religion

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Why Dreams Fuel So Many Religions

 Why Dreams Fuel 
 So Many Religions 
study says

Why Dreams Fuel So Many Religions

And why "hearing voices" may not mean a person is ill

(Newser) - Religions throughout the world—and throughout history—have put dreams at the center of their belief systems, and researchers say there's a good reason for that. We do much of our intense dreaming during REM sleep, when the highly active brain acts almost like it's awake, writes Ross...

Harsh Lands Create Religious Belief
 How Hardship Affects 
 Religious Belief 
study says

How Hardship Affects Religious Belief

People living in harsh times embrace high gods, researchers say

(Newser) - Living under harsh conditions like extreme weather or food scarcity? Then you're more likely to believe in powerful, judgmental gods, according to a new study . A group of researchers from various fields reached their conclusion after synthesizing historical data from 583 societies around the world, phys.org reports. "...

Church, Synagogue, Mosque to Share One 'House'

Berlin project will cater to Christians, Jews, and Muslims

(Newser) - A pastor, a rabbi, and an imam walk onto an empty lot, and ... bury their shoes. Why? Because they plan to build what may be the world's first interfaith facility with separate houses of worship for Christians, Jews, and Muslims, the BBC reports. Dubbed the "House of One,...

Company Tried to Force Employees Into 'Onionhead' Religion: Suit

Employees allegedly fired for refusing to participate

(Newser) - What would you do if your employer told you to thank God for your job, say “I love you” to management, and attend meetings to discuss "divine plans"? If you work for New York health care firm United Health Programs of America, you go to the US...

What It's Like to Date in a Religion of Just 1M

Conventions, Google chats pave way to marriage

(Newser) - When there are only one million followers of your religion on the planet, it can be a little hard to meet people—especially when that religion requires marrying another Druze if one's children are to be members of the faith. The Arab religion developed about 1,000 years ago,...

It&#39;s Normal to See Jesus in Your Toast
 It's Normal 
 to See Jesus 
 in Your Toast 
study says

It's Normal to See Jesus in Your Toast

The brain is hardwired to do it, study finds

(Newser) - Do you see Jesus in your morning toast or the Virgin Mary on a potato chip? Turns out that's perfectly normal, according to a new study by Canadian and Chinese researchers. “Our findings suggest that it's common for people to see non-existent features because human brains are...

Student: College Denied Me Entry Over Religion

Brandon Jenkins says community college discriminated against him

(Newser) - A prospective student at a community college in Baltimore says his outspoken religious beliefs ruined his application—so he's suing the school and its president, Opposing Views reports. Brandon Jenkins interviewed for the Community College of Baltimore County's radiation therapy program, and was asked, "What is the...

Belief in Hell Makes Life on Earth More Miserable
 Belief in Hell 
 Makes Life on 
 Earth More 
 Miserable 
in case you missed it

Belief in Hell Makes Life on Earth More Miserable

Study investigates beliefs across 63 countries

(Newser) - Believers in hell—or just those who think about it—may find themselves less satisfied with life on Earth, a new study suggests. In the study published in PLOS One , researchers in British Columbia investigated data from 63 countries, both on a national scale and an individual one. They compared...

What Coots Was Thinking When He Held That Snake

Dead pastor wasn't under the impression he was safe

(Newser) - If your reaction to the death of the snake-handling Kentucky pastor killed by one of his own snakes on Saturday was "he must have been delusional," WBIR digs into why the exact opposite is, in one way, the case. It spoke with a range of religion professors about...

The Most Religious State Is Once Again...

...Mississippi, while Vermont holds on to its title, too

(Newser) - A new Gallup survey looking at religiousness in the US could have essentially just rerun its previous findings on the subject. Mississippi is once again the most religious state in the union, with 61% of residents falling into the "very religious" category—defined by Gallup as those who say...

How a Cult-Like Church Changed a Texas Town

The Church of Wells digs in against frustrated locals

(Newser) - Andy and Patty Groves were dying to see their daughter again. Distraught over her grandfather's death, Catherine Groves joined a cult-like church in the tiny town of Wells, Texas. So her parents drove to Wells, where Catherine, now a docile believer, would only meet them in a shotgun shack...

Pol: Gay Marriage Will Bring 'Biblical Disasters' to UK

David Silvester suspended for writing anti-gay letter

(Newser) - A British far-right party has suspended a local councilman who blamed recent severe flooding on the government's legalization of gay marriage. David Silvester of the United Kingdom Independence Party had written a letter to the Henley Standard claiming he'd warned Prime Minister David Cameron the legislation would result...

Bitter Split Riles Atheist Church

New York non-believers break off from London group

(Newser) - Atheist-church leaders in New York have bitterly broken away from their central church in London, creating what may be the first schism in modern organized atheism, CNN reports. Late last year, Lee Moore and two other members of The Sunday Assembly's franchise in New York broke off and created...

Why King Tut's Penis Was Buried Erect: Expert

Embalmers made Tutankhamun look like Osiris, egyptologist says

(Newser) - King Tutankhamun was mummified with his heart carved out, covered in black liquids, his penis kept erect—but why? Egyptologist Salima Ikram has an answer: that Tut was buried to resemble the underworld god Osiris as a way of battling a religious revolution that was gaining momentum in Egypt, LiveScience...

Duck Dynasty Guy Should Learn From Pope Francis

EJ Dionne argues that religious people should be less convinced they have the answers

(Newser) - Phil Robertson is convinced the word of God justifies his controversial comments about homosexuality. Rev. Frank Schaefer is convinced that performing gay weddings was an expression of Christian love. "If any given religion and its holy writings can be used to support diametrically opposed conclusions about how to live...

The Latest Diet Trend Comes From ...God

The "Daniel Fast" involves sticking to fruits, veggies, whole grains

(Newser) - Most of America's most obese metropolitan areas are in the Bible belt, and a study points to a higher risk of future obesity among church-going young people. But Christians may also have an advantage in reaching their dietary goals—one that comes straight from heaven. "I probably couldn’...

Buddha's Birthday Wrong by 200 Years: Experts

Archaeologists date timber shrine to the 6th century BC

(Newser) - Buddha may have achieved enlightenment two centuries earlier than experts believe—if an ancient timber shrine can be taken at face value, AFP reports. A team of archaeologists, digging under the temple considered to be Buddha's birthplace, discovered a wooden shrine that dates to the 6th century BC. Problem...

French Bishops: Lord's Prayer Is 'Blasphemous'

Will be updated with new translation

(Newser) - France's Catholics have been using a potentially blasphemous version of the Lord's Prayer for almost 50 years, the country's bishops have decided. For 17 years, linguistic and theological experts have been arguing over a translation, introduced in 1966, of the line "And lead us not into...

Mormon Women Protest All-Male Priesthood

But study shows majority of LDS women oppose female ordination

(Newser) - Some 130 women gathered outside the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City yesterday, after being rejected from a meeting for the faith's all-male priesthood, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The women, members of the Ordain Women movement in the LDS Church, tried to buy tickets to the event, but...

American Jews Losing Their Religion
American Jews
Losing Their Religion
new survey

American Jews Losing Their Religion

22% now consider themselves non-religious Jews

(Newser) - America has by far the world's largest Jewish population of any country save Israel, but the proportion of them who consider themselves non-religious Jews has surged to 22%, according to a new poll. Around two-thirds of those interviewed did not belong to a synagogue and a third had a...

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