Alexa: ® One measure of the popularity of a web site is the number of
Internet sites that link to it. As of 1999-SEP-7, Alexa found 4,192 web pages
with hyperlinks to us. They also gave us their highest "Freshness"
rating: 5 stars. They measure our transfer rate at a 4 star (very good; faster
than a 33.6 kb/s modem can handle).
LinksToYou.com also tracks
the number of Internet sites that search engines find are linked to
our site. On 1999-NOV-20, they reported that AltaVista found 5,409
links, Infoseek: 1,855 and Hotbot 470.
Hatewatch of America,™ once listed us as one of the leading
anti-Christian groups on the Internet. Considering the source of this recognition, we consider it an honor.
Their site is now defunct. Apparently, they did not survive a legal challenge by
Hatewatch Inc. ™ which is a true anti-hate web site. More
details.
Encyclopaedia Britannica gave us a 4 star rating which translates as
"Superior." We later found after a search for web sites dealing with
religious tolerance that the other 99 sites rated 1 star (Noteworthy) or 2 stars
(Recommended). Their review
reads: "Canadian nondenominational society whose stated mission is to
'promote the understanding and tolerance of minority religions; expose religious
hatred and misinformation; and supply information on controversial religious
topics to help you reach your own decisions.' Includes well-informed profiles of
a variety of religious traditions, as well as in-depth considerations of
particularly controversial religious topics."
The British Druid Order at http://www.druidorder.demon.co.uk
gave us a review that made our day!....maybe even week: "This is one of the most extraordinary sites on the
web. Set up and run by a handful of volunteers, its aim is to provide clear,
factual information about all spiritual traditions in the world, hence you'll
find good, in-depth articles by and about everyone from American right-wing
Christian fundamentalists through to Satanists via Hinduism, Native American
traditions, Wicca, Jainism, Islam, Taoism, Voodoo... Well, you name it, it's
here. Oh yes, and Druidry... It's amazing. A wonderful example of what the web
should be all about. Visit soon and add it to your favourites!"
Tammy Todd of About.com reviewed our site on 1998-JUN-11 at: http://altreligion.miningco.com/culture/religion/altreligion/
She writes: "The Ontario Center for Religious Tolerance not only covers
many topics, but they do it with a level of professionalism and objectivity I
find hard to match anywhere on the Internet.....Their descriptions are clear,
easy to understand, even for someone who knows little about the particular
religion...Their essays
also tackle the tough topics of religion...They
approach these topics with an objective, fact-based attitude, annotating their
essays with references to many books, articles, and Web Sites on the
topic...They have brought honesty
and integrity to the internet, something lacking in many Web sites claiming
to represent the "truth" about a subject."
Messiah / H'al_mahsciyach
does not
seem to be impressed with the contents of our site. They seem to view pluralism and the
celebration of diversity as a threat to the survival of the human race. They believe that:
"LOVE is the highest standard by which everything is to be measured, determined,
built, and understood." Concerning our site, they said: "Tolerance can amount to absurdity when it upholds destructive religions. No
amount of laundering and rewriting can alter the history of faiths that in truth serve to
destroy the human spirit and unity on earth. There is little common bond here except the
thread of humanity. Pluralism is fallacy when it upholds what is and has been clearly
wrong. Upholding pluralism can lead to disaster in human affairs, extinction being one of
them."
This statement is followed by an attack on the God of the Old Testament.
They view God, as mentioned in Leviticus 26:14-33, to be a "monster"
who "murders, threatens murder,...[and] calls to murder."
Here, The Webmaster criticizes our support of religious tolerance since it
includes Judaism and Christianity. He views us as "an
accessory to a spiritual crime -- certainly dereliction to one's duty to their
children." These are powerful words.
Lycos' Top 5% Review at http://point.lycos.com/reviews/Religion_5054.html
had a more positive impression of our site: "As its name implies, this religion-based site is not about forcing moral
values on you. It's sort of a fair of the spiritual world: lots of information on various
religions ("from Asatru to Zoroastrianism") and spiritual issues are presented
so the reader can make his or her own choices. Conflicts between the religious powers that
be and current issues such as homosexuality and abortion are described (without
conclusions -- draw your own), along with a short history of such conflicts (where the
Catholic Church banned the practice of charging interest on loans, of all things).
"
Homorama is a part of the Data Lounge Network. It is an information
and news source for gays and lesbians. They reviewed our essays on homosexuality,
commenting:
"A site devoted to accepting all peoples in all religions and faiths. The section
on homosexuality deals with tough issues at the interface between sexual orientation and
religion. Give yourself an hour or two of "quiet time" and read through the
essays. Well worth it."
The Mining Company reviewed our site on 1998-JUN-11. See: http://altreligion.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa061198.htm.
"The Ontario Center for Religious Tolerance not only covers many topics, but
they do it with a level of professionalism and objectivity I find hard to match anywhere
on the Internet...
The OCRT isn't just made up of descriptions [of religions], however. Their essays
also tackle the tough topics of religion...They approach these topics with an objective,
fact-based attitude, annotating their essays with references to many books, articles, and
Web Sites on the topic...
The four members of the OCRT have created an amazing resource for anyone interested
in religion. They have brought honesty and integrity to the internet, something lacking in
many Web sites claiming to represent the "truth" about a subject. If you are
searching for information about a religious subject, or simply looking for something
worthwhile to read, I highly suggest the Ontario Center for Religious Tolerance. You won't
be wasting your time."
Sponsored link:
The American Library Association reviewed our site back in its early
days, in 1996-SPRING. See: http://www.lib.cwu.edu/
"The website for the Ontario Centre for Religious Tolerance has three goals: to
disseminate accurate information; to expose religious fraud, hatred and misinformation; to
disseminate information on "hot" religious topics. The website fulfills these
three goals admirably and with a certain amount of style. The site's nine main access
points including 35 Religious and Ethical Systems; Spiritual Topics; Religiously Hot
Topics and a very large file of media addresses."
