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I think the mistake is to conflate "religion" with "Abrahamic religions". In my opinion, a religion is characterized solely by an act of worship that has a supe

by Iv 10y ago

I think the mistake is to conflate "religion" with "Abrahamic religions". In my opinion, a religion is characterized solely by an act of worship that has a supernatural justification. > with their jealous God Does not even describe what many catholics actually believe. Does ignore polytheist and atheist religion. > define clear in-groups and out-groups Living in Japan, I was surprised to discover that religion is not considered exclusive. A lot of people go both to Shinto places and Buddhist places here. And that's ok. They also don't mind when tourists come to say hello to a kami. It is not disrespectful as it would be in a christian church. > Personally, I think religion is a fine word for this. Well it is called "Abrahamic religion". Buddhism and arguably taoism are atheist religion. Sikhism, hiduism (and even some forms of islam) recognize some other religions as being on the good path. Asking every religion to have the same characteristics as abrahamic religions is a bit like saying that a language that do not use latin characters is not really a language.

barrkel 10y ago
Well, Green ideology (environmentalism, recycling etc.) is also a religion IMO. It has rituals, it has targets of hate and love, it has a promise of salvation and a threat of doom, it requires daily sacrifices of convenience to follow, etc. Whereas if you're very loose about what you think is religion, you can't use the word by analogy any more. Any old ritual might be described as a religion. A morning commute might be a religion. I think that's too dry.
- Iv 10y ago
  Try the definition I gave: "An ideology that requires acts of worship that have supernatural justifications". Some ecologists are indeed close to having a religion. If you recycle your trash to help your own self-sustainability, it is not an action that has a natural justification. If you light some candles on the crescent moon to help the harvest, yes, you are acting religiously. > Any old ritual might be described as a religion Depends on the justification. Do you do that because of nostalgia or because of habit? Not religion. Do you do it because you think the ley lines will feed you energy for the day? Religion. > A morning commute might be a religion Are you doing your morning commute because you want a salary by the end of the moon (not a religion) or because you think that commute helps prevent the Ragnarok (religion)? This is not an analogy, this is a pretty well-defined notion. And you need a wide encompassing definition if you want to be inclusive to all the religions usually recognized in the world. Jealous god, covenant and hell, these are far too restrictive christian-centric (protestant-centric actually) criterion, and would exclude the religion of at least a billion of believers.

by Iv 10y ago

barrkel 10y ago

Well, Green ideology (environmentalism, recycling etc.) is also a religion IMO. It has rituals, it has targets of hate and love, it has a promise of salvation and a threat of doom, it requires daily sacrifices of convenience to follow, etc. Whereas if you're very loose about what you think is religion, you can't use the word by analogy any more. Any old ritual might be described as a religion. A morning commute might be a religion. I think that's too dry.

Iv 10y ago
Try the definition I gave: "An ideology that requires acts of worship that have supernatural justifications". Some ecologists are indeed close to having a religion. If you recycle your trash to help your own self-sustainability, it is not an action that has a natural justification. If you light some candles on the crescent moon to help the harvest, yes, you are acting religiously. > Any old ritual might be described as a religion Depends on the justification. Do you do that because of nostalgia or because of habit? Not religion. Do you do it because you think the ley lines will feed you energy for the day? Religion. > A morning commute might be a religion Are you doing your morning commute because you want a salary by the end of the moon (not a religion) or because you think that commute helps prevent the Ragnarok (religion)? This is not an analogy, this is a pretty well-defined notion. And you need a wide encompassing definition if you want to be inclusive to all the religions usually recognized in the world. Jealous god, covenant and hell, these are far too restrictive christian-centric (protestant-centric actually) criterion, and would exclude the religion of at least a billion of believers.