Judaism

Against the “Answer Bank” Theory of Religion

The world’s religions are more important for the questions they ask than for the answers they provide.
wheel of religious symbols with a question mark in the center
By Stephen Prothero
Monday, August 9, 2010

The world’s religions are often seen, by believers and nonbelievers alike, as repositories of eternal truths — answer banks for the big questions. Billboards and bumper stickers declare that “Jesus is the Answer,” and Christians have historically seen Jesus not only as the Way and the Life but also as the Truth. Given such claims, it is not surprising that atheists almost always attack Christianity on the basis of its doctrines: there is no God, Jesus was just a man, and no one was ever raised from the dead.

Buddhism, Christianity, comparative religion, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, religion, religious studies, Stephen Prothero
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Twittering Temples

Re: Twittering Temples
Do you "follow" your place of worship?
Monday, August 2, 2010
Judaism, synagogues, Twitter

Organized religion has always been, fairly or unfairly, characterized as being behind the technology curve.  Lest you think this is always the case, behold a stream of tweets from synagogues (compiled by The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism).   This is by no means comprehensive, but it gives you not only an idea that temples are using Twitter but, more importantly, how they are using it.  The pedestrian and wholly unsurprising answer is that, for the most part, they're using it in the most practical manner possible - like an online bulletin board.

SixthandI - "High Holiday tickets are now available! Everyone wants good plans for the New Year. Start 5771 at the 'gogue http://ow.ly/285rY"

ATIDLA - "All, ATID is currenlty looking for more host/greeters (between the ages of 21-39) for upcoming Friday Night Live... http://fb.me/uJchBHfO"

templejudea - "Remember: Temple Offices and School closed on July 5 in honor of Independence Day."

This serves as a reminder that much of the work of organized religion is, well, organizing; and any technology that makes that task easier is bound to get employed sooner or later.  

(via @podcaststeve)