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agnostic

A person who believes that it is impossible to know whether or not a god exists. One can be an agnostic theist or an agnostic atheist and the term is often seen to be seen as a kind of “middle ground" between theism and atheism.

altar

An altar is a raised platform or stand which bears the central symbols of a religious tradition—whether in a temple, church, shrine, or home—and at which offerings are made, worship is offered, or prayers are said.

assimilation

Assimilation refers to the process of “making similar,” a process by which people lose their national, cultural, or even religious identity through absorption in the wider society. In the history of American immigration, it has usually meant the absorption for both individuals and groups into a society shaped largely by a dominant Anglo-Saxon Protestant majority.

chapel

A chapel is a place of worship, smaller than the sanctuary of a church or synagogue, or in an institutional setting such as a college or hospital.

cultural pluralism

Cultural pluralism is a term first populairzed by the sociologist Horace Kallen to describe the interaction of diverse cultural, ethnic, and religious groups in the U.S. Rather than assmilate into a common "melting pot," Kallen firmly believed that the freedom of America includes the freedom to be oneself, not surrendering one's cultural particularity, but bringing these particularities forward in the creation of a common democratic society. He argued that America can have plural ethnic cultures, complementing one another, like the different parts of a symphony orchestra.

dialogue

The term dialogue has come to common use among the world's religions today to refer to interaith or interreligious dialogue among Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Native peoples, etc. For people of different religious traditions involved in dialogue, this new form of relationship is understood to be premised on mutual desire for better understanding. Interfaith dialogue may address questions of faith or questions of civic or social concern. Indeed, some of the most productive dialogue takes the form of common projects inovolving people of different faiths.

ecumenical

Ecumenical means "worldwide," from the Greek oikoumene, "the whole inhabited earth." The term is used most commonly to refer to the Christian ecumenical movement which, in the 20th century, has brought Christian churches together from across the lines of confession and denomination and from around the world to seek common fellowship and address common issues. As other religious traditions begin to explore their own intenal differences and commonalities, the term "ecumenical" is sometimes adopted, as in the efforts towrd pan-Buddhist ecumenical relations in the U.S.

enlightenment

Enlightenment means awakening to or realizing the true nature of reality. The term is used with various nuances in the Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu traditions to express the spiritual awakening that is the goal of religious life. “The Enlightenment” also refers to 17th and 18th century European philosophical and religious movement emphasizing the role of reason in religious thinking, the importance of religious toleration, and the need to separate religious dogma from political power. For Jews, the term refers also to the 18th and 19th century Haskalah movement aimed at modernizing Jewish life... Read more about enlightenment

Epicurus

Epicurus (341–270 BCE) was a Greek philosopher who posited that the world was composed of atoms that operated according to a system of natural laws. In his view, if gods did create the universe, they did not continue to engage with it beyond the act of creation. Epicurus emphasized human happiness, or deep satisfaction, fulfillment, and dignity.

God

God is a term used to refer to the Divine, the Supreme being, Transcendent deity, or Ultimate reality.

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