Religious filter: There's a sex scandal in Malayasia regarding an ex-politician climbing his way from the allegations that put him in jail in 1998, which is him having sexual relations with his aide. With all the hoo-ha over what people did in the bedroom, I have to ask for clarification. [more inside]
posted on Jul 24, 2008 - 11 answers

Someone told me that in the US most public schools don't have religious studies or comparative religion type classes. Is this true? [more inside]
posted on Jul 19, 2008 - 53 answers

Does America's religious history have a parallel in England? Give me the details. [more inside]
posted on Jul 16, 2008 - 14 answers

I sometimes see announcements in the newspaper praising saints and listing prayers or novenas with instructions to publish the same ad in a future edition of the paper if the prayers work for you. Who places these ads? What purpose do they serve? What's the deal?
posted on Jul 14, 2008 - 8 answers

Good books on Shaker history? [more inside]
posted on Jul 9, 2008 - 8 answers

Who decides what passages of the Old Testament are no longer relevant in Christian theology, and who grants this authority of interpretation?
posted on Jun 24, 2008 - 30 answers

I'm attending my first Quaker meeting tomorrow. What should I know beforehand? [more inside]
posted on Jun 21, 2008 - 14 answers

What is the proper etiquette for addressing an authority figure in a religion that you don't practice? [more inside]
posted on Jun 18, 2008 - 27 answers

what is the inner voice that Gilbert speaks of in Eat, Pray, Love? [more inside]
posted on Jun 17, 2008 - 15 answers

I'm looking for recommendations on books on purported (modern) religious miracles in Latin America, and their impact on society and politics. [more inside]
posted on Jun 11, 2008 - 2 answers

How many people after being brought up in one religion, eventually choose another? [more inside]
posted on Jun 10, 2008 - 23 answers

How can a non-believer be most expediently baptized? [more inside]
posted on May 31, 2008 - 44 answers

IslamFilter: I'm looking for examples of regional cultures/ethnic groups within the present-day Ummah that were bypassed by the expansion of Islam. For example, most of the people of the mountainous and hard to access Nuristan province of Afghanistan only converted to Islam ca. 1890. Prior to that it was known to everyone outside Nuristan as "Kaffirstan" (land of the unbelievers/infidels). [more inside]
posted on May 26, 2008 - 11 answers

A Crisis of Identity? All my life, I've been the sort of person to avoid my faith to a certain extent (I would pray and try and be as good a muslim as I could, but there was always so much more I could do, and I knew it). Recently, I've met someone who's awakened that desire in me to finally make the commitment, and it feels great to have begun to do so, but there's another side of me that feels like I'm (I don't even know how to say it...) cheating on it... [more inside]
posted on May 20, 2008 - 38 answers

In Buddhist philosophy, how is one supposed to do anything? [more inside]
posted on May 18, 2008 - 44 answers

Who is the guy in this poster? [more inside]
posted on May 18, 2008 - 39 answers

I'd like to delve deeper into one of the Yoruba-based religions. Where can I go for Candomble, Umbanda, Santeria, or Voodoo in Los Angeles, CA? [more inside]
posted on May 13, 2008 - 4 answers

JewishFilter: how do Jewish people wear a kippah (aka yarmulke) without it falling off every ten seconds? We're just talking about this at work, Google fails us, and we can't figure it out, it seems like it would fall off whenever you moved.
posted on May 13, 2008 - 21 answers

How to I gracefully tell my parents that I've changed religions? [more inside]
posted on May 12, 2008 - 27 answers

Dear Hive-Mind, Want to help me brainstorm up a list of strange (pre-existing) theories? [more inside]
posted on May 12, 2008 - 41 answers

I'm thinking of a term to describe a causation related to taboos. [more inside]
posted on May 7, 2008 - 11 answers

What are some common arguments against religious evangelism/proselytism? [more inside]
posted on Apr 19, 2008 - 25 answers

In the next month an important anniversary of a loved one's suicide will be coming up. I have never until this year dealt with the feelings involved with the death and the emotions involved in the loss. I have very little memories of the actual funeral involved (I was 13) but it has been suggested to me (by therapist) that maybe I may like to do some sort of memorial or ritual signifying it. I like this idea. I just have no idea how. [more inside]
posted on Apr 13, 2008 - 10 answers

How do you know you're in the wrong religion? [more inside]
posted on Apr 8, 2008 - 101 answers

Book-Filter: I'm fascinated by very bad priests in fiction. Help me find some more. [more inside]
posted on Apr 5, 2008 - 30 answers

As a student of international relations, I'm trying to acquire a broad understanding of Islam and Middle-Eastern culture. I'm looking for a few books to read in my spare time that touch on these subjects. [more inside]
posted on Apr 2, 2008 - 14 answers

