Our Websites REL 100 Project I

Our Websites
REL 100 Project I
Note: some of these are good examples of proper website citation (with annoation), others are not
(follow links on student name to see completed project, where available)

Most used general sites:

Baha'i: most used site: http://www.bahai.org/

B. Carr:

www.planetbahai.org Extremely detailed site which provides an individual's testimony and personal experience within the Baha'i community
http://www.uga.edu/~bahai/bab.shtml A rather brief biography of the Bab is presented. The author talks of his birth, life as a merchant, his captivation and eventual persecution [lots more info at this site: http://www.uga.edu/bahai/ - LES]
http://statements.bahai.org/pdf/93-0405.pdf A synopsis of Baha'i's core inclination towards equality of the sexes. Without equality, mankind can never reach its fullest potential according to Baha'i [use entire http://bahai.org/ site for more info - LES]

M. Oksanen:

Buddhism: most used sites: www.buddhanet.net, http://www.fwbo.org

C. Fosnaugh:

web site one: www.ekoji.org This site provided symbols and rituals for the scrapbook.
web site two: www.buddhanet.net This web site gave information on history, sacred stories, and social issues.
web site three: www.nvcc.edu/home/lshulman/Rel231/lectures/buddhism/intro.htm This site gave both references to others and useful source information.

S. Cruz:

“Buddhism.” Wikipedia-the free encyclopedia. 8 Oct. 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism
This website was probably the most useful out of all my resources. It gives you a brief introduction to Buddhism and has a table of contents right below it that lists all the topics discussed. Although it’s extremely long and requires lots of reading, it really explains every topic thoroughly and has pictures throughout the text.
BuddhaNet Buddhist Studies. 11 Oct. 2005 http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/
This website I found to be very helpful. It’s divided in sections that make it easier to look for a specific topic. They have a section that’s just on statistics of each major division of Buddhism and the number of people that practice Buddhism in certain countries. It also has a section that shows Buddhist symbols and their meanings that I thought were interesting.
“Buddhist Holidays & Festivals.” Religion Facts. 8 Oct. 2005 http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/
This website was very informative because they give you the information necessary but not in a long format. They don’t give you pages and pages of information that takes forever to read, they get right to the point. This website also has a timeline that gives dates to certain events that went on in Buddhism. You can also find information on other religions.
“Tripitaka (Pali Canon).” Religion Facts. 8 Oct. 2005 http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism/texts/tripitaka.htm
I liked this website because it gave me the complete information on the sacred texts of Buddhism. Aside from the Tripitaka they also give you the other two texts that are used in the other denominations of Buddhism. This website also gives you facts about other religions like timelines, sacred texts, beliefs, and a lot of other topics. The only thing is that some of information for certain topics might be brief overview of that topic.
“What is Meditation?” FWBO. 11 Oct. 2005 http://www.fwbo.org/meditation.html
This website really only helped when it came to talking about meditation. It related meditation to Buddhism and what the point of meditation is. It also gives you little hints on how to meditate yourself. A brief introduction about Buddhism is and how it started is also featured.
“Worship.” BBC. 8 Oct. 2005 http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/
What I liked about this website was that along with the information on Buddhism they also had very helpful pictures. The have their information divided into sections on the left hand side for easy access. They also offer current news on anything that is related to Buddhism and any major holidays that are taking place. Not only does it offer information on Buddhism but you also have access to other religions.

R. Joo:

"Buddhism." Encyclopedia Wikipedia. 2005 ed.
Engel, Tamara. THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS. 6 Oct. 2005. New York Insight Meditation Center (nyimc). 6 Oct. 2005. http://www.nyimc.org/articles/truths.htm
Introduction to Buddhism. 2005. Buddhanet.net. 7 Oct. 2005. http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/intro_bud.htm
The Three Jewels. 2005. The Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (fwbo.org). 9 Oct. 2005. http://www.fwbo.org/threejewels.html

J. Cabrera:

www.buddhanet.net Really insightful I found this to be among the best Buddhist websites, so much information and very accurate. Overall rating 9
www.dharmaforkids.com Great website, fun for both kids and adults. Concepts really stick in your head especially when you play the games. Overall rating 9
www.thebigview.com/buddhism Really simple, gives you the facts directly, and pretty accurate. Overall rating 7

