What’s in a Name? Part 2
Religion Defined (7 min)
This second part of our series on specific terms (see part 1 here) will cover the concept of religion. A concept that has been notoriously difficult to define and thus far is one that has not had an acceptable, consistently applicable explication. This problem goes back decades and has caused considerable problems in our society. It is actually one of the best examples of why definitions matter because of the impact that it has on our culture. Which include significant legal ramifications. It is far more than just an academic exercise. It literally plays a role in the way our laws are formed and in the narratives people perpetuate in our country.
However, the solution to this is not something that can be covered briefly. While I have what I am certain solves the problem of defining religion properly, it will be fully covered in more detail later. Here I will instead provide a working definition and a shortened summary. Many of my claims rest upon this definition, and it is necessary to make a shortened form accessible before I have the ability to complete the book-length treatment it actually deserves.
The fact that people heavily abuse and twist the term “religion” for self-interested purposes creates the primary need for a starting definition. One of the most obvious examples comes from a very common myth about “non-religion.” There is no such thing as a person without religion. There are no “non-believers” devoid of a religious belief system (expanded upon here). Definitions of religion that create the false distinction between “religious” people and “non-religious” people need to be countered. As this creates an entirely fictitious portrayal of belief systems and leads to a distorted view of the nature of religious beliefs. The main purpose for people using this idea is to create a false impression of neutrality or objectivity. Rather than being an accurate description of their own supposedly “non-religious” beliefs.
That said, what exactly is religion? The short answer is the following: a systematic expression of behavior, meaning, and identity rooted in a worldview and centered on the answers to the question “How do I live my life relative to ultimate truth?” A religion is inextricably tied to an individual’s worldview, both informing and being informed by it. Religions have a structure, but a person’s individual religion need not be coherent or well thought out. Religions represent the outward expression, in a more fleshed-out form, of a worldview. These outward expressions all point towards the transcendent or the “ultimate truth” from which the religious question derives.
Religions can be understood as the other side of the coin of a person’s worldview (covered in part 3 [coming soon!]). A worldview represents the basic understanding and epistemological foundation that someone has in interpreting the world. A person’s religion is built upon that worldview, and becomes the way a person lives in the world. Religions and worldviews tie together inextricably, mutually affecting each other. They are essential for all sentient beings living in this universe and are therefore inescapable.
The longer answer to this question is that religion consists of three major parts. These three parts, each having subcomponents, are the following:
Religious Structure
The entirety of a religious system of conduct and subsequent beliefs. Ultimately, in response to the question, “How do I live my life relative to ultimate truth?” The religious structure is effectively equivalent to what we would call a religion as a whole. “Ultimate truth” is here equivalent to the transcendent and makes up the ultimate (or final) source of truth or answers to the questions asked in both a person’s worldview and the religious principles (mentioned below).
Religious Principles
The answers and principles held in response to the above question. The questions are broken down into three primary categories, followed by four secondary categories. Each of which is listed below. Notably, the categories deal with concepts that are interrelated, and the lines between them can be blurred. Some questions or beliefs can overlap and fit multiple categories simultaneously. The primary categories represent the broad concepts covering everything religion deals with at a fundamental level. It constitutes the three primary types of questions or beliefs that deal with the ultimate question of “How do I live my life relative to ultimate truth?” The secondary categories are the more specific questions and beliefs that start answering the question and describe what exactly the “ultimate truth” is and the way in which the questions made under the primary categories get answered. Religious principles are what underlie religious expression and provide the reasoning for the specific methods of religious expression. It is what links the outwardly visible actions and behavior in religious expression with the fundamental question asked in the religious structure.
Primary Categories:
Teleology
One of the first primary categories of religious principles. This concerns questions of purpose, design, or meaning. Including when answers to this are negative answers (as in a belief that something or person has no purpose, design, or meaning). It also concerns the ultimate end “goal” of things. Regardless of whether this end state/goal is something intentional (such as an intelligent design by a creator) or is merely the inevitable end state (such as the entropic death state of the universe in a purposeless universe without a creator). Including the self, other people, humanity as a whole, groups of people, animals, inanimate objects, the world, or the entirety of the universe. There are various questions that are asked in this regard:
- What is the meaning of life?
