Defining Religion: Sacred Moral Communities

Abstract

We provide and support our definition of religion. Religion is (1) a social enactment of a desire for the ultimate. It is (2) embodied in ritual practices; (3) described by systems of symbols and beliefs; (4) developed in communal settings, and often institutionally legitimated. (5) Religion interacts and negotiates with powers and forces that are experienced as within and beyond the self and group. (6) This power or force is most often referred to as god/spirit or gods/spirits. (7) The affective experience of ritual, and the symbolic and social boundaries constructed in rites, mobilize group identity and bind the group into a moral community. Last, (8) these moral communities produce networks of solidarity, and carry the potential for tension and, more rarely, conflict and violence within and between groups.