Talk:List of religions and spiritual traditions

What about UFO Religions?

There is probably a good reason why they aren't included, but what is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.107.64.61 (talk) 03:39, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Order of religious groups and naming

There appears to be a lack of a neutral system that forms the basis of how elements are named and listed here. Date, founder, origins should be applied consistently as to be neutral to all entities on the list. It need to be done from a rather neutral point of view and with a consistency. Wikidās ॐ 07:52, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

African Traditional Religions

While I realize the pages themselves are not all well done, in fact, many are mere stubs, they should still be listed here.

From the African traditional religion page:

West Africa

• Akan mythology (Ghana)
• Ashanti mythology (Ghana)
• Dahomey (Fon) mythology
• Efik mythology (Nigeria, Cameroon)
• Igbo mythology (Nigeria, Cameroon)
• Isoko mythology (Nigeria)
• Yoruba mythology (Nigeria, Benin)

Central Africa

• Bushongo mythology (Congo)
• Bambuti (Pygmy) mythology (Congo)
• Lugbara mythology (Congo)

East Africa

• Akamba mythology (East Kenya)
• Dinka mythology (Sudan)
• Lotuko mythology (Sudan)
• Masai mythology (Kenya, Tanzania)

Southern Africa

• Khoikhoi mythology
• Lozi mythology (Zambia)
• Tumbuka mythology (Malawi)
• Zulu mythology (South Africa)

- IanCheesman (talk) 20:04, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

Quick Problem...

I just noticed that there is some repetition on the list. You might wanna take a took at it. Thanks. Malomaboy06 (talk) 22:01, 9 November 2008 (UTC)

Pastafarianism

I said it on the Talk:List_of_fictional_religions and I'll say it again: where is Pastafarianism?:

I don't think Pastafarianism classes as a fictional religion. While it has a certain notability on this List of fictional religions page, on the official website it is neither explicitly stated nor implied that the religion is a parody, joke or fictional religion. Naming it as 'fictional' due to the subjective absurdity of a Flying Spaghetti Monster cannot satisfy the neuturality of wikipedia. As with one of the foremost comments, all religion is 'ficitional' by even the most lax of criteria. Thus, Pastafarian should be considered for removal, perhaps to a page on 'Minor religions'?

Oliverbeatson (talk) 01:29, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

I hereby request its inclusion on this list of religions. Oliverbeatson (not logged in) 149.254.218.181 (talk) 00:55, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

That's an alias for The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which is in the list now. Rursus dixit. (^mbork³!) 14:24, 18 January 2010 (UTC)

Section merge

Should the "Historical polytheism" section be merged into "Indigenous traditional religions"? I vote yes.--Editor2020 (talk) 21:47, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Discordianism

A post in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_religions/Archive_4#Discordianism claims that Discordianism is not a mock religion, and that its believers take it seriously. Greg Hill and Kerry Thornley clearly intended it as a parody. Robert Anton Wilson (a.k.a Mordicai the Foul) asked, Is Discordianism a religion disguised as a joke, or a joke disguised as a religion? Whichever way you interpret it, it's still a joke and any true believers are the punchline. Discordianism needs to be moved to Parody Religions. --Elmyr (talk) 14:38, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Salvador Dali once said that to produce modern art you had to make sure the viewer couldn't tell whether you were producing serious art or just having a joke at their expense. And that you yourself couldn't tell, either. Peter jackson (talk) 11:28, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Confucianism - Legalism

Are Confucianism and Legalism religions?118.168.26.57 (talk) 04:57, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Christianity section

There has been some to-and-fro about where non-RC Western brands of Catholicism belong. I think what we actually might want to do is let List of Christian denominations do its job, and have what's here be just the top level or two of that. Tb (talk) 18:34, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

Your latest revision appears to be an acceptable compromise. I would like to comment however on what to do with Anglicanism. In some respects I agree with it remaining in the Catholic section as it's spiritual tradition is Catholic. But it's spiritual tradition is also Protestant. I've known Anglicans that put themselves in one or the other or sometimes both camps. Since you're Anglican, perhaps you know which group it fits better in, but my opinion on a somewhat unbiased level is that it belongs in it's own category. My personal POV is that they are Protestant, but that's coming from a Roman Catholic. Stylteralmaldo (talk) 19:01, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

It's not really true to say that its spiritual tradition is Protestant; in fact it simply lands in both camps. The position in List of Christian denominations has been to use a "filter" rule, where each group is listed under the first heading that it matches (since there are many groups with multiple sensible categorizations) and to take "Catholicism" specifically as involving a claim of continuity with the pre-schism Church based on apostolic succession of bishops--which is essentially the only definition which makes the term refer to more than only the RCC, or every church. The RC notion that it must be Protestant is based upon the fact that it used to be much more strongly identified as such, and a general RC idea that whatever is not RC must be Protestant. Once we all become aware of the Old Catholics, for example, not to mention the Orthodox, the "not-RC equals Protestant" thinking tends to fall. Tb (talk) 20:46, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

In any case, it has been discussed at various times at List of Christian denominations, with varying changes in consensus over time. My view here is that this page should simply mirror that one. Tb (talk) 20:47, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

Spiritual Traditions

Is there any hope that the various "Spiritual Traditions" can be separated from "Religions" on the basis of religions being curriculum based, i.e based on agreed written rules and principles), while spiritual traditions (voudou, rastafarianism, and obeah, for example) are folk-based with no written or recorded methodology? They're not really related. Santamoly (talk) 21:10, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

I think this is tendentious. There is a continuum between; it seems odd in the extreme to say they are not related. Tb (talk) 17:54, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

It's not in the least tendentious. The one is an organized, repeatable curriculum of instruction with written academic texts and workbooks with the aim of propagating a uniform result. The other is a folk-based belief, inconsistent and variable from one village to the next. That is a big difference. If you think otherwise, can you give us some insight into your reasoning? Perhaps you are thinking that Religion and Faith are the same (they're not), or that Tradition and Faith are the same (they, also, are not)? Santamoly (talk) 05:56, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm saying that any definition under which Greco-Roman religion is not religion is incorrect. Christianity did not become a religion sometime in the sixteenth century ("academic texts and workbooks"? When do you think workbooks were invented?). Hinduism is unquestionably a religion--or a cluster of religious traditions--as is Shinto, and yet, they are not "curriculum based" in any plausible sense. Tb (talk) 17:30, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

You're bouncing all over the place. What, pray, is a "Greco-Roman religion"? And what do you think Christianity was before printed Bibles existed? How can you say that "Hinduism is a religion" in one breath, and then a "cluster of traditions" in the next? Doesn't that support my suggestion? Santamoly (talk) 05:53, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Your suggest cannot even make sense of the concept of "folk religion". The Romans--who invented the word "religion", by the way--had a pagan religion, which did not involve any of your invented requirements for a religion. Can we find a source which makes the distinction you are arguing for, please? Tb (talk) 17:13, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Tb is correct. "Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and moral values." That is the definition of religion from our very own religion page. Nowhere does it say that a religion needs to be curriculum based. Basically what you are saying is that only the Abrahamic religions are proper religions. This is biased and not acceptable on Wikipedia. Canada10wi (talk) 19:56, 9 September 2011 (UTC)

Scientology

According to the wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology#Dispute_of_religion_status it is recognized as a religion by the United States government. I realize that there is dispute about whether it is a religion, but if some consider it a religion, perhaps it could be added with a notation that it is disputed. Nightkey (talk) 17:59, 29 July 2010 (UTC)