- What is my individual purpose?
- Where do I belong in relation to others?
- What is it that decides my purpose?
- Do beings or this world showcase a kind of intelligent design?
Sociology
The primary category of Religious Principles that concerns a person’s relationship with others. Questions of belonging, role, or identity relative to others fit under this category. This would include questions such as the following:
- Who am I relative to others?
- Where do I fit within my society, community, and personal relationships?
- What determines my status and perception by others?
- What roles do I have in regards to my actions towards others?
Normativity
The primary category of religious principles that deal with questions of what “should” be. It regards concepts of “right” or “wrong” and dictates what the ideal state is. Whether that is “correct” or “moral” behavior, what the “right” method of organizing society is, or what the ideal world looks like. The questions involved in this principle include the following:
- How should I behave?
- How should I relate to and interact with others?
- How should this world be?
- How should society be structured?
- Who or what is the authority(ies) that determine what is right versus what is wrong?
Secondary Categories:
Sacred
The sacred is that which has been “set apart” or given significance beyond an object’s purely material or pragmatic properties. This, in so far as it points to, is a part of, or is the source of the transcendent/ultimate truth. Regardless of how the ultimate truth or transcendent is understood. Where the sacred is located and what it points to is one major factor in differentiating different religions and worldviews. For example, Paganism/Neo-paganism refers to religions that locate the sacred within the world (including pantheistic views with the world or universe itself as sacred). Whereas theistic religions locate the sacred as ultimately existing outside the world.
Social Status
A religion’s view of belonging/status has to do with social hierarchy, perception of moral virtue, ranking, and how a person relates to others. It also deals with how restitution and social standing are supposed to be handled in society. In particular, this deals with questions of how a person is perceived in their society or community and the standing or moral authority they have. It involves questions about the roles a person has regarding others and the hierarchy they are involved in. This concept intimately ties to the secondary religious principle of identity, but it revolves around public standing and relationships or perceptions with/from others. Examples include what people often understand as cultures of honor/shame, guilt/innocence, victimhood, or dignity.
Identity
Identity is concerned with who and what one is. It deals with the roles that one has, the nature of self, and how we view ourselves. A person has multiple and overlapping identities that exist in a hierarchy. With higher-order or primary identities having the most importance and secondary, tertiary, quaternary (etc.) identities having decreasing levels of importance and/or permanence. Identities can be immutable or mutable to various degrees.
Problematics
Problematics refers to the understanding of potential problems or issues in this world. They are the obstacles or barriers between us and the transcendent or ideal state as understood via the primary religious principle of normativity. This is the understanding of “evil”, “wrongdoing”, or “sin.” Even if understood as a merely “undesired” state. While normativity asks the question of what things “should” be, problematics is the question of what differentiates this existence from how it “should” be. This includes the “null” answer from a belief that our existence is in fact currently in an ideal state or that no such desired state exists.
Moral Code
The moral code refers to questions of proper behavior and right actions. It is the answer to questions about what a person “should” or “should not” be doing in various situations.
Religious Expression
The outward expression of a religion. This is what one sees and understands as a person’s religion. The previous aspects are the structure that underlies a religion. Religious expression is the praxis of the worldview and religious principles that make up this structure. It consists of the four categories listed below.
Sacraments
Sacraments are sacred acts, objects, and times which have been granted significance through a connection to, and ultimately point towards, what the religion and worldview hold as the transcendent or ultimate truth. There are three main types of sacraments: sacred acts (such as rituals), sacred objects, and sacred times (which include holy days, celebrations, and festivals)
Remediation
The things and actions one takes to remediate the issues highlighted by the religion’s problematics, which act as barriers to the desired end state defined by the transcendent or ultimate truth.
Symbolism
The symbols used to express, communicate, and visually represent the transcendent or ultimate truth or aspects of the religion
Community
The part of religious expression that involves community involvement and a status within that community. Even if the sense of community is minimal or theoretical (a solitary individual). Whereas social status involves the understanding of social ranking and perception, this concerns the actual structure and makeup of the community itself.