@Arvind,
Whether of not cultures originating in India, China or ancient Greece had an explicit term for "religious belief" or not is irrelevant. The only factor in determining whether or not a cultural phenomena is a religion or not is what you mean by religion and if the shoe fits. That they themselves could not separate the religious aspects of their lives does not mean they had none.
You start with the assumption that religion is defined with a Christian bias and therefore, any negation carries with it the same bias. And you assume that giving the etymological history somehow bolsters this argument. It doesn't.
Identifying religion is pretty easy. If a cultural phenomenon has following aspects:
1. Belief in supernatural and/or divine entities - such as gods, deities, angels, spirits and so on.
2. Regarding certain objects/times/places as sacred or profane due to those beliefs.
3. A supposedly historical narrative explaining those beliefs.
4. Rituals and practices consequent of those beliefs and centered on them.
5. A moral code based on those beliefs,
- if this shoe fits, then the phenomenon can be correctly regarded as a religion. The Western colonists had the right idea when they assumed they wouldn't find any culture without a religion - because as far as Hinduism is concerned, the shoe fits better than Cinderella.
Whether of not cultures originating in India, China or ancient Greece had an explicit term for "religious belief" or not is irrelevant. The only factor in determining whether or not a cultural phenomena is a religion or not is what you mean by religion and if the shoe fits. That they themselves could not separate the religious aspects of their lives does not mean they had none.
You start with the assumption that religion is defined with a Christian bias and therefore, any negation carries with it the same bias. And you assume that giving the etymological history somehow bolsters this argument. It doesn't.
Identifying religion is pretty easy. If a cultural phenomenon has following aspects:
1. Belief in supernatural and/or divine entities - such as gods, deities, angels, spirits and so on.
2. Regarding certain objects/times/places as sacred or profane due to those beliefs.
3. A supposedly historical narrative explaining those beliefs.
4. Rituals and practices consequent of those beliefs and centered on them.
5. A moral code based on those beliefs,
- if this shoe fits, then the phenomenon can be correctly regarded as a religion. The Western colonists had the right idea when they assumed they wouldn't find any culture without a religion - because as far as Hinduism is concerned, the shoe fits better than Cinderella.
