to move up and down
Graphic: A demographic breakdown of the world of religion
With the “world’s largest” gathering of atheists this weekend in Washington, D.C., the National Post’s graphics department takes a look at how the world’s religions break down. (Illustration by Richard Johnson)
John Moore: Who picks which religions are sacred?
By scoffing at the idea that all faiths are equal, the editorial board leaves unanswered the question of which are better or more truthful than others. By what measure shall we establish the relative merits of religions? Shall it be by seniority? Sheer numbers? Heaven forbid that we anoint one or the other based on reason or evidence.
It makes perfect sense to many that Christianity outranks, say, Scientology, by virtue of the fact that one has been around for 2,000 years while the other was cooked up a mere half-century ago. But by this measure do we throw Mormonism into question for having existed only slightly longer than L. Ron Hubbard’s mischievous invention? With Mormons running for president of the United States, am I at risk of a Human Rights Tribunal complaint if I point out that the faith has something in common with Scientology in that both were founded by men who might easily be described as self-aggrandizing cranks?
Photo: The Old City of Jerusalem, with the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the foreground. (Ammar Awad/Reuters)
