Prof. Sharma is the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion in the School of Religious Studies at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.
The profile of religion in the public sphere is increasing around the world. Few believe any more that religion as a feature of human existence will fade away in due course, to be replaced by a purely rational approach to life. In a multi-religious country such as India, faith was hardly thought of as a private matter. But it was hoped that it would at least be possible to exclude it from public life in a secular state that it would become primarily a matter of personal concern, like one's interest in art or music. But this has not happened. Religion has become a vital element in identity politics globally after the terror attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States of America. And so the question of how religious tolerance may be secured in the modern world can no longer be avoided.
Can religious tolerance be placed on a firmer footing by finding grounds for it within the different faiths themselves? This book addresses that question. In Religious Tolerance: A History, Arvind Sharma examines Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto whose followers together cover over two-thirds of the globe to identify instances of tolerance in the history of each of these to help the discussion proceed on the basis of historical facts. This is a timely book the first of its kind in scope and ambition.
This web site has a few newly created, re-written, or significantly updated articles so far during 2020-DEC, including the above book review. The number is fewer than normal because the webmaster has been ill: I can only list a few here:
This web site has 12 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated articles so far during 2020-NOV, including the above book review:
This web site has dozens of newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2020-October, including the above book review:
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Spread of the Corona virus, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Of these, Part 4 is being continually updated with new developments.
- Two articles on Satanism:
2018: Religious Satanism,
16th century
Satanism, Modern Satanism, Satanic Dabbling, etc.
2019 & 2020: Religious Satanism
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About human life and human personhood.
- President Trump issues pardon for Susan B. Antony, who was guilty of being a woman and voting
- Links to other websites
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Beliefs of Unitarian Universalist Church Members. An Excerpt From Rev. Beckett Coppola's Article in"What We Wish People Knew
About Unitarian-Universalism"
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2019 & 2020: The Federal LGBT Equality Act
- Presidential canadidate Joe Biden is losing his lead over President Trump for the November elections.
- Plebescites in November to legalize marijuana
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The Democratic Party proposes a plan to eliminate U.S. greenhouse emissions by the year 2050! See: Climate-change-37.htm
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The suspected shooter in the New Zealand anti-Muslim mass shooting pleads guilty, and is sentenced to life imprisonment. The country has banned semi-automatic and assault rifles. The goverment is buying back existing firearms from their owners. See: Anti-Muslim violence in New Zealand, Part 5.
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SETI: The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
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Managing media for teens and Tweens at: https://www.verizon.com/
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Timeline of recent environmental concerns, Part 1
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2020-OCT-15: The TV program "Star Trek Discovery" is introducing both transgender and non-binary characters in Season 3. The first episode will be broadcast on 2020-OCT-15.
- World Meteorological Organization (WMO) makes an alarming climate prediction
- Mike Hughes in California dies trying to prove the shape of the Earth
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SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence).
Russians Detect Radio Signal From Space.
False Alarm? Earth-like planet found "close" to earth
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False rumors about groups setting fires in Oregon and Washington state
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A gas, phosphine (PH3), has been discovered in the atmosphere of Venus. It is also found on Earth, where it is only generated by living creatures. Some scientists are speculating that this might be the first indication of life on another planet.
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Cosmology through the ages. 36 Proofs of a Spherical, not flat Earth.
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2015-NOV: A girl was beheaded by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists for the "crime" of being born
into a family with a minority religion.
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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. President Trump indicates quick replacement
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2020-SEP-22: COVID-19's U.S. death toll exceeds 200,000. Four vaccines are being evaluated
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Aborted fetuses born alive
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World's record for short gestations
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Notre Dame Fire, Part 2
- Abortion
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President Trump is sickend by the COVID-19 virus
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Satanic Rev. Tristan Kapp and his family have received death/rape threats
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President trump nominates new high court judge
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Pope Francis calls for worldwide recognition of same-sex Civil Union relationships
- Treating Alzheimer's Disease
- The Laptev Sea in Siberia has not frozen yet in October for the first time on record
- A possible link between Covid-19 and Vitamin D deficiency has been found
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U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate accord on 2020-NOV-04
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Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide: Public opinion
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Conflict involving Canada Christian College & School of Graduate Theological Studies
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About the year 2020 vote for President and Vice President
Recommended book for 2020-SEP:
2020-SEP Selection
"Comparative Religion: Investigate the World Through Religious Tradition" Â by Carla Mooney
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $11.87 in Kindle format!, or
$16.04 in hardcover plus postage, or
$12.63 in paperback plus postage.
