Spiritual Advisory Council

LINKS Related to Religion & Spirituality

Link to other's Links...

World Transformation  Here you will find a cornucopia of ideas, resources, connections, information, inspiration and
surprises, all aimed at growing, creating or discovering a world that works better for all of us. A part of the New Civilization Network maintained by Flemming Funch.

 Please visit Religious Tolerance Organization web site. They are a vast resource. Their  link page: http://www.religioustolerance.org/int_reli.htm

  • The Directory of Religious Centers is maintained by the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. It does not include Christian or Jewish centers, because these can be readily found in telephone directories. But it has almost 3,000 other religious centers across the U.S. See: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/html/database.html
  • The Interfaith Working Group has an excellent index to many dozens of WWW sites dealing with homosexual rights, reproduction rights, separation of church and state, religious diversity, tolerance and freedom, and the radical religious right. It is the best index that we have found on such a diverse group of topics. See: http://www.iwgonline.org/ 
  • Blue Star's Links To Eternity http://members.tripod.com/~thirdmillennium/ is "A Soul Directory," with dozens of links to eclectic sites which feature New Age, mysticism, spirituality, human potential, healing, peace, alternative spiritual communities, etc.
  • The Pastor's Pointers has many hundreds of links to denominations, news groups, ethical, social action sites. etc. See: http://www.mumac.org/links.html

Religious Information

  • View the Pluralism Project at Harvard University. 

  • A group of essays prepared by Sociology classes at the University of Virginia lists many unusual faith groups. See: http://www.religiousmovements.org 
  • CrossDaily.com has a list of Christian news mailing lists and web sites at: http://news.crossdaily.com/newssites.php3 
  • Allexperts.com has groups of volunteers representing the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Unitarian, and Neopagan religions. You can ask an expert any question on one of these religions (and others) and get a free answer. See: http://www.allexperts.com/religion/index.shtml
  • Shaking of Foundations is a thought-provoking site geared to challenge their readers' " 'knee-jerk' and 'other-imposed' " ideas and beliefs in order that they "might arrive at their own philosophy of the world and how it works." See: http://home.swbell.net/dndylion/index.html They invite reader response.
  • Adherents.com lists over 10,000 adherent statistic citations for various faith groups. A fascinating resource. See: http://www.adherents.com/
  • "Religious Requirements and Practices of Certain Selected Groups" is an online edition of a handbook for chaplains, published in 1993 for the U.S. Department of Defense. It describes dozens of faith groups: Christian, Islamic, Japanese, Jewish, Sikh, other groups from India, and individually distinctive groups. See: http://160.149.101.23/chap/relpractice/index.htm
  • The Chaplain's Corner At CGSC (Command and General Staff College) provides information on ethics and world religions for interested students and military chaplains. See: http://www-cgsc.army.mil/chap/purpose.htm
  • Religions in Renewal links "members of groups within the major established religions or ideologies who are seeking respectfully and gradually to reform their traditions from within while remaining loyal to the spirit of their path." See: http://www.usao.edu/~facshaferi/relren/relren4.htm
  • Religion Cybercenter! is an international religious information service at: http://www.cybercortex.com/religioncybercenter/home.html  
  • Cthonia Institute has a list of "Religious Isms" that give thumbnail sketches of various religions and religious concepts, from Adoptionism to Zwinglianism. See: http://www.cthonia.com/atrium/relig_isms/index.html
  • A Calendar of Events, including religious conferences, worships, special events, a religious calendar, is maintained by the Pluralism Project at Harvard University at: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/html/calendar3.html 
  • Nurel (New Religions) provides reliable information about groups that are often called "cults, sects, new religions, or [by] some similar name." The Web site "is not anti-cult, counter-cult, or pro-cult. It is an academic resource linked to the electronic journal/discussion group NUREL-L." See: http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~nurelweb/
  • The New World Society has a theology page which has essays and hyperlinks on many dozens of religions at: http://eagle.cc.ukans.edu/~kym/theology.html
  • The Princeton Religion Research Center (PRRC) is an interfaith, non-denominational research organization which specializes in creative, practical research, utilizing worldwide Gallup survey facilities. See: http://www.prrc.com
  • Religion Depot features a religion discussion forum, a live chat, mailing list, and individual sections dealing with world religions such as Buddhism and Christianity. See: http://www.edepot.com/religion.html
  • Your WebScout maintains a master list of Internet links on a wide variety of topics. They have an index of religion and spirituality links at: http://www.webscout.com/links/people/people.html Their main home page includes access to numerous newsletters, a description on how to use search engines, etc. See: http://www.webcom.com/webscout/welcome.html
  • Christian Depot has a listing of the books of the Bible, a list of all of the major denominations in the US, the text of some Presbyterian and Reformed catechisms, Christian art, etc at: http://www.edepot.com/cath.html
  • Junk Yard of the Net has a condensed page full of links to religous sites at http://www.winbet.sci.fi/junkyard/relig.htm
  • Kaleidoreligion is a most attractive home page which gives a "myriad view of religion on the Internet" including all of the main world religions, and many smaller groups. See: http://user.intersatx.net/curry/kaleid.htm 
  • AvatarSearch is the a very complete search engine for Neo-Pagan religions, the Occult etc. See: http://www.avatarsearch.com
  • The Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (CSSR/SCER) provides a forum for all who are involved in the academic study of religion, e.g. anthropologists, historians, phenomenologists, philosophers, psychologists, sociologists. See: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~bsalton/Cssr.html 
  • EPCnet, The Enlightened Planetary Civilization is a "spirit minded site with a wealth of information leading to an enlightened planetary civilization." See: http://www.epcnet.com
  • Rowland Croucher of John Mark Ministries lists many resources for pastors/leaders: 950 articles, booksales, etc. See: http://www.pastornet.net.au/jmm
  • Vijai Singh has a site: In Search of the One True Religion which advocates a spiritual path which integrates religion and science. See: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Ithaca/3440/intro.html
  • The WorldPeace Peace Page at: http://www.johnworldpeace.com/ has excerpts from many of the world's sacred texts.
  • Step in a New Direction is a partly completed site where the webmaster invites persons of different faiths to write about their own religion. See: http://members.spree.com/sip/stuff_/index.html