L. Dietrich:

D. Solterbeck:

http://www.ship.edu/%7Ecgboeree/buddhaintro.html This website was created by Dr. C. George Boercee from Shippensburg University. He graduated from Penn State University with his Bachelors degree and got his Masters degree in Oklahoma University in Psychology. He also has courses in Buddhism and it is a major part of his work and studies continuing from college. This site is an overview of his findings and of his teachings.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm This site was created and maintained by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. It covers several different areas about Buddhism including the basic facts, comparisons between other religions, Buddhist hymns and prayers, etc. This educational site was extremely useful and beneficial to the making of my power point presentation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/features/world_religions/buddhism.shtml This site was recommended by my Religion 100 Professor as a great source of information. Inside, you will find the basics about the religion, as well as interesting facts and even audio commentary between interactions of Buddhists and different social groups.

Catholicism:

A. Baker:

Hinduism: most used site: www.hindukids.org

A Cook:

http://www.hindu.org/ This website was very useful. It provided a lot of information. I did not particularly care for having to constantly jump to another link. I just tend to have most of my information listed on one or a few pages if possible. I do believe this site had the most links to other useful sights than the others did.
http://www.hindukids.org/ This was a very cute site. My daughters loved seeing the Hindu alphabet, see different games, and learning about the religion in a playful and colorful way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism This website was packed with information. It also was the website that was a bit over the top. It was very accurate but overwhelming. The terminology was so foreign, new and jumbled together, it took several times reading it to sort it all out.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/ This website was great at providing current, up to date information. This was a site that I could follow that was at a beginners level. It does tend to be catered more toward the Hindus living in the U.K.

M. Castillo:

www.hindunet.org An Indian Site. Excellent reliable source for facts & information on Hinduism. A comprehensive collection of information for seekers and followers. It also has reliable information on the Jain, the Buddhist, and the Sikh religion.
www.hindukids.org An insiders site. It’s a simple illustrated children's website with basic information on Hinduism. It doesn’t have a whole lot of information, but the information it has is very easy to understand.
www.us-hindus.com An insiders site. A good and reliable comprehensive collection of principles and practices for seekers and followers.
www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.htm This seems to be an outsider source. It is a relatively good source for very basic information on Hinduism for seekers.

Islam: most used sites: http://islam.about.com, http://www.islamicity.com

B. Atkinson:

30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World. 21 September 2005. 30 Days International 2005. October 2005. http://www.30-days.net/

- This website was useful in finding statistical facts about Islam. It can provide information such as the percentage of Muslims in a specific country and can aid in singling out the most populated Muslim countries as well. The website also illustrates the prayer effort that is occurring during the month of Ramadan for peace and a safe journey for all those taking the Hajj at the end of the holy month.

“Comparison of Islamic Sects.” ReligionFacts.com. 21 September 2005. Blue Host. 2004-2005. http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/

- This is a perfect website for comparing and contrasting different religions. The website provides quick religious facts for the major religions of the world. It gives a list a featured articles dealing with major issues or common questions that are asked about different religions and also gives vital information that can add to any research project.

Ansari, Saad. Islam: An Introduction. 21 September 2005. http://www.islamicway.netfirms.com

-This is a personal website created by Saad Ansari about his religion. It is a good website to browse at and can add to information already found. Though the website does not go in depth with major concepts, it is a good overview for a person that has never known or researched Islam.

“Understanding Islam.” Islamicity.com. 21 September 2005. Islamicity. 1995-2005. http://www.islamicity.com

-This is a wonderful site for answering the major questions about Islam. It breaks down the history, teachings, beliefs, toleration of other religions, roles of women and much more. This is a great website to use to find the basic fundamentals of Islam and why is has become such a growing religion.

“Introduction to Islam.” Islamworld.net. 21 September 2005. The Islam Page. 2005. http://www.islamworld.net

-This is a good website to find articles on Islam that address the major questions. The Introduction to Islam page especially gives a detailed overview of the religion. There are many links to various commentaries on practices and beliefs in the Islamic community. The website is basically set up for non-believers that want to know more about the religion.

