Religion needs to die anyway...it just causes problems... One thing we need to remember that's more important than anything else is our relationship with God and Jesus' sacrifice... To me I always see Religion as an excuse for many things...nothing more... Religion is man's ways of getting to God...Jesus is God's way of getting to man...
I hear a lot of people say, "Christianity is not religion, it's a relationship." If we believe Christianity isn't religion, why do we appeal to the First Amendment's promised freedom of religion to protect our free exercise of our Christian beliefs?*
By any accepted definition of religion I've encountered,**
Christianity is a religion. It's a religion founded upon (and indeed, totally reliant upon) a personal relationship with the true God of the universe through His Son Jesus Christ, Creator of heaven and earth. That makes it distinctive, but it is most definitely a religion.
In my experience, non-Christians think we sound like loonies when we claim Christianity isn't a religion. In reality, we're just using the term in a unique way. However, we aren't likely to convince the rest of the world to redefine the term "religion" to apply to every system of beliefs concerning the cause, origin, or purpose of the universe
except Christianity. It is probably much more useful to focus on how Christianity is different, and why it is the Truth.
* "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
** A few I found online:
American Heritage Dictionary
1. a.
Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
b. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
Collins Essential English Dictionary
1.
belief in or worship of a supernatural power or powers considered to be divine or to have control of human destiny
2. any formal expression of such belief
Dictionary.com
a set of beliefs concerning the
cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. 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.
Wikipedia
an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendent quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power, God or gods, or ultimate truth.[/SIZE]