Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

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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Did Einstein as a student debate with his professor about God and Evil?

There has been numerous videos online claiming that Einstein as a student had a debate with an atheist professor about God. I read the text version of this story in forums and via hearsay, but I just discovered that apparently the Macedonian…
Fitri
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Does prayer help to heal?

It's not hard to find claims like these in the media or on the web from time to time. Is there any scientifically verifiable evidence that prayer (in addition to appropriate medical/surgical treatment) has a benefit for a patient? Please keep…
Monkey Tuesday
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Is Islam banned in Japan?

I noticed some people posting and reposting bold statements online that Japan is (the only) country that banned Islam. I searched a bit and found out that there are some mosques and Muslim societies in Japan, so it cannot be entirely true. Also,…
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Is there a place in the world where two oceans meet and they don't mix?

This picture is currently being spread virally: Some Muslims were saying that this is mentioned in the Quran where it is said: He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier between them. They do not transgress. (Quran,…
TheTechGuy
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Did Harold Camping profit from his false prediction that the world would end?

We all joke about it but there's probably lots of people that took him seriously. Now that the world hasn't ended, many are claiming he is a fraud and a con man. Did Harold Camping or his Family Radio statement benefit financially from making this…
Samuelson
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Are atheists barred from holding public office in Texas?

I saw the following claim in B3ta newsletter #574 (possibly NSFW), under "US Postal Service hates Atheists". Awful, but then Atheists are not allowed to hold public office in six US states, including Texas. Is it true that Atheists can't…
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Is xenoglossy a scientifically verified phenomenon?

It has often been said that people can speak in languages that were not formerly known to them. Arguably the most often recited example of this is in the context of demonic possession. For example, those supposedly possessed by malevolent spirits…
Brian M. Hunt
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Do atheists have a better knowledge of religion than theists in the United States?

A Pew Survey from 2010 seems to indicate that this could be the case, with the atheist/agnostic group outscoring all others on a 32-question quiz of religious knowledge. Obviously, this lone survey hardly constitutes definitive evidence, and could…
Monkey Tuesday
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Did fewer Jews die of the Black Plague because of ritual washing?

I've frequently heard the claim that fewer Jews died of the Bubonic Plague than their Christian neighbors in the Middle Ages because Jews took regular ritual baths (mikva) and ritually washed hands before eating (netilat yadaim), while the…
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Is this 90 year old mummy "not dead, just meditating"?

Here is a news headline so unusual it can't be true: Buddhists claim mummified monk is 'not dead, just meditating' Senior Buddhists say a mummified monk found preserved in Mongolia last week is actually in a deep meditative trance and not…
Coomie
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Is Easter named after the Canaanite goddess Ishtar?

According to the Richard Dawkins Foundation: Was Ishtar's symbols anything similar to the bunny and the egg? Was Easter named after Ishtar?
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Are atheists strongly underrepresented in US prison communities?

This popularly referenced survey gives statistics about the number of atheists in US prisons. It suggests just 0.21% of the prison population is atheist. There are more scientologists! This is surprising because atheists represent about 15% of the…
Thomas O
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Does the Talmud say, "The Jews are called human beings, but the non-Jews are not humans. They are beasts."?

According to the Radioislam.org (pro-Palestinian site) page Jewish Racism towards Non-Jews as expressed in the Talmud, the Talmud contains the following verse: "The Jews are called human beings, but the non-Jews are not humans. They are beasts." …
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Did Muhammad exist?

What contemporary historical records of the existence of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, exist or are known to have existed at some point?
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Did any satanic cult ever commit organised ritual murders or sacrifices?

In Manhattan Beach, CA in 1983 members of the McMartin family were accused of a variety of abuse charges against the children in their care. It was reported that the children: "were victimized by teachers who were members of…
Monkey Tuesday
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