Religion
In reply to the discussion: OR couple whose daughter died untreated wants faith-healing beliefs kept from jury [View all]Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)- One advocates murdering gay people
- One doesn't want women talking in church
- One has lesbian ministers
- One says slavery is OK
- One has congregants who are all Black and definitely NOT cool with slavery
- One has magic underwear
- One believes in speaking in tongues
- One believes speaking in tongues is actually a sign of demonic possession
- One doesn't believe in demons
- One is hip deep in icons
- One views icons as idolatry
- One says the Bible (the King James edition) is the literal word of god
- One says the Bible (fill in your favorite edition here) is the literal word of god
- One says the Bible (whatever edition) is the word of god via metaphor and allegory
- One says that in order to understand the word of god you have to read scripture in the original language
- One says that a, b, and c are not true books of the Bible, but x, y and z are.
- One says that x, y, and z are not true books of the Bible, but a, b and c are.
- One says the sun revolves around the Earth
- One says the Earth revolves around the Sun
- One says whacking it will send you to Hell
- One says whacking it is fine
- One believes that to be Christian you must follow the Ten Commandments, to the letter.
- One believes that the books of the Old Testament are irrelevant to followers of Christ
And on, and on, and on.
All people claiming to be Christian, all claiming to worship the same god, but having contradictory viewpoints, rules and ethics.
So, I am back to my dictionary definition of religion:
Each of these groups of people are worshiping a different god with different rules, ceremonies and ethos, thus they are different religions.
I would state that you are using a theological definition of "religion" which fits your criteria, but the standard dictionary definition supports mine.
For example, for certain definitions of the term, "Gold Wing Riders" and "Hells' Angels" are both "motorcycle gangs". The two groups in question would have very different views on the definition and whether it applies to each other or not.