M. Blanco:

Understanding Islam and Muslim In this web page there is a lot about Muslims and Islam, about their background what they believe in, sacred places and more, it includes a lot of colored pictures of places where they worship and have reunions. Source: http://www.islamicity.com/Mosque/uiatm/un_islam.htm
What do Muslims Believe?: in this web site you can find a lot of information on Islam/Muslims; some parts may be in question and answer form which is very neat because it could be one of your questions and it has the answer for you and even guiding you to other links to find more information on that particular topic. Things such as the way they dress, who they worship, and what they think about life after death are found in this site. source: http://islam.about.com/blintrob.htm
Muslim Marriages: In this web, we can find a lot information on Muslim marriages; the celebration; the after party, the ceremony, the rights of women in a marriage and also family in a whole. Source: http://re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/re/passage/marriage.htm#Marriage in Islam

N. Ahmadi:

http://en.wikipedia.org This website contains informative articles about history, religion.Etc. Also it includes information about Islam and its five pillars. [use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam to get info on Islam - LES]
http://www.islamfortoday.com This website contains very useful information about Islam including translation of verses of Holy Quran, women’s rules and rights and Islam.
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet/asblessing/ The above web page contains information of on Prophet Muhammad’s birth, life and death, prophet hood, challenges, migration, traits…etc; it is a good source for those who want to increase their knowledge about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). [use http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/ for more info on Islam - LES]
http://www.islam101.com This website includes information about Five Pillars of Islam and its significance.
http://islam.about.com This website contains information about History of Islam, Holy Quran, Ramadan, Islamic Prayer Timings and its significance, Islam in the USA, Beliefs, etc.
http://www.jamaat.org/islam/WomanMarriage.html Contains information about marriage in Islam, purpose of marriage, selection of partner, and the husband and life relationship, etc. [use http://www.jamaat.org/islam/ to access more info on Islam - LES]

R. Hargrave:

The World of Islam. 15 Oct. 2002. Global Mapping International. 14 Oct. 2005. http://www.gmi.org/products/islamoht.htm This website had lots of different maps having to do with population and distribution. Mainly just good for the pictures.
A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam. 2002. 14 Oct. 2005 www.islam-guide.com This website had a lot of very good information in an easy to read style. I like how it is broken into small sections and how it has large lettering so you do not get lost in the words.
Mosque. 2005. Encyclopedia of the Orient. 14 Oct. 2005. http://i-cias.com/e.o/mosque.htm This website had good pictures of what different mosques from around the globe look like. It also gave good information on what exactly a mosque is and what makes it unique from other places of worship.
Muslim Holidays and Festivals. 10 Nov. 2001. 15 Oct. 2005. http://www.amaana.org/islam/muslimholidays.htm This site described the different holidays and festivals of Muslims. It had a nice timeline to show what order they fall in during the year. [use http://www.amaana.org/ismaili.html to access other info on Islam from this site - LES]

Judaism: most used site: www.jewfaq.org

M. Giiddens:

Jew Faq www.jewfaq.org 5 Stars

Has a very good search area

Covers all aspects of Judaism

Information on any festival, law, and history

Tifereth www.tifereth.org 3.5 Stars

Geared more to an actual believer of Judaism but still informative.

Weekly Torah readings

Find out when holidays take place and festivals of the Jewish faith

Made for and about the Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Des Moines, Iowa

Torah www.torah.org 4 Stars

Anything you want to know about Jewish law and texts

Able to e-mail a Rabbi a question

Registration for this site is FREE!

R. Jones:

www.jewfaq.org is the website that I primarily used to gather information for this project. It is written from an insider’s point of view (actually an Orthodox Jew) which makes the information and the personal notations about her faith more personal and credible. The pages are easy to navigate and the information is easy to understand for the new convert, the curious, the researcher (me), and rabbi. The website even offers proper etiquette for nonbelievers attending Jewish services, for example, how to follow the readings, when to stand, when to bow, how to bow and when to say ‘amen’. This is definitely a resource site
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism reminded me a little of www.about.com because of the set up. It offered clear concise information, but very brief. Some people may find it useful, but I found it a little bland.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/judaism.htm gives plenty of information of Judaism today and how it affects the world and how the world affects it. This website would be useful for those who are looking for scope of Judaism in today’s society.

