Religion & Spirituality websites category
Places of worship, faith organisations, scripture and study, spiritual practice and belief systems, labelled with one neutral test for every tradition.
Religion & Spirituality is one of the 59 categories in our web filtering categories list.
What the Religion & Spirituality category includes
A site carries this label when faith, belief or spiritual practice is its main subject. The tiles below show the site types we see most often, across all traditions and regions.
Places of worship
Websites of churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, gurdwaras and other congregations, with service times and community news.
Religious organisations
National and international bodies, denominations, orders and dioceses, and their official publications.
Scripture and texts
Online scripture readers, translations, commentaries and study tools for sacred texts.
Prayer and devotion
Daily readings, prayer guides, devotional apps and reflection sites. Many are used every day by people who want a moment of quiet during the working day, which matters when setting workplace rules.
Sermons and teachings
Archives of talks, lectures and teachings, in text, audio or video form.
Meditation and contemplation
Spiritual meditation, retreats and contemplative practice where the purpose is spiritual rather than fitness.
Interfaith dialogue
Groups and resources that bring traditions together for conversation and shared projects.
Alternative beliefs
Astrology, tarot, divination, esoteric traditions and new spiritual movements.
Pilgrimage and sacred sites
Information about holy places, pilgrim routes and religious heritage sites, written from a faith perspective.
Religious calendars
Feast days, fasting periods, holy days and prayer time calculators.
Faith discussion and theology
Theology blogs, apologetics and discussion sites where belief is the subject. This includes sites for non-religious worldviews such as humanist and secular groups, which take part in the same conversations about meaning and belief.
Youth and family ministry
Faith resources for children, youth groups and families, run by congregations or ministries.
Labelling principles: respectful and neutral
Belief matters deeply to people, so the rules for this category are applied the same way to every tradition, large or small.
One test for all
A small congregation and a global faith body are labelled by the same rule: is belief the main subject?
No judgement of belief
The label never rates whether a belief is true, mainstream or popular. It only describes the topic.
Content rules separate
Hate, violence and fraud labels are added only when the content shows them, never because of the faith involved.
Religious criticism and debate stay a topic matter. Hate/Discrimination applies only to content that attacks people because of their religion or another protected trait.
Exclusions and neighbouring categories
Faith is part of education, charity, news and culture. When belief is not the main subject, the site goes to the category that fits best.
Religious schools and colleges. Teaching comes first, with this category as a second label where faith content is large. Academic religious studies departments also go here.
Faith-based charities. Food banks, shelters and relief work are service organisations first, even when run by a congregation.
Religious news outlets. Publications that report news for a faith audience are News/Media first.
Religious goods shops. Stores selling books, jewellery and devotional items carry Shopping first.
Attacks on believers. Content that targets people for their religion carries this label, ranked first.
Faith-based campaigning. Groups whose main work is lobbying on laws carry Political first.
Wellness and yoga for fitness. Exercise, stress relief and therapy sites without a spiritual focus are health topics.
Pilgrimage tour operators. Companies selling trips carry Travel first and this category second.
Typical religion and spirituality site types
How common sites usually appear in the file. The first label describes most of the site.
| Site | Main label | Second label | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local congregation website | Religion & Spirituality | None | Worship and community life. |
| Scripture reading app site | Religion & Spirituality | Education/Reference | Texts and study tools. |
| Sermon video archive | Religion & Spirituality | Streaming Media | Video teachings, heavier bandwidth. |
| Faith talk podcast | Podcasts | Religion & Spirituality | Format first, topic second. |
| Astrology and horoscope site | Religion & Spirituality | Arts & Entertainment | Belief practice, often read for fun. |
| Religious university | Education/Reference | Religion & Spirituality | Teaching dominates. |
| Faith-based relief charity | Community Sites | Religion & Spirituality | Service first. |
| Meditation retreat centre | Religion & Spirituality | Travel | Spiritual stays. |
| Paid psychic readings | Religion & Spirituality | Shopping | Paid service in a belief practice. |
| Fake donation appeal | Malware / Phishing / Suspicious | Religion & Spirituality | Fraud ranks first. |
Policy table: schools, businesses, guest Wi-Fi, parental control
Religion & Spirituality is not part of the CIPA-relevant set. In most settings the sensible default is to allow it and leave content risks to the content categories.
