New religious order

The Web is no respecter of size or reputation. This holds true for religion also, where the theological Goliaths must constantly engage in cyber-battle with their Davids. So, with the proliferation of esoteric faiths on the Web, how do the big boys of world religion - Catholicism, Islam and Judaism - shape up?

Though I'm sure it's perfectly competent, the Vatican's web site proved nigh impenetrable when I visited (www.vatican.va). Clad in a nasty marble- effect finish, it was slow and only accessible in the German-language version. Catholic.Org is far perkier. With, amongst other features, a news service, a historical resource, a forum and a free e-mail service, the site as a whole demonstrates an ease with the Web. And did you know that St Isidore is the patron saint of Internet users?

Though it may also be a little rough around the edges, Islam City at least presents a glitzier image of the faith (www.islamicity.org). There are community, business and cultural links here, but it isn't the place to study the Koran - for that visit the Al-Islam site (www.al-islam.org).

As for Judaism, Virtual Jerusalem is a news site catching Israel's heady mix of politics and religion. The Jewish World Review does much the same on an international basis (www.jewishworldreview. com). For a formal history of Judaism, you might try the Documents of Jewish Belief site, which unfortunately is as dry as it sounds (www.jcnl8.com).

Modern

broquard.tilted.com

Occasionally it strikes you that the Web ought to provide a perfect stage for a specific phenomenon. For instance, post-modernism should be right at home with the Web's potential for playful irreverence. Surprisingly though, no sites dealing with post-modernism seem to make use of this promise. This isn't to say that there aren't hundreds of serious, academic sites dedicated to the philosophy. For example, "Towards a Moderate Post- modernism"is an earnest attempt to come to a definition of the subject (globalprojects.org/equiaeon/philo.htm). A bit less daunting, though, is the collection of sites at broquard.tilted.com (above). Everything Post-Modern details all manner of resources for po-mo's major voices. The higgledy-piggledy arrangement of sites also includes the light-hearted Post-Modern Saloon, which has a quiz and a newsletter.