Reel spirituality

Yes, they can be embarrassingly sappy. Yes, the music can sound terribly trite.

But c'mon, admit it. Those many videos interviewing God or dreaming of footprints in sand -- now and then, one of them gets to you.

Good. You've faced up to it. Now you can freely sample InspiringThots.

Site creator Kwek Sing Cher of Singapore has compiled more than 200 of these Flash-powered movies -- complete with Hallmark-style verse, rambling music, acres of flowers and miles of mountains, waterfalls and sunsets.

Want to cheer a friend? Try Touch My Heart. Encouragement? There's I Prayed For You Today. Need to get your man to hear you? Please Listen may say what you want.

And yes, some jewels stand out. What a Pretty Planet has stunning photos of Earth from space, and a gentle appeal to protect it for our children. Kwek even contributes his own bits of wisdom, as in the Born Resilient movie.

There are some historical classics here, too. Advice like the Desiderata and Mother Teresa's The Final Analysis. Also the prayer of St. Francis, and Reinhold Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer.

Kwek helpfully sorts the movies by category as well as title, plus which are most popular or most recent. But the videos are grouped into only seven topics. We need more.

But feel free to wander through the piles of Love to Live and God's Fragrant Rose and It is True, I'm So Blessed. No worries. It's our little secret.

Gods and monsters

Dragons, deities, fabled lands: Encyclopedia Mythica has 7,000 articles about 'em -- enough to hook you for hours.

And the pantheon goes far beyond the usual Jupiter and Odin. A little browsing will take you to Huwe of the African Bushmen, the Spider Woman of the Navaho, and the Chinese Yellow Emperor -- said to have formed spontaneously at the dawn of time.

Then there are the beasts: the giant, condor-like Roc from the Arab world, the chimeric Yali of India, Behemoth and Leviathan from the Bible, the Kraken from Norway, even Sasquatch from North America.

A long article on dragons duly notes differences between European and Asian breeds. Another points out that Indra, a Persian demon, is different from the Vedic god of the same name.

As in other encyclopedias, context can be spotty. The article on Excalibur cites five ponds as the possible resting place of Arthur's famed sword. But the piece about Atlantis gives only one of the 20 or so candidates for the legendary kingdom.

Also spotty are the 276 images in the picture gallery. Most are Greek or Roman. Hindus, Aztecs, Norse and Mayas each have less than a dozen. And most of the pictures are disappointingly small.

But the encyclopedia has handy tools. One lets you grow or shrink the text. And once you're deep in the site, a separate frame shows the subdirectory you came from. So you can do keyword searches, then return without hitting the back arrow a lot.

Rumor has it -- or doesn't

What? They're trying to clone the DNA of Jesus? Billy Graham rode a scooter through New Orleans? Shakira publicly insulted Israel?

Hit the "Forward' button!

Or not. First, check out that e-mail on a couple of rumor control sites.

First, the granddaddy: Snopes, a brilliantly literate site by Barbara and David Mikkelson. For more than a decade, Snopes has exposed crap like the claim that 4,000 Jews didn't go to their jobs at the World Trade Center on 9-11.

The other outstanding rumor control site is Truth or Fiction. founded in 1998 by Christian reporter Rich Buhler. He writes that Truth or Fiction is for anyone "who wants to make sure that an email story contains information, not misinformation."

Snopes probably has more rumors probed, but Truth or Fiction may be more current on religious tales. Among the latest: John McCain was just baptized, Barack Obama made fun of the Bible, and the University of Kentucky has removed Holocaust studies.

Both sites help you get beyond the details. Buhler analyzes the "Anatomy of a Rumor," and how to tell if something is unkosher. Snopes gets more arcane, with terms like "glurge" and "slacktivism."

But bookmark both sites. They both probe not only religious topics but reams of others -- from celebrities to ghost stories to conspiracies to giant spiders. Even if the rumors never land in your inbox, they're still fun to read.

Free is good

Is your church short on cash? (What church isn't?) Consider
Free Pews, an online clearinghouse for church furniture and other equipment.

Each month, churches in several states give away stuff to anyone who can cart it away. And not just pews: It may also be chairs, pulpits, altars, light fixtures, communion tables, even pianos.

The Virginia-based Gabriel Ministries and Church Services lets donors post free ads with contact information. Interested people then call or write the churches to arrange pickup.

Another valuable service: scam warnings, and suggestions on how to recognize a scam. There's also a tipsheet on how to verify that a church is legitimate.

If your church is a little better off, Gabriel runs another site called Used Church Furniture. The company provides the ad space, but you deal directly with the seller. It's another free service, although Gabriel does ask for a donation to cover its costs. The Web site also has ads.

Gabriel's apparent motive for all this, aside from altruism, is to present a good image. Smart move. After all, if you want to buy new, you may think of them first.

