Religion is a VERY loose term.
Even ‘soccer’ or ‘football’ or anything that has a fanatical following are at times referred as a religion.
Here is my favorite reference to what is religion;
Smart studied all the religions in the world and noted the following common traits in all those religions;
There are seven dimensions that Smart uses to define the characteristics of a religion:
I. The Practical / Ritual Dimension
II. The Experiential / Emotional Dimension -the ED
III. The Narrative / Mythic Dimension
IV. The Doctrinal / Philosophical Dimension
V. The Ethical / Legal Dimension
VI. The Social / Institutional Dimension
VII. The Material Dimension
Read the details here;
mmiweb.org.uk/hull/site/site … sions.html
God is not a critical element because there are many non-theistic religions in the world.
Any critique on the above?
IMO, religion is an optimal option [within existing constraints] for the majority but it is not the best nor the progressive way of living for humanity’s well being in the longer run.