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This is a list I had started to construct before I found this one. ]
{{WikiProject banner shell|class=List|
{{WikiProject Religion|importance=High}}
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{{Merged-from|List of religions and religious denominations}}
{{archives|search=yes}}
==What about UFO Religions?==
There is probably a good reason why they aren't included, but what is it? <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">—Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 03:39, 12 August 2009 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:UnsignedIP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->


== Order of religious groups and naming ==
Here is a list of some ]s, past and present.


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. <span style="font-family:Tahoma;">]</span> 07:52, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
Present
* ]
** ] -- ] -- ] -- ]
** ] (also known as Masorti Judaism outside of the USA)


==African Traditional Religions==
** ] (also known as Progressive Judaism outside of the USA)
** ] (For all practical purposes, this new movement only exists in the USA.)
* ]
**]
**]
***]
**]
***]
***]
* ]
**]
**]
* ]
* ]
**]
**]
* ]
* ]
* ]


While I realize the pages themselves are not all well done, in fact, many are mere stubs, they should still be listed here.
Past
* ]
* ]
* ] pre-Christian religion
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ] ] Pre-Christian religion
* ]
* Ancient ]n religion


From the ] page:
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Regarding the African Methodist denominations just added... is it the intent to add every single Methodist denomination to the list? When I last checked a few years ago (when I was a ]), there were more than forty. Do we want every single Protestant denomination? I think there are at least 20,000. Where to draw the line? ] 11:42 Sep 3, 2002 (PDT)


West Africa
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*] (Ghana)
Any objections to sorting the entries within each group (indent level) chronologically instead of alphabetically? (It seems strange to list Christianity before Judaism and Buddhism before Hinduism, when in each case the former evolved from the latter.) ] 19:52 Jan 27, 2003 (UTC)
*] (Ghana)
*]
*] (Nigeria, Cameroon)
*] (Nigeria, Cameroon)
*] (Nigeria)
*] (Nigeria, Benin)


Central Africa
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*] (Congo)
*] (Congo)
*] (Congo)


East Africa
I think the sacred texts should be taken out, and replaced with a link to ]. It seems like an unnecessary duplication. I'm also not sure the mythologies should be listed here, as there is a more complete list at ] and they aren't practiced anymore -- if they've been revived in some way, they should be at the Pagan and Polytheistic religion section (as dievturiba, goddess worship and others are now). ]
*] (East Kenya)
*] (Sudan)
*] (Sudan)
*] (Kenya, Tanzania)


Southern Africa
:I've got no prob with eliminating this duplication. I just happened to bump into this article when I recently added the 2 Mormon texts to the list. ]
*]
----
*] (Zambia)
How about getting Christianity back to rthodox - Catholic - Protestant? As it is, Christianity takes much more space than the other religions, which is also a sort of bias? And then create a separage article Christian denominations which can be as fine tuned as editors want? -- ] 20:15 Mar 13, 2003 (UTC)
*] (Malawi)
*] (South Africa)
- ] (]) 20:04, 21 September 2008 (UTC)


:You left off ]
:That's true, but the larger list of Christian religions is simply because, well, there are so many Christian denominations. Depending on how you define a denomination, movement and sect, there are said to be over 10,000 distinct types of Christianity worldwide. However, for purposes of producing an easy to read article, there is much merit in your proposal. Over time this list could become ''very'' long, and swamp the entry. We could have this entry discuss only the religions, and their major sub-divisions, but not all the splinter groups, sub-denominations, etc. ]
:Northern Africa
:*] (Egypt, Sudan)
:**]
:*] (Tunisia, Algeria, Libya)
:*] (Morocco (including Western Sahara), Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso)
:*] (])
:] (]) 19:00, 23 February 2023 (UTC)


Sure, there are any number of Christian denominations - but for that matter, Hinduism would be an even longer list, if we want to list all Hinduism subgroups in this cat. Why not just create a Christian Denominations article, refer to it for details on Christian subgroups. There we can then subgroup the subgroups and divisions of subgroups. This article here is about ''religions'', not about ''denominations'' and someone looking for an overview on World Religions probably won't care too much about the difference between the Church of God (Cleveland) and the Church of God (Anderson). ] 22:51 Apr 14, 2003 (UTC)


----


==Quick Problem...==
Shouldn't this be on ] or something similar? -- ]
I just noticed that there is some repetition on the list. You might wanna take a took at it. Thanks. ] (]) 22:01, 9 November 2008 (UTC)


==Pastafarianism==
: ] makes sense to me.
I said it on the ] 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 ] 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'?
:] (]) 01:29, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
I hereby request its inclusion on this list of religions.
] (not logged in) ] (]) 00:55, 18 December 2008 (UTC)


:That's an alias for ], which is in the list ''now''. ] dixit. (]!) 14:24, 18 January 2010 (UTC)
::After fixing my wiki I realize that the list redirects here. Shouldn't it be the other way around? -- ]


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


== Discordianism ==
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A post in http://en.wikipedia.org/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. --] (]) 14:38, 24 April 2009 (UTC)
Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism are incorrectly listed as Vedic religions.


:] 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. ] (]) 11:28, 21 January 2010 (UTC)
----
:: Discordism is real, and there is a Discordian Humanism that is different from Discordianism. It is a more modernized version for modern times, and updated, and believes in equal rights for all. Check out Reddit at /r/discordianhumanism and /r/discordianism for more information and to find articles to cite for your research. Enemies of Eris Discordia and Discordians mock us by saying our religion is a joke, etc. It is a form of oppression from the other religions. ] (]) 02:10, 5 November 2013 (UTC)


== Confucianism - Legalism ==
Under which category should Bokononism go? I hesitate to put it under "mock" religions, since I am a practicing Bokononist.


Are ] and ] religions?] (]) 04:57, 18 October 2009 (UTC)
:How do you practice a fictional religion? ] 11:58, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC)


== Christianity section ==
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What about the Universal Life Church? It is not really a Christian denomination - any advice on where to put it? Also, it is a strange irony that atheism is always listed as a religion!] 13:01, 8 Nov 2003 (UTC)


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 ] do its job, and have what's here be just the top level or two of that. ] (]) 18:34, 15 April 2010 (UTC)
Unfortunately, if you stick to the first paragraph of the article, it IS a religion (the system etc... which denies the supernatural). In the end, believing in the inexistence of God has as strong consequences as believing in His existence. ] 11:46, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC)
: Your latest revision appears to be an acceptable compromise. I would like to comment however on what to do with ]. 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. ] (]) 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 ] 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. ] (]) 20:46, 15 April 2010 (UTC)
:: In any case, it has been discussed at various times at ], with varying changes in consensus over time. My view ''here'' is that this page should simply mirror that one. ] (]) 20:47, 15 April 2010 (UTC)


== Spiritual Traditions ==
Perhaps ''Religions and Belief Systems'' would be a better title? ] 12:00, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC)
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. ] (]) 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. ] (]) 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)? ] (]) 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. ] (]) 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? ] (]) 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? ] (]) 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 Misplaced Pages. ] (]) 19:56, 9 September 2011 (UTC)


== Scientology ==
----
I don't think ] should be listed under ''Fictional Religion''. First of all, the name of the religion should be ], then, as it is officially recognized in Australia, it should be listed in ''New religions''. Any opinion?


