At 09:34 PM 11/26/2002 -0400, Loki wrote: >On 11/26/02 7:03 PM, "Steven Brust" <skzb at dreamcafe.com> wrote: > > > At 02:45 PM 11/26/2002 -0500, Randi128 at aol.com wrote: > >> Dennis wrote: Atheism is not a religion, but there are people who may > make it > >> into one. > >> > >> Atheists believe there is no God. Religion is a belief. By answering the > >> question 'Do you believe in God' you are professing your religeous > beliefs. > >> The only way to be non-religeous is to not even acknowledge the question. > > > > It is certainly possible to define religion that way. It even makes a > > certain amount of sense. But then we're left with needing a word that > > means, belief in and reverence for a superhuman power. Right now we have a > > perfectly good word for that: religion. If you want religion to mean > > something else, please supply me with a word that means what we now mean by > > religion, so we can talk about it. > >Buddhism's a religion. However, there's no belief in or reverence for any >superhuman powers in it. Rubbish. Anyone who has even studied Japanese karate knows that there is belief in, and certainly reverence for, superhuman powers in Buddhism. Indeed, Buddhism, more than any other region that comes to mind, is all *about* supernatural powers, revering them, and how to get them for yourself.