D. Cook:

www.members.aol.com/lazera/belief.html This website was created by a Jewish Rabbi, and contains several pages dealing with Jewish beliefs including: The Thirteen Foundations of Judaism, HaShem Echad! - HaShem is One! The Unity of God, Prophets and Prophecy, and Moshiach - The Jewish Concept of the Messiah. Each of these pages goes in depth on that particular subject, and was very useful as a reference while I constructed the beliefs segment of this presentation. I also liked this website because it provides an email address for the rabbi himself, and he seems eager to answer any questions. [use www.members.aol.com/lazera/ to access more info on Judaism - LES]
www.nvcc.edu/home/lshulman/rel232/lectures/judaism/intro.htm This website contains a timeline which I found very useful as I was constructing the historical segment of this presentation. I also liked all the other links to areas of the Jewish faith on this website including; holidays, values, and worship to name a few. Furthermore, I liked this website because it used direct quotes from scriptures and it provides links to those quotes.
www.religionfacts.com/judaism/index.htm The homepage of this website contains a wealth of information on all religions however; I conducted my research on the Judaism link. There I found extensive information on Judaism, which I used during the construction of the holidays and denominations segments of this presentation. I also like this site because it uses an assortment of pictures, and it promotes books dealing with the subject.

Rastafarian: most used site: http://www.rastafarian.net/

K. Scofield:

The Life & Times of Bob Marley http://www.bobmarley.com/life/rastafari/
Swagga: The Afrocentric Experience http://www.swagga.com/rasta.htm
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarianism
Rastafari Org http://www.rastafari.org/
Rastafarian Net http://www.rastafarian.net/

B. Andersen:

"Rastafari Movement." Wikipedia. 11 Oct. 2005 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafari_movement This is a website that is set up to be for reference. It is basiclally an online encyclopedia. I found it very helpful in getting the core information about the Rastafari religion. It covers almost all of the aspects that one would want to know about. It is very easy to navigate through the information.
19 04 2005 http://www.rastafarian.net/ This is a insiders website. It is has great links to other sites that deal with the Rastafari way of life. This site offers people the chance to ask questions and a Rastafari who goes by the name Ixudah answers whatever an interested person would like to know.
Littman, Kyle . "Rastafarianism." 2000. http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/rast.html This website is the one that was created by a professor from the University of Virginia. It covers everything that deals with the Rastafari. There is abundant information on the info that ranges from the history of the Rastafari to their beliefs. Also it lists many books and sites that will further aid in researching the Rastafari.

Shinto:

B. Petersen:

Shinto Online Network Association http://www.jinja.or.jp/english/
SHINTO http://www.religioustolerance.org/shinto.htm
Shinto: The Way of the Gods http://www.trincoll.edu/zines/tj/tj4.4.96/arti cles/cover.html

Sikhism: most used site: http://www.sikhs.org/topics.htm

H. Kiel:

http://www.sikhs.org/topics.htm An insider look into Sikhism. This site is sponsored and put together by Sikhs. Introduction to Sikhism, it’s beliefs, philosophies, and sacred texts. This website was informative, but it is not simple, direct explanations, very detailed and in depth.
http://www.omsakthi.org/religions.html#Sikhism Very useful site! Provided start date of religion, founder, basics of several different religions. Also provided links to other Sikhism sources.
http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_10036.html Site that explores all different religions and provides insightful information for all of them. The section on Sikhism had basic facts, but also provided links to other resources and articles; a Sikh wrote some of the articles about their experiences. Also had a discussion board for Sikh’s see what is going on in their religion.
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/sikhs.html This site provided basic facts about the religion, and explored the history, beliefs, and practices of Sikhism. Very thorough, provided a lot about the history of Sikhism and their conflict with Hinduism and Islam. Also, many links to other pages, with descriptions of each.
http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/ophelia.htm This website explores the creation myths of several different religions. The Sikh creation story was there, as it is probably written in their holy text. However, there was no further explanation of these stories, just the creation story and that was it. An explanation would have been very helpful.
http://www.teachingaboutreligion.org/SingleWorldview/sikh_worldview.htm Very short section on Sikhism on this website. However, it did cover a lot of the major topics. This site was not detailed or lengthy, but it did provide the necessary information. Covered important holidays in Sikhism, as well as the concept of time and view of the afterlife.

