Yeah, MMario keeps stopping by and knocking at my door. Good thing I haven't let him in, or bought those magazines he's been trying to dump on me...
I wonder if the Beliefnet test is grounded in a structure-based, authority-based view of religion as something where you follow a leader and rules and buy into a fixed set of doctrines. I think there's another level of religious belief, a level reached by many who are considered to be saints by the people of their denominations. At that level, authority and creed and structure still have a function, a necessary but unexalted function similar to the infrastructure of a city. At that level, the differences between denominations begin to seem unimportant, seen as differing perspectives rather than unbreachable separations. At that level, the differences among denominations become a rich and fascinating diversity, rather than discord and disharmony. I wish all people of faith would reach for that level. Then we'd see that Islam and Buddhism and Christianity and Judaism and Paganism have far more in common that we could ever dream. At that level, we are all brothers and sisters, seeking the same end.
And now, a word from Bob Zentz, as posted by somebody I consider to be a saint, Rick Fielding: Click.