"In God's Name"

"In God's Name"
http://www.themiracletimes.com/Christmas/CBS-In-Gods-Name.htm So, last night I watched the documentary...I thought it was in depth, to a point, but it lacked the perspective of 1/3 of the world... If they had spoken to Ellen Johnson, President of American Atheists or even some other organization, then I would have thought it more balanced and easier to digest. Instead, I found it to be nothing more than a reinforcement of the 3 major religions...a very Abrahamic program. Yes, they spoke to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, but they seemed to only play small snippets where he was mentioning his admiration and respect for the other religions. They also interviewed Ama, the Hindu spiritual leader that conducts the daily Darshan (the embrace), but they mostly only played clips of this, not truly discussing what Hindus believe. It was definitely not meant to be an educational program, and not especially informative either...more of an exaltation of the 12 people being interviewed/profiled.

I didn't see the one you're talking about; but I often think that published articles or programs don't have a wide-enough viewpoint. I often think they should examine whatever-it-is from the perspective of each of the twelve most popular "belief systems" -- or, if not twelve, at least seven. OTOH an article about Christmas that examines it only from Christian and Islamic viewpoints -- even if "Christian" includes "Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Pro-*test*-('")ant" and "Islamic" includes "Sunni and Shiite" -- is probably broad enough; only those people "believe in" Christmas.

I don't remember exactly what it was, but there was a CNN special on the three largest religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam)...I'll have to find it, because it makes you worried, angry (I got off of my couch to argue with the people a few times), hopeful, and generally is just thought-provoking. Highly recommended...I'll find the link somewhere...

the three largest religions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam)Islam is the largest religion, and Christianity is probably second. But Judaism is not a large religion. It's an important religion, because of its relation to Christianity and Islam; but it's not big. Buddhism is probably third. Hinduism may be fourth; or maybe one of the Chinese religions such as Taoism (if that's a religion -- it probably is) and Confucianism (if that's a religion -- it probably isn't). Hinduism spread beyond India some and is important and a near-majority in some of the countries near India, but it did not spread nearly as much as Buddhism did. Shintoism and the Chinese religions may be important regardless of size, because of the countries in which they are important. Some of the Chinese religions are big, even though not very big outside China, just because China is itself so big. "Animism" and "shamanism" are most of what's left after Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism. (Obviously they don't include Hinduism or Judaism, or a few others.) Perhaps "Shintoism" is just the Japanese form of "animism", or perhaps not. But these labels -- "animism" and "shamanism" -- are applied to groups of several "primitive" religions, which are individually rather small, though they probably don't have any doctrine saying the others are false.

Islam is the largest religion According to whom? Because last I checked it was infact Christianity followed by Islam followed by Hindus. Daoism is more a philosophy than a religion. It is easily incorporated into other religions as there is no mention of a specific deity. There are those who have made it a religion, though they usually add things from other religions to it.

Islam is the largest religion According to whom? Because last I checked it was infact Christianity followed by Islam followed by Hindus.I could have been wrong; or possibly my information was out-of-date. It's still arguable that Buddhism should outrank Hinduism, not because it has more adherents, but because it is more widespread geographically -- and it is the majority religion in more countries. Daoism is more a philosophy than a religion. It is easily incorporated into other religions as there is no mention of a specific deity. There are those who have made it a religion, though they usually add things from other religions to it.You're right.

The distinctions of "Islam" and "Christianity" are meaningless to me...both are Abrahmic, and therefore quite hypocritical in dogma and in practice. As for Hinduism, I know little to nothing about it, and I can only assume that it is just as much of a supersticious and mystical religion as any other. What I initially was trying to discuss in this thread was the lack of impartiality on religious topics by American media, and Europena media at tiems.

I felt this might need to be shown.

http://www.adherents.com/images/rel_pie.gif I felt this might need to be shown.Thanks.

There may be an error in that chart now. A Vatican news paper has said that Islam has surpassed Christianity as the world's largest religion.

There may be an error in that chart now. A Vatican news paper has said that Islam has surpassed Christianity as the world's largest religion. And the Vatican is a bastion of truth...

They may also have used a more narrow definition of Christianity that would exclude fringe groups like LDS and JW whose beliefs are significantly different from the core beliefs shared by Pro-*test*-('")ants and Catholics alike, for example, the Nicene Creed. Also, the pie graph above includes 'nominal' Christians who may not be observant.

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