| Setting | Common default | Reasoning | Points to consider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public schools (CIPA) | Allow | Students learn about world religions in history, geography, literature and religious education. | Public schools may have legal duties on religion and speech. Check the current guidance and your counsel before restricting. |
| Faith-based schools | School choice | Schools set policy in line with their own character. | The category covers every tradition equally. Finer choices need local lists. |
| Public libraries | Allow | Access to religious and philosophical material is part of a library's role. | Keep CIPA content categories on for computers used by minors. |
| Businesses | Allow | Low risk. Staff may read a daily prayer or check prayer times. | Blocking can feel exclusionary. Many employers report rather than restrict. |
| Guest Wi-Fi | Allow | Visitors look up service times and places of worship while travelling. | Keep security categories on for fake donation pages. |
| Parental control | Parent choice | Families make their own decisions about belief. | Offer as an optional toggle, not a default block. |
This is general information, not legal advice. School teams can read how filtering fits K-12 requirements on the K-12 school web filtering page.
Checklist before changing a Religion & Spirituality rule
State the reason
Write down why a change is needed: bandwidth, a parent request or a school's own character. Topic blocks without a clear reason are hard to defend.
Check your duties
Public bodies may have obligations on religion and free expression. Check the current guidance before restricting the category.
Rely on content rules
Hate/Discrimination, Violence and security categories handle harmful content. They work without a block on faith sites.
Treat traditions equally
Avoid one-off exceptions that favour one tradition over another, unless that is your institution's stated character.
Test across traditions
Look up sites from several faiths and spiritual practices and confirm they are treated the same way.
Explain the policy
Publish a short note for staff, students or parents so questions get consistent answers.
Multi-category cases
A domain can carry several categories ranked by how much of the site they describe. These cases show how ranking affects the outcome of a policy.
Congregation with a live-streamed service
Weekly services streamed to members at home. Guest networks that shape streaming will slow the video, not block the site.
Faith-based dating site
Dating ranks first, so school and workplace dating rules still apply. The second label shows the audience.
Spiritual wellness shop
Crystals, incense and meditation tools for sale. Shopping rules apply first.
Group posting hateful content about a faith
Content that targets believers is blocked wherever Hate/Discrimination is blocked, regardless of the topic label.
Faith youth forum
Discussion for young members. Forum rules can apply through the second label if a school limits forums.
Copied donation page
A clone of a real appeal that collects payments. Security ranks first, so it is blocked even where religion sites are allowed.
How vendors use the Religion & Spirituality category
The category is rarely blocked, but many products need it labelled precisely.
Inclusive default policies
Firewall and gateway makers ship templates that allow the category, avoiding complaints from staff who read faith content in breaks.
Family choice settings
Parental control apps offer it as an optional switch so each family decides for itself.
Faith-based school products
Filter makers serving religious schools use it as a base and let each school add local lists.
Brand safety
Advertisers often choose whether to appear next to religious content. The label, with the IAB Content Taxonomy in the same file, supports that.
Reporting without bias
Usage reports group faith browsing on its own line, rather than in a vague catch-all.
Fraud screening
Fake charity appeals rise after disasters and around religious holidays. Daily categorization of new domains helps catch them.
Fewer unknown sites
Small congregations run simple sites on their own domains. Labelling this long tail avoids needless warnings for people looking up a local service.
Workplace wellbeing
Employers that support staff faith networks keep these sites open and use reports to see that access works as intended.
Search and safe browsing
Child-safe search tools treat most faith sites as safe results, while content labels keep harmful pages out.
Product teams can read about OEM licensing and the parental control category database.