According to the wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/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. ] (]) 17:59, 29 July 2010 (UTC)
:I agree. Granted, ] may seem to be a daft 'religion', but there are plenty of 'authentic' religions that are stranger. ] 07:58, 14 Nov 2003 (UTC)


==Parody or mock religions==
::The article on ] calls it a (fictional) religion, whereas ] is called "the object of the Jedi and Sith religions", so I think it should be listed as "Jedi", not "The Force". The question of whether it's a "new religion" or a "mock religion" should depend on whether it actually has followers who take it seriously, not on whether it's officially recognized. My impression is that virtually everyone who has ever specified their religion as "Jedi" has done so tongue-in-cheek, and for that reason it should be classified as "fictional". --] 02:59, Mar 17, 2004 (UTC)
There are many more than can be added to start off you can add The Church Of Emacs, a "church" named after the Emacs text editor
And the Cult Of Vi named after the Vi text editor see http://en.wikipedia.org/Editor_war#Humour


<small>note: I am sorry if I have done something wrong. Other than this I have only once ever edited a Misplaced Pages page</small>
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: I'm thinking the whole section could be cut as neither a religion nor a spiritual practice if these seem just some form of humor (Church of Trek) or comment of strongly held view conflicts on the level of 'religious wars' (DOS vs Unix wars). Do need to be careful as there are nontheistic religions and nontheistic spiritual beliefs, to where have Atheists or Jedism that seems not a religion but is officially recognized in some countries as such and able to conduct marriages and other functions associated to more common religions. And have some obviously mainstream religions that have do not form by a building -- traveling ministry, cafe church or internet church or pub church) but are definately holding a particular spitirual belief or spiritual seekers versus non-spiritual critic or vandal or humorist.. ] (]) 00:04, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
== Move? ==


== Greek/Roman Mythology? ==
Move to ]? --]|] 00:43, 7 Dec 2003 (UTC)
* Yes, I was going to suggest that and realized you already had. --]'s ] 08:02, Mar 15, 2004 (UTC)


Where it be at, broski? <span style="font-size: smaller;" class="autosigned">— Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 01:22, 4 May 2012 (UTC)</span><!-- Template:Unsigned IP --> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
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: Greek and Roman religions still exist to this day, but are mocked and insulted by other religions in refusing to acknowledge that they are real, and that they deserve mention. When we try to get articles about them on Religion lists, it gets deleted by intolerant people who claim they are 'joke religions' and 'not real' and 'everyone who followed them is now dead'. But I challenge you to look at all of the statues in federal court buildings. They are from the greek and roman myths that our laws and type of government 'republic' are based upon. ] is one example, ] for another. Eris for example represents 'change', 'evolution', and 'progress' because without discord and chaos you would just have the same thing over and over again. ] (]) 02:19, 5 November 2013 (UTC)
Why is ] the only 'religious' group that has two entries on this page? Is this allowed for other relgious groups too? Some other religious groups can and should have a double classification e.g. ]. ] 17:51, 15 Feb 2004 (UTC)


"Ancient Greek Religion" and "Religion in ancient Rome" are listed are listed under "Historical religions". "Hellenism" and "Italo-roman neopaganism" are listed under "New religious movements" - "Modern Paganism" - "Ethnic neopaganism". ] (]) 10:26, 25 December 2021 (UTC)
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== Christian Science is not New Thought ==
I don't agree with the classification of ] under bhakti movement. It should be classified under ] . I agree though that ISKCON is a bhakti movement but so are some forms of Chrisianity but we don't classify them under bhakti movement. ] 18:09, 15 Feb 2004 (UTC)


Christian Science should be removed from under New Thought, it is a forerunner to the movement, but is its self not part of it. Or maybe the headline could read, "Christian Science and New Thought" ? ] (]) 13:02, 5 April 2013 (UTC)
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== Use of the term "mythology" ==
What's the point of the Vedic religions category? it might as well be removed, since its only descendants are all under Hinduism.


