Anyhow, the word "religion" has lots of definitions, but in particular it has two completely separate definitions that could both be applied when you talk about "somebody's religion". This dictionary gets a little heavy on the big words sometimes, and it sometimes uses words in unusual (though correct) ways. So, I've given definitions for those words that will show up if you put your mouse over and words or phrases that look like this.
Definition 1 is this:
The personal commitment to and serving of God or a god with worshipful devotion, conduct in accord with divine commands, especially as found in accepted sacred writings or declared by authoritative teachers, a way of life recognized as incumbent on true believers, and typically the relating of oneself to an organized body of believers.The example sentence they give is "Ministers of religion."
I think most people, particularly those of us who've grown up in predominantly Christian societies, often think of this definition when we hear the word "religion." However, I don't. In fact, it was interesting to realize that there were these two definitions of religion (the second of which I'm getting to shortly), because it finally made me understand the difference between how I thought of religion, and how some of my friends did.
The other definition that could be used is definition 3a, which says:
a religious faithSome of the examples they give for that definition are "tolerant of all religions" and "forbidding discrimination because of race, color, or religion." When we talk about "freedom of religion", this would be the definition we mean, not the first one.
But there's a slight problem with that definition. What does "religious" mean? Well, our dictionary is extremely helpful to us there, too. One thing you have to know about this definition is that this dictionary uses colons (:) to separate "senses" of the same definition. A "sense" is basically, all by itself, a complete definition for the word. Each sense is sort of a re-explanation of the same definition in different terms. A dictionary gives multiple senses to help you understand exactly what the word means in different contexts--sort of "shades of gray" in ways that it could be used.
So anyhow, the only definition in this dictionary for "religious" that could possibly be correct for the phrase "a religious faith" is:
Relating to that which is acknowledged as ultimate reality : manifesting devotion to and reflecting the nature of the divine or that which one holds to be of ultimate importanceWhen I think of religion, that's what I think of--the quest for understanding the ultimate reality, or the attempt to understand that which is most important to us. That's why I like Scientology, because it has helped me come to an understanding of those things that are most important to me, and in a way that can actually be used and applied in life.
-Max
