| | ::::[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 08:46, 11 September 2007 (EDT) | | ::::[[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 08:46, 11 September 2007 (EDT) |
| | :::::Just because some lump everything together, doesn't mean that we have to do it. Sure you could call atheism and agnosticism religion, under a very broad definition. And a core belief doesn't make a religion, although the word 'religious' is sometimes used to refer to groups with a core belief. The member of a Harley Davidson have to core belief that Harleys are the best motorbikes, Steeler fans believe that the Steelers are maybe not the best but the greatest team, environmentalists base their actions on the belief that the earth warms up, and weight watchers have the core belief that you should eat three servings of fruit a day. But an actual religion is more than that, and ideally matches a few of the definitions, not just one if we stretch the definition. It is a good start to distinguish between the different kind the use of the word "religion" and "religious". [[User:Order|Order]] 19:48, 11 September 2007 (EDT) | | :::::Just because some lump everything together, doesn't mean that we have to do it. Sure you could call atheism and agnosticism religion, under a very broad definition. And a core belief doesn't make a religion, although the word 'religious' is sometimes used to refer to groups with a core belief. The member of a Harley Davidson have to core belief that Harleys are the best motorbikes, Steeler fans believe that the Steelers are maybe not the best but the greatest team, environmentalists base their actions on the belief that the earth warms up, and weight watchers have the core belief that you should eat three servings of fruit a day. But an actual religion is more than that, and ideally matches a few of the definitions, not just one if we stretch the definition. It is a good start to distinguish between the different kind the use of the word "religion" and "religious". [[User:Order|Order]] 19:48, 11 September 2007 (EDT) |
| | + | :::::: And just because some don't count atheistic views as religions doesn't mean that we have to go along with that. If a core belief doesn't make a religion, what does? And why? Some bikies might believe that Harleys are the best motorbikes, but how does that count as a "core belief"? The same applies to most of the other examples. Environmentalists don't base their actions on the belief that the Earth warms up, but on the belief that the environment is more important that mankind. (Before global warming was an issue, there were still environmentalists.) And I've seen environmentalist beliefs referred to as a religion. Yes, true religion is more than those superficial examples that you gave, which is why the definition refers to "core beliefs" and not just "beliefs". [[User:Philip J. Rayment|Philip J. Rayment]] 09:50, 16 September 2007 (EDT) |