God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World (63 page)

karma yoga
(Hindu discipline of action)
,
137

Kennedy, John F., 126

Kerouac, Jack, 176, 192, 282

Ketuvim
(Judaism), 244

Khadijah, 39

Khomeini, Ayatollah, 25, 50

Kierkegaard, Søren, 81

Kimbanguist Church of Congo, 67

King James Bible, 79

King, Martin Luther, Jr., 54, 81

Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC), 93

King, Walter, 228

kippah
(Jewish head covering), 56, 268

The Kitchen God’s Wife
(Tan), 307

“knights of faith,” 81, 99

Knox, John, 79

kosher dietary laws (Judaism), 259, 260

Koufax, Sandy, 246

Koyaanisqatsi
(out of balance life), 11–13

Ku Klux Klan, 11, 70

Kundun
(film), 29

Kung Fu
(TV show), 282

Küng, Hans, 6

Kurien, Prema, 168

Kuti, Fela Amkulapo, 229

Lady of Great Mystery (Daoism immortal), 315

Lalli, Nica, 327

Lamaism, 197

Laozi (Lao-Tzu), 281, 290, 293–94, 296, 298–99, 314, 315

Laozi
(
Lao-Tzu
), 219–93, 281, 292.
See also
Daodejing

Last Supper, 81

Last Supper
(Leonardo da Vinci), 9

Latin American liberation theology, 54

Lawrence of Arabia
(film), 29

Leaving Church
(Taylor), 301

Lee, Bruce, 283

Lenin, Vladimir, 317, 324

Leo IX, Pope, 75

Leonardo da Vinci, 9

Leon, Moses de, 275

Lerner, Michael, 277

Letting Go of God
(Sweeney), 327

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
(Agee), 294

Libeskind, Daniel, 246

li
(Confucianism), 113, 116–17, 118, 124

Lincoln, Abraham, 87–88

Little Buddha
(film), 176

Lobdell, William, 327

Losing My Religion
(Lobdell), 327

Lost
(TV series), 103

Lotus Sutra, 191

Lu Dongbin, 282

Luther, Martin, 76, 77, 78, 83, 90, 93, 272

Lu Xun, 125, 126

McKenzie, Janet, 94

Mahabharata epic (Hinduism), 153, 159–62

Mahayana Buddhism: compassion of, 42; conventional truth versus Absolute Truth of, 195, 200–201; description of, 176–77, 186–90;
shunyata
(emptiness) teaching of, 193–96, 199

Maimonides, 252, 266

Mair, Victor, 280

Malcolm X, 29

Mao Zedong, 122, 290

Marsden, George, 86

Marx Brothers, 247

Marx, Karl, 125, 180, 218, 317, 320, 323–24

masjid
(place of prostration) [Islam], 27

The Matrix
(film), 176

Mecca: Kabah shrine of, 34; Muhammad’s “night journey” from, 26–27, 40; pilgrimage to, 34

meditation practices (Buddhism), 178–79

megachurches, 93–94

Meir, Golda, 273

Mencius, 119–20, 123, 124, 126, 299

Mencius
(Confucianism), 104, 121

Mencken, H. L., 319

Methodism, 87

Metta
meditation, 178–79

Meyer, Stephenie, 84

Miami Vice
(TV show), 217

“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” (Lutheran hymn), 78

Milosevic, Slobodan, 317

Mishnah (Judaism text), 244, 267

Modern Orthodox Jews, 268

Mohists, 116

moksha
(spiritual liberation) [Hinduism], 136–37, 138, 147–48, 150, 151, 152–53, 161–62

monasticism: Benedictines, 66; Buddhism, 174, 176, 180

monotheism: Christian Trinity doctrine and, 36, 68–70, 84; Islam on nature of Allah, 36–37, 45–46; Judaism, 248–250, 217, 252–53, 257–58, 275

Mormonism: early history of LDS Church and, 82–84; growing quickly, 12; members from Latin America and South Pacific, 91–92; split over successor of Joseph Smith, 51.
See also
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Morrison, Toni, 226–27

Moses: biblical story of, 73, 244, 254, 255, 257; as Jew by adoption, 262; as liberator and lawgiver, 258; Torah delivered through, 244; transmitting the Law, 114–15

Moyers, Bill, 6

Mo-zi, 116

Muhammad: accomplishments and influence of, 38–39; Hadith recording of words and deeds of, 49–50; life of, 39–40; “night journey” of, 26–27, 40; on questioning for learning, 23; questions raised by, 339; Quran revealed to, 28; as transformer, 114, 115.
See also
Islam

Muhammad Ali, 29, 187, 283

Müller, Max, 16, 133

Murphy, Joseph, 224

Muslim feminism, 55–56

Muslims:
adhan
(call to prayer), 27–28, 30–31; global demographics of, 28–29; growing political power of American, 20; Mecca pilgrimage required of, 34; Progressive Islam movement of, 20, 54–57; Quran on relations with Jews, Christians, and, 48–49; Ramadan observance by, 33–34; relationships between Christians and, 96–97; required to give charity to the poor, 32; rise of Islamism ideology among some, 52–54; Shariah (law) adhered to by, 49–50; Western popular culture portrayal of, 29–30.
See also
Islam; Shias; Sunnis

mysterium tremendum
(fear of God), 48

mysticism: Christian, 98–99; Kabbalistic Judaism, 217, 273–75; Sufism, 58–59, 60, 109, 199

Nagarjuna, 193

Narayana (Vishnu) poem, 152

Naropa Institute (Colorado), 276

National Council of Ex-Muslims, 325

Nation of Islam (NOI), 29

Nazism, 10, 256–57

Neo-Confucianism movement, 104,
120–21, 285

Neusner, Jacob, 255

Neviim
(Judaism), 244

Neville, Robert, 124

New Atheists: attacks against religion by, 9, 66, 317–26; crossroads facing, 328–29; debate over creed of, 323–26; ethics of, 325; Godthink, 9, 322–23, 336

New Confucianism, 123–24

Newdow, Michael, 323

New Testament.
See
Bible

Nicene Creed (Christianity), 67, 68, 69, 70, 74, 199, 251

Nichiren, 191

Nietzsche, Friedrich, 176, 317, 325

Nigeria: independence (1960) of, 218; Islam and Christianity religions in, 221.
See also
Africa

Night
(Wiesel), 9

9/11: Engaged Buddhism criticism of
racial profiling following, 180; Judeo-Christian-Islamic reconception following, 26–27; need to understand religions following, 17; public power of religion influenced by, 320; reading the Quran following, 45; Muslims’ rejection of terrorism and, 10; religious role in terrorism of, 8, 11; U.S. postage stamp issued prior to, 34.
See also
terrorism; United States

nirvana (Buddhism): no distinction between samsara and, 200; overcoming suffering to goal of, 177–80, 182–83

Nixon, Richard, 127

Noah’s Ark, 73, 246

Noble Eightfold Path (Buddhism), 14, 172, 181, 200, 201

Noll, Mark, 95

Obama, Barack, 117, 317

Obatala (Yoruba orisha), 215–16

O’Connor, Flannery, 300

Ogun (Yoruba orisha), 216–18

Olcott, Henry Steel, 173

Olodumare (Yoruba Supreme Being), 211–12

Olupona, Jacob, 221

The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History,
38