Religious Tolerance

  • The Cult Awareness Network was once an anti-cult group that spread misinformation and intolerance about minority religious groups. It was forced into bankrupcy because of their involvement in a brutal kidnapping. Their name, phone number and web site have been taken over by a totally new group: the Foundation for Religious Freedom. They promote religious tolerance and are run by a multi-faith board. They have a toll-free telephone number (800-556-3055) and an e-mail address (inform@cultawarenessnetwork.org) where people can request accurate information about any religious group. They have a list of over 100 qualified religious scholars as backup. They have access to qualified volunteer mediators. See: http://www.cultawarenessnetwork.org/
  • Religious Tolerance is a New Zealand site "published to encourage tolerance between followers of the many and varying religions." See: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~akaboris/
  • The Religious Education Tolerance Association has a network webring and organization that provides information about all religions and fights religious persecution. Their working motto is: "Knowledge Banishes Fear" See: http://www.wws.net/grawolph/relednet.html
  • The Southern Poverty Law Center "combats hate, intolerance and discrimination through education and litigation." See: http://www.splcenter.org/
  • Porchnus is The E-Zine of The Front Porch. The latter is the AOL "Religion and Beliefs Community Forum" chatroom. All are welcome: AOL members and others. See: http://members.aol.com/porchnus/index.htm
  •  HateWatch monitors sources of hate literature on the Web and throughout North American culture. See: http://hatewatch.org/frames.html   In 1998-JAN, they started a moderated mailing list: hatewatch-l. (The "l" is a lower-case "L"). It is "dedicated to discussing issues surrounding the growth and influence of hate groups on the Internet. This listserv also acts as a forum to discuss concrete measures to combat and contain online bigotry." They fight all types of hatred - whether based on religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, etc. To subscribe send an Email to: hatewatch-l-request@norden1.com Put the word subscribe in the body of the message; leave the subject line blank. Off-topic postings are not allowed. Originators of abusive postings will be removed.
  • The First Amendment Center sponsors Freedom Forum On-line. Their religious freedom section is at: http://www.freedomforum.org/religion/welcome.asp
  • Terra Ferma is the Forum for the Equitable Representation of religion in the media and in Academia. It invites and investigates instances of bias in reporting of religion. Their ultimate goal is to "clear the air for a wholesome dialogue among the world's religions by minimising information pollution as much as possible." See: http://www.mcgill.ca/religion/ferma.htm  
  • The Religion or Belief Information Network (R.O.B.I.N.) is a non-governmental information network, reporting on issues relating to freedom of religion or belief and public policy. See: http://www.hamline.edu/robin/
  • The HEALERS mailing list is a forum to discuss religious tolerance, activities to increase religious tolerance (including the upcoming unofficial International Religious Tolerance Day), religious discrimination, and awareness issues. To subscribe, send an Email to listproc@mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu, with no Subject. In the body of the message, type:
    subscribe HEALERS your name
    They have a home page at: http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~leavell/TigerEye/religtol.htm
  • The Earth Religions Alliance is maintained by the Earth Religions Assistance List, a private list which serves as a "911" for it's members who work on religious rights cases. See: http://205.226.66.2/~rowanf/ERAL/eral.html
  • The International Society of Syncretists has a site promoting The Good Life Church. They accept the religious beliefs of those of differing faiths, promote understanding and tolerance. See: http://www.syncretist.org/
  • A Parliament of Souls is a 12 part TV program to be seen over PBS in the United States and Vision TV in Canada. They feature in depth interviews of Bah'ai Faith, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Jewish, Muslim, Native American, Sikh, Sufi, Taoist and Zoroastrian leaders and thinkers. The program host is Bettina Gray. See: http://www.dnai.com/~gray/Pos.html
  • Larry Pahl has a WWW site that includes academic papers on religious liberty, and the separation of church and state. See: http://members.aol.com/larrypahl/poli-sci.htm
  • The Community Council on Cultural and Religious Diversity is a multi cultural, multi partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to exploring and celebrating metro Denver, Colorado's diversity. See:  http://clem.mscd.edu/~edwardda/cccrd.html
  • Dr. W. Kenneth Williams of the Baptist Joint Committee has written an essay titled "Theological Argument Against Intolerance". See: gopher://gopher.well.sf.ca.us/00/Politics/activist.tools/how.to.win/D3
  • Karl Eklund has a group of essays on the meaning of religious tolerance and how it should be exhibited. See: http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/1751/tol.html
  • Spiritual Spectrum is a Denver CO based television program featuring discussions of spiritual, religious, ethical and moral topics. They sell video tapes via mail order for $9.95 USF; each contains two programs. See a list of available tapes and a description of their program at: http://www.denver.net/~juliox/
  • Question Mark is by a guy who doesn't have all the answers, but raises lots of questions. He attempts to address spiritual questions with honesty, skepticism, tolerance and not a little wit. It's at: http://www.questionmark.org
  • Religious Tolerance is the simple name of a New Zealand web page at: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~akaboris/
  • The Human Movement at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/5333/ promotes equal treatment of all persons, commits to working together for the good of all, and cherishes diversity.