Also available in Audio CD.
Amazon book review:
"Over 7 billion people live on the earth, and 84 percent of them describe themselves as being religious. Few topics incite such passion as religion. What does that mean? Why are humans invested in ideas that may never be proved? Why has religion played such an important role in history?
In Comparative Religion: Investigate the World through Religious Tradition, readers seek answers to these questions by comparing and contrasting the cultural, spiritual, and geographical underpinnings of five different religions. By developing a better understanding of the similarities and differences among religions of the world, readers gain a strong foothold in a dialogue that has continued for thousands of years.
Combining hands-on activities with theology, history, geography, world cultures, art, and architecture, Comparative Religion encourages deeper understanding of the world’s religions. Entertaining graphic art, fascinating sidebars, and links to primary sources bring the topic to life, while key questions reaffirm foundational concepts.
Activities include conducting an interview with a rabbi, comparing the story of Abraham and Isaac in three sacred texts, studying the architecture of the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, studying the Hindu practice of yoga and meditation, and examining how religious doctrines shape the behavior of believers."
The following articles were newly written or updated during 2020-September:
Racism
The death of George Floyd, which triggered worldwide demonstrations.
2017-2019: Same-sex marriage in Taiwan
Past & present religious/ethical/moral conflicts, including the most recent.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a MAJOR ruling that interprets the word "sex" in the federal 1964 Civil Rights Act very broadly. It now protects biological men, biological women, transgender persons, bisexuals, homosexuals, asexuals, and probably others from being fired or not hired because of their "sex."
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a second MAJOR ruling that at least temporarily preserves the DACA program. This protects the "Dreamers" in the U.S. These are persons who were informally brought into the country at the average age of 6 or 7 and remained there with no formal citizenship recognition.
Common beliefs of many liberal theologians, skeptics, humanists, etc.
Pew Research Center poll shows high support for DACA program, including 91% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans.
First town above the Arctic Circle exceeds 100 degrees F!
Five articles by Alton C. Thompson: "Love and God," "I was blind," and Our-thinking-dooms-us.htm, and Poverty and other matters, and Promotion of ecovillages.
Brief reports of same-sex marriage in Finland, Portugal,
Russia, Slovenia, and Uruguay.
An article donated by Alton C. Thompson about reliability of information in the media: "There’s Information, and Then There’s Information"
2020-JUL: U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Allowing Religious Schools to Discriminate freely in Employment
2019-JUL-14: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that executions can resume in U.S. federal prisons.
The Notre-Dame Cathedral's spire which was destroyed during the fire, will be restored like the original.
2020: Georgia's "heartbeat" anti-abortion law blocked: The law bans abortions if the embryonic heartbeat can be detected. This is possible with ultrasound, as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. This is a time when many women do not realize that they are pregnant. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones temporarily blocked the law during 2019-OCT and permanently blocked i it during 2020-JUL. See: anti abortion law blocked
Florida coastal communities: Global warming is causing sea levels to rise. There is concern in Florida about a collapse in the value of coastal buildings and their mortgage renewals.
Murders of transgender persons: Murders of transgender persons are sadly common in the U.S. and around the world. Black transgender persons who identify as female are overrepresented among the fatalities.
The country of Hungary ends its recognition of transgender citizens.
Rapid changes towards religious and other freedoms in Sudan.
President Trump passes a MoCA mental assessment test.
Terrorism, abuse, violence, murder, mass murder,& genocide.
Kurtis Baute repeated a test first done over 2 millennia ago to measure the circumference of the Earth. He proved that the Earth is not flat, but similar to a sphere.
A bill to allow persons over the age of 75 to seek medical aid in dying has been introduced in the Netherlands
Herman Cain's thoughts on democratic change in the U.S.
2017-2019: Status of same-sex marriage in Taiwan and elsewhere in Asia.
2020-May's book selection:
"853 Hard To Believe Facts: Better Explained, Counterintuitive, and Fun Trivia," by .
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $2.89 in Kindle format, or U.S. $13.36 plus postage in paperback.
This web site had twelve newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2020-MAY, including the above book review.
Our Coronavirus menu is continually being updated.
UK Transgender man loses court appeal to be recognized as a father after giving birth
2018 to 2020: Gun control in Canada
"Is Christianity a Biblical Religion? An article donated by Alton C. Thompson
2018 to 2020: Gun control in Canada
Factors that increase or decrease the abortion rate in the U.S.
