God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World (64 page)

Onfray, Michel, 9, 318, 319, 326

On the Jews and Their Lies
(Luther), 272

OPEC nations, 63

Orishas (DC Comics series), 229

orishas.
See
Yoruba orishas

Orthodox Jews, 256, 266, 267, 268

orthodoxy (right thought) vs. orthopraxy (right practice), 32, 70, 157, 252

Orunmila (Yoruba orisha), 214, 234

Osanyin (Yoruba orisha), 218

Osborne, Joan, 68

Oshun (Yoruba orisha), 214–15

Osteen, Joel, 93

Ottoman Empire fall (1918), 19, 40

Otto, Rudolf, 48

Oudil, 273

Oya (Yoruba orisha), 218

Oyotunji African Village, 227–28

pacifism, of Sermon on the Mount, 11

Paradise: as goal of Muslims, 32; Quran on the path to, 32, 42–43

Paradise
(Morrison), 227

Passover (Jewish festival), 258, 263–66

Patel, Eboo, 336

Patriarch of Constantinople, 75

Paul, 93

Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism), 83

Pentecostalism, 87–91, 92

“people of the book” (
Ahl al-Kitab
), 26, 57, 256

The Perennial Philosophy
(Huxley), 5

perennial philosophy, 6–7

Perfect Realization Daoism, 309–10

Peter, St., 75

Petersham, Maud and Mishka, 65

philosophical Daoism, 311–12

philosophical Hinduism, 144–50

Pink Floyd, 103

Pinker, Steven, 318

Pitt, Brad, 292

Pittsburgh Platform (1885), 268

Plato, 123

Platonism, 172

Pledge of Allegiance lawsuit, 323

politics: Jewish influence in American, 246; Bible used in American, 18; Christianity and modern divisions of, 95–96;
Hindutva
(Hinduness) movement in Indian, 8, 167–68; Islamism ideology of Muslim extremists, 52–54; religious role in, 6–11; Religious Right impact on, 8, 320, 338

Pol Pot, 317

popular Daoism, 310–11

Prabhavananda, Swami, 6

Prabhupada, Swami, 51

prayers: Jewish Kaddish, 106, 252, 266; Muslims called to
adhan
, 27–28, 30–31; Orthodox Jews three times a day, 256; Progressive Islam’s mixed-gender Friday prayer service (2005), 55

Presbyterianism, 79

Progressive Islam movement, 20, 54–57

Progressive Muslims
(Safi), 54

Protestantism: comparison of Catholicism and, 80–82; evangelicalism, 84–86; Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, and Anabaptists, 78–79; origins of, 76–78; Pentecostalism, 87–91

Protestant Reformation, 76–78

puja (worship) [Hinduism], 157–59

Pullman, Philip, 103

Purim (Jewish festival), 263

Puritans, 79

al-Qaeda: Islamic extremists of, 19; Islamism ideology of, 52–54

qigong
(breathing exercises), 282

Qin dynasty (China), 120, 122

Quakers, 68, 276

Quanzhen (Chuan-chen
) tradition (Daoism), 309–10

Queen Mother of the West (Daoism), 307

Quran: chastisement warnings in the, 46–47; comparing Christian Bible to, 43–45; comparing Jesus to the, 39; content, themes, and organization of, 41–45; descriptions of Allah in the, 36–37; “The Forenoon” sura in the, 45–46;
Jahannam
(hell) in the, 47; mentions of war in the, 35; on path to Paradise, 32, 42–43; revealed to Muhammad, 28; justice in the, 42, 56–57; “sword verses” in the, 97; written by Allah and the word of God, 40–41.
See also
Islam

