The International Institute of Islamic Thought is a private, nonprofit, academic, cultural and educational institution concerned with general issues of Islamic thought and education.  The institute is based in the United States but has locations in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the U.K.

Read a Nov. 10, 2005, Washington Times article on IRS investigations of 60 tax-exempt groups, including 20 churches.

Read a Feb. 3, 2009, article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy about the court ruling against the IRS.

Read a Nov. 5, 2012, article from the National Catholic Reporter about the IRS not investigating politicking from churches.

Read a Jan. 17, 2013, editorial from the Washington Post about tax-exempt groups and campaigning.

Marvin Olasky is editor of World magazine, based in Asheville, N.C. He is credited with coining the phrase “compassionate conservatism” and has been a proponent of the government’s faith-based initiatives. He is the author of Renewing American Compassion: How Compassion for the Needy Can Turn Ordinary Citizens Into Heroes (The Free Press, 1996).

Patricia Telesco is the co-author of Sacred Beat: From the Heart of the Drum Circle. She has been participating in drum circles for many years and lives in Amhearst, N.Y. Contact via Bonni Hamilton, director of publicity for Red Wheel/Weiser.

Rabbi Rayzel Raphael leads drum circles in Philadelphia.

Jan Gregory was an adjunct professor of liturgy, worship and spirituality at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn., where she taught a course in drumming and worship.