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Journal insanecarbonbasedlif's Journal: [Religion] What is religion? (a quote) 16

Journal by insanecarbonbasedlif
I watched a video of a debate between Christopher Hitchens and Al Sharpton, and ran across this interesting quote:

Well, religion is not the belief that there is a god, after all, religion is the belief that god tells you what to do.

Christopher Hitchens (at the 49 minute 48 second mark)

Can't say I knew much about Hitchens before today, but I agree with this definition completely (I know that it's not a dictionary definition, but its a working definition I can get behind). This clarifies in my mind why (as was debated in response to a previous journal entry of mine, though my entry was not about this) I can't view atheism as a religion (though I don't particularly care if others do - I just don't think it clarifies anything about an atheist at all).

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[Religion] What is religion? (a quote) More

[Religion] What is religion? (a quote)

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  • That works for some religions but not all. I'd say religion is human activity focused around supernatural beliefs - which would also exclude atheism.

    • I think that's a pretty good working definition as well - though I'm not sure that I want to classify ghost hunters as religious, per se...

      • That's an interesting point - though unless they have some purely scientific approach that ghosts are some sort of physical phenomenon, then there would have to be some sort of 'religious' underpinning to what they are doing, in a way.

        Religion is such a very broad word - and for many people doesn't include any concept of a deity that communicates with man.

        That said, I usually tend to talk about world-views which is an even broader term than religion, includes atheism, and avoids some of the baggage that th

  • Moo (Score:1)

    by Chacham ( 981 )

    Why does it have to be a deity tells you what to do? Why not some body that decides to live a certain way, and demands that all adherents follow them? Otherwise, i don't believe Reform Judaism would qualify as a religion either.

    • I do believe it provides a marker of differentiation between Reform Judaism and other religions, but the fact that Reform Judaism promotes monotheism, and bases the rules for the adherents to follow on that monotheistic belief feels like it qualifies as a religion under Christopher Hitchens' definition.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Chacham ( 981 )

        I am no expert on Reform Judaism (RJ), so this is hearsay.

        RJ believes that the Bible is a collection of stories written by men to teach popular morals and that traditions are there to preserve a healthful and continuing tribe. Belief in a deity was challenged circa 2000, then reinstated after some flack. I think that serves as an indicator that RJ is based on humans, not a deity. They just happen to also believe in a deity, but the deity does not dictate the rules.

        If that is true, it does not satisfy "relig

        • If the deity is not the source of the list of things to do, then it's a philosophy and culture, but not a religion (in my mind). Just like if I follow Dr. Atkins advice for what he considers healthy eating, I'm not being religious, though I may eschew many foods that the rest of society consumes. If, however, I believe that a deity forbade me from eating grains, and so I do it, I am being religious.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Chacham ( 981 )

            If the deity is not the source of the list of things to do, then it's a philosophy and culture, but not a religion (in my mind).

            Not a problem. Just bear in mind that to you, RJ is not a religion. And i'm pretty sure there are a few others out there that similarly, in your definition, would not be a religion.

            Just like if I follow Dr. Atkins advice for what he considers healthy eating, I'm not being religious, though I may eschew many foods that the rest of society consumes. If, however, I believe that a deit

  • hey. :)

    i have no desire to get caught up in all sorts of semantic debates and such because i really think most folks overly complicate the issues. it's not too complicated really.

    just wanted to point out an interesting web site [geocities.com] written by a guy i've corresponded with a few times in the past. it's a bunch of essays with his observations of religion and his move away from fundamentalism. i found a lot of it very insightful and respectful. he's basically taken the time to write down the exact experiences a

    • Very interesting, thanks for the link! I've only read the first article, but I think I'll be reading through all of his.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by btlzu2 ( 99039 ) *

        oh great! i'm glad it looks a bit interesting to you. :) i just think he's such a cogent writer and is very interesting--and there's a LOT there. if you'd ever like to discuss some of that stuff let me know. :)

  • Christopher Hitchens and I disagree about practically everything. That said, he is decidedly my favorite journalist on the planet. He played advocatis diaboli for Mother Theresa's beatification. He dug up a lot of "interesting" stuff about her keeping money that came from suspect places...
    • I read his article about Mother Theresa on Slate, and I do think he provides credible criticisms of her "ministry". Although it's bizarre to me that no other well-known journalist is critical along with him...

      Anyhow, it's good to see a voice in the media that's not too afraid of controversy to call it how he sees it. Not that that means he sees it correctly every time, but the lack of debunking of his position on Mother Theresa seems to be a bit validation of his viewpoint.

  • Atheism is a religion in the same way that black is a color. By definition, neither are, but functionally, both qualify.

    • I would agree in some specific cases that it is functionally analogous, but not to the same degree that black functions in the world of colors.

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