What Does 'Religion' Mean?

[cbayer]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-laderman/what-does-religion-mean_b_3362228.html

Gary Laderman
Chair of the Department of Religion, Emory University

Posted: 06/08/2013 5:54 am

Can anyone tell me just what definition of the word religion is being used in the media these days? In the past, public use of the word was easy to identify: "religion" meant "belief in God" and, in general, was used to refer to the one true religion, Christianity. Today, "religion" can mean anything at all, from the most personal and intimate spirituality for the individual to the most diffuse cultural activity in any given society.

A new Gallup poll is declaring that according to a large majority of Americans religion is losing its influence in society, a perception this study and all the media coverage emphasize is not related to measures of personal religiosity such as church attendance or self-reports about the importance of religion. This news is on the heels of the now-familiar religion media story about the rise of the "nones" in American society, individuals who are not affiliated with any religion at all.

While survey results and pie charts are supposed to provide a clearer picture of a particular question or phenomenon, in the case of religion this data seem to be creating more distortion and confusion than enlightenment and insight. Some obvious questions come to mind when confronted with these recent polls concerning religion in America: Are there other measures for religious commitment than church attendance and self-reporting on a scale of importance? Is it more accurate to say that Americans perceive Christianity as losing its influence than religion in general? Can people who don't affiliate with any religious institution or didn't choose one of the available religious identities on the questionnaire still be religious?

On the other hand, and in the very same week, you have the publication of a Forbes article that asks, "Is Religion an Essential Driver of Economic Growth?" It offers a preview of an interview with Peter Berger, a well-known sociologist of religion who wrote one of the classics in the field, "The Sacred Canopy," and suggests the boundaries between religious orientations and cultural development are porous and historically determined. Focus is placed on another classic in the study of religion, Max Weber's "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," which argues that certain elements of the Protestant "lifestyle," like worldly asceticism, contributed to the emergence of modern capitalism.

more at link

[rrneck]

1. Belief in God is losing importance in society. Religion is more popular than ever. nt

[cbayer]

4. Interesting take.

The article talks about "religion" being used to describe things outside of areas concerned with deities.

[rug]

2. The Latin religio means reverence, awe, or consciousness of the divine.

[cbayer]

5. But can something be divine and not related to a deity?

[rug]

7. Technically, no.

Still, people uniformly respond to notions of something or some things greater, something more, be that patriotism, altruism, or any number of ideologies. And then in response to that, people often act in ways that are objectively irrational, acting in accord with that value. So, you cannot have divinity without a deity but you can have religious behavior without divinity.

IMO.

[cbayer]

10. I see your point and I think that is the basic point of the argument.

There will be, of course, disagreement about the definition of religion, but it doe seem to have become more generalized.

[immoderate]

3. "Religion" has many meanings, creating fertile ground for equivocators.

--imm

[cbayer]

6. I think that's the point of the article.

Religion is being used more generally and losing it's strong attachment to issues of theism.

[immoderate]

8. To what extent is that due to theists, who insist atheism is a religion?

--imm

[cbayer]

9. I have heard that argument made by both theists and atheists.

It all depends on how one defines religion. Some say football is a religion to them. In the article, someone says surfing is a religion to them.

The question is this - should (or does) the term only refer to issues of a deity or can (does) it apply to other things as well?

[immoderate]

11. The problem comes when you have to check off your "religious beliefs."

And the confusion comes from misinterpreting the meaning of the "null set."

--imm

[cbayer]

12. Isn't atheism often included when questions about religious beliefs are asked?

It might be important to distinguish the "nones" (no religious affiliation) from atheism in some settings.

[immoderate]

13. Right. It's often included in the checklist as a religion.

And that leads to some anomaly. Even replacing it with "none" is a problem, because it becomes a category, rather than a non-category.


--imm

[dimbear]

14. Is Religion an Essential Driver of Economic Growth?

It's a trifle to answer that with a loud no. China. Growing gangbusters. Not much taste for religion. Compare India. Compare Bangladesh. QED.