Teaching Tolerance

Religious Reform:

  • Religions in Renwal seeks to link people "who are seeking respectfully and gradually to reform their traditions from within while remaining loyal to the spirit of their path." A very important site of interest to all who are interested in the changes that religions will undergo in the next century. See: http://www.usao.edu/~facshaferi/relren/relren4.htm
  • Reflection on the Historical Jesus and the Early Church is a discussion group which deals with the search for the Jesus of history and how he became the focus of a world religion." See: http://www.abrock.com/hjesus.html

Interfaith Cooperation

  • Lists of inter-faith groups are available at:
  • The University of Derby in the UK sponsors MultiFaithNet at http://www.multifaithnet.org/ They provide some free services, and many subscription services which cost between 20£ and 50£ per year to individuals.
  • Afterhours Inspirational Stories publishes inspirational stories on their website. They are collecting contributions for two new inter-faith books: "Messages from Heaven, Earth, and Self: Stories to Promote Cross Religions Understanding" and "Colors of Rainbow: Stories to Promote Cross-Cultural Understanding". See:  http://www.inspirationalstories.com/ 
  •  Equal Partners in Faith is a "a multiracial national network of religious leaders and people of faith committed to equality and diversity.  [They] affirm and defend the equality of all people regardless of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation." This leads them to oppose religious groups that promote inequality and exclusion. See: http://www.us.net/epf/HOMEEPF.HTM  
  • Discussion group: Rachel Barenblat, manager of the Interfaith Webring has started an online discussion
    group for topics related to interfaith living and interfaith marriage. See:
    http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=ifmarriage
  • Areopagus Online is dedicated to dialogue between Christian and other religions. Their name is pronounced areeo-PAY-gus; it is the "name of a stony hilltop next to the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. In the New Testament era, it was a place where philosophers, civic elders and religious leaders met to discuss the issues of the day." See: http://www.areopagus.com/ We believe that they stopped updating their web site in late 1998.
  • The United Religions Initiative "seeks to bring people of different religions and spiritual traditions together in ways that respect and celebrate their uniqueness." See: http://www.united-religions.org/
  • The International Interfaith Centre supports "the work of organizations and individuals to further peaceful relations, respect and understanding between people with different faith beliefs."  See: http://www.interfaith-center.org/aims.htm
  • The Unified Spirits web site was "created for women to come together and discuss spirituality, home and family, the environment, women's issues and much more." See: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Capsule/5784/
  • The Religion Depot features a religious discussion forum, a live chat on scheduled religious topics, a mailing list and sections that deal with Buddhism and Christianity and Daoism. See: http://www.edepot.com/religion.html  
  • The North American Interfaith Network (NAIN) is a non-profit association of over 60 interfaith organizations in Canada and the United States. See: http://www.nain.org/index.html
  • The Global Dialog Institute promotes "dialogue in the broadest sense among individuals and groups of different religions and cultures, focusing especially though not exclusively on the 'opinion-shapers' of society, e.g., scholars, professionals, and institutional & business leaders. See: http://astro.temple.edu/~dialogue/ Their site includes the  "The Dialogue Decalogue: Ground Rules for Interreligious, Intercultural Dialogue" at: http://astro.temple.edu/~dialogue/Antho/decalog.htm
  • Jewish-Christian Relations "is concerned with issues in the on-going Christian-Jewish dialogue". See: http://www.jcrelations.com/
