It may not exactly be finding god in a machine. But for several months now, a few hundred thousand folks have been connecting to one another through a website called Beliefnet.com: sharing prayers, debating matters of faith, discussing all things spiritual. As co-founder Steve Waldman conceived it, Beliefnet.com is a place where everyone—Christians, Muslims, Jews, pagans—can explore spiritual matters online. The Web's top commercial religion site, Beliefnet.com features "prayer circles," in which a Christian may post a missive to a Wiccan. Users may leave wedding notices, participate in meditations, create memorials and read articles on topics from fasting to Kosher sex. If you want to download Michael Jackson's essay about his experience as a Jehovah's Witness, then Beliefnet.com's the place.

"Americans' approach to religion has changed," says Waldman, a Reform Jew and a former editor at U.S. News & World Report. "More people are open to seeking alternate spiritual paths." Beliefnet.com, however, must still turn a profit without turning off