My congratulations to the author(s) for this very comprehensive list.
Alternatively, there could be a heading of 'Dharmic' religions, (and I'm not sure of this title). Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism all have the concepts of dharma, karma, and reincarnation in common. The current arrangement implies that they these religions are not related except in coming from India, and this is obviously not so. ] 17:43, 6 Mar 2004 (UTC)
I don't understand, though, why the term "mythology" (with its negative connotations) has been used to label any of the religions.
It also seems inappropriate that virtually all of the "Indigenous traditional religions" (and virtually none of the religions in the other categories) use this term.
Thank you for your consideration.
--] (]) 03:12, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
:Please read ], especially the section ]. Academia does not use it with any negative connotation, it simply refers to collections of stories that have a sacred value to a particular community. In many cases, there simply isn't an "-ism" name for certain groups of beliefs (indeed, some scholars have come to question if attempting to view many culture's spiritual beliefs as "-isms" is not ultimately a western attempt to force other spiritual beliefs into a model resembling the Abrahamic religions). ] (]) 03:48, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
Hi - I agree that "myth" is a neutral term meaning "story". But the general perception of the term is negative - and conveys the message that this religion is either "ancient" and has been superseded by a "true" religion or that this religion has been discredited. All religions are a collection of "stories": creation stories, founder stories, stories about the acts of the major personalities. Also, all religions include codes of conduct and philosophies and values - which are not stories (although they may use stories to illustrate these concepts). Many religions include assertions - about the afterlife, about what the deity/deities expects of us, etc - these are not stories either (although they may use stories to explain how to attain the rewards of the afterlife). So, while calling a belief system a "mythology" is defensible based on the dictionary definition of mythology, I suspect that if we told a devote Jew, Christian, Muslim, etc that his world view was "the Jewish mythology", "the Christian mythology", or "the Muslim mythology" then I think he would be shocked (and offended) at our terminology. Thus, I think that removing the term would take away the negative connotation (without in any way diminishing the quality of the article). ] (]) 04:19, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
: -- ] being the base component for non-virus life (and thus all food) on earth. I bring this up to partially illustrate why ] what ] mean and not ]. Also, we already have articles on ], ], and ]. C.S. Lewis (the guy who wrote Narnia, and pretty into writing about a traditional but otherwise universal Christianity) described Jesus as a myth that was also true -- in other words one of the more popular theologians of the 20th century used "myth" to refer to a religion's sacred story for which the true/false value is independent of it being a myth. ] (]) 13:11, 13 February 2015 (UTC)
Thank you for your thoughts on this. I'm not certain (and I certainly mean no disrespect) that the 2 examples you raise are relevant to this situation. I can't comment on the DNA point because I haven't heard of this labeling outcry (I totally agree that any such label would be ludicrous). As to the other articles about Christian / Jewish / Islamic mythology: first they are different articles than this one (and so not relevant to how THIS article is written - ie, we can't "average" the 2 articles to somehow make Misplaced Pages right on an "overall" basis), and second those articles DON'T say "Christianity is mythical but Buddhism is a religion" - whereas this article DOES say "Christianity is a religion but this indigenous traditional belief is a myth". So my concern isn't so much in the use (or not use) of the word "myth", it is in the selective use of the word "myth". Now, let me add a new twist into our discussion (which I am enjoying and I appreciate your participation in it). I am an atheist - with absolutely no faith in any religion. I believe that EVERY religion is mythical (and in this context I AM using the popular meaning of "myth" as a false belief). I am not at all against the application of the word "myth" to the indigenous traditional religions - I totally agree with that characterization. My argument is that "myth" shouldn't be applied selectively to some religions but not to others. They are ALL mythical - but they ALL have some people who devotedly believe them (however wrong I believe those people's beliefs to be). So, to be absolutely clear, my point is that either the word "religion" should be applied to ALL of these belief systems, or the word "mythology" should be applied to ALL of these belief systems - because ALL of these belief systems have equal status (or equal validity - or equal lack of validity). If we apply the word "religion" (or the suffix "-ism") to some of them and we apply the word "mythology" (or even "folk religion") to others, then we are overlaying our personal Point Of View by selecting which belief system gets this word and which belief system gets that word. ] (]) 03:55, 14 February 2015 (UTC)
:: The most obvious thing to me is that if the article that's being linked does not use "mythology" then it is editorial bias to use "mythology" in this list. ] (]) 01:47, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
I agree, Bash, that this is a good criteria. I would consider using the neutral term "belief system" for every religion. This would even be appropriate for atheism and agnosticism. (If these latter two are not included, then "faith" would also be an acceptable neutral term.)] (]) 03:16, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
::Our practice of not using Misplaced Pages as a reliable source for content verification is long standing and editorially sound. We therefor should not consider what an article says, to determine the neutrality of our verbiage nor as a tool for verification. Instead, we should continue using ] that readers can use to ] the accuracy and ] of the information our articles convey.--] (]) 12:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
Hi John. I’m not certain I correctly understand your meaning: “We … should not consider what an article says to determine neutrality nor … for verification. We should ''independent reliable sources'' to verify the accuracy and neutrality …”
If I do understand your intent then Misplaced Pages shouldn’t be considered reliable (or neutral) – it should only pique our interest and provide a really good bibliography so everyone can do their own research.
I’m having a hard time coming to grips with that. I have found many excellent articles on Misplaced Pages. Even the article we’re discussing seems to me a very thorough list of the many religious beliefs in the world. I’ve read very informative articles on physics, history, and biology. I hate to think that the authors of all those articles (or the author of this article) had no intention of either accuracy or neutrality when they created their articles. I hate to think that all the people who give their time and knowledge to reviewing and improving articles have no intention of either accuracy or neutrality. And I don't believe that all the people who refer to Misplaced Pages for information have no expectation of either accuracy or neutrality.
I believe an article should be as accurate, and as neutral, as possible. (And I'm certain that this is also the intent of the authors.) And that its accuracy and neutrality can be judged ONLY by what it says.
Again, if I misconstrued your intended meaning, I apologize for that – and please do me the favour of correcting my misunderstanding. ] (]) 21:27, 4 April 2015 (UTC)
:::Thank you for requesting these clarifications. It is entirely my error which unintentionally introduced the ambiguities of my previous comment. That you found understanding at all speaks well of your "power of reason". To achieve a thoroughly accurate understanding, as you have done, speaks remarkably well of the total person who edits Misplaced Pages as ]. I am glad that we met here today; that I've been blessed once again in my life – undeserving; once again.
:::I meant to imply that we rightfully do not use one Misplaced Pages article as a reliable source for verification of some other Misplaced Pages article's content. You are absolutely correct that we invariably must "consider what an article says" to determine how well it adheres to the same areas of required compliance. It is true that "]"; a fact that should not cause a measure of lament. The informative articles you mentioned having read are the collaborative results of thoughtful editors who deserve admiration for the selfless service they voluntarily gave. I did not mean to cast any aspersions, or to suggest a nefarious thing, and I am sorry that sentiments like that were minced in my prose. I hope I have clarified this matter well enough, and ask that you tell me if anything else needs to be done to remove any "ill effects" that remain, or to restore the peace that was known; or the confidence lost as a result of the comment posted by me. Thank you.--] (]) 02:09, 5 April 2015 (UTC)
Hi John - thanks for your clarification, and your kind words. Believe me, I never had any ill feelings. I also enjoy having these sorts of discussions with people such as yourself who put a lot of thought into questions of this nature and are willing to share and articulate their ideas.<br />
As I look back over the entire thread of this conversation and all its participants (Ian.thomson, BashBrannigan, and now you as well) I remind myself that the initial comment I made was that in a list of the many religions of the world, I felt that it was not appropriate that many of those were labeled as "religions" - and that some were labeled as "mythology". And I noted that virtually all and virtually only the "Indigenous Traditional Religions" were called "mythologies".<br />
Although several (interesting and enjoyable) tangents from this original concern have been travelled, I still feel that this gives an unnecessary bias to the list. I think that if the word "religion" or "belief" or "faith" (or even the word "mythology") was applied equally to each of the entries in the list (ie, EVERY entry in the list had the same label), then the article would be better balanced and more respectful of all belief systems - and this change would not at all diminish the quality of the article or the amount of information conveyed.<br />
Best regards ] (]) 03:09, 5 April 2015 (UTC)


== Why is Scientology not listed here.....??? ==
:"Dharma" is simply the sanskrit word for "teaching" or "doctrine", although there are some new-ageish authors who use that word as a sort of "positive karma" meaning. And Buddhism is not actually reincarnationist. Actually there isn't a whole lot unifying even Hinduism except vocabulary, so the distinction you propose is quite subtle, perhaps to the point of not being useful. ] 10:20, 20 Apr 2004 (UTC)


It has a significant population <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 23:57, 11 December 2017 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:: I disagree entirely with Dantas. In that case, Bible's just a Greek-derived word for book. Dharma is a concept that is found only in the Vedas and later Indian religions. New-agers have nothing to do with it. For this reason, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism are also known as Hindu Dharma/Sanatana Dharma, Buddha Dharma, Jaina Dharma and Sikh Dharma. They're very much connected as their philosophies overlap. Also, Hinduism has more than vocabulary and is solidly grounded around Vedic philosophies in Astika traditions as well as Bhakti movements and Puranic sects. Dharma religions is quite appropriate. --] 19:46, May 4, 2004 (UTC)
:::All religions overlap to some extent. It would be quite puzzling if those born on what is currently India were an exception. And yes, of course "Bible" _is_ just a word meaning "book". If you consider _all_ religious movements that claim to follow Abraham's God, there indeed little (if anything at all) unifying them in either doctrine or practice. The difference is that Hinduism tends to be more inclusive and to welcome an amazing variety of forms of religious interpretation and practice, while the most widespread Abrahamic religions make a point of understanding that there are those who do not "follow the book". I don't see either stance as inherently more "correct" than the other, but the point remains that at the end of the day there is precious little (or nothing) unifying Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism other than language. As a matter of fact I sometimes wonder if there is anything unifying Buddhism either - certainly _not_ language even if we decide that some of the more eccentric branches are not actually Buddhism (yet another can of worms). If there is a core of common beliefs among the four Dharmas mentioned and, say, most forms of Chinese and ] then it is certainly not too easy to spot. Not to make too big an issue of it, but I take it that you disagree with those who believe that the Upanishads give Hinduism a very different face and in fact oppose much of the teaching of the Vedas? There are many respected authors in either side of this argument. ]


== So many? ==
:: <Small>but the point remains that at the end of the day there is precious little (or nothing) unifying Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism other than language.</Small>


So if I believe in one of them... does that mean I'm against the believe of the other 4,199 religions in the world?
:: karma, mantra concepts (bija, like AUM, etc.) rebirth-reincarnation (different but related), symbolism (lotus, gods & goddesses), ahimsa (first appeared in Chandogya Upanishad); such things represent more than language and go to concept.. the biggest unifier is Dharma, which obviously is interpreted differently but such differences, as you pointed, can be found within religions as well as without. Yoga is another unifying factor, and while Patanjali is clearly of the Vedic school, vipassana and later yoga movements in the other faiths call to a sort of Dharma-tradition sharing of the concepts, and following individualization as well. Also, it's been noted by many that core ideas and systems of meditation have been derived from older traditions; the Upanishads seems to have set off reform and Mahavir and Buddhadeb ratified the feeling in their new traditions. Hindus, Jains and Buddhists subsequently imbibed so much from each other that some traditions cannot be distinguished from between religions. The Tirukural, for example, is desparately claimed by members of both the Jain and Hindu faiths. As for Tantra, Vajrayana Buddhism is practically a Tibetan face of right-hand Shiva-Shakta tantra traditions.