  • The Interfaith Working Group is concerned that, by listening to the media, people will conclude that all religion is inherently conservative. They maintain a home page which emphasizes the "diversity of religious opinion on social issues." See them at: http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/ They also have a page which links to an incredible number of other groups and individuals on topics such as: gay rights, reproductive freedom, the separation of church and state, and the diversity of religious opinion on these issues. See: http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/other.html#right
  • The United Communities of Spirit believes "that the spiritual transformation of global culture can arise through a cooperative network system, that brings together into one linked context the highest insights of all religions, and coordinates the participation of millions of people." See: http://www.silcom.com/~origin/ucs.html
  • Spirit Online "is an online organization devoted to uniting those of all faiths. Members are amongst faiths such as Christianity, Wicca, Judaism, Buddhism, and many others." See: http://www.spiritonline.com/
  • INTERFAITH promotes understanding of all faiths, religions and philosophies and encourages an open exchange of beliefs. It is their hope that this will help disarm interfaith conflicts. They oppose "antis": people who attack other religions, and who promote religious conflict and hatred. See: http://www.novia.net/~tutakai/inter.html
  • InterfaithIMPACT for Justice and Peace has a home page which promoted their "Healing the Land" briefing on 1996-MAR-3. See: http://www.postfun.com/interfaith.html
  • The Institute for Interreligious Studies is an association of theologians, teachers, economists and other interested people who want to promote interfaith dialogue through encounters and publications. They are a multi-lingual group based in Germany and the Netherlands. See: http://onderwijs.efa.nl/levonet/intra/pg009.htm
  • The European Association for World Religions in Education aims to contribute to more appropriate, accurate, adequate and emphatic, teaching of world religions at all levels of education. See: http://www.hhit.hsholland.nl/levonet/eawre/
  • The Christian Communication Network, facilitates the development of local religious computer networks and promotes acceptance and compassion among Christian denominations and other religions. They are at: http://www.cris.com/~mythos
  • Meeting Place of Religions: Origin maintains a home page and mailing list which promotes interchange between people of differing religious faiths. See them at: http://www.rain.org:80/~origin/
  • Interfaith Fellowship is "an alternative spiritual community of worship, celebration and healing...[They] draw from the beauty and wisdom of a broad range of faiths, spiritual paths, and provide a space for all in their unique search for the Divine." See: http://www.interfaithfellowship.org/main/index.html
  • Dharma, The Cat is a charming "thinking person's cartoon strip" written from a Buddhist perspective. It has an inter-faith forum. Neat tune, too. See: http://www2.one.net.au/~lourie/
  • The WorldPeace Peace Page promotes inter-faith understanding and tolerance as a route to world peace. See: http://www.johnworldpeace.com/ A quotation from their home page: "As we stand at the threshold of a new world view, let us embrace a world view that acknowledges that we can never manifest peace or world peace if we do not include everyone in our vision of peace; that a Christian peace will never manifest religious peace, that a Caucasian peace will never manifest racial peace, and that an American peace will never manifest WorldPeace."
  • The Library of Wisdom is an ecumenical, spiritual, metaphysical, religious, new age and healing resource. See: http://www.library-of-wisdom.org/
  • The Institute for World Spirituality at: http://www.worldspirit.org/  promotes "communication, tolerance and most importantly, cooperative compassionate action among the religions of the world."

