God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World (61 page)

Daoism:
Daodejing
(or
Tao Te Ching
) or
Laozi
(
Lao-Tzu
) of, 281, 291–303, 312; description of, 279–81; disappearance motifs of stories of, 315; Eight Immortals of, 306–7; growth during Tang dynasty of, 120; interactions between Confucianism and, 110, 114, 129, 192, 289–91, 302, 303, 312–13; Jade Emperor (Lord Heaven) of, 306; Lady of Great Mystery immortal of, 315; nurturing life focus of, 285–88, 313–15; as one of Three Teachings, 103–4, 105, 121, 281; philosophical and religious, 311–13; popular, 310–11; popular culture influence and contemporary impact of, 281–85;
Quanzhen (Chuan-chen
) tradition of perfection, 309–10; Queen Mother of the West deity of, 307; rituals of, 311; superhero immortals of, 303–6, 312; Tang dynasty prominence of, 290; Way of Orthodox Unity (
Zhengyi dao
) sect of, 308, 310;
Zhuangzi
(or
Chuang-Tzu
) of, 280, 299–303, 313

Daoists: “art of the bedchamber” practice by, 305; Celestial Masters among, 291, 308; “genuine person” as exemplar for, 303; global demographics of, 284–85, 290–91; nurturing life focus of, 285–88, 313–15

David and Goliath story, 246

David, King, 243, 246

Da Vinci Code
(Brown), 1

Dawkins, Richard, 9, 318, 319, 321, 325, 337

Deborah the judge, 273

Debray, Régis, 77, 208.

Deng Xiaoping, 290

Dennett, Daniel, 9, 318, 319

de
(power/virtue) [Daoism], 298–99

Descartes, René, 179

dharma
(Buddhist teaching), 181

dharma
(Hindu duty), 161

Dharma Bums
(Kerouac), 176

Diagoras, 317, 318

different paths up the same mountain metaphor, 1–2

Dobson, James, 86

Doctrine and Covenants (Mormonism), 83

Doctrine of the Mean
(Confucianism), 104, 117, 121

Dome of the Rock (Jerusalem) [Islam], 37, 256

Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands
(film), 229

Don Quixote,
144

Douglas, Mary, 245, 259

DuBois, W.E.B., 11

Duke of Zhou, 114

dukkha
(Buddhist suffering), 177, 179, 182–83

Durkheim, Émile, 91

Dylan, Bob, 246, 302

East India Company, 164–65

Eckel, David, 295

Eckhart, Meister, 99

Eight Immortals (Daoism deities), 306–7

Einstein, Albert, 247, 249

Elijah Muhammad, 29

Eliot, T. S., 9

Elizabeth II (Queen of Great Britain), 117

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 135

emptiness (
shunyata
) [Mahayana Buddhism], 193–96, 199

Endo, Shusaku, 9

Engaged Buddhism, 180

Enkidu (Gilgamesh epic character), 332

Episcopal Church, 79, 96

Epstein, Greg, 271

Eshu (Yoruba orisha), 212–13

Esoteric Buddhism, 197

ethics: Confucian, 127–28; the Golden Rule, 2, 102, 258–59; Humanistic Judaism focus on, 271; New Atheists, 325

ethics of war: Bhagavad Gita, 160–61; Quran vs. New Testament on, 45

Eucharist, 81

European Muslims: popular culture influence of, 29–30; Progressive Islam movement and, 20, 54–57; religious struggles faced by, 29

Evangelical Left, 86

exile narrative (Judaism), 253–57

faith: Protestant
sola fides
(faith alone) doctrine on, 77; religion and role of, 69.
See also
beliefs

faith healing, 94

Falun Gong, 282

Falwell, Jerry, 27, 320

Fard, Wallace D., 29

Farrakhan, Louis, 29

Fatiha (Quran
sura
), 31

fatwa
(Islamic legal opinion), 50

fear of God, 46–49

feng shui, 282

Feuerbach, Ludwig, 320

filial piety: Confucianism, 106–7, 116; Judaism, 116

fiqh
(interpretation of Shariah) [Islam], 49

First Zionist Congress (1897), 272

Five Classics (Confucianism), 102–3, 104, 113, 115

Five Pillars (Islam): overview of, 31–34; Sufism rejection of, 57–58, 60, 199

Five Relationships (Confucianism), 112

Five Sacred Peaks (Daoism), 310

Five Virtues (Confucianism), 112

Focus on the Family, 86

Four Noble Truths (Buddhism), 172, 181–84, 200, 201

Four Quartets
(Eliot), 9

four-step problem/solution/techniques/exemplar analysis, 13–16

Francis of Assisi, St., 80, 98

Francis de Sales, 78

Frank, Anne, 247

Freeman, Morgan, 29–30

French Revolution, 323

Freud, Sigmund, 91, 250, 318, 320, 332

Friends (Quakers), 68, 276

Frost, David, 127

fundamentalism: Christianity, 86, 88; “fundos” (Hinduism fundamentalists), 167; New Atheists, 9, 322–23, 336

Gandhi, Indira, 9

Gandhi, Mohandas, 1, 2, 10, 167

Ganesha (Hindu god), 131–33

Garden of Eden, 71, 72–73

Geter, Preston, 73

al-Ghazali, 5, 60

Gilgamesh epic, 332

Gilligan’s Island
(TV show), 210

Ginsberg, Allen, 246

Glenn, John, 65

Global North and Global South Christianity, 95–96

God: Christian’s Trinity of, 36, 68–70, 84; comparing Islamic and Christian fear of, 46–49; covenants made between Jews and, 257–58; Hebrew Bible’s capricious, 243; humbled through our belief in, 339–40; Judaism on, 248–50, 252–53; Kabbalistic Judaism on, 217, 275; Mormonism on, 83;
nirguna Brahman
(God without attributes), 151; religious differences on perception of, 2;
saguna Brahman
(God with attributes), 151;
shirk
(ignoring oneness of God), 37;
via negativa
(negative way) to, 99.
See also
Allah; Jesus Christ

Godthink: description and dangers of, 3, 320, 334, 336–37; New Atheists’ version of, 9, 322–23, 336

The Golden Rule, 2, 102, 258–59

Good as New
(New Testament), 75

Good Without God
(Epstein), 271

Graham, Billy, 72

Graham, Franklin, 27

Great Awakening (Buddhism), 171–72, 181, 200–201

Great Learning
(Confucianism), 104, 121

Greek Orthodox Church, 75–76

Guide to the Bodhisattva Path
(Shantideva), 188

Gulledge, Amanda, 328, 329

Habitat for Humanity, 337

Hadith (Muhammad’s sayings), 49

hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), 34

halakha
(Judaism “law or way”), 2, 245, 250, 259, 267–69

Haley, Alex, 229

al-Hallaj, Mansur, 60

Hallman, J. C., 69

Hamas (Palestinian territories), 52

Hamlet
(Shakespeare), 11

Han dynasty (China), 113, 120

Hanukkah (Jewish festival), 263

Hare Krishna movement, 51, 151–52

Harris, Barbara, 90

Harris, Sam, 9, 318, 319, 321

Harvard University atheism rally (2009), 327–28

Hasidism (Judaism), 268–69

Head of Christ
(Sallman), 94

Hebrew Bible: creation story of, 243–44; rhythm of wrongdoing, punishment, and exile in, 244.
See also
Bible

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 267

Hedges, Chris, 322

hell: Christian view of, 47–48; Islamic view of
Jahannam
(hell), 46–49