== Ājīvika ==
:: <small> "I take it that you disagree with those who believe that the Upanishads give Hinduism a very different face and in fact oppose much of the teaching of the Vedas?" <small>


Ājīvika, which was just added, is
:: Not at all. The Upanishads represent one of the world's greatest attempts at reform against dogma and progressions of philosophical and mystical sophistication the world has ever seen. It was largely successful in that, while it may not have off-set the parallel sacerdotalist Brahmin-culture, it certainly sparked of centuries of debate, change and growth. Upanishads laid the philosophical and practical foundation upon which Buddhadeb, Mahavir and Shanakracharya all built.
# primarily a philosophical tradition, in which case, I wonder if it should be listed here at all, or alternatively
# according to the ], most closely related to the Hindu tradition, in which case it should be categorized there? ]<sup>]</sup> 19:17, 29 June 2018 (UTC)


== A section about fictional religions ? ==
:: However, it would be fallacious to say that the Upanishads denied the Vedas. You didn't say that, but you called them on their largely 'different' viewpoint. I would argue that they picked up and worked off of solely Vedic philosophy and ideas, things inherent in the culture. If one reads the Rig and Atharva Vedas, one will note that they represent anything but a steady system of belief. Devotional liturgy, complex monism, monotheism, strongly developed ideas of proto-dharma (as I like to call it: rta) all exist within the greater frameowkr of altar machinations... the Aranyakas, pre-Upanishads, grew naturally from Vedic beliefs and show a more meditative, less ritualistic side of Vedic culture.


Could we create a new section about the fictional religions ? They are numerous in fantasy and SF. <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 10:31, 13 May 2020 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
:: The problem with your idea of the separation is that you are reducing the Vedas to Brahmin culture, which is not all they were. Certainly they were dominated by it, but the Upanishads did not grow in a vaccuum. They hailed the Vedas on a different level, shying from empty ritual and praising their divine inspiration. They called for a different outlook and embraced certain ''aspects'' of the Vedas, things inspired by oft-repeated phrases like All Is One, the nasadiya and purusha sukta hymns, the Vedic cosmologies and imagery, the philosophies of dharma, the divine self and meditation that had developed and become active realms of philosophic discussion not only within the Rig and Atharva but the Yajur and Sama.
:The religions listed would need to be ], such as the ones at ]. However, I worry that if we add such as section, it's going to get stuffed with unsourced and non-notable ]. ] (]) 10:59, 13 May 2020 (UTC)
::Since ] exists, there is no need to expand this list. I have added the fictional relion list to the ] section. ] (]) 16:28, 11 July 2020 (UTC)


== Bön Religion ==
:: The biggest hurdle is that the Upanishads strictly aligned themselves with the Vedas and sought to impress upon the listener/reader that there existed a marked difference between ritual culture of the Vedas and Vedic knowledge itself. Brahmin culture, Vedanta(Upanishads), Yoga, bhakti movements and most of the Tantra scriptures were natural developments of Vedic culture in that their philosophies and religions are derived therefrom and/or they explicitly align themselves with Vedic traditions.


I am not sure if the Bön religion should be listed as Buddhist, it does in fact have some connections with modern day Tibetan Buddhism however the Bön religion was in Tibet first, and is very different to Buddhism. ] (]) 00:48, 7 July 2020 (UTC)
:: But anyway... my point is not to get into a minority-concerned discussion about early Hinduism; really, I do understand what your saying about the differences, but I the list makes it seem like jainism, buddhism and hinduism are random Indian faiths, which they're not. The most renowned scholars and people contemporary to the beginnings of the former two faiths listed them as Nastika and Astika, against Vedas or with. The connection is clear, and common understandings of many of the adherents and/or scholars of the religion is that they representa a larger Dharma tradition, much like islam christianity and judaism represent abrahamic tradition. The reliance on Abhraham and common Old Testament stories is so great as to make attempts to render the triple-connection 'superficial' seem strange to me.--] 13:42, May 5, 2004 (UTC)


== Johnson cult is mis-classified by its own Misplaced Pages entry. ==
----
I love categorization. More specifically, I love catergorizing religions. So, what we really need is to categorize religions by birthplace or by what type of religion it is. The Abrahmic religions get their own category, I renamed the post-vedic religions to be a dharmic religion category. I am just saying I will do the same for all the others unless there is some objection here and we keep the categorization by birthplace, which to me seems silly.


On the List of "cargo cult" religions, the Johnson cult is listed. However, when visiting its Misplaced Pages page the first sentence is "The Johnson cult, formerly misidentified as a cargo cult"<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/Johnson_cult</ref>. It also does not fit the description of a cargo cult, or of a religion necessarily. Someone with a broader understanding of this article should revise this.
The headings are a good start but some moving around would be in order. I am thinking headings like:


22:09, 6 September 2020 (UTC) <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) </small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
{{reflist-talk}}


== Polytheistic Reconstructionism ==
Shinko Shukyo (new religions of japan, these could also go under the next category)
:tenrikyo
:seich-no-ie
:konkokyo


Shouldn't the reconstructed polytheistic religions be under the religions on whose basis the polytheistic religions were reconstructed? ] (]) 11:42, 15 September 2020 (UTC)
Eclectic unification religions
:manicheanism
:baha'i
:all others currently under this heading


== Eastern Religions ==
Order religions
:Confucianism
:Mohism
:Taoism
:Shinto (maybe not)


Should we combine East Asian religions and Indic religions under the Umbrella term Eastern religions, similarly to how Iranian and Abrahamic religions are under Middle Eastern religions? ] (]) 05:25, 25 December 2020 (UTC)
Left-Hand Path religions
:all currently under this heading


== European Religions? ==
Xenotheism (alien religions)
:Raelism
:Urantia
:Scientology (maybe) (probably not)


A new section on European religions has been added, most of these religion are from the ethnic religious, new religious movement, or Historical religions. Just wondering. ] (]) 22:06, 28 December 2020 (UTC)
Neopaganism
:all currently under this heading
:summum (probably)


== the very small religon of walsisisum ==
Shamanism/Animism
:What is now the pagan belief religions


walsisisum is the least known religon that is only celebrated by 7 people tops.
Orisha religions
a very small organization only as of today put on the internet where there leader puts out videos to its few followers and nobody knows there in on it like a cult almost.
:what is now African-American religions
the belief is that the world was created by a powerful god who used the last of his power to create everything us the earth and the universe.
and then slowly gets turned into the form of what we now know of as the walrus.
he also wanted the people to be friends with the walrus not to kill and hunt them like they did.
they where supposed to watch the humans and keep them in order.
this is a dying religion if you are looking for one please consider this one also if you would please make it known to the world I did the best I could.
how would I know so mutch about this cause I am the leader <!-- Template:Unsigned IP --><small class="autosigned">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (]) 00:41, 8 January 2021 (UTC)</small> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->


Where does it end though? I can easily get my 7 best friends to agree to a religion and start making videos. This whole article seems to be chock full of narcissism. <!-- Template:Unsigned --><span class="autosigned" style="font-size:85%;">—&nbsp;Preceding ] comment added by ] (] • ]) 11:39, 10 June 2021 (UTC)</span> <!--Autosigned by SineBot-->
Unique religions
:Zoroastrianism
:Yezidism
:Scientology (maybe)


== New Age movement or Occult ==
--] 21:02, 5 Aug 2004 (UTC)


On the New Religious movement section that contains ], ], ] should it be under ] or ] ] (]) 05:52, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
I really feel Baha'i is an Abrahamic religion, however it is not strictly Abrahamic and recognizes many nonabrahamic prophets and names for God (most notably Shiva), therefore I think it should be moved (or <gasp> listed twice) 1.9 Eclectic unification religions. It has as much Abrahamic source as, say, Unitarianism (which I feel should also be double listed).


