www.washingtonpost.com

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, February 26, 2008: America has always been a competitive religious marketplace, but a major survey released yesterday shows a country increasingly exploring different faith identities and ways of worship. More than 40 percent of respondents told pollsters that they had changed their religious affiliation since childhood. Experts say the growth of religious minorities, American mobility and intermarriage are key factors in the churn documented in the Religious Landscape Survey, one of the largest such polls ever done, with 35,000 adults interviewed.

Conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the survey confirms on a grand scale trends that demographers have noted for years: the slipping percentage of Protestants, now down to 51, and the rise of people who call themselves unaffiliated, now at 16 percent, up from similar surveys.

More than anything else in the poll, Pew highlighted the fluidity of identity, noting that every group is constantly gaining and losing members. Twenty-eight percent of Americans have left the group they were raised in, switching, for example, from Protestantism to Judaism or from the Orthodox faith to Catholicism. America has always been very religiously vibrant, said Pew political scientist John Green, but today there are more options.

www.rediff.com

NEW YORK, February 25, 2008: A wholehearted apology from a Christian community to Hindus worldwide, which also denounced proselytization by Christian missionaries, has triggered a debate among pastors across the United States.

The apology, tendered by Right Reverend J. Jon Bruno, bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Los Angeles, is arguably the first of its kind by a major Christian congregation, and was issued “for centuries-old acts of religious discrimination by Christians, including attempts to convert them.”

While some Episcopal Christians have protested against the apology, made during a special Mass on January 19 in the presence of over 100 HIndu spiritual leaders and lay people, organizers of the event insist it was the right step in the right direction.

“I believe that the world cannot afford for us to repeat the errors of our past, in which we sought to dominate rather than to serve,” Bruno said in a statement. “In this spirit, and in order to take another step in building trust between our two great religious traditions, I offer a sincere apology to the Hindu religious community.”

www.hinduismtoday.com

KAPAA, HAWAII, USA, February 26, 2008: From February 17th to 21st, Hindu swamis and religious leaders from India visited Israel, at the invitation of the Israeli foreign ministry, the American Jewish Association, the World Council of Religious Leaders and the Rabbinate of Israel. They met with the Chief Rabbis of Israel, the President of Israel, members of the foreign ministry, the Mayor of Haifa and many other respected dignitaries.

It was a beautiful meeting of two ancient, non-proselytizing, non-converting religions who shared their beliefs, their traditions and their ideals with each other, finding much common ground between the two ancient traditions.

The program began in Jerusalem on the evening of the 17th February. On the 18th, they joined a discussion between Hindu leaders and Jewish leaders at the Mt. Zion Hotel in Jerusalem. Important issues such as icon worship, calendars, the meaning of the swastika and many others were discussed with great understanding and mutual respect. In the evening, the group was hosted by the Israeli Parliament where they met the Israeli Prime Minister and members of the foreign ministry, and they were greeted by a special welcome by the Israeli Parliament in session.

On the 19th February, they had a meeting with His Excellency, the President of Israel. In that evening they were hosted for a special dinner by the American Jewish Committee, headed by Rabbi David Rosen. On the 20th February, they traveled to Haifa where they met with local communities of other religions in Israel, including the Druze and the Bahai’i as well as local Christian and Muslim leaders. The final dinner was hosted by the President of Haifa University. The first Hindu-Jewish summit had taken place in Delhi in the previous year, on February 2007.

The group was formed by were Swami Avdheshanand Giriji (Acharya Mahamandaleshwar, Juna Akhara), Swami Paramatmanandji (Secretary, Hindu Dharma Acharya Sabha), Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji (President and Spiritual Head, Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh), Swami Madhav Priya Dasji (Swaminarayan sampradhaya), along with other revered leaders and an eminent team of Hindu scholars. Swami Dayananda Saraswati was scheduled to play a major role in the event; however, unfortunately he was unable to attend at the last minute.

www.hinduismtoday.com

KAUAI, HAWAII, February 26, 2008: Hinduism Today magazine is researching the issue of losing caste by crossing the ocean. This has most recently surfaced as an issue with the Udupi Krishna temple. We are unable to find the scriptural source of the restriction on crossing the ocean. Any reader with information can contact ar@hindu.org.

www.hinduismtoday.com

Silence is the first door to spiritual eminence.
   Adi Sankara (788-820), in his Vivekachudamani, 368