I'll talk about religion. I admit that the discussion with Steven on the other post has activate my curiosity about a term used commonly in all of latin-derived language, at least for what concerns the vocabulary.
"Religion" is a word that doesn't need presentations, even if you reader are spanish, or portuguese, french or even if you know a little english you surely know this word.
Just don't make notice about its official etymology for now, let's take a look on it. What is your answer to this question : what's religion?
I'd answer that we're talking about an ensemble of rules, of habits, of manners, done for a non-material need. And the religion's strength comes from the strong belief that the community has for it. It isn't something proven, is something believed and respected, even if we do not have any proof of it.
So, from my point of view, the real origin (or at least, the properest) is always from latin "re+ligare" which literally means "bind something more and more times". Notice that the word "delegate" has the same root and it can easily means "to bind to someone some responsibilities", it doesn't sounds good maybe, perhaps it's not english at all, but it gives the picture.
And moreover it perfectly gives me the idea of what religion is : a system of rules which binds somehow a concept which can't be easily explained nor understood, a system of rules which is necessary arbitrary due to immeasurability of the subject.
That's why I strongly believe in God but do not believe in a single religion, neither hinduism or buddhism, because believing the concept behind is always the same, as same too are the rules to follow. It'd be useful and wise to study them, I don't deny this, on the contrary, I'm always willing to study and to apprend how the religions work.
But I definitely prefer to find the right way for my own, rather than follow someone else's rules, let's put in a better way : if I really can't avoid to bind God's basic concept into a system of rules, I'd really prefer to create them for my own, spending maybe all my life in this, instead of follow someone else's rules which I'll never completely understand and make a part of me.