== Dudeism Classification ==
Also, the term "Electic" bothers me because it, to me, implies a kind of jumbled together mess. Now I realize the electic reffers to the grouping and not the individual religions, but I think "Various" or something along those lines would be more appropriate.
{{hat|LTA sock, see ]. --]&#124;] 19:59, 10 June 2021 (UTC)}}
Now, i don't want to be like some of the other people on here advocating for the silly religions that exist and trying to get their classification changed by playing dumb, but I really think it might be worth it to consider my request. But like, I understand if it doesn't, man. So right now, Dudeism is classified as a Mock religion or a religion based on fiction. Allow me to address why i think both of these may be untrue.
First if all, it is obviously not a mock religion because it is not mocking anything. It's not like pastafarianism that obviously mocks Christianity. It's based off of Taoism, but with a modern view of it and without the metaphysical shit and what have you. It's not trying to mock Taoism, as the religion itself is promoting it.


Secondly, I definitely see how it is considered to be based upon fiction, but I would like to talk about how I believe it is untrue. Obviously, it was inspired by the fictional movie "The Big Lebowski," but I think it's less based on that, and instead uses it as a vessel to explain a very, very ancient form of thinking in a modern way. The religion itself says this on the website and such. Basically, the religion is not about the Big Lebowski, that way I see it, it's about Stoicism, Daoism and really just going with the flow and being in the moment, and it uses the carefree character from that movie as a model to how one should go about their life.
Also, Humanistic Judaism should be added to the Jewish section (if I remember I will add more the Humanistic Judaism entry sometime this week). It has now gained official recognition from the American Council of Rabbis (or something like that, I dont remember the official title) as a legitimate fifth branch of modern Judaism.


So, that's my opinion. I can add sources to some of my claims if anyone wants. I think maybe whoever is able to edit this might want to look into it more for themselves, and hopefully consider moving it to the Other section or the neo-thought section or something. Thanks for reading and take it easy. ] (]) 23:24, 29 April 2021 (UTC)
Also is Falun Dafa really a unification religion? I mean, I guess it is, becauseit grew out of Chinese Folk Religion which is a combination of Buddhism, Confucionism, Ancestor Veneration/Filial Piety and Taoism which are all practiced together in some combination. So, well, I guess I see it completely is now. Interesting.


:I really don't want dual listing. Baha'i is usually considered Abrahmic but it prolly is no more Abrahmic than ], or unitarianism. If you want to move it to the sycreticism section, go for it. I didn't change the ''eclectic'' section name 'cause I thought it fit. If you find it offensive, I will change it to ''syncretic'' religions. I thought scientology would turn heads under alien religions. Scientology clearly belongs under alien religions, after-all they believe we are decended from clams and the earth was used as a nuke testing spot by ] 75,000 years ago. The Baha'i also don't revire Shiva, they consider Krishna a prophet. Harry, harry, Krishna :p
--] 05:48, 22 Aug 2004 (UTC)


Hey all, since I haven't received a reply and it's May 5th now. I'm going to move it myself. Totally understand if it gets reverted, just thought I might see if anyone opposes. Thanks ] (]) 23:07, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
::So, along with all the other edits to this list I have moved the bahai faith down to the syncretic religion category. I also put it under the category ]. They might not like it there, however, it fits.


Yeah. Well. You know, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Reverted. — ] (]) 16:36, 10 June 2021 (UTC)
== Comments on the new arrangement ==
{{hab}}
I have done many re-arrangements to the list, I would apreciate any and all comments on the new design. Especially if the '''indian subcontenental''' belongs next to the dharmic religion section. I removed it at first however, ] put it back thinking that it was necessary. I really don't think it works in the new flow of things, I might message him and ask his ideas myself. --] 01:33, 26 Aug 2004 (UTC)

== The website used as the first source in this Misplaced Pages article has now been repurposed as a loan broker website. ==

Should we use the available instead?
] (]) 13:06, 2 May 2021 (UTC)

== Discussion on "Reverting each other, Indo-European, etc" ==

There is a discussion on ], about the naming of Indo-European category, the separation of North Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, and should religions of Asia be cluster together under an Asia banner. I mention this Edit War here since it may affect this page at some point with similar concepts just discussed on that chart.] (]) 05:37, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

== New Age is not Middle Eastern ==

Asking for the removal/move of New Age and putting it in New Religious Movement instead of Middle Eastern category. ] (]) 16:09, 22 June 2021 (UTC)
:Go ahead. ] -] 18:12, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

== This article is a disaster ==

It should be rewritten with sources or deleted. Many contents seem to be inventions. For instance, ] is currently listed under "Fiona Temple" (which probably does not exist), itself listed under ]. The ] are themselves listed under New Age. Is this article serious or a joke?--] (]) 13:58, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

== I don’t understand what I am ==

No ] (]) 23:45, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

== Religions ==

M ] (]) 13:42, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

== New age listing ==

Someone a lot of things to the New Age section with the note: "Note: All New Age groups are listed in random order. Please organize this."
I may get back around to dealing with this but if I don't, this is a notice for anyone who would like to. ] (]) 15:34, 9 October 2022 (UTC)
:Did it in alphabetical order. That okay? --<span style="background-color: indigo;">]<span style="color: yellow"> ⋆</span>]])</span> 16:49, 9 October 2022 (UTC)

== Earthseed ==

As a member of the Earthseed family and vocal advocate for such, I added that and Terasem as a subset of it under Post-theistic and Naturalistic Theologies. There's already articles on Misplaced Pages for both Earthseed and the Terasem Movement, and I even included a reference to Earthseed's central website as evidence that it is not entirely fictional. I am an Earthseed shaper and there's enough of us to demand inclusion on this very long list of religions and spiritual traditions. ] (]) 01:29, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

== WP:CRYSTALBALL ==

The last sentence of the first paragraph currently states:

<blockquote>"According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions which at some point in the future will be countless."</blockquote>

I wonder whether the last portion of this sentence should be deleted per ]. I find it entirely plausible that a future trend of major religions absorbing numerous smaller ones could emerge, but who knows, I don't have a crystal ball. ] (]) 21:04, 20 September 2023 (UTC)

:Agreed. Countless implies infinite to me. There may well be a lot more religions in the future but they will likely still be countable. ] (]) 23:13, 20 September 2023 (UTC)

::Ok, given that I'm not alone in this thinking, I've removed the latter part of the sentence from the article. ] (]) 00:09, 23 September 2023 (UTC) {{Done}}

== Historical Religions ==

There are listing of historical religions under (historical) listed twice some under a different category. Should they be listed under both or should all historical religions be under historical religion section. ] (]) 08:41, 26 December 2023 (UTC)

:Imo all historical religions should be exclusively listed in historical religions. It was a while ago, but I was reading through the talk pages and there seems to be an established precedent that religions should only be listed once even if you could argue they'd fit under multiple categories. ] (]) 16:08, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

== East Asian Religions ==

I've been thinking about this for a while now so I'll put the question out there for discussion. Currently all East Asian/Southeast Asian religions are put under the world religion category which defines world religion as trans cultural and international. Most East Asian religions can not be argued to be transcultural or international. While Shintoism, Confucianism, Taoism and the like could be considered transcultural and international most of the other religions listed clearly are not (at least not to any significant degree). Vietnamese and Chinese folk religion is almost exclusively practiced by Vietnamese and Chinese people respectively.

