Quote:
Originally Posted by Eternal Wayfarer  Well if one thinks that one needs security, religions are there to support them. If one choose to bask in the brilliance of the Great Spirit... |
See, this is where (as a scholar of religion), I have trouble with a lot of definitions (or non-definitions
) of religion. People seem to want to treat spirituality as different from religion, or to think that religion is a social organization, and that without the organization, it is no longer religion. Speaking purely from an academic standpoint, is not one's choice to "bask in the brilliance of the Great Spirit" just an expression of their religious worldview?
I guess what I mean by this is... if someone wants to study religion, should they not include this as something worth studying
as a religion? As they say, "if it quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck..."
It's all well and good to say "well, it's not religion because it's more primal and related to the source than religions, which are constructs on top -- just different paths to the Ultimate" (which is what I think you're trying to get at, Wayfarer)... but isn't it still "religion by any other name"?