CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION - It Is A Philosophy!

[TheBlackAdder]

So says Bill O'Reilly

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/28/oreilly-bashes-fascist-atheist-christianity-not-a-religion-so-christmas-displays-are-ok/

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. He's crazy.

[Moonwalk]

2. All Religions are Philosophies...and we should embrace this, as no philosophy is tax free....

...Want to preach your philosophy in that building on the corner? Fine. Want to put up the 10 Commandments in a court house? Sorry, bad philosophy. Down it goes. Want to put up a nativity scene in the park? Sorry, we don't support advertising philosophy in the park outside of people speaking it. Don't want to pay for contraceptives to workers? Sorry, your philosophy doesn't change the law.

I mean, this is GREAT! Philosophies aren't protected like "faith" is protected. The teacher preaching Socrates in the class room can't claim a tax break for his philosophy club or put up a scene of Socrates drinking hemlock in the middle of town every year, can he?

Yes. Religion is a philosophy. Now let's start treating it that way. i.e. as nothing holy or sacred. I suspect that the minute we do that, O'Relily will be backpetaling fast as he can on this assertion. Philosophy, unlike religion, gets no special perks.

[geardaddy]

3. This ^

[Myrina]

4. do ya one better ... all religions are mythologies.

And I agree with the rest of your post.

[Moonwalk]

5. LOL! One step at a time, my friend. It's always best to start with the hole that an advocate...

...digs himself. And this is a pretty stupid one. If a religion is a philosophy, then either my John Locke fan club gets to wiggle out of paying property taxes or the church down the street has to start paying up because, apparently, we're one-in-the-same (according to O'Reilly). Philosophy classes should get the same perks as churches, philosophy teachers the same perks as preachers, and days honoring philosophers should get the same respect and regard as religious holidays. I'm looking forward to this. I can't wait for Nietzsche holy week--when the philosophy of god being dead meets the Christian philosophy of god being alive! Don't stare into that abyss, true believers!

I do wonder what argumentative angle O'Reilly thought he'd gain by defining Christianity as a philosophy

[LadyHawkAZ]

6. ^So much this.

[white_wolf]

7. I've heard this argument about Buddhism, but never Christianity.

I think Buddhism makes a much more convincing argument for it being considered a philosophy than Christianity. The core ideas of Buddhism, 4 Noble Truths and 8-Fold Path, are practiced without any deities involved and can be practiced even without believing in Karma and rebirth. Christianity is completely built upon the belief in a deity.

[liberal_at_heart]

8. I think Zen Buddhism is the closest to a philosophy

The teachings of Buddha were very philosophical and practical, but like the birth of all religions some take it farther and introduce deities. There are forms of Buddhism where there is a strong belief in deities. I'm wondering if Bill O'Reilly meant to say that Christmas is a philosophy; the Christmas tree, Santa Claus, the act of giving of presents. Not that I'm defending Bill O'Reilly. He's a blowhard. I'm just wondering if he meant something different than what he said.

[white_wolf]

9. Zen or Therevada Buddhism.

In terms of Mahayana I'd agree that Zen is the closest to a philosophy. However, even Tibetan Buddhism which I consider the most deity oriented isn't as clear cut as it appears. I've heard several Lamas say that the various deities within the Tibetan pantheon should be understood as as things that exist within the person's mind as aids to mediation It's easier to mediate and focus on an abstract concept like compassion when you personalize it as a Bodhisattva then it is to focus on the abstract concept.

I think Reilly probably did mean Christianity, but I would not be surprised if he starts backpedaling really fast.

[liberal_at_heart]

10. I would agree with that

I have visited a Tibetan monastary on a few occasions an taken a couple of classes. It does seem to be more of a way to focus the mind during meditation and it works.

[liberalhistorian]

11. WTF is he babbling about now?

I am a devout liberal Christian and I assure him, it IS a religion! Of course, it's a philosophy, too, as are ALL religions in some way, but it is first and foremost a religion. This is just his bullshit lame laughable attempt to make public religious displays (well, at least HIS preferred religious displays, how much you wanna bet that he would try to block the public displays of any other religion?) legally acceptable.

I don't understand why it's so hard for people to grasp that religious displays of any type should not be on PUBLIC areas, since PUBLIC means that no one religion is or should be supreme and that there are adherents of many different religions, but that PRIVATE land owners can put whatever religions displays they want on the land.

[FarCenter]

12. Christian theology is more or less a now obsolete philosophy, heavily influenced by neo-Platonism

It more or less runs out of steam in the 18th century and is no longer a respectable faculty at university.

[Moonwalk]

13. Hey...if he said Christianity is a philosophy, not a religion...

...doesn't that mean that all other religions are still religions? Hinduism, Judaism, Islam....he didn't say all religions were philosophies, right? Just Christianity?

Hmmm. Interesting implications there. Christianity is no longer related to the divine, it's just a philosophy, but all the others are still related to the divine, and so are special?

I'm just taking this to it's logical conclusion here....

[sakabatou]

14. Hmm... religion...

A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

Philosophy: the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.

Nope, Christianity is not a philosophy.

[WinkyDink]

15. Certainly true of Buddhism.