Religion and Spirituality
True to its mission, the Internet brings together spiritual seekers around the world, whether they are part of organized religions or on more individual quests. Even if you're not sure of your goal, join those who seek enlightenment through the Web: Explore spiritual topics, read up on current events, history, and statistics of world religions, and meet people and groups who share your beliefs.
In addition to the religions that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, newer ones are continuously developing and growing in popularity. It can be hard to keep track of what each religion stands for and who its members are. You might even be uncertain about the traditions and tenets of your own religion. Or maybe you're unsure which religion encapsulates your personal beliefs. Getting acquainted with a broad range of spiritual traditions is both fun and educational.
- The depth of the information you get depends on the Web site you visit. Some sites provide only a brief explanation of a religion, while others allow you to delve deeper by selecting categories.
- There are Web sites that make religious texts and articles available free of charge. You can also use these sites to search for particular passages in religious works.
To learn about various religions ...
Religion Facts
lets you choose from an alphabetized list of world religions and provides a full description of a religion or a belief system including good reading material and links to useful sites. (Just ignore the ads at the top of the screen.) The site also provides unbiased facts on controversial religious topic and the "Big Religion Chart" that compares a number of belief systems.
BBC.com
's religion page lets you select a featured religion and then find out all the details you need to know including ethics, customs, holy days, important texts, and people.
Beliefnet.com
's "Belief-O-Matic" quiz is worth a whirl whether you have been a member of the same church since baptism or were raised without any religion. Answer a series of questions about your personal beliefs and get your top 26 best matches. Beliefnet lets you click on each of the religions to get profiles. So, if you turn out to be 16% Baha'ist, you can learn exactly what that means.
For further firsthand reading on world religions ...
Religion Online
offers full texts of religious scholars, divided by topic. Not only does the site have an incredible breadth of resources, but it is intuitively organized and easy to navigate. You can read Kierkegaard or the Bible, or learn what scholars have to say about cloning or Frodo's faith in "Lord of the Rings."
Biblegateway
lets you search through the Bible by book and chapter. You can choose multiple translations of the Bible and even have access to the Bible in other languages.
The University of Southern California
provides a Compendium of Muslim Texts. Search the Koran in any of three different translations. The site contains information about the foundations of Islam in addition to criticism and articles. The large amount of content makes the site slightly overwhelming, but worth exploring.
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