Religion:

Any formal or informal organization or group that has the aim to preserve and/or propagate a specific set of beliefs and/or practices regarding the nature of humanity and its relation to the supernatural and/or God.

The above definition includes such beliefs as Christianity, Buddism, (Organized) Atheism, etc. Judaism (as I have recently learned) is more like a nationality, although there is a Jewish religion as well.

Faith:

The efforts of an individual to discover or otherwise discern his or her relationship with the supernatural and/or God, and the application of what is learned.

A person who follows a faith does not necessarily belong to a religion, nor does a person who practices a religion necessarily follow a faith.

I have both a religion (Christianity, though I am not allied with a specific group) and a (faith based upon Christian beliefs). I retain the right to disagree with my religion without rejecting my faith. Having said that, I believe that there is some basis in truth for the distrust many people have for one or more organized religions. On the other hand, to attack a person's faith based on your opinion of their religion does that person injustice. This is partly because this assumes that faith is complete agreement with what is perceived to be his religion.

"I am a Christian" means (to me) that I base my faith upon my understanding of the Christian religion. This does not necessarily imply that I wholly endorse the Crusades, the teachings of Jerry Falwell, or injustice performed in the name of God. Someone else using the same words might mean something completely different. Occasionally, what a person says about faith or religion tells you nothing, since some people need to talk things out before they can clearly understand what it is that they wish to say, sort of like tossing out a first draft to get some feedback.

That's why I think it is important that the discussions that occasionally erupt into rather unpleasant sessions of name-calling should be allowed to continue (under the watchful supervision of this forum's administrator). Part of this forum's (unstated, but implied) purpose is to afford us the opportunity to tell one another about ourselves. To explain what annoys us and why we think this is so.

If we may only voice opinions that are guaranteed not to deeply offend someone, we will destroy this opportunity we have to understand one another. On the other hand, we should all take care to remember that a statement about God, the supernatural, or the absence of one or both, does not give you a complete picture of who this person is or what they believe.

If you like someone just because you are in complete agreement with that person, one of you is redundant.

--Baloo

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My mind wanders, but don't worry. It's weak and can't get very far.
--Steve Allen
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/

[I hope you didn't think I could write something that long and not have any errors, did you? ]