H. Kim:

http://www.sikhs.org/ This website is the one that I most liked and found most information on. It has all the information that I needed and there were more information then I needed. It had the information to contact, and he states that he made this website for learning about Sikhism nothing more. Also they are still updating on some of the information.
http://allaboutsikhs.com/home.php This website had something similar to the sikhs.org but I can’t seem to find the real author who made this website. Although there’s a way to contact them but not to a specific author. And I can’t tell if they are updating this information.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/index.shtml This website is sponsored by BBC and it was a good website to just quickly look at. I can say that it doesn’t seem like it has much information since it’s compacted.

Taoism:

R. Fredericks:

This source is an online encyclopedia that anyone can add information to and basically has topics on almost anything you can think of. It was the main source I used in the presentation as the website gave me info on the religion, people, and the book Tao Te Ching. There are no authors listed for this source on the webpage. Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism
This website I used for some information on Tai-chi. http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/what.html [use http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/taoism.html for info on Taoism - LES]
This was another source I used to get some of the information I used in my paper. I couldn't find any author listed. The site gave me a little information but not much as it has short sections on each area. http://religioustolerance.org/taoism.htm

Zoroastrianism:

S. Sindi:

http://dmoz.org/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Zoroastrianism/
Of all the searches I did, I found this website the most helpful. It gives you all the topics you would want to study of a religion, Zoroastrian in particular. It’s a list of different websites relating to the topic. The websites vary from activities to homepages of actual Zoroastrian priests.
http://matrimonial.zoroastrianism.com/ [use http://tenets.zoroastrianism.com/ for more info on the religion - LES]
This website is very interesting. It addresses to the Zoroastrians the importance of staying in the religion. It is a database to help link single Zoroastrians to others around the world who are interested in dating. Interestingly enough they have had 121 marriages.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism
I found a lot of information on the Zoroastrian religion of this website! It gives information in all aspects: history, beliefs, worship(s), afterlife, living, and death, etc. Although it gives a lot of information, it all is very fascinating to read.

N. Latifi:

“Farvardyn.” http://www.farvardyn.com/ This is a very vast site that gives you all kinds of information about ancient Persia such as: Language and Dialects, History and Geography and also the different religions presented in Persia. It also provides different links to articles, galleries and stories about ancient religions. The other interesting feature at this site is that it encloses Avesta/Pahlavi texts in different languages. And it also has a kid’s section that presents some information for Zoroastrian kids in an attractive way
“ZAMWI.” http://zamwi.org/ This is a very informative site in a sense that besides providing basic information about Zoroastrians history and faith, it gives information about the upcoming events and the pictures of past events are also available for the visitors. The exclusive part of this site is the information about Avesta classes and educational scholarships.
“Zoroastrianism (Parsiism)” http://altreligion.about.com/library/faqs/bl_zoroastrianism.htm This site gives a very good general view of Zoroastrian religion. It has so many sections under different titles about almost all the aspects of the religion. It gives a brief but satisfactory definition and/or description about the topics that gives you the juice of the Zoroastrian faith in a glance. This site also links you to the related resources such as: Zoroastrian wedding ritual, Kusti ritual and No Ruz.
“Zoroastrian Rituals: Wedding .” http://www.avesta.org/ritual/zwedding.htm The website is created by Jivanji Jamshedji Modi, B.A. and is about Zoroastrian wedding rituals. It is an amazing site to look through to get more familiar with the traditional wedding customs. There are detailed information about the wedding ceremony along with additional notes at the bottom of the page that helps you understand the reasoning behind each symbol, color of clothing or any other specific ritual that relates to Zoroastrian Wedding. [use http://www.avesta.org/ to access more info on the religion - LES]