Ah, I think perhaps I misunderstood your earlier post. I thought you were arguing that religion could somehow be taken out of a social context and somehow exist without it, not that it would change as social context changed. Given how you've explained things now, I agree with where you're coming from.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Chui  Yet is a religion the same religion in a different social context? I don't ask this rhetorically, since I can see a decent argument for both answers. For instance, the Christianity of 1st cent. AD might be compared to the Christianity of 21st cent. AD; yet the Christianity of California might be contrasted with the Christianity of Texas, to be a touch Americentric; and the Christianity of Protestants might be distinguished from the Christianity of Catholics. Heck, is mainstream Christianity the same as the Church of Latter-Day Saints? |
It depends on who you ask :P
Seriously, though, I am of the opinion that religions are shaped by their social context, and thus, when social context changes, the religion is necessarily going to adjust. Not to say that there aren't threads and roots that are common, but that the expression of the religion within the social structure will be evidenced differently.