Transgender woman murdered in San-Antonia barbershop
U.S. Democrats & Republicans have very different views on the lethality of the COVID-19 virus
Utah almost allows polygamous marriages
The worldwide Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: Part 1 ; Part 2 ; Part 3.
Web sites discussing addiction,
etc. at links-to-addiction-disability-mental-and-physical-health-info.htm
2020-April's book selection
"My Path Leads to Tibet: The Inspiring Story of How One Young Blind Woman Brought Hope to the Blind Children of Tibet" " by Joshua Tongol
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $2.89 in Kindle format, or U.S. $13.36 plus postage in paperback.
Amazon.com book review:
Defying everyone+s advice, armed only with her rudimentary knowledge of Chinese and Tibetan, Sabriye Tenberken set out to do something about the appalling condition of the Tibetan blind, who she learned had been abandoned by society and left to die. Traveling on horseback throughout the country, she sought them out, devised a Braille alphabet in Tibetan, equipped her charges with canes for the first time, and set up a school for the blind. Her efforts were crowned with such success that hundreds of young blind Tibetans, instilled with a newfound pride and an education, have now become self-supporting. A tale that will leave no reader unmoved, it demonstrates anew the power of the positive spirit to overcome the most daunting odds.
Review by Lylas G. Mogk, author of "Macular Degeneration: The Complete Guide to Saving and Maximizing Your Sight:"
"If you only read one book this year, read this one. Sabriye Tenberken's life is a light to all of us, and her story is its 'ray.' By turns courageously honest, genuinely heartwarming, and uniquely inspiring. She takes us on an extraordinary journey where we witness firsthand the miracles that can happen when one person is truly determined to make a difference. As an emerging leader in the fields of international public health and blind rehabilitation, Tenberken will be in the news for years to come. But it will always be this story that stays with us."
Sabriye Tenberken was a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and a 2006 Mother Theresa Award winner.
About the Webmaster:
Bruce Robinson, the webmaster and main author of this web site, suffered from a series of health problems that started in February with a virus that swept through his family. It caused his blood pressure to drop to unsafe values, and causing him to fall repeatedly. An accidental medication overdose almost caused his death. By late April, his health was improved and he was able to work again on the web site, but at a slower rate than in the past. Three new essays written dealt with the Coronavirus pandemic:
Encouraging information about the virus
2020: Religious interactions with the pandemic
2020-APR-30: Vietnam's success at controlling Coronavirus
2020-March's book selection
"3 Theories of Everything" by Ellis Potter
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $2.62 in Kindle format, or U.S. $9.54 plus postage in paperback.
Amazon.com book review:
"What is reality? What is the meaning of human life? Why do we suffer? In this simple volume, international lecturer Ellis Potter explores three major world views that propose radically different answers to these eternal questions. In clear and compelling language, Potter shows us that the three world views, and the unique hope that each offers to humanity, have profoundly different consequences for how we see everyday reality and the ultimate purpose of our lives.
This book is a concise, reader friendly look at 3 basic ways of seeing reality from the East and the West. It wrestles with the problem of suffering and finds solutions in each of the 3 points of view. It is respectful of each world view and engages the readers in some deep and hard-hitting questions about how they identify themselves and how they look at and understand the world. Reading, thinking about and perhaps discussing this book will bring the readers into a clearer focus of their own way of seeing reality.
3 Theories of Everything is based on lectures by the author and has a large section of questions and answers drawn from actual discussions."
56 Amazon customers gave this book an average rating of 4.3 stars out of a maximum of 5, . One reviewer said:
"The vocabulary and the clarity of the language makes this a great book for anyone as young as high school (aged).
This web site had only seven newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2020-MAR, including the above book review. This is due to a long bout of debilitating sickness by the main author of the site. As of MAR-22, he is finally able to restart working a bit on the web site, and try to catch up.
Coronavirus menu
Religious interactions with the Coronavirus Pandemic
The worldwide spread of the Coronavirus pandemic
The Coronavirus Pandemic: Some positive news
Transgender persons: main menu.
Webmaster's beliefs about Jesus
Walter Kirchbauer donated an article: "Love and God"
2020-February's book selection:
"In Broad Daylight: The Secret Procedures behind the Holocaust by Bullets." Beacon Press (2018) by Father Patrick Desbois, with an introduction by Andrej Umansky.