Signals that make this the main label
Sites are categorized from site content, reviewed and validated. These patterns decide whether Religion & Spirituality ranks first.
Worship and gathering
Service times, prayer schedules, events and community announcements.
Teaching of belief
Pages that explain doctrine, practice or spiritual paths.
Practice guidance
How to pray, meditate, fast or take part in rituals.
Balance of topics
If teaching, services, shopping or campaigning dominate, those labels rank first.
Content risk check
Hate, violence or adult content is labelled separately and ranked above the topic.
Trust check
Young domains collecting donations with copied branding are checked for fraud.
Edge cases admins ask about
Borderline sites that come up during reviews, with the label that usually wins.
Yoga studios
Studios that teach yoga as exercise are Sports & Recreation or Health & Medicine. Those that present it mainly as a spiritual path carry Religion & Spirituality as well.
Mindfulness apps
Apps focused on stress, sleep and focus are Health & Medicine. Meditation sites rooted in a spiritual tradition stay in this category.
Religious art and music
Galleries and music sites are Arts & Entertainment first. Worship music produced for congregations often carries both labels.
Genealogy and parish records
Family history research sites are Education/Reference. A parish site that publishes its own records stays in this category.
Secular and humanist groups
Organisations that discuss belief, ethics and meaning from a non-religious view share the same topic space, so they carry this label too.
Religious holiday recipe and craft sites
Sites about cooking or decorating for festivals are Food & Drink or Home & Garden first. The faith label appears only when the religious meaning is a large part of the content.
Missionary and outreach organisations
Groups whose main work is sharing their faith carry this category. Those focused on medical or development aid carry Community Sites first.
Wedding and funeral services
Commercial planners are Business or Shopping. A place of worship's page about ceremonies stays with the congregation's label.
Coverage and delivery
The category ships in the same file as every other label, so nothing extra is needed to use it.
120 million domains
Across 59 categories. The 20 million most visited domains cover 99.99% of web traffic and usage.
Every language
Faith sites are labelled whatever language they are written in, from large organisations to small local congregations.
Daily new domains
About 300,000 a day, checked again after a week and a month. Others refresh monthly.
Ranked labels
Each domain lists its categories in order, so a faith charity or religious school keeps both its main and its second label.
IAB Content Taxonomy
Version 3 with 703 categories in the same file, for ad and content context around belief topics.
Runs in your systems
CSV, Parquet or JSON on-premise or air-gapped, with a lookup API included in every licence.
See the web filtering database overview, or check a site with the domain category lookup.
Religion & Spirituality category FAQ
Does the category treat all religions the same way?
Yes. Every faith, denomination and spiritual tradition is labelled with the same test. The category describes the topic of a site, not whether its beliefs are right or popular.
Are astrology and tarot sites included?
Yes. Astrology, tarot, divination and other alternative belief practices are part of Religion & Spirituality, so one label covers belief and spiritual practice sites.
Does CIPA require blocking religious websites?
No. CIPA covers visual depictions that are obscene, child pornography or harmful to minors. Religious content is not one of those types, and public institutions should consider their legal duties before restricting it.
Where do sites that attack a religion go?
Content that attacks people because of their religion carries Hate/Discrimination, ranked above any religious topic label. Respectful criticism and debate about religion stays a topic matter.
Are religious schools in this category?
Schools and colleges with a religious character carry Education/Reference first, with Religion & Spirituality as a second label where faith content is a large part of the site.
Which firewall category matches Religion & Spirituality?
Most next-generation firewalls have a religion category, and some keep alternative beliefs or the occult separate. Check the current list in your console before mapping.
Can a faith-based school allow only its own tradition?
The category is the same for every tradition, so a policy cannot split traditions by category alone. Schools that want that level of control add their own allow or block lists on top.
License the database
Religion & Spirituality and 58 other categories, plus the IAB Content Taxonomy, as files that run inside your own product. Starter database tiers from $999; enterprise and OEM licences are quoted per deployment.
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