In-Depth Coverage of Issues Concerning the Global Sikh Community Including Self-Determination, Democracy, Human Rights, Civil Liberties, Antiracism, Religion, and South Asian Geopolitics
| RELIGION | FOUNDER(S) | SCRIPTURE | ADHERENTS | FESTIVALS | DOCTRINE | GOD | SECTS |
| Christianity | Jesus Christ | Bible - Old and New Testaments | 2.1 Billion | Christmas (birth of Jesus Christ) Thanksgiving |
- | With human forms | Eastern Orthodox/Catholic (Maronite) Western Orthodox/Roman Catholic (Dominican, Jesuit) English-Speaking Protestant (Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Jehovah's Witness, Adventist, United, Salvation Army, Pentecostal) Non-English-Speaking Protestant (Mennonite, Amish, Anglican, Presbyterian) Latter-Day Saints Evangelical |
| Islam | Mohammed | Koran | 1.3 Billion | Id | - | - | Sunni (Sufi, Ahmadiyyah, Shari'a law, consensus-based Caliphs, pray five times a day) Shi'a (meaning group or faction, hereditary Imams are infallibile, pray three times a day, allows temporary marriage, allows taqiya - hiding beliefs for self-protection, Baha'i) |
| Hinduism | None (Evolved) | Vedas, Upanishads | 900 Million | Divali (new year) Holi (Spring) Navratri |
- | One (Brahman) with limitless human forms | Vaishnavite (Kabir, Swami Narayan) Shaivite (Tantrism, Osho Rajneesh) Shakta (Durga, Kali) |
| Buddhism | Siddharth Gautam (560-480 B.C.E.) | - | 376 Million | - | - | - | Theravada Mahayana |
| Sikhism | Guru Nanak (1469-1539) and nine successor gurus | Guru Granth | 23 Million | Vaisakhi (harvest, founding of the Khalsa order) Gurpurabs (birth/death observances for the ten Gurus) |
- | One, Abstract, Formless, Unborn, Undying, Creator | Amrit-dhari (initiated, orthodox) Kes-dhari (uninitiated, orthodox) Sahaj-dhari (unorthodox) Nirankari (founder Sahaj-dhari Dayal Singh b. 1783, anti-idolatry, vegetarian, throw dead into river, rejoice death, no-fee ceremonies, human guru) Radhaswami, Sant Nirankari Namdhari (founder Balak Singh b. 1797, human guru, vegetarian, revere Dasam Granth, fire ceremonies, anti-pilgrimage, anti-Maharaja Ranjit Singh) Nanaksar (founder Nand Singh b. 1869, vegetarian, celibate, ascetic, avatar, Nanak appears in visions) Akhand Kirtani Jatha (founder Randhir Singh b. 1878, overnight kirtan, vegetarian, cook in iron, no scriptural interpretation, turban for women, distinct maryada) 3HO (founder Harbhajan Singh Puri 1971/L.A., kundalini yoga, white attire) Nirmala (celibate, study Hindu scriptures, saffron attire) Udasi (founder Sri Chand b. 1494, celibate) |
| Judaism | Abraham (1800 B.C.E.) | Bible - Old Testament; including the most important component, the Torah (the Laws of Moses) | 14 Million | Hanukkah (festival of lights; liberation of Temple of Jerusalem) Shabbat/Sabbath (weekly from Friday evening to Saturday evening) Rosh Hashanah (new year; ten day celebration concludes with Yom Kippur (day of atonement)) Passover (celebrates the return of the Israelites from Egypt to their homeland) |
- | - | Samaritan Babylonian Kabbalah (mystic) Hasidism Messianic Bene Israel |
| Jainism | 24 Tirthankaras; the last was Vardhaman Mahavir (6th century B.C.E.) | - | 4.2 Million | Pajjusana (year-end) Divali (adaptation) |
Ahimsa (nonviolence toward all living things) | - | - |
| Zoroastrianism | Zarathushtra (1500-1000 B.C.E.) | - | 2.6 Million | - | - | - | - |