2001-JAN-4: Russia: Salvation Army evicted: According to ReligionToday: ₃
Government officials in Moscow refused to register the local branch of the Salvation Army, because they regarded it as a foreign military organization. The Army was evicted on JAN-1 from their offices. Col. Kenneth Baillee, head of the organization in Russia, said: "We have entered a kind of legal 'Never-Never Land.' " He said that the ministry will continue to exist until the city asks the courts to have it liquidated. That could take months.

2001-JAN-9: Afghanistan: Religious conversion is a capital crime: According to ReligionToday: ₃
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban's supreme leader, announced on the Taliban's Radio Shariat that those who leave Islam or those who induce others to do so would be killed. He said: "The enemies of Muslims are trying to eliminate pure religion throughout the world."

2001-JAN-12: World: Large religious web sites in difficulty: There are an enormous number of religious web sites on the Internet. Google.com, a superb Internet search engine, has registered about 18.3 million listings containing "God," 6.5 million listings for "Jesus," 5.6 million listings for "Christ," 1.3 million for "Christianity," 0.9 million for "Goddess," and 0.7 million for "Pagan." Most religious web sites are relatively small, being sponsored by individuals, couples and churches. Some of the largest religious web sites have experienced difficulty:

IBelieve.com billed itself as "the leading Christian community on the Internet," and "a place where believers of all denominations could come." However, in spite of its inclusive name, it restricted its articles to only one wing (conservative) of one religion (Christian). Despite a "tremendous launch," and achieving "550,000 members, more than 2 million unique visitors, and 60 ministry partners," they were unable to raise additional funding. They closed their virtual doors on 2000-NOV-24 after nine months of operation. Some employees were believed to have been offered jobs with a sister company Family Christian Stores.

Crosswalk.com On JAN-11, Crosswalk announced that it was reducing its staff by 15, from 49 to 34, as part of a plan to consolidate operations. This follows a previous cut during the year 2000 of 30 employees, made when web traffic fell short of expectations. 14

Douglas Elliott, lawyer for the Metropolitan Community Church, said it is unfortunate that the Catholic bishops are trying to draw Ms. Clarkson into controversy. More details.

2001-JAN-14: Florida: Santero priest arrested: According to the Palm Beach Post for JAN-17: Richard Rossie, 58, of Boynton Beach was arrested by police who say that he dumped three dead chicken carcasses into the Intracostal Waterway. From the point of view of the police, he was illegally disposing of an animal carcass. Rossie, a babalawo, or high priest of Santeria, said that the chickens were a religious offering: "I had to throw the box with the chickens in the water for the ocean god Yemoja." Jim Green, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney said that the police may have violated Rossie's First Amendment rights.