Thread: Define religion
View Single Post
  (#7 (permalink)) Old
ThisWillDestroyYou Offline
Member
I've been here a while
********
 
ThisWillDestroyYou's Avatar
 
Name: Michael
Gender: Male
Location: USA

Posts: 1,026
Points: 16,327, Level: 18
Points: 16,327, Level: 18 Points: 16,327, Level: 18 Points: 16,327, Level: 18
Join Date: July 5th 2011

Re: Define religion - May 11th 2013, 10:58 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yours Truly View Post
Religion = act of worshiping

That's how I see it, anyway.
You'd have to define worshiping if this were the case. People speak, adore, and have reverence towards particular sport players. Would they, then, be classified into a religion?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ghost On The Highway View Post
I agree that the OP's definition is too broad, but I also think yours is too narrow lol. Religion generally explains a mystery that is not well understood. It doesn't have to be the creation of the universe, but in the wake of scientific progress and increased human understanding it does tend to be something "big." Notice that few still worship fertility gods or gods of war (well maybe the latter). I think there also needs to be some sort of attachment or conviction in one's beliefs. If a religion can be discarded when any new evidence is presented it becomes essentially meaningless. Thus science is not really a religion, so to speak, because its hypotheses and theories change when new ideas are proposed and tested.
re·li·gion [ri-lij-uhn] Show IPA
noun
1.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.


"For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love."
- Carl Sagan