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.

209 questions
19
votes
2 answers

Was there an eclipse when Jesus was crucified?

I've heard it claimed from various people that we have historical records for the darkness that was said to engulf the earth when Jesus was crucified. In the bible, it claims that there was, but I would like more scientific/verifiable accounts on…
TheEnigmaMachine
  • 2,775
  • 1
  • 23
  • 29
19
votes
2 answers

Are the outcomes of evolution too improbable to have occurred in the Earth's lifetime?

Creationist site Creation.som cites a commenter who complains that biologists ignore his arguments: Then I try and help [evolutionists] understand the mathematics and logistics of creation and evolution. I tell them that evolution IF we take only…
Lucian09474
  • 865
  • 6
  • 13
19
votes
1 answer

Was the Vatican bailed out from bankruptcy by private interests in the 1980s?

I read an article years ago about the Vatican City going bankrupt and subsequently being bailed out by the CEO of a large sneaker company (Nike, Adidas or Reebok, etc. - I can't remember which). I recall this happened in the 1980's. Is this true,…
Brian M. Hunt
  • 17,999
  • 13
  • 99
  • 176
19
votes
1 answer

Can Mormons distinguish Mormons by the texture of their skin?

Katherine Orgill writes in Skin texture glow distinguishes Mormons from others: The study was prompted by a comment Rule received from a colleague who said he believed Mormons could identify fellow Mormons from non-Mormons in a crowd. [...] “We…
Christian
  • 33,271
  • 15
  • 112
  • 266
18
votes
1 answer

Was the character of Lilith written out of the Bible?

I came across Lilith in the graphic novel Lucifer, but it seems she is mentioned in Jewish mythology Babylonian Talmud among other texts. The story goes Lillith was in the original creational myth, where she was created along side with Adam.…
JoseK
  • 4,030
  • 2
  • 28
  • 34
18
votes
2 answers

Did Pope John Paul II perform a miracle?

The catholic church has very recently beatified late Pope John Paul II. As one of the requirements for this, the church required at least one miracle attributed to the candidate. In this case, a nun is claimed to have been cured from Parkinson's…
Lagerbaer
  • 12,311
  • 2
  • 68
  • 81
18
votes
0 answers

Is this movie an accurate representation of secret Mormon rituals?

In the hidden-camera clip BEHIND THE VEIL: Never-Before-Seen Footage of Secret Mormon Temple Rituals we supposedly see never-before-seen footage of secret Mormon Temple rituals. A longer version of the Endowment Ceremony is also avaliable. While it…
Zano
  • 3,045
  • 4
  • 26
  • 40
17
votes
2 answers

Have 98% of Catholic women used birth control?

An NPR article on the debate about contraceptive coverage makes the following claim: In fact, 98 percent of Catholic women use birth control at some point in their lifetimes. Is this claim true?
Tom77
  • 11,605
  • 8
  • 61
  • 87
17
votes
4 answers

Fasting for 40 days - is it possible?

According to Deuteronomy 9:9, Moses did not eat or drink anything for 40 days. When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days…
Fitri
  • 946
  • 2
  • 9
  • 13
17
votes
1 answer

Are there incorruptible corpses?

The Roman Catholic Church claims that some corpses have supernaturally slow decomposition. Were those bodies examined by skeptics?
Jader Dias
  • 583
  • 5
  • 14
17
votes
1 answer

Does Michio Kaku claim he has found proof of God's existence?

This Geophilosophical Association of Anthropological and Cultural Studies article claims that Michio Kaku, a renowned theoretical physicist and science populariser, has found definitive proof that God exists. It claims Kaku has developed a theory…
RK.
  • 279
  • 2
  • 8
17
votes
1 answer

Which of these deities were believed to be born on Christmas?

I got this in my Facebook timeline today and it seems to be viral Gods born on December 25th: Happy Birthday Horus (c. 3000 BCE) Happy Birthday Osiris (c. 3000 BCE) Happy Birthday Attis of Phrygia (c. 1400 BCE) Happy Birthday Krishna (c. 1400…
Sklivvz
  • 78,578
  • 29
  • 321
  • 428
17
votes
1 answer

Was Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) a convicted con-man?

I frequently hear claims that Joseph Smith was a convicted con artist. While looking into this, the claim is usually in reference to being driven from New York for taking money to find some treasures supposedly hidden in some native american trove,…
Ehryk
  • 1,137
  • 11
  • 13
16
votes
1 answer

Is Islam based on a moon worshiping cult?

I've heard this claim many times, mostly from anti-Islamic sources such as this one. Basically, they attempt to refute the way Islam views itself as an "Abrahamic" faith that is basically a newer version of the previous ones (Christianity and…
System Down
  • 945
  • 7
  • 18
16
votes
2 answers

Do bar-codes contain "The Number of the Beast"?

I've encountered lots of people and some other sources that claim that every bar-code contains the number 666 and is therefore "The Number of the Beast"? The first thing a scanner looks for when reading a retail bar code is the number 666! Only…
MSpeed
  • 4,818
  • 3
  • 29
  • 38
1 2 3
…
13 14