The Central Conference of American Rabbis consists of Reform rabbis. Steven A. Fox is chief executive.

A chart from Beliefnet.com, “What do world religions believe about abortion?”

Telford Work is assistant professor of theology at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, Calif. He has written frequently on evangelicals, and he maintains a personal Website.

Chris Soper is a professor of political science at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., and the author of Evangelical Christianity in the United States and Great Britain: Religious Beliefs, Political Choices.

J.P. Moreland is a philosophy and theology professor at the evangelical Talbot School of Theology of Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. He has also author of thirty-five books, including Does God Exist? (Prometheus) and over 75 articles.

The Rev. Russell Johnson is senior pastor at Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster, Ohio. He and the Rev. Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church in Columbus have been accused by other Ohio pastors of using their churches as political platforms to advance conservative policies and Republican candidates.

The Puranas are a narrative of the history of the cosmos from creation to destruction. There are 17 or 18 divided into categories named for the Hindu deities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism and are among the oldest sacred texts in all the world’s religions, with the oldest of them composed about 1500 B.C. There are four Vedas: the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharva Veda.

Smartism is the branch of Hinduism that worships five deities, Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, Ganesha and Devi. Any deity may be worshipped in Smartism. Adherents to Smartism are called Smartas. Smartas comprise the smallest of the four Hindu sects. In Smartism, all of the deities are regarded as equals, though individuals are allowed to give preference […]