Thanks for the advice. I was only really meaning “participate” as in taking off my shoes; that would be ok, right?
It was the same way at the Anglican church where I was a chorister for a while. (They had a pretty High Church approach.) I did so because 1) as a Christian I was on my way out, and 2) they served actual wine (as opposed to the grape juice I was used to from the United Church), which I didn’t care for.
IANAM, but it’s my understanding that if you’re in a mosque for whatever reason, you’re expected to take off your shoes. Some mosques might not want infidels present at all, in which case the shoes wouldn’t be an issue, of course, but if they do allow you in, you should probably take them off.
Another religion where it is rude to participate in some cermonies is that which is practiced by pueblo indian tribes.
Many cermonies consist of dances and chants and the public is welcome to watch some of them at some pueblos. Visitors are welcome to participate in some activities but not in others.
Because religeous dances and non-religeous dances appear similar to outsiders and so few of us speak Tewa, Kersean, or one of the other pueblo languages, they tell you - in English - which is which.
Of course, not everyone believes the rules apply to them or their children, join in anyway, and get themselves unceremoniously escorted from the premises. It is one of the reasons it is difficult to see some of the ceremonies now.
Yes, there is often a room where you would sit face-to-face, but they still have a kneeler with a screen for us shy types!!
You’d better not try to enter Mecca if you’re not Muslim. They have checkpoints and guards on all the roads into Mecca.
(Although one Muslim told a story of riding on a Hajj bus and how the sleepy guard waved them through without even lifting his head or looking at them…)
As for Druze religion, you’re not even supposed to show up at all if you’re not an initiate. So Druze has got to be one of the best answers for the OP.
And women are expected to cover their hair and dress modestly, or at least we were at the mosque in Washington DC that I went to on a field trip for Comparative Religions my senior year of high school. I’m not sure what standards of modest dress there are for men, but they would probably be expected to follow those.
To clarify an earlier poster on whether non-Catholics can take communion at a mass, canon law states that the only non-Catholics who can do this are members of the Orthodox churches. It justifies this on the grounds that they are not heretical (which in Catholic terms means they don’t hold any doctrine that is clearly opposed to Catholic teachings). Since taking eucharist is supposed to be the community sharing together, anyone from a heretical church isn’t permitted to take communion.
In real life, no one is going to stop you from taking communion unless you create a real spectacle. If you choose not to take communion because you’re not Catholic, you’ll just fit in with all the Catholics who don’t. I’ve gone to three different parishes, and I’ve never seen anyone go up to the communicant and not take the bread. I have seen a lot of Catholics go up and not take the wine, usually because they can’t drink alcohol. I don’t know about the rules of whether non-Catholics are supposed to follow the rules about rising and kneeling, but on all the occasions I’ve seen they follow the others. Since everyone rises and kneels at the same time, even non-Catholics could easily know when to move.
I think we’re supposed to stand when the others do, but kneeling is optional, and we’re not expected to cross ourselves.
When I lived in Istanbul there was no problem entering a mosque (camii) if you were not a believer; you just had to remove your shoes and usually you’d be escorted to a screened-off area. I visited two mosques where you were allowed to stroll about fairly freely: Fatih Camii, where Mehmet the Conqueror is buried, and the Blue Mosque, where you couldn’t enter the main prayer area but you didn’t have to hide behind screens. Most mosques had bins with headscarves for female visitors, and racks for you to put your shoes.
Back in the very late 1970s, I was given a guided tour of the mosque in Itaewon, Seoul, by a Korean Muslim man. He was very happy to be showing the building to me & he knew (because I told him so) that I’m not Muslim. At the end of the tour, he practically forced on me a Qur’an and he refused to accept payment for it.