of the subjects speaking, the portraits aim to highlight the beauty and diversity within the Black Muslim experience.

“It’s really important that we hear the voices and see those who come from this strong and important lineage that doesn’t seem to be...

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Are today's seminarians tomorrow's corporate leaders?

February 10, 2022

Some corporate culture experts point to Black Lives Matter. Others say it is the soul-wringing work-life decisions forced on CEOs during the pandemic. Still others date large companies’ engagement with social justice issues back to the early days of the #MeToo movement.

Jeff Stoner, an executive coach in Minneapolis, said he has been fielding deeper questions from his corporate clients for years about purpose and priorities. “I was finding in so many of my coaching engagements that we were talking about things that could be defined as spiritual or faith-centered,” said Stoner...

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First rabbi chosen to lead Essex County social justice group

February 3, 2022

For much of the past two decades, Rabbi Margie Klein Ronkin has worked on the front lines of campaigns to secure fairer treatment and greater opportunities for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Now, the veteran activist has a new opportunity to put those organizing skills to work as the next leader of the Essex County Community Organization.

ECCO, a faith-based grass-roots organization that fights for racial and social justice, named Ronkin its new executive director effective Jan. 15. The Jamaica...

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Halal food's evolving flavors and fusions

February 1, 2022

Halal simply means “allowed” or “permissible” to millions of religiously observant people around the globe. In American foodservice, halal often means Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. Lately, halal is changing and expanding in forms of fusion that introduce elements of modern American fast-casual.

College dining is a good place to begin keeping tabs on halal’s latest moves. R&DE Stanford Dining is “intentional about offering a variety of culturally diverse food options to reflect and celebrate the diversity of our campus,” says Jackie Bertoldo, MPH, RDN, associate...

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Court says inmate can sue over confiscation of music, religious texts

January 25, 2022

A federal appeals court said Monday that an Arizona inmate’s lawsuit can proceed against corrections officials who confiscated his hip-hop CDs and Nation of Islam books as banned materials.

The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a district court ruling that had tossed out Edward Lee Jones Jr.’s claim that the confiscations violated his rights to free speech and worship.

The appeals court said the...

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