Difference between revisions of "What is a religion?"

From TheAlmightyGuru
Jump to: navigation, search
(What Isn't a Religion)
Line 42: Line 42:
 
* [[Is atheism a religion?|Atheism]] - Lacks all four.
 
* [[Is atheism a religion?|Atheism]] - Lacks all four.
 
* [[New age]] - Has ritual, expected beliefs, and faith in the supernatural, but lacks structure.
 
* [[New age]] - Has ritual, expected beliefs, and faith in the supernatural, but lacks structure.
* [[Politics|Political beliefs]] - Democratic republicanism, liberalism, socialism and the like have structure and expected behaviors, you could even argue ritual, but they lack faith in the supernatural. However, some of the more extreme forms of fascism effectively require a supernatural faith in the powers of the State.
+
* [[Politics|Political partys]] - Democrats, Republicans, Torys, Socialists, and the like have structure and expected behaviors, you could even argue ritual, but they lack faith in the supernatural. However, some of the more extreme Fascists effectively require a supernatural faith in the leaders of the State.
 
* [[Secular humanism]] - Lacks ritual and supernatural beliefs.
 
* [[Secular humanism]] - Lacks ritual and supernatural beliefs.
  

Revision as of 09:25, 16 April 2019

The question, what is a religion, is answered differently by many different people. This is my attempt to define religion in a way that both fits with the modern understanding of the concept, while also trying to be as objective and non-arbitrary as possible. My current definition can be worded as follows:

A religion is a structure of rituals, expected behaviors, and faith in the super natural.

Below I describe the four elements I believe are necessary for a religion, and things that may seem like a religion, but don't meet this definition.

Necessary Elements

To reach this conclusion, I tried to tease out the necessary elements of things traditionally described as religions. I don't think it is possible to call something a religion unless it is structured, has rituals, expected behaviors, and faith in the supernatural. There can be all sorts of additional aspects, but these four elements must be present. Below I describe each element in detail.

Structure

All religions are structured. That is, they have systematic and ordered flow. This is the bureaucracy that holds the religion together and ensures that the rituals, expected behaviors, and faith in the supernatural are all essentially the same for everyone in the religion. They usually feature a hierarchical power structure which guides the religion and makes rulings on which rituals, behaviors, and beliefs are "canon." Some religions are extremely structured (in Catholicism, the Vatican has detailed their official position on pretty much everything), while others are much less structured (Quakers have a limited structure). When there is a big enough disagreement to the system inside a religion, you get a schism and the religion splits in two.

Religions have to be systematic or you get what people often call "spiritual, but not religious." That is, they still perform rituals, have expected behaviors, and have faith in the supernatural, but there is no way to check to see if anything they're doing is "proper," so everything quickly becomes muddled and the rituals, behaviors, and faiths become inconsistent and contradictory. Imagine what would happen to Catholicism is the Vatican suddenly eliminated all church hierarchy and said all beliefs are equally valid.

Rituals

All religions have rituals. These can include gatherings, ceremonies, songs, dances, gestures, chants, sayings, and the like. These are preformed during major life events like birth, coming of age, marriage, and death, as well as during daily events like waking up, meals, and going to sleep, and during events directly related to the religion itself like joining the religion, entering a place of worship, or being kicked out of the religion. Rituals serve as a constant reaffirmation of the follower's adherence to the religion and give them a sense of belonging.

Religions have to have rituals because they anchor the religion in a daily life of the adherent. If Muslims eliminated declarations of faith, daily prayers, weddings, funerals, Ramadan, mosque gatherings, pilgrimages to Mecca, and everything else, the religion would quickly evaporate. In fact, I can't even think of an organization that is structured, has expected behaviors, and faith in the supernatural, but doesn't also have rituals.

Expected Behaviors

All religions have behaviors that are expected to be followed. Religions refer to their expected behaviors as morality and view anyone not following the expected behaviors as sinful, heretical, blasphemous, immoral, etc. These behaviors are originally rooted in the religion's scripture and traditions, but their interpretation slowly shifts to better fit the culture at large (though usually lagging behind). The expected behaviors invariably require adherence to the structure, ritual, and faith supernatural of the religion, but they also include common societal norms (no murder, rape, theft, etc.), and varied archaic behaviors based on the parochial beliefs of the people who founded the religion.

Religions have to have expected behaviors because they prevent adherents from challenging the system, rituals, and faith. If there were a structure with rituals and faith, but with no way to rebuke unwanted behavior, it would fall apart. How long would Mormonism last if believers were no longer discouraged accepting the historical consensus of their religion, wearing normal underwear, and seeking evidence for their faith in the supernatural?

Faith In the supernatural

All religions have faith in the supernatural. This means adherents believe in the supernatural without credible evidence, and often in spite of contradictory evidence. The faith is usually in gods and souls as well as various "evil" supernatural entities like devils and demons. Most religions have faith in gods, but several Eastern religions have only various types of souls and spirits. Some cultures, like North Korea, claim to be non-religious and lack faith in the supernatural, but, in reality, they have faith that their leader has supernatural powers.

Religions have to have faith in the supernatural because it serves as the religion's foundation. of the structure, rituals, and expected behaviors. By its very definition, faith in the supernatural cannot be verified, which is what allows religions to continue to function long after many of their non-supernatural claims have been demonstrated to be wrong.

Unnecessary Elements

There are many other elements that are often argued to be necessary for something to be a religion. To determine which are necessary, I try to think of what the belief system would be like if you eliminated the element in question. Would it still be a religion?

Worship

Although worship is extremely common in religions, it is not necessary. Many Eastern religions do not have gods, and, while they honor and respect the founders of their religions, do not worship them. Buddhism, for example, still has structure, rituals, expected behaviors, and faith in the supernatural, even though Buddhists don't worship Gautama Buddha (although some sects do). Imagine if Christians stopped worshiping Jesus. They would still pray, go to church, celebrate holidays, follow the ten commandments, believe that Jesus performed miracles and was a good teacher, etc.

Prayer

Prayer, meditation, and the like are common to most religions, but not necessary. Even if Christians stopped praying, they would still follow the bulk of the New Testament, have a church structure, have holidays, believe Jesus performed miracles, etc.

What Isn't a Religion

Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism have all four of the necessary elements and are therefore religions by my definition. The following concepts are often called religions, but are missing one or more of my necessary elements, thereby preventing them from being a religion.

  • Atheism - Lacks all four.
  • New age - Has ritual, expected beliefs, and faith in the supernatural, but lacks structure.
  • Political partys - Democrats, Republicans, Torys, Socialists, and the like have structure and expected behaviors, you could even argue ritual, but they lack faith in the supernatural. However, some of the more extreme Fascists effectively require a supernatural faith in the leaders of the State.
  • Secular humanism - Lacks ritual and supernatural beliefs.

Links

Link-Wikipedia.png