My new Twitter handle is now live - check me out at @jackiewgibson!
CNN has posted a history of bias against Sikhs - more reason for people to learn about religions before they attack anyone:...
Sikh temple shooting unfolding, learn about Sikhism here: http://t.co/A0ltLLIm
Sikh temple shooting unfolding, learn about Sikhism here: http://t.co/l3KrAJZf
Hackers group Anonymous takes down Vatican website: http://t.co/B6lbGAVp
WGN-TV calls doomsday prophecies "an illusion": http://t.co/mv8Gzyw7
RT @graceishuman: Really,? Asking people JUST LEAVING the service how they felt about it? Tacky, tacky, inappropriate
Whitney Houston's funeral service really took the world to church. Love Pastor Winans' honesty, very moving.
#teacher ? Here are appropriate responses to situations with your Jehovah's Witness student: http://t.co/A6UfqcgH
#Teachers: Want to know why your Jehovah's Witness student won't say the pledge and how to respond? http://t.co/EIdlgDwW
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An August 2010 poll from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life revealed that 38% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Islam.
Yet we also know, based on another recent survey from the Pew Forum about religious knowledge, that an incredibly low number of Americans really know a lot about the world’s religions – sometimes even their own!
Enter 20,000 Dialogues. Through this initiative, you can host a small event in your living room – or a bigger event in your community – to watch a film about Islam and then talk about the religion. According to its Web site…
(20,000 Dialogues) seeks to build greater understanding of Muslims through films and conversation.
More than 10,000 dialogues have already taken place across the United States. States in the East, parts of the Midwest, and the South have hosted several events. States in the Upper Midwest and the West are particularly underrepresented.
This is a great way to get the conversation going – even if that conversation turns sour. People in your own family or in your community likely differ in their opinions about Islam. Here’s a chance to talk about it in an open environment where you don’t have to feel afraid to ask tough questions and express your opinions.
If you are interested in hosting a group of 4-5 people in your living room to watch this film, sign up at http://20000dialogues.org/index.aspx. You’ll receive the DVD of the film, conduct the dialogue, and place your community on the map of dialogues.
Check out this YouTube video for more info.
Created by Religion Transcends, 2010
Atheists and Agnostics appear to know more about religion than members of large religions throughout the United States, according to a new survey from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, released this morning.
The Pew Forum recently surveyed more than 3,400 people about 32 religious knowledge questions to see how much Americans know about religion. On average, Americans answered 16 of 32 questions correctly. Atheists/Agnostics did the best, answering 20.9 questions correctly on average. Hispanic Catholics did the worst of the groups surveyed, answering 11.6 questions correctly on average. Here’s the breakdown:
Religious Knowledge by Group (chart created by Religion Transcends with info from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life)
The questions were a mixture of Biblical knowledge and knowledge of world religions. Jews and Atheists/Agnostics did far better on questions about world religions than other groups surveyed. Mormons scored best on knowledge of the Bible, with white evangelical Protestants coming in second on Bible knowledge.
So what did they get right?
- 89% of respondents knew public school teachers cannot lead class in prayer.
- 82% knew Mother Teresa was Catholic.
- 71% knew Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
What did they get wrong?
- Only 47% knew the Dalai Lama is Buddhist.
- Only 27% knew most people in Indonesia are Muslim.
- Only 23% knew public school teachers CAN read from the Bible as an example of literature.
What other factors are involved?
- College graduates did better than respondents who only had some college or high school or less.
- Those who took a religion course in college did better than those who did not.
- When it came to race, white respondents did better than black respondents or Hispanics.
- Men did better than women.
- Respondents in the South answered fewer questions correctly than respondents in all other regions of America.
- Respondents aged 18-29 answered fewer questions correctly than respondents in older age groups.
What does all of it mean?
Frankly, when it comes to knowing our neighbors in terms of their religious beliefs, Americans in general are doing a poor job – particularly when it comes to knowing about religions other than their own.
Regardless of your religious belief or non-belief, take some time to understand what people around the world believe about God. Understanding leads to the development of relationships and tears down walls of fear, intolerance, and hatred.
Not sure where to start?
Take the quiz about religious knowledge on the Pew Forum site. Then return to Religion Transcends and click on “Religion Overviews” in the top navigation to learn about a religion other than your own. Want more? Check out news from those religions in the “religion posts” drop-down menu in the left navigation.
Have a question about a religion? Post it as a comment on this post.
Created by Religion Transcends, 2010
Religion Transcends recently underwent a redesign. This new look will provide readers with a simpler, more effective design that will make it easier to find information and learn more about the world’s religions. Please also note the new section (see the “Religion Overviews” drop-down menu in the top navigation), which offers background information on each of the world’s major religions. We’ve also added more social media connections and opportunities to tell RT — and the world — what you think.
While you’re checking out the new site, take this opportunity to become a fan of RT on Facebook and check out our tweets. Thanks for reading RT!
Photo Copyright Religion Transcends
I recently took a visit to the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, IL – one of only seven Baha’i temples in the world. All people, regardless of religion, are invited to visit the temple for prayer, meditation – or just to see what it’s all about.
About the Temple
All Baha’i temples have 9 sides, and this one was no exception. Outside, visitors can enjoy gardens featuring 9 small pools, one for each side of the temple. The bottom floor of the temple contains a visitors center, complete with the cornerstone of the building, a video about the faith, and a bookstore. Visitors are also allowed inside the auditorium itself, though pictures are not allowed inside.
Walking into the auditorium is something of a surreal experience. When the choirs aren’t singing on Sunday mornings, the room is incredibly silent, a silence that seeps into your pores and kind of takes your breath away. It’s a silence that you might experience if you entered a room deep within a cave where the only sound was the whistling of the wind through the wall opening. Except here, there’s sunlight. And lots of it. Looking up, you can see sheer white curtains covering the steep windows, up, up, up, until you are straining your head backwards to look up to the top of the dome. There in the center of the dome, where all the architectural details meet up, are Arabic words – “O Glory of All Glorious,” a prayer of invocation. For those seeking some silence and a good place to pray, this place is it. Just be prepared to turn off your cell phone…and maybe eat before you go so your stomach doesn’t growl. It’s that quiet.
Here on Religion Transcends, we encourage all people to take time to understand people whose beliefs differ from their own. If you are going to be in the Northeast Illinois area, I encourage you to take a trip to the Baha’i temple. It offers a great opportunity to learn about the faith. And if you’re worried about standing out, it won’t be a problem here. With the diversity of people from all over the world visiting these grounds, it’s easy to slip in and check the place out. Everyone is there to explore – and the day I visited, it seemed a majority of visitors were not of the Baha’i faith.
About the Faith
The Baha’i faith is founded on core principles of world peace, elimination of prejudice, and harmony of science and religion. Baha’i followers believe that all religions share a common aim, and that God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series of Divine Messengers including Muhammad, Moses, Krishna, and Jesus Christ.
Learn more about the temple and the faith online.
More information about the Baha’i faith will be provided on Religion Transcends soon. Stay tuned!
Created by Religion Transcends, 2010