I'm meeting with Mormon missionaries tomorrow for a religious discussion, and they want me to come prepared with questions about Mormon history/ belief/ doctrine, etc. I'm looking for a list of questions that will give me interesting answers and lead to longer discussions about the nature of Mormonism. I'm very interested in their religion, I just don't know enough to know what to ask, and I have three hours with them so I need a good amount of discussion questions. Thanks!
posted by howgenerica on Jun 16, 2009 - 75 answers

How do I celebrate my first Messianic Hanukkah? No one else in my family is Jewish, and they're trying to "make me" celebrate Xmas. [more inside]
posted by hasna on Dec 15, 2008 - 46 answers

I've never read the Bible, and I'd like to. Which version should I read and what resources are good ones to help me understand and historically contextualize what I'm reading?
posted by arcticwoman on Oct 16, 2008 - 25 answers

After living most of my life in a secular bubble, I've been asked to fill in as a producer for a religion-focused public radio show. Religious folk: please help me to do the best job I possibly can. What's going on in your religion or faith community right now? And what should I, as a secular humanist journalist, know in order to broadcast respectfully about your faith? (anonymous because my question relates to my job and employer, which could be identified from my posting history) [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Sep 12, 2008 - 27 answers

Has there been higher criticism (such as the documentary hypothesis) or textual criticism of religions other than Christianity and Judaism?
posted by Pants! on Jan 10, 2008 - 10 answers

Recent talk on MeFi of religions has me curious: Given that Judaism is said to pass down the matriarchal line, and converts to the faith are said to have always had a Jewish soul, what does that mean for the children of a mother who converts to Judaism? Would it be different if she converted before they were born vs. after? What about pre- or post-conception?
posted by kaseijin on Sep 4, 2007 - 18 answers

First Rosh Hashanah. Tips? [more inside]
posted by n'muakolo on Sep 18, 2006 - 25 answers

Where can I find a line-by-line interpretation/explanation of the biblical Song of Solomon online?
posted by zembla3 on Sep 14, 2006 - 3 answers

Is there some reason that christians support Israel? I was browsing the Rapture Ready message boards, and while I realize they are a bit of a fringe, they seem to be fanatically pro-israel (see this signature), and that sentiment seems to be echoed amongst many other christians I know. I would have figured christians to be mildy anti-israel, as it's inhabitants sort of shunned their prophet/savior. What gives?
posted by phrontist on Jul 20, 2006 - 40 answers

I was raised Christian (Southern Baptist, was baptized). However I feel pulled towards Judaism. There is Jewish ancestry on my mom's side but for whatever reason, someone had to have converted. In a way I want to 'take it back'. How does one begin a conversion process to Judaism? There is a Reform synagogue here but I feel so foreign there since I know so little of Jewish traditions.
posted by miltoncat on Apr 22, 2006 - 38 answers

I was brought up in a non-religious family with a vague Protestant background. I'm currently considering converting to Judaism (not because of a relationship with someone who's Jewish, simply for my own reasons.) I know next to nothing about the organised aspects of the religion - I've never even set foot in a synagogue - but I'm interested in learning more. I'm not really ready to approach a rabbi yet to discuss things, I think I need to explore the whole religion a bit more before I consider starting on any possible path that might later lead to conversion. Where should I start?
posted by different on Dec 19, 2005 - 37 answers

Does the deification of a religious authority (such as the pope or in Hasidism, the rebbe) take away from the message of the religion itself? [more inside]
posted by turbanhead on Apr 4, 2005 - 18 answers

Ok, so we all saw the hilarity that ensued the last time someone posted a contemporary religion vs homosexuality thread on the blue. My question is strictly academic. Does christianity truly object or is that a more modern concern based on mistranslation?

Points of discussion say one thing and then the other . I, for one, do not have the linguistic background to isolate the wheat from the chaff, and so I ask metafilter. Queer - damnable sin, or something to cleanse yourself of before you go to temple if you're jewish.
posted by Sparx on Nov 29, 2004 - 20 answers

Can anyone enlighten me as to Hannukah rituals? I've googled about, but only find the technicalities of ceremony. I need to know the things that people take for granted - whether presents get wrapped, if they get increasingly expensive across the days, what sort of things are usual to give and do. Everything.
posted by bonaldi on Dec 19, 2003 - 14 answers