Research Paper Introduction

            Since the birth of the human race, man has pondered the mysteries of life. We have asked ourselves many questions like why are we here? Where did we come from before we were born? What is beyond our world, and the universe that surrounds us, and is there someone or some thing that created it all in the blink of an eye? To answer these questions we have created systems of values, morals and doctrines. These values, morals and doctrines might then be compiled into a common system of beliefs called religion. The more people that agree with a particular religion, the bigger that religion’s following might become. The result can be anywhere from a weekly meeting of ten friends that discuss their views on the mysteries of life to a televised event with thousands of members and the power and money to double their congregation in one year. There are probably as many different religions as there are possible shades of any given color. When most of us think of going to church we often picture ourselves in an elaborate building made of stone with beautiful stain glass windows. We see ourselves worshiping our chosen God along side those we have come to know that live in our community. What if there was a place that a person could not only worship ten different Gods, but they could do it with ten different people from ten different cultures all in one day? How could this be possible? Second Life is a virtual environment where people from all around the world can interact with one another in real time by simply logging onto their computers. Religion in Second Life can be found in many different forms and the ways in which people practice those religions are quite possibly as infinite as the mysteries that we created religion for in the first place.