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General information on religion:
Origins, links, quotes, news, holy days,
myths & legends, doubt, glossary of terms,

See elsewhere in this web site for descriptions of beliefs and practices of specific religious groups

Key individual essays:

	How beliefs differ among (and within) various religions
	How Christians establish their beliefs and policies
	How religion initially developed
	Donated essays: by Allen S. Maller: "The evolution of human spirituality" by Katie Johnson: "Five Things to Consider When Planning a Memorial"
	The Axial Age and its consequences: times of rapid change
	Why religion can inspire so much evil as well as good
	What causes religiously motivated intolerance, hatred, violence, etc?
	What believers think of their own religion, compared to other faiths   The importance of balance among the many dimensions of faith
	Can a person be both a Christian and a Muslim?
	About God as viewed by many different religions
	The Ethics of Reciprocity a.k.a. The Golden Rule
	Religious myths and legends
	Which is the "true" Christian denomination, according to evangelicals, Mormons, etc.
	Which is the "true" religion?
	How public opinion polls lie, either intentionally or by accident: Part 1 Part 2

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Key sections:

	Basic religious data: dozens of essays on religions; numbers of members, practices, trends, policies, abuse, predictions for the future, holy days, etc.
	The importance of doubt in religious faith
	Recommended books on theology, religion and spirituality
	Links to other religious sites
	Quotes: religious, philosophical & humorous
	Glossary of religious terms [A to Z]
	Jewish, Christian & Muslim conflicts over Jerusalem and its Temple Mount

Reducing religion-inspired conflict:

	By balancing organized religions' expectations
	By removing passages from holy books that promote hatred, violence, etc. A listing of some of the above passages in the Bible
	By proper use of the Golden Rule
	By modifying how religion is taught
	The menorah incident at Billings, MT

Religion in the news:

	Today's news: items from various news sources
	News of religious intolerance, change, and conflict
	News of religious tolerance and spirituality

Religious terms and language:

	Differences between Evangelical Christians and others, over meanings of religious words
	Religious terms with multiple meanings Religion Witchcraft Paganism Occult
	Use of religious terms in essays and articles A good example of how not to report religious information
	Use of secular terms in writing about "hot" religious topics

Religious holy days:

	Lists of religious festivals, holy days, seasonal days of celebration, etc: For each month from 2001 to the present time List of religious festivals, ancient and modern Important holy days for major religions
	Religious and secular calendars: Calendars from Baha'i to Zoroastrianism The use of CE and BCE in place of AD and BC Background information Controversy
	Yearly celebrations by Christianity, Judaism, Aboriginal and Neopagan religions at: The spring equinox, MAR-21 or so in the Northern Hemisphere The summer solstice, JUN-21 or so: Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 The fall equinox, SEP-21 or so The winter solstice, DEC-21 or so Christmas
	American annual observances: The National Day of Prayer (NDP) The National Day of Reason (NDR): An alternative celebration on the same day: Part 1 Part 2

End of the world & Y2K fears:

	TEOTWAWKI: The End Of The World As We Know It
	Y2K computer problems that never materialized: Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4
	The 'secret' FBI Megiddo report on religious terrorism
	The Canadian CSIS report on religious terrorism

Church apologies:

	"Remorse that ends sin" A brief essay by the Christian Science Monitor
	Roman Catholic apology for past sins and errors issued 2000-MAR-07
	Christian apology to Jews and Muslims for the Crusades
	Apologies by Canadian denominations for abuse in residential schools

Misc. topics:

	Charitable giving: horror stories and guidance Financial monitoring of Christian ministries by Ministry Watch
	Common misconceptions about religions belief and practice
	Sin: how it is viewed in different religions
	Can prayer assess the will of God? - a pilot study
	Is the Bible inerrant (free of error)?
	What is truth?
	Exceptions to the Ethic of reciprocity (Golden Rule)
	The religious diversity among the crew of the space shuttle Columbia
	Essays donated by Susan Humphreys: Who & what is killing religion? Is it outside forces, or an inside job? American Ethos. Myth or Reality? Blessing or Curse? The waiting game: Having the patience to let problems resolve themselves How one person's symbol is another person's idol
	How Billings, MT, acted in solidarity against religious bigotry
	Minority religious & spiritual pursuits: Witchcraft (Wicca),  Paganism, & The Occult
	Government vouchers for religious schools
	St. Nickolas (a.k.a. Santa)
	What the year 2000 presidential candidates believe about religious freedom
	The most popular religious topics on the Internet
	Names given to the "Holy Land"
	Conclusions: where did we come from; where are we going after death, and other really fundamental questions

Other related menus in this site:

	Information about specific religions from Asatru to Zoroastrianism
	Religious Laws
	Spiritual matters
	"Cults" and New Religious Groups

A quiz:

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has a short, 15 question quiz by which you can compare your religious knowledge with a national poll of randomly selected American adults. Only 1% of the population had the correct answer to all 15 questions. See: http://www.pewforum.org/

The original quiz was siven to 3,412 adults who answered only 50% correctly. Jews, Atheists/Agnostics, and Mormons obtained the highest number of correct answers -- over 60%. Frequency of attendance at religious services and gender seemed to make essentially no difference in the results. Participants with increased educational attainment obtained higher scores: post-graduates 68%; high school or less: 40%.

References used:

	Find a faith group that matches your beliefs: See the Belief System Selector by SelectSmart.com staff.
	Philip M. Parker, "Religious Cultures of the world," (1997). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store "Over 26,000 statistics are provided for over 70 religious groups covering a number of social, economic, and business variables. A significant review of literature is also included."

Reviewed: 2011-MAY-07
Last updated: 2018-DEC-01
Author: B.A. Robinson

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