PatternChaser1d ago

We seem to be having a lot of difficulty telling the difference between #religion and #nationality. It's not hard:

#Islam, #Judaism and #Christianity are religions.

#Israeli, British or #Iranian are nationalities.

Don't use "Muslim" as a nationality; it isn't one. Neither is "Jewish".

There, that's much clearer, isn't it? 👍 😀

Show thread🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦
@PatternChaser Now do Confucianism. 😆
Apr 2 at 11:07pmWeb
Show threadPatternChaser17h ago

@ZDL The Eastern 'religions' are very different in character to our Western ones. More philosophical, and a lot less *exclusive*. Myself, I follow Taoism, in a Gaian sort of way. 😉

But Confucianism is not a nationality, at least. I think I'd call it part religion, and part ideology/philosophy?

Show thread🇨🇦🇩🇪🇨🇳张殿李🇨🇳🇩🇪🇨🇦16h ago
@PatternChaser Confucianism (not a thing, but best possible term for it in English) is pretty much the religion of Chinese state. (Not modern Chinese state. Yet. But historically.) It just doesn't fit any western mould of what a religion is (hence the silly name "Confucianism") and thus gets hammered into the uncomfortable western framework.
Show threadPatternChaser11h ago
@ZDL Yes, we just can't understand religions that don't (usually) want to burn, torture and kill those who don't share their beliefs. The Abrahamic tradition is so ingrained into our Western lives that we can't see past it sometimes. 🤷