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Michael York of Bath Spa University College, Bath, UK defines religion as: |
"A shared positing of the identity of and relationship between the world, humanity and the supernatural in terms of meaning assignment, value allocation and validation enactment. A religion need not accept or believe in the supernatural, but it takes a position on. Likewise, some religions deny the reality or at least value of the world, but they still take a position."
We feel that York's definition is one of the most inclusive found to date.
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John D. Barrow is an English cosmologist, theoretical physicist, mathematician and Research Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge: |
"If a 'religion' is defined to be a system of ideas that contains unprovable statements, then Gödel taught us that mathematics is not only a religion, it is the only religion that can prove itself to be one."
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David Edwards, author of Free to be Human defines religion as: |
"The sum total of answers we give to the problem of our relationship with the universe, we call religion."
However, this definition contains an element of controversy, because it implies that religions, and thus perhaps deity/deities, are created by humanity and not the reverse. A less contentious meaning might be:
"The sum total of answers to the problem of our relationship with the universe, we call religion."
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Bruce D. Aikin 9 commented: |
" 'There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion'. (The Naval Treaty) "
"The word 'religion' comes from the same root as the word 'ligament.' Ligaments connect muscles to bones. So the root word means, 'to connect, to bind, to tie together.' 10 "Religion' literally means, 'continuously tying it all together.' Is it not therefore, an obvious deduction that that which is supposed to help us tie it all together should not be used to tear us apart?"
"In The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran, 11 Almustafa, a wise and gentle teacher is about to leave the city where he has lived for twelve years and return home. The people of the city gather and ask his final advice on many topics: Love, Marriage, Giving, Joy and Sorrow, and a number of others. Near the end, a priest asks him to speak of Religion; he says, 'Have I spoken this day of aught else? Is not religion all deeds and all reflection…?' Or to phrase it less poetically, '"all actions and all thought',"
"If we use this idea, we can further define 'religion' as: 'the psychological process which continuously reconnects what we know and what we believe to our thoughts and actions.' This definition is neutral; it does not differentiate between good and bad. It is up to us to make our religion good."
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
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Irving Hexham, "By Religion I Mean...," at:
http://people.ucalgary.ca/
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H.L. Mencken, "Treatise on the Gods," Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, (1930). Read reviews of a revised copy or order it safely from Amazon.com online book store
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A summary of postings on alt.memetics is at:
http://virus.lucifer.com/
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Clifford Geertz, "The Interpretation of Cultures," Basic Books, (1973), Page 90.
- Joel Elliott, slide set on "Defining Religion," at: http://www.unc.edu/
- David Carpenter of Saint Joseph's University has a list of definitions at: http://www.sju.edu/
- Don Swenson, "Society, Spirituality, and the Sacred: A Social Scientific Introduction," Broadview Press, (1999-JAN).
- Joel Elliott, slide set on "Defining Religion," at: http://www.unc.edu/
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Bruce D. Aikin from a paper delivered during 2002 in Toronto ON to The Sherlock Holmes Society of Canada.
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Celia A. Hahn, "Lay Voices in an open church," (1985) The Alban Institute, Inc. Page 56 . Ms. Hahn originally gave the definition as "tying-it-all-together.' Bruce Aikin wrote and asked her if it would be a good idea to add "continuously' to the definition and she agreed.
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Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet. Alfred A. Knopf. 1923. Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
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Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2016-FEB-13
Compiler: B.A. Robinson
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