Qutb, Sayyid, 53

Rabin, Yitzhak, 9

Rahner, Karl, 6

Ramadan (Islam fasting month), 33–34

Ramakrishna, 165–66, 167, 339

Ramakrishna Vedanta Society, 6

Ramayana epic (Hinduism), 153, 159, 162–64

Ramayan
(comic book series), 164

Ram Lila
(weeklong performance), 163

Rand, Ayn, 324

Rastafarianism movement, 15

Reagan Revolution (1980s), 10

Reconstructionist Judaism, 270–71

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (Philadelphia), 270

rectification of names (Confucianism), 112

Reform Jews, 266, 267, 268, 270

Refuel
(New Testament), 75

religion: American public’s growing concerns about, 320–21; Confucianism debate of philosophy versus, 105–9, 129–30, 186; dual toxic and tonic nature of, 9–11; examining the influence of, 17–18; “false and your own” categories of, 5–6; futile search for essence of, 12–13; Harvard University atheism rally (2009) protesting, 327–28; making the case for preeminence for a specific, 18–20; metamorphosis promise of, 331–32; New Atheists’ attacks on, 9, 66, 317–18, 319, 320–26; perennial philosophy on, 6–7; seven dimensions of, 49; social, economic, political, and military importance of, 7–11.
See also
beliefs

religious Daoism, 312–13

religious differences: “argument allergy” reluctance to discuss, 4–5; blind men examining elephant story demonstrating, 338–39; different paths metaphor of, 1–2; fairness in examining, 20–22; “false and your own” categories of, 5–6; four-step approach to problems/solutions/techniques/exemplars, 13–16; Interfaith Dialogue 2.0 for exploring, 335–36; overview of the multitudes of, 1–3; revelations of examining, 333–40; sports analogy of, 22; on what is wrong with the world, 11–13

Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—and Doesn’t
(Prothero), 13

religious literacy: 20–24, 337

Religious Right, 8, 320, 338

religious rivalries: “clash of civilizations” as, 12, 54, 56, 98; social, economic, political, and military impact of, 7–8

religious tolerance: “all religions are one” mantra of, 3, 4, 8; attacks on ideal of, 321

ren
(human-heartedness), 113, 115–18, 129

renouncers (
sannyasins
), 145–47, 162

Revolve
(New Testament), 75

Rey, Terry, 221

Rig Veda (Hinduism), 140, 141–42

Rilke, Rainer Maria, 23, 178, 248, 339

Rinpoche, Sogyal, 195

rituals: Confucianism on need for, 141; Daoist, 311; Hindu puja, 157–59; Judaism life cycle, 266–67; Judaism’s commandments, 258–59; range of senses in religious, 158; religious importance of, 69; Vedic religion on, 141

Robert, Dana, 94

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
(film), 30

Robinson, Gene, 95

Roman Catholic Church: comparisons of Protestantism and, 80–82; Protestant Reformation split from, 76–78; Second Vatican Council (1962–65), 82; split between Orthodoxy and, 75–76; transubstantiation doctrine of, 78

Romney, Mitt, 91

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 17

Roots
(Haley), 229

Rorty, Richard, 23

Rosh Hashanah (Jewish festival), 264

Roth, Philip, 246

Roy, Ram Mohan, 165, 166, 167

RSS (Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh), 168

Ruge, Arnold, 326

Rumi, 60–62

Russell, Bertrand, 324

Sabbath (Judaism), 260, 262–63

Sacred Hoops
(Jackson), 176

Sadat, Anwar, 9

Safi, Omid, 54

The Sage and the Second Sex
(Chenyang Li), 123

Said, Edward, 54

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church (Cape Cod), 67

Saladin, 97

Salafism (Islamic intellectual movement), 53–54

Sallman, Warner, 94

salvation: biblical stories on sin and, 72–73; as Christian goal, 21–22;
moksha
(spiritual liberation) versus, 136–37

Samaj, Brahmo, 165

samsara
(life, death, and rebirth cycle) [Hinduism], 136, 151, 152–53, 200

sangha
(community), 180, 181

Santeria, 219, 223, 227–30

Saraswati, Dayananda, 166–67

Sarnath (Buddhist sacred place), 173, 174

satori
(Zen moment of awakening), 192–93