One solution would be to partition the East Asian religions. Put the transcultural and international ones in world religions and put the rest as ethnic religions. This feels like the obvious solution, but there are issues with it. These East Asian religions still maintain a distinctly ethnic character, even Confucianism and Taoism, and could be described as a gray area between world religions and ethnic religions. There is also something to be said about how integral the local ethnic faiths are to Confucianism and Taoism. Putting these faiths on different sides of the article ignores the syncretic nature of all these East Asian faiths, they quite clearly constitute a single family of faiths that have influenced each other for over 2000 years.

Yet putting them in one category or the other is also problematic. Putting them all as ethnic religions dismisses the global character of, especially, Taoism and Confucianism. Yet putting them as world religions feels equally problematic as some of the East Asian faiths are literally called folk religion.

Ultimately I think seperating them is the best idea and one I'd be fine to do myself if the rest of you agree, but I want to make sure there's input before I do anything like this. ] (]) 16:24, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

Latest revision as of 07:52, 20 July 2024

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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

Central Africa

East Africa

Southern Africa

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

You left off Northern Africa
Northern Africa
Doremon764 (talk) 19:00, 23 February 2023 (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. (bork!) 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/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)
Discordism is real, and there is a Discordian Humanism that is different from Discordianism. It is a more modernized version for modern times, and updated, and believes in equal rights for all. Check out Reddit at /r/discordianhumanism and /r/discordianism for more information and to find articles to cite for your research. Enemies of Eris Discordia and Discordians mock us by saying our religion is a joke, etc. It is a form of oppression from the other religions. Eris Blastar (talk) 02:10, 5 November 2013 (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 Misplaced Pages. Canada10wi (talk) 19:56, 9 September 2011 (UTC)

Scientology

According to the wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/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)

Parody or mock religions

There are many more than can be added to start off you can add The Church Of Emacs, a "church" named after the Emacs text editor And the Cult Of Vi named after the Vi text editor see http://en.wikipedia.org/Editor_war#Humour

note: I am sorry if I have done something wrong. Other than this I have only once ever edited a Misplaced Pages page

I'm thinking the whole section could be cut as neither a religion nor a spiritual practice if these seem just some form of humor (Church of Trek) or comment of strongly held view conflicts on the level of 'religious wars' (DOS vs Unix wars). Do need to be careful as there are nontheistic religions and nontheistic spiritual beliefs, to where have Atheists or Jedism that seems not a religion but is officially recognized in some countries as such and able to conduct marriages and other functions associated to more common religions. And have some obviously mainstream religions that have do not form by a building -- traveling ministry, cafe church or internet church or pub church) but are definately holding a particular spitirual belief or spiritual seekers versus non-spiritual critic or vandal or humorist.. Markbassett (talk) 00:04, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

Greek/Roman Mythology?

Where it be at, broski? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.156.121.1 (talk) 01:22, 4 May 2012 (UTC)

Greek and Roman religions still exist to this day, but are mocked and insulted by other religions in refusing to acknowledge that they are real, and that they deserve mention. When we try to get articles about them on Religion lists, it gets deleted by intolerant people who claim they are 'joke religions' and 'not real' and 'everyone who followed them is now dead'. But I challenge you to look at all of the statues in federal court buildings. They are from the greek and roman myths that our laws and type of government 'republic' are based upon. Lady Justice is one example, Liberty (goddess) for another. Eris for example represents 'change', 'evolution', and 'progress' because without discord and chaos you would just have the same thing over and over again. Eris Blastar (talk) 02:19, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

"Ancient Greek Religion" and "Religion in ancient Rome" are listed are listed under "Historical religions". "Hellenism" and "Italo-roman neopaganism" are listed under "New religious movements" - "Modern Paganism" - "Ethnic neopaganism". DubleH (talk) 10:26, 25 December 2021 (UTC)

Christian Science is not New Thought

Christian Science should be removed from under New Thought, it is a forerunner to the movement, but is its self not part of it. Or maybe the headline could read, "Christian Science and New Thought" ? Anthony maybury (talk) 13:02, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Use of the term "mythology"

My congratulations to the author(s) for this very comprehensive list. I don't understand, though, why the term "mythology" (with its negative connotations) has been used to label any of the religions. It also seems inappropriate that virtually all of the "Indigenous traditional religions" (and virtually none of the religions in the other categories) use this term. Thank you for your consideration. --ContentOfTheirCharacter (talk) 03:12, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Please read Mythology, especially the section "Terminology". Academia does not use it with any negative connotation, it simply refers to collections of stories that have a sacred value to a particular community. In many cases, there simply isn't an "-ism" name for certain groups of beliefs (indeed, some scholars have come to question if attempting to view many culture's spiritual beliefs as "-isms" is not ultimately a western attempt to force other spiritual beliefs into a model resembling the Abrahamic religions). Ian.thomson (talk) 03:48, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Hi - I agree that "myth" is a neutral term meaning "story". But the general perception of the term is negative - and conveys the message that this religion is either "ancient" and has been superseded by a "true" religion or that this religion has been discredited. All religions are a collection of "stories": creation stories, founder stories, stories about the acts of the major personalities. Also, all religions include codes of conduct and philosophies and values - which are not stories (although they may use stories to illustrate these concepts). Many religions include assertions - about the afterlife, about what the deity/deities expects of us, etc - these are not stories either (although they may use stories to explain how to attain the rewards of the afterlife). So, while calling a belief system a "mythology" is defensible based on the dictionary definition of mythology, I suspect that if we told a devote Jew, Christian, Muslim, etc that his world view was "the Jewish mythology", "the Christian mythology", or "the Muslim mythology" then I think he would be shocked (and offended) at our terminology. Thus, I think that removing the term would take away the negative connotation (without in any way diminishing the quality of the article). ContentOfTheirCharacter (talk) 04:19, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Over 80% of Americans support mandatory labels on foods containing DNA -- DNA being the base component for non-virus life (and thus all food) on earth. I bring this up to partially illustrate why we only care what academic sources mean and not common perception. Also, we already have articles on Christian mythology, Islamic mythology, and Jewish mythology. C.S. Lewis (the guy who wrote Narnia, and pretty into writing about a traditional but otherwise universal Christianity) described Jesus as a myth that was also true -- in other words one of the more popular theologians of the 20th century used "myth" to refer to a religion's sacred story for which the true/false value is independent of it being a myth. Ian.thomson (talk) 13:11, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for your thoughts on this. I'm not certain (and I certainly mean no disrespect) that the 2 examples you raise are relevant to this situation. I can't comment on the DNA point because I haven't heard of this labeling outcry (I totally agree that any such label would be ludicrous). As to the other articles about Christian / Jewish / Islamic mythology: first they are different articles than this one (and so not relevant to how THIS article is written - ie, we can't "average" the 2 articles to somehow make Misplaced Pages right on an "overall" basis), and second those articles DON'T say "Christianity is mythical but Buddhism is a religion" - whereas this article DOES say "Christianity is a religion but this indigenous traditional belief is a myth". So my concern isn't so much in the use (or not use) of the word "myth", it is in the selective use of the word "myth". Now, let me add a new twist into our discussion (which I am enjoying and I appreciate your participation in it). I am an atheist - with absolutely no faith in any religion. I believe that EVERY religion is mythical (and in this context I AM using the popular meaning of "myth" as a false belief). I am not at all against the application of the word "myth" to the indigenous traditional religions - I totally agree with that characterization. My argument is that "myth" shouldn't be applied selectively to some religions but not to others. They are ALL mythical - but they ALL have some people who devotedly believe them (however wrong I believe those people's beliefs to be). So, to be absolutely clear, my point is that either the word "religion" should be applied to ALL of these belief systems, or the word "mythology" should be applied to ALL of these belief systems - because ALL of these belief systems have equal status (or equal validity - or equal lack of validity). If we apply the word "religion" (or the suffix "-ism") to some of them and we apply the word "mythology" (or even "folk religion") to others, then we are overlaying our personal Point Of View by selecting which belief system gets this word and which belief system gets that word. ContentOfTheirCharacter (talk) 03:55, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