Why do Catholic priests wear black? [more inside]
posted on Apr 1, 2008 - 10 answers

Looking for some recommended books and media about Shinto, especially the history, tenets and practices of it. [more inside]
posted on Mar 27, 2008 - 7 answers

I'm researching Scientology in Berlin. Anyone know what they're up to in this city either on a day-to-day basis, or politically? Or what sites I might search to get the relevant information? [more inside]
posted on Mar 16, 2008 - 5 answers

I'm Jewish, so at least I've got a good explanation for why this baffles me so much. I'm trying to figure out what Christians (particularly the Evangelical variety) mean when they use the word "fellowship". Sometimes it seems as though the word is simply being used as follows its dictionary definition of amity, friendliness, togetherness, commonality, etc. But I'm increasingly hearing Christians use it as an intransitive verb, which puzzles me to no end. What could it possibly mean "to fellowship"? My dictionary also indicates that the word can refer to communion (uncapitalized, so I had assumed that just meant a secular kind of togetherness) - does "fellowship" mean to take Communion together? Or does it just refer to hanging out with other Christians? Anyone out there who can cast some light on this for a poor benighted Jew?
posted on Mar 10, 2008 - 31 answers

Technological loopholes to religious law? [more inside]
posted on Mar 7, 2008 - 23 answers

Can you recommend some books about the Bible's collation? [more inside]
posted on Mar 3, 2008 - 15 answers

I keep attracting girls who are incompatible with me. How can I get women who I actually have a future with? [more inside]
posted on Feb 27, 2008 - 17 answers

The Rowan Williams fiasco brought to mind a book that I read within the last year, but I cannot retrieve it now. In it, a Republican presidential candidate surprises everyone by calling for the adoption of sharia law in the United States. Can anyone help to identify it?
posted on Feb 19, 2008 - 1 answers

I've lost my religion and now I am going to lose my v-card, please help. [more inside]
posted on Feb 11, 2008 - 41 answers

Please help this petty agnostic acquire faith in a higher power. [more inside]
posted on Feb 10, 2008 - 71 answers

I was thinking about something for my kids, but I think I might be wrong. Is it true that most or all of our religions and belief systems were developed prior to the knowledge that the moon revolves around the earth and that the earth revolves around the sun? [more inside]
posted on Feb 6, 2008 - 12 answers

Is there a quote by a Founding Father about how the First Amendment really protects religion from the government, not the other way around? I know about Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists ... but I have this feeling that there's another famous quote. Maybe it's by a more modern judicial person rather than a Founding Father? [more inside]
posted on Jan 18, 2008 - 3 answers

DocumentaryFilter: In search of BBC's "What is Religion?" [more inside]
posted on Jan 17, 2008 - 3 answers

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

Why did the emergency-room clerk want to know my wife's religion? [more inside]
posted on Jan 9, 2008 - 30 answers

My in-laws are Catholics. My husband and I are not raising our daughter in a religious household. How can we effectively counter-program my in-laws' religious activities? [more inside]
posted on Dec 30, 2007 - 53 answers

Religion fulfills certain psychological needs. How do non-believers manage without it? [more inside]
posted on Dec 30, 2007 - 76 answers

I'm Jewish. My wife converted many years ago. I found out that my Mother-In-Law secretly baptized my children. [more inside]
posted on Dec 27, 2007 - 114 answers

How do I respectfully yet firmly request that a member of my extended family not say a prayer before a meal in my home? [more inside]
posted on Dec 24, 2007 - 88 answers

Relationshipfilter: I'm agnostic. She's Christian. We've been dating for four months. We fit eachother well and are very happy together, but of course clash over our deeply-held ideologies. Should we worry about the ideological clashes now, or be happy with eachother now and worry about how to raise the kids if/when we have kids? [more inside]
posted on Dec 20, 2007 - 76 answers

"Matter is Lucifer crawling itself back to God".... what's this mean then? [more inside]
posted on Dec 13, 2007 - 10 answers

My google-fu only goes so far: I'm looking for succinct summaries, explanations, and justifications of various religions' opinions/support/criticism on human cloning... [more inside]
posted on Dec 4, 2007 - 2 answers

I am searching for examples of The Infinite, or the immeasurably large, in our mythologies and archetypes. I am also interested in the categories of Truth which came out of the emergence of Western, ontological thought. Does the trust in a rationally conceivable reality deny us the infinity of the mythological realm? By rooting ourselves in the present, and denying atemporal mythologies, do we also deny the infinite origins from where we came? [more inside]
posted on Nov 28, 2007 - 22 answers

To what extent does the idea of a "Catholic Left" still exist in the United States? [more inside]
posted on Nov 24, 2007 - 25 answers