Faith and beliefs
What your neighbors believe, how they pray, and why it matters so much to them.
98.7 Neighbor to NeighborIn Which the Neighbors Believe Different Things
- Are atheists and agnostics the same? No, but they overlap. An atheist doesn’t believe in God or gods. 2 min read
- Can I go to my friend’s church, mosque or temple? Usually, yes. Most places of worship welcome visitors, and going with a friend is the easiest way. 1 min read
- Can you be a good person without religion? Yes. People without religion can be kind, honest and generous, and many are. 2 min read
- Do Buddhists believe in God? Most Buddhist traditions don’t teach belief in a creator God the way Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do. 3 min read
- Do Christians, Jews and Muslims worship the same God? All three faiths say there is one God, the God of Abraham. 2 min read
- Is it OK to be angry at God? In most traditions that believe in God, yes — and the scriptures say so more directly than many preachers do. 3 min read
- Is religion the cause of most wars? No — and scholars who study this say the answer is more complicated than either side usually admits. 3 min read
- What do Hindus believe? Hindus hold a wide family of beliefs, not one creed. 2 min read
- What do Jehovah’s Witnesses believe? Jehovah’s Witnesses are Christians, but their beliefs differ from most other Christian traditions. 3 min read
- What do Jews believe? Jews believe in one God. God made a covenant, a lasting promise, with Abraham and his family, and gave the Torah, God’s teaching, at Mount Sinai. 2 min read
- What do Latter-day Saints believe? Latter-day Saints (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes called Mormons) are Christians who believe Joseph Smith restored the original church of Jesus Christ in 1830. 3 min read
- What do Muslims believe? Muslims believe in one God. Allah is simply the Arabic word for God, and Arab Christians use it too. 2 min read
- What do Native traditional religions teach? There is no single Native religion. There are 575 federally recognized tribes in the United States alone, each with its own language, history, ceremonies, and relationship with the sacred. 3 min read
- What do Sikhs believe? Sikhs believe in one God who lives in everyone. 2 min read
- What does “love your neighbor as yourself” mean? It means caring about other people’s good as much as your own. 2 min read
- What happens when we die? What do different faiths teach? Every major tradition has a teaching about death, and no two are quite the same — though many share a shape. 4 min read
- What if my child leaves our faith? It’s one of the most painful things a religious parent can face. 3 min read
- What is a rabbi, an imam, and a pastor? All three lead faith communities, but in different ways. 3 min read
- What is grace? Grace is God’s love and favor given as a gift, not earned. 2 min read
- What is halal? Halal means ‘permissible’ in Arabic. For food, it means the animal was slaughtered in a specific way (quickly, with a blessing invoking God’s name), and certain things are prohibited: pork, blood, and alcohol. 3 min read
- What is kosher? Kosher is a Hebrew word meaning ‘fit’ or ‘proper.’ In food, it describes what Jewish religious law (halakha) permits. 3 min read
- What is Shabbat? Why won’t my neighbor drive on Saturday? Shabbat is the Jewish day of rest. It runs every week from sundown Friday to nightfall Saturday. 2 min read
- What is the difference between Sunni and Shia Muslims? The split goes back 1,400 years, to the question of who should lead the Muslim community after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 CE. 3 min read
- What is the Good Samaritan story really about? It’s Jesus’ answer to a lawyer who asked, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29). 4 min read
- What’s the difference between Catholics and Protestants? Both are Christians who believe Jesus is God’s Son, who died and rose again. 2 min read
- Who is Abraham in Judaism, Christianity and Islam? Abraham is the shared father of faith for all three. 2 min read
- Why do good, smart people believe different things about God? Because they start in different places. People grow up with different experiences, trust different sources and belong to groups that shape what feels obvious. 2 min read
- Why do people change religions? For every reason you can think of, and then some. 3 min read
- Why do Sikh men wear turbans? Sikh men wear a turban, called a dastar, to cover and care for their uncut hair, which is an article of faith. 4 min read
- Why do some Muslim women wear a hijab? Many Muslim women wear a hijab, a head covering, as an act of modesty and devotion to God, based on how they read the Qur’an. 3 min read
Guides for this shelf
On the air
- What do you feel when you pray? One Question, Two NeighborsA pastor and a Muslim neighbor Recording soon · about 14 min
- Abraham, three ways Same Story, Different BookA pastor, a rabbi and an imam Recording soon · about 11 min
- I'm an atheist. Am I still your neighbor? One Question, Two NeighborsA pastor and an atheist neighbor Recording soon · about 15 min