Raving About Religion!

At the beginning of this course, I defined “religion” as an organized set of ideas, morals, and beliefs.

 

When I sat down for the first day of Intro to Religious Studies, I expected to dive into the basic beliefs of Judaism or discuss the Five Pillars of Islam. Instead, I was asked to define the term “religion.” I thought it was a silly question because I assumed there was an obvious, dictionary definition of the term. However, after going through several readings and discussing them with my peers, I have come to the conclusion that that is not the case. While brainstorming a definition, I thought about what is normally coined a “religion” and tried to come up with a broad statement. Now, I see that my definition was not completely accurate.  

The term “religion” has a long, complex background that is explained in depth in the first chapter of Craig Martin’s, “A Critical Introduction to the Study of Religion.” Martin discusses the political controversy surrounding the characteristics of a wetland and states, “‘Religion’ is a lot like ‘wetland’: how the term is defined, as well as what’s included or excluded in the definition, depends on the interests of those making up the definition.” (Martin 3). He also says that if a group of people was asked to define “religion,” there would be “different answers depending on their individual social and political contexts.” (Martin 4). Someone’s definition of “religion” is usually based on their personal experiences and the environment in which they grew up. This is precisely why it is difficult to come up with an accurate definition that caters to everyone.  

The definition of “religion” is oftentimes changed to affect the outcome of various social and political conflicts. Additionally, it can be altered to benefit someone in any given situation. If a student were to skip class in honor of their favorite celebrity’s birthday, they could claim it was a religious celebration in order to get their absence excused. Steve Ramey, in his chapter entitled “Do all religious adherents believe in the concept of a higher power?”, says, “Sometimes people define religion as a tradition that includes belief in a higher power.” (Ramey 30). In this case, the celebrity acts as the idol or higher power that is being worshipped by the student. This scenario would not normally be viewed as an act of religion but does it not adhere to some parts of the “standard” definition of religion? Accurately defining “religion” is complicated because it may mean something different to everyone and usually depends on the political or social context.

People around the world take part in different cultural traditions and have a variety of belief systems. As seen in the viral YouTube video, “History of the Entire World, I guess,” only some of these cultures and beliefs are deemed as “religious” (Bill Wurtz). Who gets to decide this and why? Tim Davis, a former UA student, wrote a blog post titled, “What is the Academic Study of Religion?: A Student’s Perspective” and claimed that students, “discover that opinions differ widely as to what practices, beliefs, and institutions get to count as religious.” (Davis). As mentioned in the paragraph above, could someone argue that worshipping a celebrity falls under the category of “religion”? There is certainly a gray area when it comes to defining “religion” because of how broad the concept actually is. Some may consider a certain ritual or tradition “religious” but others may see it differently. Considering this, a few questions remain: Who is correct? Is there technically a correct answer? This is a serious point of concern because this can be used against people of different cultures and beliefs. Their way of life may be looked down upon or invalidated because it does not match the societal norms of a “religion.” One must be cautious when trying to define “religion” and attempt to be inclusive of all customs and beliefs.

Because of the new knowledge coming from the readings and discussions, I now believe that there is no one “true” definition of “religion.” It all depends on one’s personal experiences, their place in society and politics, and their surrounding environment. My original definition of religion is not completely accurate which is evident in the YouTube video mentioned earlier. According to my definition, “religion” is an “organized set of ideas, morals, and beliefs” but that does not apply to the video. Kong Fuzi is mentioned but his ideas on good morals are not deemed as religious. The same can be said about Greeks and their philosophical ideas and beliefs (Wurtz). Are their beliefs and way of life not worthy enough to be considered a “religion?” All in all, “religion” is an everchanging concept and will forever be debated.