DEFINITIONS OF THE WORD "RELIGION" (NONE ARE TOTALLY SATISFYING)
Problems with definitions:
The English word "religion" is derived from the Middle English "religioun" which came from the Old French "religion." It may have been originally derived from the Latin word "religo" which means "good faith," "ritual," and other similar meanings. Or it may have come from the Latin "religãre" which means "to tie fast.
"Defining the word "religion" is fraught with difficulty. All of the definitions that we have encountered contain at least one deficiency.
Some exclude beliefs and practices that many people passionately defend as religious. For example, their definition might include belief in a God or Goddess or combination of Gods and Goddesses who are responsible for the creation of the universe and for its continuing operation. This excludes such non-theistic religions as Buddhism and many forms of religious Satanism which have no such belief.
Some definitions equate "religion" with "Christianity," and thus define two out of every three humans in the world as non-religious.Some definitions are so broadly written that they include beliefs and areas of study that most people do not regard as religious. For example, David Edward's definition would seem to include cosmology and ecology within his definition of religion -- fields of investigation that most people regard to be a scientific studies and non-religious in nature.
Some define "religion" in terms of "the sacred" and/or "the spiritual," and thus require the creation of two more definitions.Sometimes, definitions of "religion" contain more than one deficiency.
A very broad definition of religion: "Religion is any specific system of belief about deity, often involving rituals, a code of ethics, a philosophy of life, and a worldview."
(A worldview is a set of basic, foundational beliefs concerning deity, humanity and the rest of the universe.)
Thus we would consider Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Native American Spirituality, and Neopaganism to be religions.This is interesting. We also include Agnosticism, Atheism, Humanism, Ethical Culture etc. as religions, because they also contain a "belief about deity" -- their belief is that they do not know whether a deity exists, or they have no knowledge of God, or they sincerely believe that God does not exist.
"Religious tolerance is not religious indifference. It consists of valuing the right of another person to hold beliefs that you know absolutely to be wrong."
"Religious tolerance means to refrain from discriminating against others who follow a different religious path. Tolerance is more difficult to maintain when you know that your religion is right and their religion is wrong.
"To many religious conservatives, a religiously tolerant person must accept the concept of pluralism -- that all religions are equally true. Most find this totally objectionable.
To most religious moderates, religious liberals and secularists, a religiously tolerant person simply allows others to pursue their own religious beliefs and practices freely, without discrimination or oppression. This includes the freedom to change one's own religion, to assemble with other believers, and to proselytize others. Most find this a badly needed addition to culture.
We use the second definition on this web site. Unfortunately, this means that some religious conservatives will find this section difficult to understand. Our site receives many angry Emails for this reason.We are tolerant of people's theological beliefs. We advocate that others be tolerant as well.
We are critical of actions which harm people. We advocate that others be similarly critical.
Unfortunately, the concept "actions which harm people" is not well defined. It leads to a question whether it is acceptable, and even preferable, to harm a few individuals in order to avoid a larger harm to the society as a whole.
Religious tolerance does not require you to accept other religions as true.
Religious tolerance does not mean that you cannot compare one religion with another, or compare religion with a secular belief system, or analyze the scientific claims of a religion.
Religious tolerance does not necessarily mean religious indifference.
We feel that the world would be a much better place in which to live if everyone were religiously tolerant. Civil unrest, mass murder, and genocide would be greatly reduced. However, tolerance is only the first step towards actively enjoying the diversity that other faith groups contribute to a society. Unfortunately, it is a step that many people have yet to take.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/rel_defn.htm
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