Do you understand Religion, or do you think you understand Religion

[icehorse]

Nothing spiritual in religion?

For starters, I'd say that religion is a poor tool for thinking about spirituality.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

There's no reason to be so rude, you know.

There is no reason to ask arrogant and sophomoric questions. It's a form of adolescent mentoring that presumes much and clarifies nothing.

 

[Aupmanyav]

As per the law in India, all marriages have to be registered with the government offices. That is to avoid malpractices by priests of any religion, especially in case of inter-religious marriages.

"The Supreme Court of India, in 2006, made it mandatory to register all marriages. In India, a marriage can either be registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 or under the Special Marriage Act, 1954." Google Search

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

There is no reason to ask arrogant and sophomoric questions. It's a form of adolescent mentoring that presumes much and clarifies nothing.

Okay, Your Highness.

 

[Aupmanyav]

For starters, I'd say that religion is a poor tool for thinking about spirituality.

^^^ You are in fetters right from the beginning.

 

[nPeace]

@SalixIncendium @nPeace

This is what I'm talking about - Definition of religion - Wikipedia - and - Religion - Wikipedia - though you'll encounter this elsewhere outside of the internet, of course. The concept of "religion" arose in Western culture after the rise of Christianity, and because of that, the way we think about religion largely revolves around defining religion in ways that make it look like Christian traditions. A few more relevant tidbits:

"When religio came into English around the 1200s as religion, it took the meaning of "life bound by monastic vows" or monastic orders. The compartmentalized concept of religion, where religious things were separated from worldly things, was not used before the 1500s. The concept of religion was first used in the 1500s to distinguish the domain of the church and the domain of civil authorities.

...

The modern concept of religion, as an abstraction that entails distinct sets of beliefs or doctrines, is a recent invention in the English language. Such usage began with texts from the 17th century due to events such the splitting of Christendom during the Protestant Reformation and globalization in the age of exploration, which involved contact with numerous foreign cultures with non-European languages."​

Wow.
Thanks. Never read that before.
The definition of religion is a controversial and complicated subject in religious studies with scholars failing to agree on any one definition. Oxford Dictionaries defines religion as the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Others, such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith, have tried to correct a perceived Judeo-Christian and Western bias in the definition and study of religion. Thinkers such as Daniel Dubuisson have doubted that the term religion has any meaning outside of western cultures, while others, such as Ernst Feil even doubt that it has any specific, universal meaning even there.

Scholars have failed to agree on a definition of religion.

Scholars have found it difficult to develop a consistent definition, with some giving up on the possibility of a definition. Others argue that regardless of its definition, it is not appropriate to apply it to non-Western cultures.

An increasing number of scholars have expressed reservations about ever defining the essence of religion. They observe that the way we use the concept today is a particularly modern construct that would not have been understood through much of history and in many cultures outside the West (or even in the West until after the Peace of Westphalia).

The poor souls.
Sad to think that there are people who are actually relying on consensus from these... where religion and the Bible History are concerned.

At least I can agree with one thing.
"the way we use concepts today are particularly modern constructs that would not have been understood through much of history and in many cultures outside the West (or even in the West until after the Peace of Westphalia)." My own words.

 

[firedragon]

Like it's not a Hot Wheels, a Matchbox, or Tonka?

You didnt understand nPeace's point.

 

[Aupmanyav]

In Hinduism, we are also reminded that we can only see a part of the whole, and claiming to have "seen it all" is considered disrespectful to the view of the other believer.

You can study and understand the view point of other people and still follow your own way. I understand various shades of Viashnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism and respect them, though I follow Advaita.

 

[Spirit of Light]

You say "what religion is" and "what religion really is about" as if religion is a single thing.

"What religion is" and "what religion really is about" varies between religions (edit: and importantly, even between adherents of the same religion). Some people probably have quite a good understanding of one religion or a handful of religions, but I doubt it would be possible for one person to have a deep understanding of all religions.

Thank you @9-10ths_Penguin you got the message in the OP i wanted to ask all here in RF

 

[firedragon]

You mean what you think "Religion really is," and what you believe "is needed to be done to gain full effect of the practice."