"
The website is produced by The Ontario Centre for Religious Tolerance which is comprised
of four individuals. The web-site is established in 1995. Among its future plans is to
write a series of essays on sex in the Bible, what the Bible really says about sex. They
chose a Christian text because the majority of North Americans identify themselves as
Christians."
"
The information is very well-done and balanced. The scope of the information is very
thorough. In addition, the individual entries are well-done whether the religion is
controversial or not. For example, the information on Satanism is very balanced and
informative. The entry cuts through the scare tactics, misinformation and hype and
presents a balanced picture on Satanism. The other entries are equally as well balanced
and thorough. In most cases, the online articles have references and further web-sites to
explore."
"
There are a number of essays on spiritual and, as they call it, "not so
spiritual" topics. These include tolerance, intolerance, cults, ritual abuse,
bisexuality, homosexuality and child-spanking. These essays are well-written and balanced.
There is a test on religious tolerance so that the reader/viewer may test themselves.
There is also a remedial recommendation so that the reader may become even more tolerant."
"
In addition to the information provided, this website is very well-done. The organization
and lay-out shows attention to detail and a good artistic sense."
"
This is an excellent resources for anyone seeking well-researched, balanced information on
religious and spiritual groups. The writing is lively and intelligent, clearly aimed at
providing a neutral picture to researchers and information seekers."
Reviewer name: Gail Wood
Position: Director of Libraries and Academic Support Services
E-mail [email protected]
Date of Review April 18, 1996
Celebrate Life; A Website for the Living reviewed our site at:
http://www.gate.net/~markhell/links.html
during 1998-MAY: "Wow! A site that is dedicated to covering all religions without bias. 'We Try To Avoid
promoting a specific religious viewpoint, or attacking anyone's religious beliefs.' A
great way to lower one form of prejudice in this world. Hats off to a great site."
Old Ways: A Journal of the Craft in the Modern Age reviews and offers
their Editor's Choice Award to web sites that they find "truly amazing."They gave us their award in 1998-JUN, and reviewed our web site:
"...you won't be stunned by an abundance of glittering graphics and assorted eye
candy. What you will find is a wealth of well-written, insightful essays on religious
beliefs ranging from Asatru to Christianity to Zoroastrianism'
With only a staff of four...OCRT has managed to not only create a wealth of in-depth
material on sixty-three different religions, but also focuses on religious hot spots and
topics of immediate concern...In this editor's opinion, OCRT has far exceeded the criteria
for the Editor's Choice Award, and have set the standard for site content for the entire
Web."
Your Official Disney Boycott Site has reviewed our site at http://falcon.laker.net/webpage/religtolerance.htm.
Their review is called "Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance - But for
Whom?" It starts with a Biblical quotation:
Psalm 110: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a
footstool for your feet"
Some interesting excerpts:
"Their error ridden, pro-homosexual, pro-Pagan, pro-Satanist, pro-Wicca
(Witchcraft) site attacks this site as error ridden while they clearly use biased terms
and misinformation in their characterization of the Disney Boycott as well as other biased
stories and information on their site."
"The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance web site also goes so far as
to claim on their web site that an anti-Southern Baptist, Pro-Disney, homosexual oriented
web site 'Value of Families' with little if any religious content 'has become the top
rated religious site on the net'. By what standards they derived at - and decided to agree
with this rating they don't say."
"This single statement by itself discredits their entire web site in regards
to any accuracy of so called 'religious' content or religious information they produce. It
would appear a more accurate name for their group would be the Ontario Consultants to
promote Cult Tolerance."
(They apparently overlooked Reference 29 on our Disney essay
which clearly states that we use the statistics gathered by Web Side Story (a.k.a. "Top 1000 world
sites"). We have informed them of their error.)
The British Broadcasting Commission chose
our web site in 1998-OCT "for inclusion in the BBC Education Web Guide. The
Education Web Guide team were particularly impressed by the quality and educational
content of your site." Their review says:
"From Baha'i to Zoroastrianism, there are details of 63 major religions on
this well thought out site. It aims to promote religious tolerance and understanding and
is an excellent site for studying world religions. As well as cataloguing world religions
there are details on cults and paganism, a glossary of religious terms, and essays on how
cults, sects and denominations differ."
The Webmaster of theNew
Religions Movements and Religious
Freedom sites is Jeffrey Hadden, a Professor of Sociology at the
University of Virginia. He comments in his mission statement page: "As of this writing, the Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance (Formerly the Ontario Centre on Religious Tolerance) is among
the most thoughtful and comprehensive sites on the WWW. OCRT, as the title suggests, also
has a mission of promoting understanding and tolerance while reducing misinformation and
religious hatred. These are goals to which we also subscribe You will find frequent links
to OCRT from this site."
Freethought Eden, at: http://www.oberlin.edu/~akarp/Home.html
is "a guide, forum and info source on freethinking religions and religious
alternatives." They comment that our site is: "A well-put-together, diplomatic, pleasing site with many links and resources
for a person of any religion seeking to broaden his or her perspectives."
A Neopagan who distributes news about Wiccans and others compiled a
list of "Pagan Web Sites in the [Internet] Mainstream." On 1999-APR-12, he noted that
more than 10 of Hitbox's top 100 religious web sites are on Pagan themes. They included a
brief description of our site: "Accurate, balanced information about many religious faith
groups and issues.[NOTE: Not a Pagan Web site, but one of the best sites for religious
understanding and tolerance - thus it is regularly attacked]"
Latest update: 2008-FEB-24
Author: B.A. Robinson
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