What is a religion?

[Echogem222]

I'm curious what you all think given there's no academically agreed upon definition of the word "religion" as explained in this video:

By the way, I define worship as belief in some type of belief system which is expressed outwardly, and prayer as belief in some type of belief system expressed inwardly. So prayer could be seen as some type of meditation done by 1 person alone, and worship could be seen as someone teaching others of their religion, or some other act expressed to others (like creating art for others to see which is tied to that person's belief system).

 

[Nakosis]

It usually involves a formalize standard of worship of something.
Gods and supernatural beliefs are usually involved but not necessarily.

You can worship the self. You can worship money. You can worship football, etc... You just need to formalize the practice of your worship.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I voted "all of the above," "a theist or atheist belief system," and "other (please explain)."

A religion is a system of beliefs regarding the nature of being and the nature of the cosmos combined with attitudes and practices surrounding those beliefs.

I will also qualify my vote and response with saying that atheism in and of itself is not a religion, but one can be atheist and still be a member of a religion.

 

[1213]

I'm curious what you all think given there's no academically agreed upon definition of the word "religion" ...

I think religion is something that people do or have religiously (scrupulously).

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Yi-Fu Tuan suggests that religion is the search for meaning and placedness.