When time freezes for Jews

Jews worldwide are entering a timeless zone, a freeze in the year's activities. On Sept. 29, they start the 10-day period between years, known as the High Holy Days.

Jews have lots of sites to explain these days, to themselves as well as outsiders. Best is Aish.com. This beautiful site has a wealth of articles, pictures, videos, even an mp3 of a shofar (ram's horn) -- plus a clear explanaton of its three distinct sounds.

The Rosh Hashana link has an astonishing 50+ list of articles, with titles like "The Womb for the Soul" and "The World Changed -- Did I?" You'll learn why bread is baked round for this day, and why apples and honey are a common treat.

Don't miss the six Flash-powered movies: musicals, animation, a Jewish rap delivered from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Even a talking-head speech by Aish's Lori Palatnik, on facing God's judgment, is warm and exuberant.

Religion Facts has very basic explanations: four paragraphs and a single quote for the whole period. But it links to a longer item on Rosh Hashana. Included are some interesting facts on why fish and pomegranates are often served on this day.

Then again, much of Religion Facts' material comes from Judaism 101, which is angled toward Orthodox Jews but still understandable to others. Site creator Tracey R. Rich has been compiling it since the early 1990s.

In a classic use of html for effective education, Rich crosslinks her material and provides summaries before adding detail. She also digs up sidelights, like the ban on wearing leather shoes for Yom Kippur.

The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism has eight articles on the season. One little-known service is called Selichot, preparing people for Rosh Hashana. Another is the remarkable ritual known as Tashlikh, in which people toss bread crumbs into a body of water to symbolize casting away their sins.

Holidays.net has useful content on the holy days, if you can ignore all the ads across the top, down the right side, and sticking into the text -- even those annoying "ContentLink" pop-ups on certain keywords. But the site does have handy bulleted paragraphs, plus articles on occasions like the Yizkor memorial service on Yom Kippur.

Kolel.org tackles the days from a more liberal perspective. It notes that the Hebrew for repentance, teshuvah, actually means "turning" -- as in reviewing how we've lived and how to improve.

But just in case you want to Google the holy days, don't bother to click High Holy Days Lyrics. It'll bring up lyrics, sure, but they have little to do with the holy days. You'll also get hit with a pop-up ad every time you load the homepage.

Also skip High Holy Days. It's from Temple Emanu-El of San Francisco -- which is holding its services for members only.

Jesus' hometown: A new vision

The storied hamlet of Jesus' youth comes alive at Nazareth Village, an archaeological reconstruction a mere 500 meters from the present-day city in northern Israel. Based on the research of more than a dozen scholars, the exhibit provides a setting for Jesus' life and teachings.

Four rooms take a visitor back in time, through the Ottoman period into the Roman epoch. That gives way to a "Parable Walk," with a small farm, a winepress, a loom, quarries and other first century trades.

The online photos are interesting, showing skills like weaving and olive harvesting. Also check out the construction shots -- with details like the channeling of rainwater from roofs into cisterns.

There's also a thought-provoking essay on the symbolism of bread in its 253 biblical references. Looks like it's from an abandoned e-zine, though; the article is from 2006.

The Web site server isn't very fast; if a page has a lot of pictures, you'll have to wait several seconds for it to load. More annoying: When you hit a back button, you don't return to the previous page -- you go back to the one before that.

Clear goal of the village is peace through understanding. It's a message embedded in the emblem: an oil lamp over "Nazareth Village" in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

Some Ramadan reading

What do Muslims do on Ramadan? What are the Five Pillars? How is the Quran different from the Hadith?

Many Americans don't know even the basics of the world's second-largest faith. Ramadan, the month of prayer and fasting -- which, BTW, just ended -- is a good time to learn a bit about Islam.

And a good starting place is IslamiCity. If you can sort through all the in-house jargon, that is.

The site does try to introduce the faith to non-Muslims. It includes numerous FAQ files, a slideshow of photos from the Islamic world, and a searchable English translation of the Quran.

A 15-chapter history of Islam includes an account of Muhammad sending letters to surrounding kings "inviting them to submit to Islam." It also gives a frank account of the murders of early caliphs, including Uthman and Ali.

IslamiCity is media-rich, with radio and TV links. A music subsite has some fun stuff, like Muslim pop, hip-hop and children's music. Other frills include a downloadable Arabic font and a database of the Hadith (the sayings and stories about the prophet Muhammad).

But there are some holes in this otherwise fact-heavy site.

For one, it doesn't give the doctrinal position on terrorism -- even in a column called "Ask the Imam." Muslim leaders have, in fact, condemned terrorism often. But aside from discussion group threads and some reposted articles, the matter isn't addressed much here.

