Religions of the World
Copied from The Sunday Oregonian, October 8, 2000 [for Educational Purposes]
Galaxy.com's top 10 religion Web sites (in alphabetical order):
Beliefnet
www.belief.com
Here Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism rub shoulders with older and newer traditions. Take an interactive quiz to determine your spiritual type, listen to a speech by the Dalai Lama or choose from a host of columnists writing on topics such as the Jewish New Year and the Tantric mysteries.
BuddhaNet
www.buddhanet.net
Striving to be an 'online cyber sangha,' or community, BuddhaNet offers timelines, statistics, links to Buddhist scripture and information on festivals. Click on the Buddhist world to learn about monastic traditions or find out what strands of Buddhism are practices in a give country. Or sift through several meditation options to find one that intrigues you.
Catholic Online
www.catholic.org
This Web site, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, aims to be a clearinghouse for information on Catholicism. Features include news briefs, daily Scripture texts, prayers and information on saints, along with links to the Vatican, the U.S. Catholic Conference and other Catholic sites.
Christianity.com
www.christianity.com
Offers general Christian features and specialized ones on four separate 'channels' devoted to Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christianity, and Messianic Judaism.
IslamiCity
www.islamicity.org
Search the Qur'an (Koran) or pose a question to an Islamic scholar in this site's 'Ask the Imam' feature. Learn how to pray the Muslim way with interactive prayer instructions or fulfill one of the Five Pillars of Islam, Zakat, or charity, online using your credit card.
Medea's Chariot
Opinionated Pagan Research Center
The Opinionated Pagan Research Center (nexus.mnic.net/~rajchd): Its creators call it a 'link-happy' site, with connections to scores of sites dedicated to specific traditions under the 'pagan' umbrella. If you want to find out about Asatru, Druids, Slavic paganism or Wicca, this is a good place to start.
Sikhism
www.sikhs.org
Look here for biographies of Sikhism's 10 gurus. Sikh saints or summaries of the religion's basic tenets. You also can download prayers and beginning lessons in Sikhism's Gurmukhi alphabet.
The Baha'i World
www.bahai.org
Whether you're looking for background information on the founders, theology, sacred writings or information on Baha'i social action, it's probably here on this Web site.
The Hindu Universe
www.hindunet.org
Look here for information on a particular god, goddess or avatar, to consult the Hindu calendar, learn about Hindu communities throughout the world or dip into Vedic scripture.
Torah.net
www.torah.net
Here you can read essays on the weekly Torah portions, find out about holiday observances, pose a question to an authority on halacha, the Jewish way of life, or look up a term in the Hebrew glossary.