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Questions tagged [religion]

Use this tag for questions about religious practices. Do not ask questions about religious beliefs, though. Those are off-topic and there is no tag to use.

Religion is a cultural system that creates powerful and long-lasting meaning by establishing symbols that relate humanity to beliefs and values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.

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Are there officially pronounced "no-go" Islamic zones in France?

In this Hannity interview on Fox News on 9 January, 2015, American author Robert Spencer said that: So in France they have set up - the French government lists on a public web-site -751 no-go areas, where essentially the police have no authority,…
Greg Beuks
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Are most terrorists Muslim?

Those arguing for more profiling quite frequently claim that while not all Muslims are terrorists, most terrorists are muslim. Is there data to show that more than 50% of terrorists attacks can be attributed to any one religious or political…
jjj
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Did Moses live?

Moses is, arguably, the most significant prophet in Judaism and is credited with leading the enslaved Jewish population out of Egypt and into the promised land. Aside from the Torah, are there any verifiable records or concrete evidence that there…
Scott Mitchell
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Did Ohio pass a law granting students the right to give scientifically wrong answers consistent with their religious beliefs?

The Patheos blog and WKRC local12 report: The Ohio House on Wednesday passed the "Student Religious Liberties Act." Under the law, students can't be penalized if their work is scientifically wrong as long as the reasoning is because of their…
gerrit
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Have Islamic prayers been introduced into Ontario public schools while Christian ones have been removed?

Recently I saw one of those chain letters circulating that made a number of lurid claims that looked suspect for me. Here's the first such claim: Islamic prayers have now been introduced into Toronto and other public schools in Ontario, and, yes,…
Tim B
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Claimed similarities between Jesus Christ and Horus and other Gods

The 2007 conspiracy theory film Zeitgeist: The Movie (Website, Watch online, Wikipedia Entry) states in Part I "The Greatest Story Ever Sold" that major points of the story about Jesus Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection are not original…
Martin Scharrer
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Is there any explanation for a near-death experience?

One idea I used to hear a lot about was that when people are near-death and saved by medical science that they sometimes see "a light at the end of a tunnel" in a vision. Today I read about an article about a new best-seller from an ambitious…
Mark Rogers
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If American churches paid taxes, how much revenue would that generate?

A recent Cracked.com photoplasty contest produced this image: Is this image correct? Would taxing churches generate that much money, and would that much money be enough to cover food stamps and house the homeless? At what tax rate would churches…
Publius
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Are human beings naturally predisposed to believe in God?

My girlfriend sent me this article from the Telegraph. This is an excerpt: Led by two academics at Oxford University, the £1.9 million study found that human thought processes were “rooted” to religious concepts. Photo from the article Not having…
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Are a high percentage of scientists atheist?

When I was an engineering student, I had many friends who were atheist, or otherwise became so as the years progressed, including myself. Because I grew up with a religious background, I tend to notice when others took the same turn in the road as…
John
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Is Christianity responsible for the scientific method?

I've heard at least a few times now from apologists that Christianity is responsible for science. For some examples: From a commercial for the site, Catholics Come Home (video LINK that opens right to the quote): We [The Catholic Church]…
Hendy
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Do atheists commit far fewer crimes?

According to a post by latimes.com, "How secular family values stack up": Atheists were almost absent from our prison population as of the late 1990s, comprising less than half of 1% of those behind bars, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons…
Brian M. Hunt
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Did a survey of conservative Christians show 85% would disown their child if they turned out to be homo sapiens?

This Facebook post, attributed to the The Atheist Advocate, says: We polled over 10,000 conservative Christians "What would you do, if you discovered that your child was a homo sapien?" 85% said they would disown them and force them to leave their…
dsollen
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Did Mahatma Gandhi say “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians."?

I have widely heard that Gandhi has said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Is there any evidence of this? Where is this recorded?
Gabriel Fair
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Does the Quran advise men to beat their wives if they disobey them?

I found this post on Reddit in which it is mentioned that the Quran advises men to beat their wives if they do not obey them. This is a quote from the link: Surah 4:34: "Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the…
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