arcticpenguin
Philosopher
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2002
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2003-01-31-US-religions_x.htm
Here's an article about a new book, Encyclopedia of American Religion by J. Gordon Melton, which lists 2600 religious sects in America.
Among religions difficult to classify are the eight that practice drug use, 22 that believe in UFOs — including the Raelians at the center of the recent human cloning claims — and 12 mail-order religions that dispense instant clergy credentials or divinity degrees.
...
# The Church of the New Song (Bluffs, Ill.) recruits prison inmates and once claimed porterhouse steaks and Harvey's Bristol Cream to be its communion elements.
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The United States is the most religiously diverse nation in the world — especially since immigration laws loosened in 1965 — though Europe as a whole is comparable. Christianity is the biggest single element: 70% of Americans belong to "some brand of Christian church."
...The latest encyclopedia, its seventh edition, has some 250 groups that are newly listed since the 1999 version.
As soon as the manuscript went to the printer, Melton set aside a manila folder for discoveries to add next time. So far, he has found 10 new faiths, three of which believe in vampires.
Here's an article about a new book, Encyclopedia of American Religion by J. Gordon Melton, which lists 2600 religious sects in America.
Among religions difficult to classify are the eight that practice drug use, 22 that believe in UFOs — including the Raelians at the center of the recent human cloning claims — and 12 mail-order religions that dispense instant clergy credentials or divinity degrees.
...
# The Church of the New Song (Bluffs, Ill.) recruits prison inmates and once claimed porterhouse steaks and Harvey's Bristol Cream to be its communion elements.
...
The United States is the most religiously diverse nation in the world — especially since immigration laws loosened in 1965 — though Europe as a whole is comparable. Christianity is the biggest single element: 70% of Americans belong to "some brand of Christian church."
...The latest encyclopedia, its seventh edition, has some 250 groups that are newly listed since the 1999 version.
As soon as the manuscript went to the printer, Melton set aside a manila folder for discoveries to add next time. So far, he has found 10 new faiths, three of which believe in vampires.