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $1.99 in Kindle format, (subject to change) or
$23.21 in hardcover plus postage, or
$21.99 in paperback plus postage.
Amazon.com book review:
"In his national Jewish Book Award–winning book The Holocaust by Bullets, Father Patrick Desbois documented for the first time the murder of 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine during World War II. Nearly a decade of further work by his team, drawing on interviews with neighbors of the Jews, wartime records, and the application of modern forensic practices to long-hidden grave sites. has resulted in stunning new findings about the extent and nature of the g
This web site had 2 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2020-FEB, including the above book review:
Predictions that "the end" will come during during 2015 or 2016
When was Jesus born? Predictions of his birth
Webmaster's note"
Unfortunately, I became sick with a lingering illness in early February,and, for the first time in 25 years, was not able to make daily updates. I didn't recover until late-March.
2020-January's book selection:
"How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide " by Crystal Marie Fleming. Published by Beacon Press (2018)
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
U.
S. $18.49 in Kindle format!, or
$67.97 in hardcover plus postage, or
$20.06 in paperback plus postage.
Amazon.com book review:
" 'How to Be Less Stupid About Race'Â is your essential guide to breaking through the half-truths and ridiculous misconceptions that have thoroughly corrupted the way race is represented in the classroom, pop culture, media, and politics. Centuries after our nation was founded on genocide, settler colonialism, and slavery, many Americans are kinda - sorta - maybe waking up to the reality that our racial politics are (still) garbage. But in the midst of this reckoning, widespread denial and misunderstandings about race persist, even as white supremacy and racial injustice are more visible than ever before. ..."
"Searing, sobering, and urgently needed, How to Be Less Stupid About Race is a truth bomb for your racist relative, friend, or boss, and a call to action for everyone who wants to challenge white supremacy and intersectional oppression. If you like Issa Rae, Justin Simien, Angela Davis, and Morgan Jerkins, then this deeply relevant, bold, and incisive book is for you.
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This web site had 26 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2020-JAN, including the above book review:
Recent U.S. polls on same-sex marriage; Bill in the Kansas Legislature
Obamacare's 10th anniversary is approaching
Updates to six essays on Unitarian Universalism
Updates to six articles on MAID (Medical Aid in Dying) in Canada
The Notre-Dame Cathedral Fire
in
Paris, France, Part 2
Homosexuality as viewed by Jehovah's Witnesses / Watchtower Society
Viewing the International Space Station
Genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar. Part 1 Part 2
An overview of the persecution of Jews for the past 2,000 years
Hot Saucing: A traditional method to discipline children via pain & terror
Canadian federal government questionnaire concerning MAID (Medical Aid in Dying)
Racially/Religiously based persecution of Jews: 1800 to now
Reparative therapy: News items: 1998 to 2020
Where and When Did the First Humans Live?
Predictions that the world would end in 2012
2013 to 2020: Media accounts about the persecution of Christians.
2019-December's book selection:
"Persecution and Toleration: The Long Road to Religious Freedom" (Cambridge Studies in Economics, Choice, and Society) by Noel D. Johnson and Mark Okayama
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $18.49 in Kindle format!, or
$67.97 in hardcover plus postage, or
$20.06 in paperback plus postage.
Amazon book review:
"Religious freedom has become an emblematic value in the West. Embedded in constitutions and championed by politicians and thinkers across the political spectrum, it is to many an absolute value, something beyond question. Yet how it emerged, and why, remains widely misunderstood. Tracing the history of religious persecution from the Fall of Rome to the present-day, Noel D. Johnson and Mark Okayama provide a novel explanation of the birth of religious liberty. This book treats the subject in an integrative way by combining economic reasoning with historical evidence from medieval and early modern Europe. The authors elucidate the economic and political incentives that shaped the actions of political leaders during periods of state building and economic growth."
This web site had 28 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2019-DEC, including the above book review:
Unitarian Universalism (UU), the religion
Introduction, overview, definitions, history, some Us in modern times
The Unitarian Universalism Association and the LGBT community
Current beliefs about the life after death by conservative and liberal Protestants
Organizations providing scholarships to the LGBT community
An environmental article by Alton Thompson: "I feel sheepish"
Buddhism and homosexuality
A donated article by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys: A word to the wise
A donated article by Alton C. Thompson: The Most Interesting Passage that I have found in the Bible. Its climate change implications.
