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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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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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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?
Twilight Sparkle
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Do non-religious people make more money?

Two separate people claimed in answers and comments on Do atheists commit far fewer crimes? that atheists have higher income than religious people. Sklivvz wrote about criminals in the USA: [..] For example, wealth can give you better lawyers and…
Kit Sunde
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Does a miracle of spontaneous "holy fire" occur in a Jerusalem church every year?

Has there been any scientific investigation into the nature of Holy Fire, to either clearly debunk it or be determined inconclusive (thus allowing for a margin of plausibility)? Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem has described the process of the…
luvieere
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Is "No Religion" world's fastest growing religion?

This recent article from anonhq.com has been widely shared on Facebook. It claims: A recent global survey conducted by National Geographic shows that the worlds fastest growing religion is not Islam or Christianity, but no religion at all –…
Sakib Arifin
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Were the Ten Commandments taken from the Egyptian Book of the Dead?

This meme image from Pinterest suggests the Old Testament's Ten Commandments were derived from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Does this sound familiar? Do not curse god Do not scorn god Do not abandon your parents Do not defile the wife of a…
ralf htp
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Was Glyn Barrett invited to speak at a meeting for an atheist society in Cambridge?

I saw a video on Facebook, linked from God TV, (both now removed but available here) where Pastor Glyn Barrett of !Audacious Church, in Manchester UK said he was invited to debate at a meeting of the "Atheistic Society" at a university. He joking…
TecBrat
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Did Soviet miners drill a hole to Hell?

This was claimed (though referred to as a hoax by one of the characters) in a recent XKCD comic: http://www.xkcd.com/1330/ Did Soviet miners drill a hole to super-hot cavern where you could hear screaming?
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Is this picture and voice recording of Daniel Radcliffe speaking Hebrew authentic?

This 2010 YouTube video purports to show a picture of actor Daniel Radcliffe wearing tefillin and speaking on Israeli radio about it in Hebrew. This picture has been picked up on a number of not-so-credible Orthodox Jewish news sites (such as…
TheAsh
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Is the swastika over 11000 years old?

The Wikipedia entry on the swastika says: It is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and dates back at least 11,000 years. The source cited for the claim is The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols.…
Sakib Arifin
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Will only 10% of the New Zealand population be religious by 2050?

I have seen this episode about religion from the documentary series "Through the Wormhole" and how it is disappearing and they say that it will have only 10% theists in New Zealand by 2050. Is this true? You can view the documentary on YouTube and…
Derfder
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Is radiometric dating performed on sacred relics?

Having read St. Philip the Apostle Tomb's discovered in Turkey, I wondered about the claims of antiquity of similar relics. Are radiometric dating tests (i.e. like radiocarbon dating, but for 2000 year old items) typically performed on the sacred…
Özgür
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Can Black Seed Cure Any Disease?

Nigella sativa is known as black seed. Islamic tradition suggests it is a universal cure. For example, Bukhaari recorded in the Ninth Century that Muhammad is said to have claimed : “This black seed is a cure for every disease except death.” A…
user4951
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Do people think from their heart?

We all know that the brain is in control of movement, information processing...etc. But Do people think from their heart or from their brain? To me I have always thought that it was the brain. But this seems to contradict the view of…
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Was Tulsi Gabbard in a "cult"?

As late as 2015, Tulsi Gabbard considered Chris Butler (Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa) to be her guru. Numerous people claim that Butler's group is a cult, while others say it isn't. Does the Science of Identity Foundation meet the common…
Foo Bar
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