The question is arrogant and sophomoric.

I think its a generic question about "religion", not specific to one's. Also, if one person is sophomoric in your opinion, rather than being inhuman with that human you can teach something with a bit of humility. Nothing lost.

Maybe you will revert to this post also with such a rude statement. Your prerogative.

 

[Quintessence]

Yes, it stems from Christianity's division of the world into two separate spheres of activity - the mundane carnal world, and the transcendent spiritual world which is superior and beyond the carnal world. This was a relatively novel concept and influenced the idea of "secularism". It's all part of Christianity's desacralization of the natural world and daily life. Beforehand, "religion" was simply the folkways of your ancestors, traditions carried down through the ages. It was part of an holistic way of life, never viewed in isolation.

This hegemony of Christian concepts in our culture makes it hard for us to discuss non-Western religions. Hence why Western pollsters keep trying to depict the Japanese as "atheists" even though they really aren't. We don't have the language to really delve into indigenous spiritual traditions thanks to that hegemony.

Hahaha... I'd forgotten about how Shinto is usually treated. I had the good fortune of being able to travel to Japan once. Their traditions and acknowledgement of the spirits/gods (they use the word Kami) is so deeply embedded in who they are as a people. Experiencing the spirits of that land and the way its human peoples respected them was very impactful on my course of life. It was one of a string of events in my life that shattered my previously infantile views of what religion is and what it does. Thank gods for that... being an angstheist was.... well, it didn't bother me, but I sure was an anti-theist, anti-religious jerk.

 

[Spirit of Light]

I think its a generic question about "religion", not specific to one's. Also, if one person is sophomoric in your opinion, rather than being inhuman with that human you can teach something with a bit of humility. Nothing lost.

Maybe you will revert to this post also with such a rude statement. Your prerogative.

Let him feel what he want to feel about me. I dont get my OP right all the time, and sometimes it backfire on me that is a part of debate.
I just have to learn to wording my self better.

 

[SalixIncendium]

You didnt understand nPeace's point.

Why do you assume I didn't?

 

[firedragon]

Why do you assume I didn't?

Uh oh. Alright, very sorry I intruded.

 

[Tambourine]

Many people in RF holds a belief in one Religion or an other.
Many people in RF do not hold a belief in Religion.

1: Are you sure you understand what Religion really is, and what is needed to be done to gain full effect of the practice ?

2: Or do you think you know what Religion really is about, but do not see the need to practice any of it to know and understand?

scio ne scire

 

[Suave]

Many people in RF holds a belief in one Religion or an other.
Many people in RF do not hold a belief in Religion.

1: Are you sure you understand what Religion really is, and what is needed to be done to gain full effect of the practice ?

2: Or do you think you know what Religion really is about, but do not see the need to practice any of it to know and understand?

I understand religion from a Marxist perspective.

 

[QuestioningMind]

Many people in RF holds a belief in one Religion or an other.
Many people in RF do not hold a belief in Religion.

1: Are you sure you understand what Religion really is, and what is needed to be done to gain full effect of the practice ?

2: Or do you think you know what Religion really is about, but do not see the need to practice any of it to know and understand?

What I've never been able to understand is why anyone who genuinely seeks the truth would follow any religion, since all religions I've ever been told about requires some degree of faith. And faith quite simply is not a reliable path to the truth.

 

[PureX]

What I've never been able to understand is why anyone who genuinely seeks the truth would follow any religion, since all religions I've ever been told about requires some degree of faith. And faith quite simply is not a reliable path to the truth.

I would say that faith is the ONLY pathway to truth. At least to the only truth that we humans will ever get. Everything else is just a matter of relative functionality.

 

[QuestioningMind]

I would say that faith is the ONLY pathway to truth. At least to the only truth that we humans will ever get. Everything else is just a matter of relative functionality.

I don't see how that's even remotely possible since people can have equally strong faith in completely contradictory concepts.

 

[Salty Booger]

My thoughts are that a religion is a practice or ritual built on the belief in a God or supreme being. It may include rules and dogma on which it is built.