Monday Blogcrawl

When I stroll around Sydney I often note the number of churches that have closed, the buildings turned into something else. I suppose it is inevitable; the western world has ceased to be interested in joining, and communal worship seems to be one of those things we have left behind. But still, sad to see whole communities disappear as their members enter nursing homes and their buildings fall into disrepair. I should start a theodiversity movement which seeks to restore forgotten sects and cults and ensure a diverse religious landscape. In the meantime, here are some things that might interest you from the World Wide Web:

Lots of argument this week about the behaviour of Buddhist monks in Thailand

• An ancient Buddhist trail in Shanxi province in China. Meanwhile, Peter Hannam at the Sydney Morning Herald suggests tourists visit the ancient Buddhist sites of Henan.
• Reincarnation Stories brings us a nice little rundown on reincarnation in popular culture.
• Ebay gets nervous about witches, with sync.co telling us they are about to ban the sale of hexes, potions and other things witchy.
• America is on continually shaky ground when it comes to interfaith religions, and Eboo Patel wants to get kids of different religious backgrounds together - from Stanford Social Innovation Review.
• The seven laws of attraction spelled out.
• Quest books has an interesting-looking new title on people who have left their church communities behind.
• A hidden camera goes inside the top-secret prayer circle at the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City - fascinating!
• Looks like Lisa-Marie Presley has abandoned Scientology - the Village Voice brings us details.