Religious Freedom:

  • There are a number of religious freedom groups which concerned with persecutions of Christians worldwide:
  • There are many legal organizations fighting court cases for religious freedom:
    • Over a dozen conservative Christian legal groups exist to promote religious freedom of Christian individuals and groups. Some of their cases involve the religious liberty of Christian to discriminate against individuals on the basis of their religion, sexual orientation, marital status, etc. The National Alliance Against Christian Discrimination (NAACD) maintains a list of hyperlinks to these organizations at: http://naacd.com/Links/links.html 
    • The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is the principal secular legal organization fighting constitutional maters. They focus particularly on 15 issues; many have ethical, spiritual and religious dimensions, including: Church and State, Cyber-Liberties, Death Penalty, Lesbian and Gay Rights and Reproductive Rights. They have created the Freedom Network. See: http://www.aclu.org They also maintain a forum Constitution Hall on America Online (Keyword ACLU).
  • The International Coalition for Religious Freedom "is a non-profit, non-sectarian, educational organization dedicated to defending the religious freedom of all, regardless of creed, gender, or ethnic origin. ICRF acknowledges with gratitude that, at the current time, it receives the bulk of its funding from institutions and individuals related to the Unification Church community." See: http://www.religiousfreedom.com/
  • The Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs (BJC) has completed 60 years of advocating religious liberty in the US. They are "committed to the twin concepts of Free Exercise and No Establishment found in the First Amendment." See: http://www.erols.com/bjcpa/index.html
  • The Liberal Constitutionalist promotes religious liberty and individual freedom of conscience. See: http://members.aol.com/realconst/l_c_home.html
  • Human Rights Watch monitors human rights worldwide. Their site is at http://www.hrw.org/
  • F.R.E.E. (Freedom of Religion for Everyone Everywhere) is promoting a proclamation to declare the year 2000 as The Year of Religious Freedom. See: http://www.communicate-now.com/free/
  • The Christian Science Committee on Publication maintains a home page which deals with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, The US Constitution and quotes related to religious freedom. See them at: http://northshore.shore.net/rf/
  • The Institute for First Amendment Studies maintains a home page and publishes two periodicals: Freedom Writer which focuses on activities of conservative Christians and Walk Away which offers support to persons who have "already left fundamentalism or some extreme form of Bible-based belief." They are at: http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas
  • The First Amendment Center of Vanderbuilt University has a fascinating WWW site promoting religious and other freedoms. See: http://www.fac.org
  • Associated with the above site is a page by C.C. Haynes which deals with finding common ground and religious liberty issues in the school. See: http://www.fac.org/religion/haynescol/haynscol.htm
  • Earth Tribe has as its purpose "to teach, promote, defend, and encourage a sacred relationship between humankind and our Earth Mother. To promote and protect human rights and religious freedom. To restore and preserve our environment and delicate ecosystem. In a nutshell, we say our purpose is to help mend the broken sacred hoop (WEB) of life." See: http://www.cyberhighway.net/~sthomp/tribe.html They advertise their periodical Heartbeat Drum at: http://www.cyberhighway.net/~sthomp/HrtBtDrum.html

Spirituality:

This is a new section. We only have a few listings at this time:

  • Evomundi is described as "for Seekers, Scholars and Skeptics. Evomundi is your one-stop portal for spirituality on the Internet. We also provide real life spiritual experiences to our audience by partnering with spirituality tourism, books, music, seminars, and arts and crafts vendors." See: http://www.evomundi.com/ 

  • Spiritual Persistence approaches the topic from the standpoint of community. "It is about our common destiny, not individual perfection or salvation; and about personal responsibility, not dependence on a Deus ex machina." See http://www.spiritualpersistence.com/ 

  • The Universal Spiritual Teachings website tries "to help people recall the gift of spiritual vision, that everyone was given and teach them how to use that spiritual vision again. This will move everyone to act in a sacred way, a way that teaches respect for all life and respect and love for one and other." See http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Andes/1029/ 

  • Time circles: God creates, the universe evolves website promotes evolution, the existence of God, and other matters. See http://www.proofgodexists.org/ 

Separation of Church and State:

The first amendment to the US constitution, establishes a wall of separation between church and state, and guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of the press, "the right of the people peacefully to assemble, and to petition the government...".


Compiled by B.A. Robinson

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