(November 17, 2022 at 4:08 pm)The Grand Nudger Wrote: That's exactly the position that most "catholics" are in, academically, it;s referred to as cultural catholicism to distinguish it from a genuine belief in the articles of the catholic faith as set by the men in dresses and funny hats. Similarly, western buddhists tend to be particularly western, owing to a pr campaign by buddhist factions over these past few decades to court western support in their struggle against the chinese state, which distinguishes them from the demo you might call "real" buddhists.
The quick and dirty conclusion, if we're intent on separating them as "real" and "unreal" x's..is that there's a hell of alot less religion in the world than people think there is. But, ofc, the various shamans and witchdoctors would tell you that, even if you didn't ask, staring at a demographic cliff which endangers their livelihoods...as they are. Personally, so-called cultural variants of any belief system don't concern me at all. It's the true believers you can never turn your back on.
Bingo lolly. My own missus self-identifies as culturally Jewish (or, as she puts it, ‘I’m not a Jew, I’m Jew-ish.’)
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
