Religion

It's notoriously hard to define religion. Do you need some kind of god for a religion, or something supernatural? Do you need a particular creed? Do you need some kind of ritual worship? These ideas could perhaps be the basis for a definition of religion, but I find it more useful to say religion is uncritical obedience to authority.

This way, all the other things might follow. For example, a religion might have a sacred text telling followers what they must believe and do, and the faithful believers will obey that sacred text uncritically.

The sacred text could talk about a god, and believers will have to accept that idea uncritically. The text could specify certain sacred rituals, and the believers would perform them uncritically. In each case, the common theme is uncritical obedience.

This definition of religion sets it clearly in opposition to science, which I define in terms of critical questioning and demanding physical evidence.