IslamiCity also suffers from the problem of many such sites: too ingrown. It's sprinkled with a lot of terms like Tajweed and Taraweeh.

The site does have a glossary, but it can be a problem to keep opening it while reading an article. Thank Allah for tabbed browsing.

Gimme that online religion

No cobwebs, no hymnbooks, no leaky roof: That's the appeal held out by St. Pixels, one of the more colorful attempts at an online church.

Stated aim is to "create a welcoming and witnessing community on the Internet." That puts St. Pixels in the same class with sites like GodWeb and VirtualChurch. And it shares their strengths and weaknesses.

St. Pixels affects a playful look, with cartoonish characters guiding you around. A "Hello Thread" message board lets members greet one another. There's also a live chat, which you can use as a guest. Simply download a one-time Java application and click a small floor plan of a church. The chatters also hold regular worship services.

Some message boards look at books, movies, theology and current events. Heavier topics come under the "Reflections" area -- as small as the use of candles, or as controversial as manipulation in church. "Solidarity threads" deal with problems like grief, smoking, school exams and family situations.

And like other churches, St. Pixels asks for donations: The management says your fair share would be $20-$30 per month.

At bottom, though, this is mainly a religious version of social networking sites. It may be a valid alternative; one member told me she finds fewer perverts on St. Pixels. But does it add up to church?

Sure, you can read greetings, but will you feel a handshake? Will you taste the bread and wine of Communion? When a loved one dies, will someone throw an arm around your shoulder and pray? And will Java-powered chats convey the quiet awe of a sacred space?

St. Pixels and such other sites can provide valuable resources. But they are churches only if you give up some basics of human experience. That seems an awfully high price for freedom from cobwebs.

Magdalene: Holy whore?

Priestess, demoniac, redhead harlot, secret wife of Jesus: Perhaps no one in the Bible has suffered as many image makeovers as Mary Magdalene. But how to make sense of the tons of ink, paint and celluloid about her?

A one-site answer: Magdalene.org. Created by Lesa Bellevie in July 1998, the site gives quick answers, detailed information and some fun facts.

A long FAQ file deals with the "gossip"-type questions. You know, like whether Magdalene was a prostitute, as movies and sermons have often branded her. Or whether she married Jesus and had a child, as The Da Vinci Code says. Or if she had long, red hair, as a lot of European paintings depict her.

Magdalene.org lays out the various arguments for Mary's identities: leading apostle, cult priestess, mother of European royalty, a healed demoniac who supported Jesus' ministry. But you don't have to take their word for it. In a true reader service, Bellevie adds the actual much-argued texts -- including the gospels of Philip and Mary. For biblical passages, she gives links to the Blue Letter Bible, a handy online edition of the King James Version.

But Bellevie's own articles aren't bulletproof. In one, she questions the authorship of the Gospel According to John, saying only that the early church father Irenaeus "believed he recalled hearing in his childhood that it had been written by the apostle John." She doesn't add that another church father, Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, was a disciple of John -- and Polycarp said the gospel was written by that apostle.

There's a section on Mary in Renaissance-era paintings, but they're small and fuzzy. And some of the links are either broken or have never been filled.

Better is the pop culture stuff. Did you know she was once played in a movie by June Carter, the wife of Johnny Cash? Or that she's a lithe, scantily-clad superheroine in a comic series? Or that she's the subject of a song by Tori Amos -- who has long, red hair?

A crust of gods

The temples of India stand as nexi among several crafts. As shelters, they house worshipers and their priests. As art, they are crusted with sculptures of gods, animals and humans. And as theology, they represent the cosmos, a mandala, even the deity itself.

TempleNet -- created, interestingly, by a musician -- comes close to a canonical list of these astonishing structures, along with stunning photos, although most are too small.

The site lists temples all around India, classifying them by region and their major deities, including Ganesha and Skanda. And it explains important architectural differences between north and south, as well as border states like Karnataka.

Along the way, we get some "hmmmm" details. One is that architectural styles were influenced more by different regions than religions, such as Jain or Hindu.

There's also a thought-provoking piece on the Indian sense of time -- from kaashta, or 18 eyeblinks, to the purported 309.6 trillion year life cycle of the creator Bhrahma.

Like other enormous sites, TempleNet has a few flaws. Some links are broken. The quality of information is uneven. And the articles often assume prior knowledge. The latter problem is partly fixed by a glossary, but not all the terms are defined.

One glaring problem: Finding an explanation of the overall concept of a temple. There is, in fact, an article about that, but it's buried in the archives. A search engine would help find it, but that's one of the broken links.

Don't leave TempleNet without clicking the "special music feature" link. It leads to a page of "Indo-Celtic" music, blending instruments from east and west. The idea sounds weird, but the nine samples are nice.

