Ideas about Religiosity

From the Old French religiosete (late 14th century)  and directly from Late Latin religiositas “religiousness,” from religiosus we got religiosity. In 1795 it came only 0.02% as used word. In 1947 it reached 0.1% and got a peak in 1944-45 from 0.17-021%to decline again until 1959 when it reached a deeper point again of 0.12%. From then onwards it got more used, with a frequency of 0.3% in 1978 and climbing to 0.44 in 1996. In2005 it got a boost and was used 0.62%. After a little dip it got again to 0.74% in 2008.

You can wonder if the word became more popular because the time was so bad that people sought more answers and where looking for meaning in their life, but in a time when more people were religious in a way which seemed exaggerated and insincere.

In the 2010 the word became again more popular to denote the way people were either going to be or not be religious. Having to face times where more people are not so much interested in the existence of a supernatural ruling power, a divine Creator and a controller of the universe, the act of those people became also more in the picture and part of debate. This also because many impeach that religion is the base of the many problems we do face today. Lots of people accuse the religious people of creating a situation of hatred between people. The non-religious people inculpate the believers of the different religious or faith groups this world counts, and that are many.

religions in Europe, map en. See File:Europe religion map.png for details. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When we talk about religion we look at one or an other of the various systems of faith and worship based on such belief. As such we are often confronted with the great religions of the world, being Christendom and Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. the persons belonging to one or another religion we do expect to be bounded to the organisations of that religion and to have a religious life according to the rules of that religion.

When we talk about the religiosity today we think of the manner a person has an awakened sense of the elements we encounter in life. This may be concerning a higher unseen controlling power or powers, with the emotion and morality connected therewith. {Chambers 20th Century dictionary, 1972-1977, p.128,1141} In the 1977 reprint of the Chambers dictionary is still looked at religiosity as some bigotry or blind or excessive zeal, especially in religious matters.

Appropriate to or in accordance with the principles of a religion a person might be religious. In Christianity of or relating to a way of life dedicated to religion by the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and defined by a monastic rule. {Collins English Dictionary}

When we talk about the religiosity of some one we think about his religious life or how he is spiritual, holy, sacred, divine, theological, righteous, sectarian, sanctified, doctrinal, devotional, scriptural, devout, believing, godly, committed, practising, faithful, pious, God-fearing, reverent, pure, churchgoing, conscientious, exact, rigid, rigorous, meticulous, scrupulous, fastidious, unerring, unswerving, punctilious. {Collins English Dictionary}

The religious person is some one who is taken by religiosity and beliefs in and worships something or someone, mostly a superhuman controlling power or powers, esp. a personal god or God or gods. The person who is religious wants to come to a religious act or have some religious activity, spending time to religiosity or giving time for his belief or practice, forming part of his or her thought about or worship of a divine being.

he has strong religious convictions

both men were deeply religious, intelligent, and moralistic. {The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English, 2009}

Today when we talk about religiosity and a religious person, not many are going to think straight ahead of

belonging or relating to a monastic order or other group of people who are united by their practice of religion: religious houses were built on ancient pagan sites. {The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English, 2009}

but are going to think more about the way people are treated or regarded with a devotion and scrupulousness appropriate to worship

I have a religious aversion to reading manuals. {The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English, 2009}

The religiosity may take on all sorts of forms, going from the simple worship – the activity of worshipping, to veneration, cultism, also going into the extreme, becoming excessive or irrational devotion to some activity; “made a fetish of cleanliness” or to become a devotion to the doctrine or a cult or to the practices of a cult.

Religiosity mostly has to do with devotion or love, passion, affection, intensity, attachment, zeal, fondness, fervour, adoration, ardour, earnestness, dedication, commitment, loyalty, allegiance, fidelity, adherence, constancy, and faithfulness. It can be seen in the way people act or worship and bring prayers, religious observance, church service, prayer meeting, matins, vespers, divine office.

