Sikhs take on discrimination; Update on Vatican and Israel’s property dispute; New Orleans&#82

Friday’s RNS report begins with an article on a new campaign launched by Sikhs in response to the increasing discrimination they’ve faced since Sept. 11. Kabuika Kamunga writes: “A number of Sikh-American groups have begun a campaign to explain their religion to the American public and to differentiate their beliefs from those of Muslims. There […]

Friday’s RNS report begins with an article on a new campaign launched by Sikhs in response to the increasing discrimination they’ve faced since Sept. 11. Kabuika Kamunga writes: “A number of Sikh-American groups have begun a campaign to explain their religion to the American public and to differentiate their beliefs from those of Muslims. There have been more than 600 reports of discrimination and violence against Sikhs since 9/11, according to the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Sikh men often have been misidentified as Muslims and Arabs because they wear turbans in accordance with their religious tradition, but the headwear has led some people to believe they are allied with Al Qaeda. “My son and his friends were so badly harassed just because they (wear) the turban,” said Ladi Kaur, a Rockville, Md., woman who owns an auto parts wholesale firm and is a member of the Sikh community. “They are American children with … a different faith.”

Vatican correspondent Stacy Meichtry updates Tuesday’s story on the Vatican and Israel’s property tax dispute: Until Thursday (Nov. 17), one issue appeared stalemated: the Vatican’s rights to property and tax exemption in the Holy Land. Speaking to a press conference following a visit with Pope Benedict XVI, Israeli President Moshe Katsav said he promised Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano that “an effort would be made to accelerate the (negotiations) and respond positively to the requests of the Catholic Church.”

New Orleans’ Episcopalians look to an uncertain future as they struggle to rebuild upon their deep roots in the battered city, according to Bruce Nolan: With blazing morning light slanting through huge second-floor windows of the Cabildo museum, 40 Episcopalians prayed the same morning service their forebears offered in that landmark 200 years ago, celebrating both an anniversary and their community’s new beginning in a storm-ravaged city. “We are here, not simply to remember, but to claim hope for the future,” Bishop Charles Jenkins told the group on Thursday (Nov. 17). With their national church and other New Orleanians, Episcopalians in the Diocese of Louisiana face “the largest redevelopment project ever undertaken in the United States,” Jenkins said. “Our ‘new normal’ will be a church fully engaged, a servant church, one that serves all for whom Christ died.”


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