Religion

From The SpiritWiki

Religion a complicated and flexible human institution set up to meet [[Essential Needs essential] and Non-essential Needs. Religions are organized around a core emphasis on providing answers to our big questions, with a usual emphasis on the satisfaction of alignment and connection needs as the institutional core. A religious institution itself consists of social, ritual/practical, experiential, narrative/mythic, doctrinal, ethical/legal, material dimensions, and healing dimensions all geared towards the satisfaction of various human needs.[1]

Subclasses

Religion > Authentic Religion, Elite Religion

Syncretic Terms

Religion > Comprehensive Framework

Related LP Terms

Religion > Boundary Fetish, Boundary Problem, Narrative, Sacrilization

Non-LP Related Terms

Religion > Boundary Fetish, Boundary Problem, Narrative, Sacrilization

Notes

Religion is often co-opted and controlled by members of the Accumulating Class. In this case, religion functions as an Ideological Institution designed to help propagate a specific Creation Templae.

Religion is also an institution setup to help meet one or more of humanity's Seven Essential Needs.

Religion may be broken down into two sub-classes, Elite Religion and Authentic Religion. Elite religion prioritizes the needs of the Accumulating Class while Authentic Religion prioritizes Healing, Connection, and the Seven Essential Needs of humanity.

Religion is a notoriously difficult concept to pin down and, frankly, scholars have said some really stupid shit about it over the years, Sigmund Freud being a classic example. Freud believed that religion arises as a consequence of

  1. an expression of the son-father relationship (see totem and taboo, related to religions where "totem animals" become sacred)[2]
  2. the need to defend oneself against the "crushingly superior force of nature."[3]
  3. The "urge to rectify the shortcoming of civilization..."[4]

For a more fulsome discussion of definitions and issues, see What is Religion

Other Definitions

"Religion tends to be conceptualized as an external, community-based phenomena in which a particular organized set of beliefs, behaviors, and rituals are institutionalized by individuals sharing similar spiritualities."[5]

Footnotes

  1. Mike Sosteric, “What Is Religion” 2022, https://www.academia.edu/80934448/What_is_Religion
  2. Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. New York: Anchor Books, 1961. p. 21
  3. Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. New York: Anchor Books, 1961. p. 21
  4. Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. New York: Anchor Books, 1961. p. 21
  5. Hodge, David R. “The Intrinsic Spirituality Scale: A New Six-Item Instrument for Assessing the Salience of Spirituality as a Motivational Construct.” Journal of Social Service Research 30, no. 1 (January 1, 2003): 41–61. https://doi.org/10.1300/J079v30n01_03. 42