Forced Conversion Forced conversion is adoption of a different religion or irreligion under duress. Someone who has been forced to convert may continue, covertly, with the beliefs and practices originally held, while outwardly behaving as a convert. Crypto-Jews, crypto-Christians, crypto-Muslims and crypto-Pagans are historical examples of the latter. Religion and power In general, anthropologists have shown that...
Taboo A taboo is a prohibition on human activity declared as sacred and forbidden or dangerous or unclean either physically or spiritually. Breaking a taboo may serious consequences, ranging from imprisonment to social ostracism. The idea of a universal taboo is questionable, but some taboos, such as cannibalism, incest, and genocide, occur in the majority of societies. Taboos...
Proselytism Proselytism is the act or fact of religious conversion, and it also includes actions which invite it. The word proselytize is derived from the Greek language prefix (pros-, “toward”) and the verb (érchomai, “I come”) in the form of (prosélytos, “newcomer”). Historically in the Koine Greek Septuagint and New Testament, the word proselyte...
Eastern Religions The Eastern religions are the religions that originated in East, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western religions. This includes the East Asian religions (Shintoism, Sindoism, Taoism and Confucianism), Indian religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism) as well as animistic indigenous religions. This East-West religious distinction, just as with the East-West...
Religious Liberalism Religious liberalism is a conception of religion (or of a particular religion) which emphasizes personal and group liberty and rationality. It is an attitude towards one’s own religion (as opposed to criticism of religion from a secular position, and as opposed to criticism of a religion other than one’s own) which contrasts with a traditionalist or orthodox approach,...
Religious Persecution Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or their lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within societies to alienate or repress different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history....
Persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, imprisonment, internment, fear, or pain are all factors that may establish...
Prehistoric Religion Prehistoric religion is the religious beliefs and practices of prehistoric peoples. The term may cover Paleolithic religion, Mesolithic religion, Neolithic religion, and Bronze Age religions. See also: Religions, History of Religion, and What is The Origin of Religion? Paleolithic Main article: Paleolithic religion Intentional burial, particularly with grave goods, may be one of...
Theocracy Theocracy is a form of government in which a deity of some type is recognized as the supreme ruling authority, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries that manage the day to day affairs of the government. Etymology The word theocracy originates from the Greek θεοκρατία meaning “the rule of God“. This in turn derives...
State Religion A state religion (also called an established religion or official religion) is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state. A state with an official religion, while not secular, is not necessarily a theocracy, a country whose rulers have both secular and spiritual authority. State religions are official or government-sanctioned establishments of a religion, but the state does...
Interreligious Dialogue The term interreligious dialogue (or interfaith dialogue) refers to positive interaction between people of different faith communities, mostly following the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions. Although it is difficult to draw out the aims of the modern interreligious movement, which contains many disparate groups and individuals, certain common goals...
Totemism Totemism is an aspect of religious belief centered upon the veneration of sacred objects called totems. Totemism is derived from the term “ototeman” in the Ojibwe language, meaning “brother-sister kin”. A totem is any animal, plant, or other object, natural or supernatural, which provides deeply symbolic meaning for a person...
Animism Animism (from the Latin: animus or anima, meaning mind or soul) refers to a belief in numerous personalized, supernatural beings endowed with reason, intelligence and/or volition, that inhabit both objects and living beings and govern their existences. More simply, it is the belief that “everything is conscious” or that “everything has a soul.” The term has been further extended...
Church Of Divine Science The Church of Divine Science is a religious movement within the wider New Thought movement. The group was formalized in San Francisco in the 1880s under Malinda Cramer. “In March 1888 Cramer and her husband Frank chartered the ‘Home College of Spiritual Science’. Two months later Cramer changed the name...
Proto-Indo-European Mythology Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested, since Proto-Indo-European-speakers lived In pre-literate societies, they have been reconstructed by scholars of comparative mythology from inherited similarities among Indo-European languages, which...
Pantheon A pantheon (literally “(a temple) of all gods”, “of or common to all gods”) is the particular set of all gods of any polytheistic religion, mythology, or tradition. Significance A pantheon of gods is a common element of polytheistic societies, although not all polytheists have such a pantheon, and not...
Ancient Greek Religion Ancient Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology originating in ancient Greece in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. These groups varied enough for it to be possible to speak of Greek religions or “cults” in the plural, though most...
Greek Mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and the nature of the world, the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures, and the origins and significance of the...
Nontheism Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in a God or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject of God and differs from an antithetical, explicit atheism. Nontheism does not necessarily describe atheism or disbelief in God; it...
Process Theology Process theology is a type of theology developed from Alfred North Whitehead‘s (1861–1947) process philosophy, most notably by Charles Hartshorne (1897–2000) and John B. Cobb (b. 1925). Process theology and process philosophy are collectively referred to as “process thought”. For both Whitehead and Hartshorne, it is an essential attribute of God to affect and be...