What makes a religion?

[FatAndFaithless]

No. That would just make you a crazy person . I hold the belief that if I don't tie my shoes every day I will trip, so I perform the ritual of tying my shoes to prevent this consequence. Nobody would call that a religion.

"Religion is a cultural system of behaviors and practices, world views,sacred texts, holy places, ethics, and societal organisation that relate humanity to what an anthropologist has called "an order of existence"

The 'order of existence' is the biggest part there, and all the other components are what relates humanity to that. Now, if you thought the world was at the mercy of a cosmic grape monster, and unless you perform rituals x, y, and z he would turn the world into a grape, and you got this information from a sacred set of grape texts, and set up an organization (cult) based around these rituals and texts and declared yourself the grape-appointed interpreter for the Will of Grape...that'd be far closer to how a religion is defined than one belief with one action.

A religion is a system of beliefs, behaviors, and practices that are interlinked with each other.

[The Grand Nudger]

Cultural system is a big part as well.  We don;t generally consider something a religion until it has metastasized into a noticeable and considerable demographic bloc.  A guy who believes crazy shit is a loon...10 people who believe the same crazy shit together are cultists, and ten million are religious.

[Spirian]

A religion is a system of beliefs, behaviors, and practices that are interlinked with each other.

Government 

ETA: Statism.

[The Grand Nudger]

While government and religion can be similar in some ways, and overlap in many ways, and while people may be said to be religiously devoted to their government or system of government- they aren't the same thing.

If you and I got an apartment and make rules for each other to follow out of whatever reason..say mutual respect or shared fiscal liability, when we organize.. this is the core of government. I doubt you'd call that situation a religion. Ever had a roommate? Was it jesus? Probably, and probably not, amiright?

[robvalue]

Alright, cool. So yeah, "religion" does imply some sort of scale.

So let's say we've got loads of followers, it's made a cultural impact and so on...

Does it have to have speculative beliefs as part of it? It seems to me that is essential, at least for every religion I've ever heard of. And so by definition it makes them kind of irrational.

Government doesn't generally employ such beliefs, although it may use propaganda to spread misinformation and such.

[FatAndFaithless]

Alright, cool. So yeah, "religion" does imply some sort of scale.

So let's say we've got loads of followers, it's made a cultural impact and so on...

Does it have to have speculative beliefs as part of it? It seems to me that is essential, at least for every religion I've ever heard of. And so by definition it makes them kind of irrational.

Depends on who you ask, heh.  Folks like Drich might say none of his views are speculative.  All of his convictions have been confirmed by his A/S/K thing, etc.  One thing that most religions have in common is they propose a framework to determine our 'place in the universe' or our 'role in the grand scheme of things' (how we got here, where we're going, how do we get there, etc).  I suppose by definition that has to be speculative, since we as humans can't see the entire universe or the grand scheme.

[The Grand Nudger]

Time has also been a role in determining what is a religion and what is not, particularly as it relates to cults.  Christianity was once a cult, and many sects are still considered to be cults - even by other christians..but they largely skate by on the anonymity and protection offered by the trend towards greater utility-of-faith. Intentional (and successful) social engineering on a grand scale, in living memory, set in motion a few decades back when american christians with political aspirations put down their axes and torches and realized that alone, self segregated from each other, they were swiftly becoming an irrelevance.

(not criticizing that, mind you..I'm pretty sure it was fucking brilliant, lol)

[Rhondazvous]

While government and religion can be similar in some ways, and overlap in many ways, and while people may be said to be religiously devoted to their government or system of government- they aren't the same thing.

If you and I got an apartment and make rules for each other to follow out of whatever reason..say mutual respect or shared fiscal liability, when we organize.. this is the core of government.  I doubt you'd call that situation a religion.  Ever had a roommate?  Was it jesus?  Probably, and probably not, amiright?

The theistic element seems to differentiate religion from other systems such as governments. And yet, throughout history governments have often justified their right to rule by appealing to religious authority. At times even claiming to have its own authority directly from some god.

If religion were just a belief system involving the worship of a god who is outside this world, why are theists so politically aggressive.

[robvalue]

I feel more and more that religion is used as a tool to achieve political goals. The people at the top don't have to believe any of it, they just need those on the ground to believe it, to motivate them with magical threats/promises.

I suppose ultimately there is no authority for what is and isn't a religion, just like no one can decree someone is or isn't a Christian.

The only real sense would be legal... how is this covered I wonder? I think in America you have to be a certain size to get tax breaks, and pretend you're sort of a charity. But what else do you need? You also get to not show your books, for some reason. So what would the government accept as a minimum before giving you these unfair advantages? How stupid do your beliefs and rituals need to be?

[The Grand Nudger]

The theistic element seems to differentiate religion from other systems such as governments.

Except in the case of non-theistic religions, deism, or other*.  A religion that does not contain a belief in a personal god is not any less a religion on account of that.

And yet, throughout history governments have often justified their right to rule by appealing to religious authority. At times even claiming to have its own authority directly from some god.

If religion were just a belief system involving the worship of a god who is outside this world, why are theists so politically aggressive.

They'd really like him to be in this world, just like they say. They're willing to cast his vote for him until that day comes when they won;t need all this voting shit...they'll be in the good graces of the king of kings.

*tedium relating to more exotic religious examples