In its broadest sense today religiosity can be seen as a comprehensive sociological term used to refer to the numerous aspects of religious activity, dedication, and belief (or religious doctrine)

The Gallup Religiosity Index, 2015. (dark color indicates religious, light nonreligious)

Some like to divide religiosity in six dimensions, others from four to twelve components, based on the understanding that there are at least three components to religious behaviour: knowing (cognition in the mind), feeling (affect to the spirit), and doing (behaviour of the body). Though sociologists have differed over the exact number of components of religiosity.

What can be found in lots of studies is when written by atheists the believer is looked at as a stupid person who believes in things unseen. For the reason such a person accepting what is written in the Bible lots of such researchers do find that they can not be very intellectual because many strong believers do not want to accept certain scientific findings. We can assure you that there are also very intelligent people, scientists, medics, lawyers etc. who are very religious.

Also is known that many do not want to show their religiosity in public and today many are even afraid to show their religiosity to others at all, or dare not to bring up religious matters in public but also not between their own friends or in the family.

For the reason to bring religiosity more in the open the Message Board or Internet Forum Christadelphian has been created in August 2016 on the American Yuku servers of Crowdgather, Inc.. By creating such forum the public has the opportunity to bring up questions and members are allowed to edit or delete their own posts. The posts, when there are more, will be contained in threads, where they appear as blocks one after another. The first post starting the thread; this may be called the TS (thread starter) or OP (original post). Posts that follow in the thread are meant to continue discussion about that post, or respond to other replies. The Christadelphian makers of the board are aware that it is not uncommon for discussions to be derailed, but they do want to give it a chance.

At the place Christadelpian where many people may exchange ideas easily hopefully many will bring forth some good subjects also. To start off the following opening articles can be found

1. Welcome to Christadelphian
2. Places of interest to get more knowledge about God
3. Places of interest to get more knowledge about God
4. Christadelphian a Christian
5. A god, The God and gods
6. How do you look at religion
7. What or which god are you looking at and going for and who or what do you want to worship
8. Christianity and Religiosity in Europe

 

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Preceding articles

Searching for fulfillment and meaning through own efforts, facing unsatisfaction and depression

Laboring in the Vineyard or Sitting on the Hillside with Jonah?

 

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Also related

1. A world with or without religion
2. Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience
3. Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life
4. Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences
5. Being Religious and Spiritual 3 Philosophers, Avicennism and the spiritual
6. Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one
7. Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro
8. Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up
9. Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality
10. Science, belief, denial and visibility 2
11. Points to remember of philosophy versus spirituality and religion
12. Science, belief, denial and visibility 2
13. Worship and worshipping
14. a Place to discuss religious matters and Christadelphianism
15. Religious matters
16. Religious people and painful absence of spring of living water
17. Christianity and Religiosity in Europe
18. New Christadelphian forum
19. Finding God amid all the religious externals
20. Problems attracting and maintaining worshippers
21. Heaven and hell still high on the believers list showing a religion gender gap
22. Structuur -structure
23. A visible organisation on earth

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Further reading

1. Religion
2. Religion and ceremonies
3. Ethics and Morals – the Ten Commandments
4. Politics is a funny game.
5. For the little gods’ sake…
6. Consciousness continues to amaze and elude
7. Weather or not.
8. Success
9. Religious matters
10. What comes next?
11. Young immigrants to Canada passionate about spirituality: Todd
12. the primitive as reaction, pt. 2
13. Science doesn’t know it all. Neither does Religion.
14. Cara Wall Scheffler: What anthropology can tell us about the origins of religious behaviour
15. Religious experience: William James + criticisms from Russell
16. Religious experience: Otto and the numinous
17. Religious experience: Ayer
18. Experiencing God
19. Belief in moralistic gods makes people generous—towards coreligionists
20. On Certainty
21. Stop Saying “I Feel Like …” to Spiritualize Your Desires
22. Go Ahead and Ask God for Something Really Small
23. How I Hear God’s Voice

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