School shooting in suburban Santa Clarita, CA
Woman in a same-sex marriage is discriminated against by the Government of Alaska
Teen girl suspected of planning a church attack in Gainesville, GA
Shape of the Earth: flat, spherical, an oblate spheroid?
Transgender persons
We celebrate Jesus' birth on DEC-25 because it was the birth date of many Pagan deities
Transgender bathroom access: Kentucky house member introduces bill\
Gabon criminalizes homosexual behavior
Suicides in the LGBT community
Positive thoughts in December for secularists
Cremation, Resomation, & Green Burials
House approves funding for gun research
A donated article by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys: Existential matters
Scientology, the religion
Christian beliefs: The rapture
Four articles on recent conflicts within the United Methodist Church over homosexuality
The Afterlife: Ancient Christian beliefs: Heaven, Hell, Limbo, Purgatory, Reincarnation, etc.
Apostasy in Islam
Human slavery today
2019-November's selection
"Religious Delusion" Self published by John Carlshausen
Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $4.19 in Kindle format.
The book author's personal review (Insulting content. Reader's discretion is recommended):
"This book needed to be written. A book about the folly of religion. Folly is described in the Dictionary as being foolish, lack of sense, and unwise conduct. This describes Religion perfectly.
It is foolish to believe there is an invisible friend in the sky called God, who is watching over you and [over] seven billion other people who reside here on Earth.
He is watching over us twenty four hours a day and has been doing this for Centuries.
Anyone who believes this nonsense is being foolish and is definitely lacking common sense. ..."
Webmaster's comment:
This book attempts to be a humorous attack on religion. But many religious readers will find it profoundly obnoxious.
This web site does not usually include religious attacks. However, we are including this book in our book selection for November for two reasons:
We felt that this book would be amusing to many of our site visitors, particularly those who hold sincere and positive views about their faith group.
Also, it should be useful to our web site's religious visitors who attempt to convert non-Christians to Christianity. It might help readers understand the thought processes of other people who have negative views on religion.
This web site had 13 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2019-NOV, including the above book review:
The date of origin and founder(s) of various Christian faith groups
Conflicts between the Bible's flood story and scientific findings
An alleged plan to bomb a synagogue in Pueblo, CO
Cosmology: Flat Earth believers. 36 Proofs of a spherical Earth.
Federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
Gods, Goddesses & other deities, as perceived by various religions
Introductory books about the Wiccan religion
Status of DACA immigrants to the U.S. (Those who entered illegally as children).
Hole in the ozone over Antarctica continues to shrink
A Gallup poll, found that: 34 million U.S, adults know someone who died after not getting [medical] treatment, and 58 million adults report inability to pay for needed drugs in past year.
Trump's administration and the DACA program
Cremation information and supplies
2019-October's selection
'
"The Limits of Tolerance: Enlightenment Values and Religious Fanaticism" by Denis Lacorne and C. Jon Delogu
Amazon book reviews:
"I simply don’t know a book on toleration that compares to this one. Denis Lacorne has managed to weave together both an intellectual history of ideas about toleration and a wide-ranging international survey of policies related to it. Theory and practice come together in a very illuminating way and will expand the American reader’s horizon beyond our borders." (Mark Lilla, author of The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics)
"Living in a religiously tolerant society, Americans no longer understand what the challenge of achieving religious toleration originally meant: learning to coexist with beliefs and practices that one detested. Denis Lacorne begins this critical survey by recalling the great Enlightenment voices for toleration: Locke, Voltaire, and the American founders. But he then examines modern European and American disputes to demonstrate why the struggle for toleration and free exercise remains so problematic ― a fight that never quite ends but that we grasp much better after reading Lacorne's crisp and incisive chapters." (Jack N. Rakove, author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution)
"A timely, erudite, and insightful book that sheds light on issues concerning whether and when contemporary democracies should restrict the practices and beliefs of non-mainstream religious and political groups. It is the best book written on this subject to date." (Bruce Cain, author of Democracy More or Less: America’s Political Reform Quandary)
"He gives no pat answers, but an implicit lesson runs throughout. Defending toleration is not like protecting a jewel. It takes fixity of aim but also a feel for the changing context, persistence with a task that never ends and readiness to start again. Toleration does gradually spread. It can also suddenly vanish." (The Economist.
This web site had 27 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays during 2019-OCT, including the above book review:
Proofs 15 to 25 that the Earth is not flat
Climate change
Articles donated by Susan Humphreys:
Aha moments
One of those things
