Food For Thought

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

... and you think you are proficient in ENGLISH!

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.

As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.

The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k".

This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f".

This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.

Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza.

Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas. If zis mad you smil, pleas pas on to oza pepl.

Emily Dickinson

I KNOW some lonely houses off the road
A robber ’d like the look of,—
Wooden barred,
And windows hanging low,
Inviting to
A portico,

Where two could creep:
One hand the tools,
The other peep
To make sure all ’s asleep.
Old-fashioned eyes,
Not easy to surprise!

How orderly the kitchen ’d look by night,
With just a clock,—
But they could gag the tick,
And mice won’t bark;
And so the walls don’t tell,
None will.

A pair of spectacles ajar just stir—
An almanac’s aware.
Was it the mat winked,
Or a nervous star?
The moon slides down the stair
To see who ’s there.

There ’s plunder,—where?
Tankard, or spoon,
Earring, or stone,
A watch, some ancient brooch
To match the grandmamma,
Staid sleeping there.

Day rattles, too,
Stealth ’s slow;
The sun has got as far
As the third sycamore.
Screams chanticleer,
“Who ’s there?”

And echoes, trains away,
Sneer—“Where?”
While the old couple, just astir,
Think that the sunrise left the door ajar!

TO fight aloud is very brave,
But gallanter, I know,
Who charge within the bosom,
The cavalry of woe.

Who win, and nations do not see,
Who fall, and none observe,
Whose dying eyes no country
Regards with patriot love.

We trust, in plumed procession,
For such the angels go,
Rank after rank, with even feet
And uniforms of snow.

Emily Dickinson: Life

IF I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

What interested scholars most,
What competitions ran
When Plato was a certainty,
And Sophocles a man;
Expound the skies