Please Define "Religion"

[Koldo]

In the interest of not derailing Please Define "Spiritual", I'm starting a new thread on how one defines "religion."

It was suggested in that thread that there are different understandings of what "religion" means. I want to put that to the test here.

Please provide your understanding of what the word "religion" means.

A set of positive/affirmative beliefs about the supernatural with influence on how one ought to behave.

 

[Samael_Khan]

In the interest of not derailing Please Define "Spiritual", I'm starting a new thread on how one defines "religion."

It was suggested in that thread that there are different understandings of what "religion" means. I want to put that to the test here.

Please provide your understanding of what the word "religion" means.

To me, religion is simply spiritual beliefs shared by a community that involves ritualistic practices.

 

[blü 2]

In the interest of not derailing Please Define "Spiritual", I'm starting a new thread on how one defines "religion."

It was suggested in that thread that there are different understandings of what "religion" means. I want to put that to the test here.

Please provide your understanding of what the word "religion" means.

By the middle ages 'religion' meant the way of life of someone who's taken the oaths to join a particular religious house.

And shortly after that, what I'd consider the underlying modern meaning, conduct or action indicating belief in, reverence for, and desire to please a divine ruling power.

I'd add that this may be customarily expressed by assemblies with like-minded folk for this purpose, and a sense of community with and respect for those folk, and that a religion was thus an example of this kind of group belief and behavior.

(Of course, these days, functionally, religion is whatever your tax accountant tells you it is.)

 

[Sedim Haba]

In the interest of not derailing Please Define "Spiritual", I'm starting a new thread on how one defines "religion."

It was suggested in that thread that there are different understandings of what "religion" means. I want to put that to the test here.

Please provide your understanding of what the word "religion" means.

Religion is a social construct. In contrast, Spiritual is a personal journey.
Which may or may not be realized within the social construct of Religion.

I have no Religion. Also no real social interaction beyond immediate family.
I have a spiritual journey, constructed not by society, but by myself from Torah.
It is mine, and I feel no need to share it no more than I feel the need to 'socialize'.

 

[Augustus]

Religion is a story (myth) or series of stories that create meaning and/or links us to something larger than the self. The story is reinforced with ritual and/or some form of public signalling that one is a member of this (formal or informal/implicit) community.

This includes plenty of "secular" ideologies/worldviews that are not generally seen as religion, from Marxism, to Secular Humanism to critical social justice to nationalisms etc.

Pretty much everyone is religious in this sense. The idea that there are clearly defined "secular" and "religious" realms is mostly a Christian (and post-Christian) myth.

 

[Altfish]

A scam by corrupted clergy who dress in sheep's clothing but inside are ravenous wolves .
- Acts of the Apostles 20:29-30
Or, as Jesus indicated that MANY would prove false at Matthew 7:21-23

Does that mean the Vatican is a scam?

 

[Secret Chief]

This includes plenty of "secular" ideologies/worldviews that are not generally seen as religion, from Marxism, to Secular Humanism to critical social justice to nationalisms etc.

Now you've done it.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

The Australian didgeridoos-ers

Being generous and glossing over the rest, could you perhaps refer to an entire peoples less dismissively via "Aboriginal Australians" or even "Indigenous Australians"? The above is just... incredibly dismissive and racist.

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To the topic, Religion is nothing more than a structured and organized system of worship centered around a community, rather than the individual, and are typically characterized by doctrine and dogma, as well as an annual calendar of observances and holy days.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

In the interest of not derailing Please Define "Spiritual", I'm starting a new thread on how one defines "religion."

It was suggested in that thread that there are different understandings of what "religion" means. I want to put that to the test here.

Please provide your understanding of what the word "religion" means.

Approach #1: a community of shared belief and practice, usually - but not always - centered around a deity or deities.

Approach #2: a class of organization that gets, and whose members get, preferential tax treatment, but where the organization doesn't meet the normal criteria to be classified as a political party or secular charity/not-for-profit.

 

[amorphous_constellation]

Well I think you might roughly think of it as a tool, that can do something socially powerful, and spiritually powerful. It can send people in a number of directions. You might define it as a an extra-cognitive construct, but it is trying to answer questions you would have even if it wasn't there. It is a management tool than can help give answers, even if they aren't 100% accurate. And I think that maybe most of all, it seems to insist that humans be humble toward something, anything, that is above them

 

[MikeF]

In the interest of not derailing Please Define "Spiritual", I'm starting a new thread on how one defines "religion."

It was suggested in that thread that there are different understandings of what "religion" means. I want to put that to the test here.

Please provide your understanding of what the word "religion" means.

Religion - A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the cosmos, with manifestations of existence not bound by physical laws, which may include the existence of agencies not bound by physical laws, and such beliefs are held as true by Faith and do not require empirical verification.

 

[MikeF]

Pretty much anything.

Anything with a motivational, inspirational, ideological, behavioral or social role can be called a "religion". And very often they have been.

Of course, it is a rare person who uses such a broad definition - not least because it is indeed too broad to be very useful.

Most people adopt instead one (or several) more restrictive definitions, which converge far less often than one might expect or realize.

A big part of it, clearly and obviously enough, is the willingness to either acknowledge certain movements as religions or to instead refuse them such acknowledgement.

