Tweeting Religious Principles

Stephen Prothero, religion professor at Boston University, twitters the basic premises of each religion, as well as athiesm - 140 character theological bombshells. Prothero, author of the new book Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, argues that while America is a deeply religious nation, our literacy of the basic tenets of the major religious faiths, even Christianity, is grossly inadequate. Saith Prothero:

“Part of what I’m trying to do is to get people to understand that religion matters, that it’s a huge political and social force. We’re seeing that play out now in Iran,” he says. “You can open the newspaper and see how important religion is.”

While the tweets are a lighthearted effort to share basic information, they also contribute to Prothero’s ongoing effort to break down barriers between academia and “the so-called real world."

Prothero's twitterfeed is here, but I here are some of his tweets on the major religions.

Xianity140: Adam&Eve hungry so we=sinners. JC died&rose so we=saved. Is God3in1/Bible true/Kingdom coming/Pope Catholic? Believe/Love! Ahh!

Judaism140: 1 God, 1 chosen people. Do the Law (all 613), tell the story (Egypt to Zion, exile to return), repair the world. 2010 in 97500!

Islam 140: Allah told Gabriel told the prophet Muhammad (PBUH): Just 1 God, pray to Him 5x day, give alms, fast, hajj to Mecca. Submit! Ahh!

Atheism140: Warning: religion=hazardous 2 ur health. There is no uknowwho but Freud & Marx is his prophet. Faith=D’oh. Be good w/o god(sic)!

He also tweets on, among others, Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism, Confucianism, and the religion of Red Sox fans.

What do you think of those 140 character religious assessments? Two gold stars to whomever can do better, with either these or new religions.