A library of sacred texts

Wisdom from 268 holy books is at your fingertips in World Scripture. This monumental work has 4,000 scripture bits, compiled over five years by 40 scholars on several continents.

World Scripture gathers pronouncements on 164 moral, ethical and spiritual matters -- everything from Addiction to Hypocrisy to Repentance to War. The topics are available via pulldown menu; browsing them is even easier than leafing through a hardcover encyclopedia.

Beyond specific issues, the site tackles overarching matters such as the purpose of life, the spirit world, the search for knowledge, eschatology and ultimate reality. Well, maybe it doesn't tackle them. But it does give them a good chase.

Message of the site is "The Truth in Many Paths," as one section is titled. Comparing other beliefs and scriptures, the site says, will confirm the oneness of God and promote respect and tolerance.

One puzzling lack: the full texts of the scriptures. Surely the Bible, the Quran, the Vedas, etc., could have been added without much extra space. Especially with the low-graphics nature of this site.

For the more Web-challenged, a physical book is available for $40 hardcover, $22.95 softcover.

While on the site, hit the homepage button for the parent United Communities of Spirit, a 10,000-member world interfaith alliance. You'll be rewarded with some idealistic essays on world oneness, plus descriptions of 11 traditions -- not only the usual world religions, but also Wicca, Taoism, Sikhism, the Bahai Faith, native American spirituality, even the esoteric thought of Alice Bailey.

Geography of faith

Florida: Land of oranges and Baptists. Right? Only partly. Coastal Florida is predominantly Catholic, although the interior and the extreme north are Baptist.

That's one of several surprising facts you can nail down with a massive study, done every decade by the Glenmary Research Center of Cincinnati. The full study for 2000 is $110, too pricey for most of us. But Glenmary's Web site offers some great freebies.

The most eye-catching are eight color-coded maps, posted from the 24 in the book. The Florida surprise is there. Another one: Minnesota is more religious, percentage-wise, than Ohio.

While you're on the site, poke around a little for other useful tools. One is the link to the Web site of the Church of the Nazarene, which lists the 15 largest religious groups in every metropolitan area -- from Abilene, Texas, to Yuma, Ariz.

The data have some limitations. Some church groups, like the Southern Baptists, seem overcounted; some, like Catholics, seem undercounted. But the lists can still help churches, schools, even businesses pitching to religious groups.

This site may not inspire you to buy Glenmary's full $110 package. But it might tempt you to start saving for the new edition, due out in less than two years.

Give without being taken

Americans are famously generous, and famously gullible. Charity Navigator packs powerful tools to show you which groups are spending their benevolence dollars well.

The New Jersey-based organization uses a four-star rating system for more than 5,300 charities, grading for efficiency, donor privacy and other standards. The info takes the shape of easy-to-grasp numbers, pie charts, bar graphs and clearly written evaluations.

The site uses Flash for more than splash. Hover your mouse pointer over a pie chart or bar graph, and up pop the numbers. Flash also powers a world map: Click South America, then Peru, to find the 17 four-star charities working there.

One caveat: The data may lag a couple of years because of reporting lead times. Also, to get some facts, you have to register with Charity Navigator, but it's free.

Want a shortcut? Click the list of "Slam-Dunk Charities," each of them rating four stars. Or try "Charities Worth Watching" -- top-rated groups that run on less than $2 million a year.

The lists include not only good groups, but also "Inefficient Fundraisers" and "Charities Drowning in Administrative Costs." One surprise: The American Cancer Society -- a charity giant, spending more than $940 million a year -- gets a mere two stars.

Yet another resource: Several sets of valuable tips, like "Six questions to ask" and "What to do when a charity calls."

Vasiliyness

For the last in our weeklong series on holy humor: Don’t get incensed, but we’re venturing under . . .

The Onion Dome

This is an Eastern Orthodox takeoff on The Onion, a secular fake online newspaper. That makes it a lampoon of a lampoon, which is kind of like making fun of the way someone makes fun of something else.

There’s alleged coverage of a beard-growing contest, a mild snicker on the Orthodox taste for facial hair. There’s a short story about one “Philothea” who is frustrated when people call her “Philthe.”

Another tells story of a new pet food that’s repellent to humans, to curb temptation during the faith’s four annual fasting periods. At an online store, you can buy a coffee mug with “Is Outrage!”, an epigram by the fictional mascot Father Vasiliy.

All this is probably funnier if you’re Orthodox, especially Russian. It’s gentle and mannerly, but do manners get laughs?

OK, that’s my list of religious humor sites. Do you have any favorites? Let me know.

I'd also like to know your views on religious humor itself. Some people think it's all a joke. Others think "religious humor" is an oxymoron -- that people hold their faith so closely, the risk of offending them is too high.

Your thoughts?