Being a vocal skeptic and atheist in social circles that tend to go to the extremes regarding the concept - either giving it a free pass for everything or instead deciding that it is consistently a negative influence - I have learned to pay attention to the variety and to attempt to contextualize any uses that I start myself.

When I do, I usually restrict the word to overall positive movements (I have little desire to spend much time with negative ones) or qualify my statement with some sort of adjective, most often "Abrahamic". That is not to imply that I generally validate the Abrahamic creeds; I do not.

I think this is a great point regarding the use of language. The meaning of a particular word or label is that which is generally agreed to for ease of communication. One way to then to gauge what the prevailing consensus is, would be to look at examples of how the word is most often being used in context.

I think one motivation to expand the definition of religion well beyond its conventional use, to essentially permit the word to refer to anything, is as a way of defending one particular belief system or set of beliefs systems by equating all beliefs systems, that any merit or fault of any one system can and should be applied to all. In essence, if you criticize my belief, you are only criticizing yourself.

I think it is very important to compare and contrast any and all belief systems, a means of better understanding why we create them and the different roles they play in the human experience. However, it is also ok to differentiate and group beliefs in a variety of ways and provide appropriate labels to those categories when one wishes to reference them specifically. For that reason, I do not agree that the word religion should simply mean a belief about anything and everything.

 

[MikeF]

[QUOTE="SalixIncendium, post: 7917787, Please provide your understanding of what the word "religion" means.

My understanding of what the word "religion' means is defined at James 1:27
To look after orphans and widows in their time of affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
Just as Jesus was 'neutral' in world affairs so would his followers be the same.
Religion means "worship" as Jesus taught at John 4:23-24 to worship his God with spirit and truth.
Religious truth as Jesus taught from Scripture - John 17:17
With ' spirit ' as to have an active worship.
As a pep rally is designed to create school spirit, the Bible creates a spiritual life style.
As a high-spirited horse is active so would Jesus' followers be active in both practical and spiritual ways.
Showing practical love as the neighborly good Samaritan did.
Showing spiritual love by cultivating the frutiage of God's spirit as listed at Galatians 5:22-23.[/QUOTE]

So, for clarification, religion refers specifically to the beliefs and practices of Christianity? Would that be all Christian denominations, or a specific one?

If so, this seems quite a narrow definition or meaning to what I've generally seen.

 

[MikeF]

God stuff. Done collectively. Sometimes with songs. And incense. Bells are good.

Not always with God, actually. But mostly.

Is the category or label 'religion' restricted to monotheistic beliefs?

 

[MikeF]

Put simply, religion defines the commitment to a regular practice like taking medicine "religiously".

So, if I do not work out regularly I'm not being religious? If I do not attend mosque regularly or pray as prescribed but believe in Allah, am I not to be considered religious?

 

[MikeF]

An easy to use conduit for whatever your aim is?.

Then a Bic pen with the ink stem removed to shoot spit balls, an easy to use conduit for aiming spit balls, is that Religion?

 

[dybmh]

So, if I do not work out regularly I'm not being religious? If I do not attend mosque regularly or pray as prescribed but believe in Allah, am I not to be considered religious?

Right. My definition, my rules.

If you don't work out regularly, then excercise for you is not a religion. Someone who believes in Allah but is inconsistent or completely negligent in the practice of Islam is not religious. They are "spiritual" or "a believer", but if they don't walk the talk, I don't view them as religious.

 

[MikeF]

Essential: Dharma (Duties)
Optional: All the rest, whom to worship, the way to worship, worship to what end or not to worship (in my case).

So, if there is no supernatural elements, a sense of duty to perform ones job well would be a Religion? Why make Religion synonymous with duty when we can simply say duty?

 

[MikeF]

Religion is a story (myth) or series of stories that create meaning and/or links us to something larger than the self. The story is reinforced with ritual and/or some form of public signalling that one is a member of this (formal or informal/implicit) community.

This includes plenty of "secular" ideologies/worldviews that are not generally seen as religion, from Marxism, to Secular Humanism to critical social justice to nationalisms etc.

Pretty much everyone is religious in this sense. The idea that there are clearly defined "secular" and "religious" realms is mostly a Christian (and post-Christian) myth.

The fact that you recognize and use terms like secular and religious signals to me that there is something there that can be differentiated, and as such, it is perfectly fine to differentiate. Secular and religious beliefs may share properties and characteristics, however, if there are elements that are not shared it is appropriate to make a distinction and create the separate categories. Just as we can distinguish Marxism from Secular Humanism, from Nationalism, etc, we can distinguish Religion from things we consider not-Religion.

You refer to Religion as myth and imply secular ideologies are also myth. I would push back on this. We create many abstract social constructs and conventions, but to my mind and as is seen in common usage, we do not treat the word myth as being synonymous with abstract social construct. An example would be the abstract construct of money in which pieces of metal and paper are agreed to represent certain monetary values. This abstract system of money is not a myth. Myth would refer to a different kind of abstract social construction with different elements and role in society.

 

[MikeF]

Right. My definition, my rules.

If you don't work out regularly, then excercise for you is not a religion. Someone who believes in Allah but is inconsistent or completely negligent in the practice of Islam is not religious. They are "spiritual" or "a believer", but if they don't walk the talk, I don't view them as religious.

Certainly, you may define any word in any way you see fit. I would only suggest that language becomes more useful and efficient when we collectively come to some agreement on what the words we use mean.