The most obvious thing to me is that if the article that's being linked does not use "mythology" then it is editorial bias to use "mythology" in this list. BashBrannigan (talk) 01:47, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

I agree, Bash, that this is a good criteria. I would consider using the neutral term "belief system" for every religion. This would even be appropriate for atheism and agnosticism. (If these latter two are not included, then "faith" would also be an acceptable neutral term.)ContentOfTheirCharacter (talk) 03:16, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Our practice of not using Misplaced Pages as a reliable source for content verification is long standing and editorially sound. We therefor should not consider what an article says, to determine the neutrality of our verbiage nor as a tool for verification. Instead, we should continue using independent reliable sources that readers can use to verify the accuracy and neutrality of the information our articles convey.--John Cline (talk) 12:35, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Hi John. I’m not certain I correctly understand your meaning: “We … should not consider what an article says to determine neutrality nor … for verification. We should independent reliable sources to verify the accuracy and neutrality …” If I do understand your intent then Misplaced Pages shouldn’t be considered reliable (or neutral) – it should only pique our interest and provide a really good bibliography so everyone can do their own research. I’m having a hard time coming to grips with that. I have found many excellent articles on Misplaced Pages. Even the article we’re discussing seems to me a very thorough list of the many religious beliefs in the world. I’ve read very informative articles on physics, history, and biology. I hate to think that the authors of all those articles (or the author of this article) had no intention of either accuracy or neutrality when they created their articles. I hate to think that all the people who give their time and knowledge to reviewing and improving articles have no intention of either accuracy or neutrality. And I don't believe that all the people who refer to Misplaced Pages for information have no expectation of either accuracy or neutrality. I believe an article should be as accurate, and as neutral, as possible. (And I'm certain that this is also the intent of the authors.) And that its accuracy and neutrality can be judged ONLY by what it says. Again, if I misconstrued your intended meaning, I apologize for that – and please do me the favour of correcting my misunderstanding. ContentOfTheirCharacter (talk) 21:27, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for requesting these clarifications. It is entirely my error which unintentionally introduced the ambiguities of my previous comment. That you found understanding at all speaks well of your "power of reason". To achieve a thoroughly accurate understanding, as you have done, speaks remarkably well of the total person who edits Misplaced Pages as ContentOfTheirCharacter. I am glad that we met here today; that I've been blessed once again in my life – undeserving; once again.
I meant to imply that we rightfully do not use one Misplaced Pages article as a reliable source for verification of some other Misplaced Pages article's content. You are absolutely correct that we invariably must "consider what an article says" to determine how well it adheres to the same areas of required compliance. It is true that "Misplaced Pages is not a reliable source"; a fact that should not cause a measure of lament. The informative articles you mentioned having read are the collaborative results of thoughtful editors who deserve admiration for the selfless service they voluntarily gave. I did not mean to cast any aspersions, or to suggest a nefarious thing, and I am sorry that sentiments like that were minced in my prose. I hope I have clarified this matter well enough, and ask that you tell me if anything else needs to be done to remove any "ill effects" that remain, or to restore the peace that was known; or the confidence lost as a result of the comment posted by me. Thank you.--John Cline (talk) 02:09, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Hi John - thanks for your clarification, and your kind words. Believe me, I never had any ill feelings. I also enjoy having these sorts of discussions with people such as yourself who put a lot of thought into questions of this nature and are willing to share and articulate their ideas.
As I look back over the entire thread of this conversation and all its participants (Ian.thomson, BashBrannigan, and now you as well) I remind myself that the initial comment I made was that in a list of the many religions of the world, I felt that it was not appropriate that many of those were labeled as "religions" - and that some were labeled as "mythology". And I noted that virtually all and virtually only the "Indigenous Traditional Religions" were called "mythologies".
Although several (interesting and enjoyable) tangents from this original concern have been travelled, I still feel that this gives an unnecessary bias to the list. I think that if the word "religion" or "belief" or "faith" (or even the word "mythology") was applied equally to each of the entries in the list (ie, EVERY entry in the list had the same label), then the article would be better balanced and more respectful of all belief systems - and this change would not at all diminish the quality of the article or the amount of information conveyed.
Best regards ContentOfTheirCharacter (talk) 03:09, 5 April 2015 (UTC)

Why is Scientology not listed here.....???

It has a significant population — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.38.105.161 (talk) 23:57, 11 December 2017 (UTC)

So many?

So if I believe in one of them... does that mean I'm against the believe of the other 4,199 religions in the world?

Ājīvika

Ājīvika, which was just added, is

  1. primarily a philosophical tradition, in which case, I wonder if it should be listed here at all, or alternatively
  2. according to the article on the subject, most closely related to the Hindu tradition, in which case it should be categorized there? Clean Copy 19:17, 29 June 2018 (UTC)

A section about fictional religions ?

Could we create a new section about the fictional religions ? They are numerous in fantasy and SF. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A01:CB08:173:6400:7014:445A:3F21:E15C (talk) 10:31, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

The religions listed would need to be notable, such as the ones at Category:Fictional religions. However, I worry that if we add such as section, it's going to get stuffed with unsourced and non-notable WP:FANCRUFT. Ian.thomson (talk) 10:59, 13 May 2020 (UTC)
Since List of fictional religions exists, there is no need to expand this list. I have added the fictional relion list to the See also section. BiologicalMe (talk) 16:28, 11 July 2020 (UTC)

Bön Religion

I am not sure if the Bön religion should be listed as Buddhist, it does in fact have some connections with modern day Tibetan Buddhism however the Bön religion was in Tibet first, and is very different to Buddhism. AZoroastrianMan (talk) 00:48, 7 July 2020 (UTC)

Johnson cult is mis-classified by its own Misplaced Pages entry.

On the List of "cargo cult" religions, the Johnson cult is listed. However, when visiting its Misplaced Pages page the first sentence is "The Johnson cult, formerly misidentified as a cargo cult". It also does not fit the description of a cargo cult, or of a religion necessarily. Someone with a broader understanding of this article should revise this.

22:09, 6 September 2020 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.16.207.15 (talk)

References

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/Johnson_cult

Polytheistic Reconstructionism

Shouldn't the reconstructed polytheistic religions be under the religions on whose basis the polytheistic religions were reconstructed? Danishjaveed (talk) 11:42, 15 September 2020 (UTC)

Eastern Religions

Should we combine East Asian religions and Indic religions under the Umbrella term Eastern religions, similarly to how Iranian and Abrahamic religions are under Middle Eastern religions? Doremon764 (talk) 05:25, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

European Religions?

