Welcome to the World Religion Challenge!

After weighing the input of fellow readers and bloggers, I've decided to go ahead and host the World Religion Challenge in 2010.  

The Challenge will run from Jan 1st 2010 to Dec 31st 2010.  There are four categories to the Challenge:

I decided to lift a note from Taoism by calling these Paths (Tao means "way" or "path") to Reading Challenge Enlightenment:

1. The Bare Bones Path (Also Know As: The *Technically* There's Only Three Path): Read something about what are *technically* the only world religions, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.  (These are considered, by some scholars, to be the only World Religions because while Judaism and Hinduism have the numbers, they don't proselytize or really invite other people to join, making it more of an ethnicity).

2. The Penthouse Path (Also Known As: The Five Biggies Path): Read something about the five major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

3. The Universalist Path (Also Known As: The Above and Beyond Path): Read something by all five of the major world religions PLUS more books about any or all of the following: Shintoism, Animism, Taoism, Confucianism, Wicca, Mythology, Atheism, Occult, Tribal Religions, Voodoo, Unitarianism, Baha'i, Cults, Scientology, Mysticism, Rastafarianism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zorastrianism, Agnosticism, Gnosticism, Satanism, Manichaeism, Deism, Comparative Religion, Religious Philosophy, Jungiansim,  Symbolism, Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, etc., etc. etc. (you may also read about another aspect of one of the 5 Biggies)

4. The Unshepherded Path (Also Known As: The Don't Tell Me What to Do Path): Read as many books as you would like about whatever religions you want.

What to read?  

Nonfiction 

fiction 

religious texts

poetry

and if your eyeballs are ready to fall out of your skull: 

watch a movie

see a play

listen to some music 

attend a service

celebrate a holiday 

perform a ritual

open the door when Jehovah's Witnesses come to call

Need some inspiration?  Do the following:

Go to this post on my blog, and see where it is tagged "religion?" Click on the tag and it will take you to all of the myriad books I've tagged as "religion".  In the next month and a half, I'm going to try to review a lot of other books I've previously read so as to add to the list.

Go to the bookstore, and browse around

Look up religions on Wikipedia

Ask me for advice

Steal from other participants' lists

Audio books and cross-overs from other challenges are encouraged.  

Do you have to have a blog to join?  Of course not!  I'd be happy to post on here for you...or you can just leave a comment with the book you read.

Soo...Go make your lists!