Yuyutsu,

I found some very broad and curious definitions of "religion" on Google.
Didn't bother wasting time typing them all in as I know those people who SHOULD read it won't, and if they do, it will be with a pre-conceived biased view.
Anyway, I have found that it is much more appropriate to remove the word RELIGION and replace it with CULT.
People wish to call it religion because the word evokes a squeaky clean image, unlike the word cult which has been associated with so many acts of evil and quite the opposite of what religion is touted to be about.

ALTRAV

it might not be accurate but I have always considered a cult a group of people who are controlled. The global warming cult is a good example. Deviate from the doctrine and you are punished. Just ask Peter Ridd.

My understanding of the bible and especially Jesus Christ is that He invites people to believe and follow Him. There is no compulsion.

You should know that the left have hijacked language. If you are not racist, sexist, bigotted by their standards its likely you are all those things because marxism perverts language. They began by hijacking the word 'gay'.

runner,

couldn't agree more.
In clarifying, regarding Christianity, you are quite right, I was highlighting specific entities or cults that DO advocate killing anyone who is NOT a believer.
There are many entities who promote love and inclusivity, as there are many who promote threats and violence.
After reading as much as I could stand on both the Muslim faith and the Jewish faith and what they are being taught, or groomed, to believe in, there is no doubt about the messages or themes being promoted.
If anyone wishes to challenge me on this truth, I direct them to glance through these two "instruments of cultism", and the road map to public domination, and one case at least, WORLD DOMINATION!

Dear Foxy,

While I was relating to what you wrote earlier:
«BTW: There's more than just one God. Some people believe in several. Others in none at all.»,
my comment only related to your first sentence.

Yes, people may believe or disbelieve all kinds of things,
but whatever they believe cannot change the Reality,
including the Reality that there is no more than one God, no matter what some people think.

In my previous post, I explained why it is absurd to think otherwise,
but people are still capable of entertaining absurdist thought processes.

«I believe that Hinduism has more than one God.»

Hinduism offers many useful REPRESENTATIONS of God, or POINTERS to God, in order to suit different temperaments and inspire devotional feelings in different kinds of people.

Only ignorant Hindus, today probably limited to some remote villagers who have not gone to school or actually read the Hindu scriptures, believe that these representations are actual Gods in themselves.

The bible also offers several representations of God, though it lacks and forbids their visual images, which Hinduism uses.

Take "Father" for example.

Many people are inspired to admire and love God when they see him as Father.
This of course is only a representation, only a pointer - obviously God is not a male, as would be needed to become an actual father.

For many this representation is useful, but for others who perhaps had an abusive or alcoholic father, this representation is not helpful at all!

Others may perhaps prefer the representation of "Shaddai", http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Shaddai
which according to some interpretations could mean a feminine nurturer.

While different people will use the representation which personally fits them most, only ignorant people might claim that "Father" and "Shaddai" are two different, independent Gods.

Religion has been defined as a system of communally
shared beliefs and rituals that are oriented towards
some sacred, supernatural realm.

The difference between a cult and a religion is said
to be about 100 years. That's a joke but
the explanation offered is that once a cult is able
to establish itself for several generations - we
call it a "religion". Before that, we dismiss it as
a dangerous threat to "real" religion.

Scientology, Rev. Sun Myung Moon's
Unification Church are considered as cults.
Judaism and Christianity as religions.

Early Christianity was considered as a cult by both Jews
and Romans. Islam was long considered as a cult by
medieval Christians and of course Protestant groups from
Baptists to Quakers were considered cults by other
Christians. Even Buddhism was once considered a cult.

Mr Thwackum, a character in Henry Fielding's novel
"Tom Jones" declares, "When I mention religion, I mean the
Christian religion; and not only the Christian religion, but
the Protestant religion; and not only the Protestant
religion, but the Church of England".

Most people are like Mr Thwackum: when they mention religion,
they have their own in mind.

Whatever our religious beliefs may be, we usually learn them
from other people through socialization into a particular
faith. The religious convictions that anyone holds are
influenced by the historical and social context in which
that person happens to live.

Someone born in ancient Rome would probably have believed
that Jupiter was the father of the gods, at any rate, he or
she would certainly not have been a Southern Baptist or a
Hindu. Similarly if your parents are Roman Catholic you
are/were probably Roman Catholic. If they are Mormon, you
are/were Mormon. And so on.

There are a large number of religions, many of whose
members are convinced that theirs is the one true faith and
that all others are misguided, superstitions, even wicked.

However, regardless of whether or not a supernatural power
exists, religion, like any other institution, has social
characteristics and pros and cons that reflect the
cultural concerns of the societies in which they arise.

Dear Altrav,

«Anyway, I have found that it is much more appropriate to remove the word RELIGION and replace it with CULT.»

Well the English language can be ambiguous:
Are you referring to the actual phenomena of religion, or to the multitude of groups and organisations that claim (rightly or wrongly) to promote it?

A group which wrongly claims to promote [the phenomena of] religion, probably deserves the name "cult", though I am yet to find such a group whose members agree to be called so.