A new section on European religions has been added, most of these religion are from the ethnic religious, new religious movement, or Historical religions. Just wondering. Doremon764 (talk) 22:06, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

the very small religon of walsisisum

walsisisum is the least known religon that is only celebrated by 7 people tops. a very small organization only as of today put on the internet where there leader puts out videos to its few followers and nobody knows there in on it like a cult almost. the belief is that the world was created by a powerful god who used the last of his power to create everything us the earth and the universe. and then slowly gets turned into the form of what we now know of as the walrus. he also wanted the people to be friends with the walrus not to kill and hunt them like they did. they where supposed to watch the humans and keep them in order. this is a dying religion if you are looking for one please consider this one also if you would please make it known to the world I did the best I could. how would I know so mutch about this cause I am the leader — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.247.150.59 (talk) 00:41, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

Where does it end though? I can easily get my 7 best friends to agree to a religion and start making videos. This whole article seems to be chock full of narcissism. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alexandermoir (talkcontribs) 11:39, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

New Age movement or Occult

On the New Religious movement section that contains Gaianism, Mayanism, Michael Teachings should it be under Occultism or New Age movements Doremon764 (talk) 05:52, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

Dudeism Classification

LTA sock, see Misplaced Pages:Sockpuppet investigations/Filipz123. --Blablubbs|talk 19:59, 10 June 2021 (UTC)
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

Now, i don't want to be like some of the other people on here advocating for the silly religions that exist and trying to get their classification changed by playing dumb, but I really think it might be worth it to consider my request. But like, I understand if it doesn't, man. So right now, Dudeism is classified as a Mock religion or a religion based on fiction. Allow me to address why i think both of these may be untrue.

First if all, it is obviously not a mock religion because it is not mocking anything. It's not like pastafarianism that obviously mocks Christianity. It's based off of Taoism, but with a modern view of it and without the metaphysical shit and what have you. It's not trying to mock Taoism, as the religion itself is promoting it.

Secondly, I definitely see how it is considered to be based upon fiction, but I would like to talk about how I believe it is untrue. Obviously, it was inspired by the fictional movie "The Big Lebowski," but I think it's less based on that, and instead uses it as a vessel to explain a very, very ancient form of thinking in a modern way. The religion itself says this on the website and such. Basically, the religion is not about the Big Lebowski, that way I see it, it's about Stoicism, Daoism and really just going with the flow and being in the moment, and it uses the carefree character from that movie as a model to how one should go about their life.

So, that's my opinion. I can add sources to some of my claims if anyone wants. I think maybe whoever is able to edit this might want to look into it more for themselves, and hopefully consider moving it to the Other section or the neo-thought section or something. Thanks for reading and take it easy. Abider445 (talk) 23:24, 29 April 2021 (UTC)


Hey all, since I haven't received a reply and it's May 5th now. I'm going to move it myself. Totally understand if it gets reverted, just thought I might see if anyone opposes. Thanks Abider445 (talk) 23:07, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Yeah. Well. You know, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Reverted. — Chrisahn (talk) 16:36, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

The website used as the first source in this Misplaced Pages article has now been repurposed as a loan broker website.

Should we use the last web archive available instead? ScratchyGamer314 (talk) 13:06, 2 May 2021 (UTC)

Discussion on "Reverting each other, Indo-European, etc"

There is a discussion on Template talk:Religion topics#Reverting each other, Indo-European, etc, about the naming of Indo-European category, the separation of North Africa and Sub Saharan Africa, and should religions of Asia be cluster together under an Asia banner. I mention this Edit War here since it may affect this page at some point with similar concepts just discussed on that chart.Doremon764 (talk) 05:37, 25 May 2021 (UTC)

New Age is not Middle Eastern

Asking for the removal/move of New Age and putting it in New Religious Movement instead of Middle Eastern category. Doremon764 (talk) 16:09, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

Go ahead. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 18:12, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

This article is a disaster

It should be rewritten with sources or deleted. Many contents seem to be inventions. For instance, Platonism is currently listed under "Fiona Temple" (which probably does not exist), itself listed under New Age. The Benedictines are themselves listed under New Age. Is this article serious or a joke?--37.162.128.86 (talk) 13:58, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

I don’t understand what I am

No 2601:702:4300:A960:0:0:0:1849 (talk) 23:45, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

Religions

M 105.245.103.245 (talk) 13:42, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

New age listing

Someone added a lot of things to the New Age section with the note: "Note: All New Age groups are listed in random order. Please organize this." I may get back around to dealing with this but if I don't, this is a notice for anyone who would like to. Gilded Snail (talk) 15:34, 9 October 2022 (UTC)

Did it in alphabetical order. That okay? --Roundishtc) 16:49, 9 October 2022 (UTC)

Earthseed

As a member of the Earthseed family and vocal advocate for such, I added that and Terasem as a subset of it under Post-theistic and Naturalistic Theologies. There's already articles on Misplaced Pages for both Earthseed and the Terasem Movement, and I even included a reference to Earthseed's central website as evidence that it is not entirely fictional. I am an Earthseed shaper and there's enough of us to demand inclusion on this very long list of religions and spiritual traditions. Exaltist Ethan (talk) 01:29, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

WP:CRYSTALBALL

The last sentence of the first paragraph currently states:

"According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions which at some point in the future will be countless."

I wonder whether the last portion of this sentence should be deleted per WP:CRYSTALBALL. I find it entirely plausible that a future trend of major religions absorbing numerous smaller ones could emerge, but who knows, I don't have a crystal ball. Ypna (talk) 21:04, 20 September 2023 (UTC)

Agreed. Countless implies infinite to me. There may well be a lot more religions in the future but they will likely still be countable. Relinus (talk) 23:13, 20 September 2023 (UTC)
Ok, given that I'm not alone in this thinking, I've removed the latter part of the sentence from the article. Ypna (talk) 00:09, 23 September 2023 (UTC)  Done

Historical Religions

There are listing of historical religions under (historical) listed twice some under a different category. Should they be listed under both or should all historical religions be under historical religion section. Doremon764 (talk) 08:41, 26 December 2023 (UTC)

Imo all historical religions should be exclusively listed in historical religions. It was a while ago, but I was reading through the talk pages and there seems to be an established precedent that religions should only be listed once even if you could argue they'd fit under multiple categories. GastonN'estPasBon (talk) 16:08, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

East Asian Religions

I've been thinking about this for a while now so I'll put the question out there for discussion. Currently all East Asian/Southeast Asian religions are put under the world religion category which defines world religion as trans cultural and international. Most East Asian religions can not be argued to be transcultural or international. While Shintoism, Confucianism, Taoism and the like could be considered transcultural and international most of the other religions listed clearly are not (at least not to any significant degree). Vietnamese and Chinese folk religion is almost exclusively practiced by Vietnamese and Chinese people respectively.

One solution would be to partition the East Asian religions. Put the transcultural and international ones in world religions and put the rest as ethnic religions. This feels like the obvious solution, but there are issues with it. These East Asian religions still maintain a distinctly ethnic character, even Confucianism and Taoism, and could be described as a gray area between world religions and ethnic religions. There is also something to be said about how integral the local ethnic faiths are to Confucianism and Taoism. Putting these faiths on different sides of the article ignores the syncretic nature of all these East Asian faiths, they quite clearly constitute a single family of faiths that have influenced each other for over 2000 years.

Yet putting them in one category or the other is also problematic. Putting them all as ethnic religions dismisses the global character of, especially, Taoism and Confucianism. Yet putting them as world religions feels equally problematic as some of the East Asian faiths are literally called folk religion.

Ultimately I think seperating them is the best idea and one I'd be fine to do myself if the rest of you agree, but I want to make sure there's input before I do anything like this. GastonN'estPasBon (talk) 16:24, 29 December 2023 (UTC)

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