Definition of religion

The definition of religion is a controversial subject in religious studies. Some scholars define "religion" as a cultural system of behaviors and practices, others as a "comprehensive worldview" or a "moral community called a church". Some scholars, such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith, have tried to correct a perceived Judeo-Christian and Western bias in the definition and study of religion. Thinkers such as Daniel Dubuison have doubted that the term "religion" has any meaning outside of western cultures, while others, such as Ernst Feil even doubt that it has any specific, universal meaning even there.

Some jurisdictions refuse to classify specific religions as religions, arguing that they are instead heresies, even if they are widely viewed as a religion in the academic world.

Whereas a religion is a system of beliefs and practices illustrating a code of morality and humanity's place in the world, a religious denomination is a collective spiritual community for a grouping or congregation.

A number of scholars have pointed out that the terminology used in the study of religion derives from Judeo-Christian tradition, and that the basic assumptions of religion as an analytical category are all Western in origin. This idea was first raised by Wilfred Smith in his 1962 book, The Meaning and End of Religion. Talal Asad later refined this notion by showing that many assumptions about religion derive specifically from post-Enlightenment Christianity.

While few would dispute that the concept of "religion" does have a historical genealogy, there is some disagreement about what the Western origin of the term has meant historically. Some such as Tomoko Masuzawa have felt that the equation of religion with Christianity had the effect of diminishing other traditions, especially in the study of "comparative religions" as it developed during the high point of Western imperialism. Others have felt that this sort of criticism overestimates the influence that Western academic thought had on the rest of the world.

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