The Belief-o-Matic quiz here at Beliefnet is a really interesting resource that I think deserves some attention. I took the quiz, as did several others at Talk Islam (muslims and non-muslims alike), and we are discussing the results from the perspective of comparative religion. I think that the evidence supports the Abrahamic contention that Islam and Judaism are much closer, especially in terms of belief about the nature of God. This ties into the earlier discussion about the term Judeo-Christian, which in my opinion tends only to be used by Christians anyway, usually when trying to co-opt Judaism’s heritage for some transient polemical aim.

Here are my results:

1. Sikhism (100%)
2. Reform Judaism (96%)
3. Islam (96%)
4. Orthodox Judaism (96%)
5. Baha’i Faith (88%)
6. Jainism (66%)
7. Liberal Quakers (62%)
8. Unitarian Universalism (57%)
9. Hinduism (50%)
10. Liberal Christian Protestants (48%)
11. Mormons (45%)
13. Eastern Orthodox (37%)
14. Roman Catholic (37%)
15. Mahayana Buddhism (36%)
16. Jehovah’s Witness (35%)
17. Orthodox Quaker (34%)
19. Conservative Christian/Protestant (31%)
20. Secular Humanism (28%)
21. Scientology (28%)
23. Nontheist (21%)
26. Taoism (11%)

I find my 100% score for SIkhism fascinating. I tried to avoid marking the social issues (homosexuality, pacifism, etc) as important, in general, because I felt those were personal interpretation and not doctrinal. That may patrially explain it, but I don’t know enough about Sikhism to be sure. Still, the tight grouping of Islam and Judaism is readily apparent, with the various Christian faiths ranking much lower (and those, interestingly, with Buddhisim mixed in).

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