| Racism:
Any attitude, action or institutional structure
which systematically treats an individual or group
of individuals differently because of their race.
The most common form of racism in North America
is in the form discrimination against African-Americans.
However, it occasionally is manifested as preferential
treatment for blacks. A secondary meaning is the
belief that one race -- normally caucasian --
is inherently superior to other races. See also
sexism,
religism,
and homophobia. |
| Radical
theologies: Nonsupernaturalist concepts of
deity that reject belief in a personal God --
one who has a personal consciousness, created
the world, and interacts with humans. |
| Ramadan:
A Muslim period of daytime fasting and contemplation
which lasts for a lunar month of about 28 days.
It commemorates the transmission of the Qur'an
by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad. |
| Rapture:
(a.k.a. the secret rapture) From the Latin
"rapio" which means to snatch.
The belief held by many conservative Christians
that Christ will soon appear in the sky and that
all of saved individuals, both living and dead,
will rise to meet him. Although this belief
is supported by some passages from the Christian
scriptures (New Testament), it is not shared by
many mainline and liberal Christians. |
| Rastafarianism:
A new religious movement centered among persons
of African origin in Jamaica and the U.S. They
revere the late Emperor Selassie of Ethiopia (1892-1975),
as the Elect of God and savior of the black race.
They regard black people to be the reincarnation
of Israel in the Bible. |
| Rationalism:
A movement in the 18th century Protestantism
which abandoned the idea of Biblical inerrancy
and adopted the belief that the Bible can be analyzed
as a historical document. Some Rationalists assert
that the existence of some form of deity can be
proven by reason. Others see Rationalism and Atheism
as synonyms. |
Real
Presence:
| - |
Among
Roman Catholics: The belief that the
bread and wine at the Eucharist are transubstantiated
(transformed) by the Holy Spirit into Jesus'
actual body and blood through its belief
in transubstantiation;
the priest performs a miracle by recreating
Jesus' flesh and blood. |
| - |
Among
Lutherans: They also use the term "Real
Presence" which they also call
"Sacramental Union." They
believe that the body and blood of Christ
are "truly and substantially present
in, with and under" the bread and
wine. This is based on Martin Luther's belief
in consubstantiation
-- that Jesus body and blood coexist with
bread and wine. |
|
| Rebirthing:
A form of therapy in which the patient engages
in continuous deep breathing. It is supposed to
cure emotional problems in adulthood. |
| Redaction
criticism: A method of analyzing those portions
of the Bible which appear to have been created
by an editing process in which redactors (editors,
compilers) have combined various source document
into the form that we see in the Bible. The Gospel
of Luke, for example, is regarded by most liberal
theologians as being compiled from the Gospel
of Q, the Gospel of Mark, and some independent
oral or written material. Through redaction criticism,
the theological goals and purposes of the redactors
can be inferred. Conservative Christians generally
have a dim view of this technique because it impacts
on their belief of the inerrancy
of the Bible. |
| Rede:
Old English word for a law or rule. The Wiccan
Rede is the main behavioral rule
for Wiccans.
In modern English it can be translated as "As
long as it harm non, do what you wish."
|
| Redemption:
A general term meaning to set loose or release
a person from bondage. In Christianity, it generally
refers to the deliverance of believers from a
state of sin which is possible because of the
death of Jesus on the cross. |
| Reflexology:
A holistic, alternative, health treatment
which associates each organ in the body with a
spot on the individual's foot or hand. Massage
of the foot or hand is then believed to unblock
the body's energy and heal the organ. Medical
researchers generally discount any mechanism linking
points on the feet and hand to internal organs. |
| Reformation:
A Christian movement which was started by Martin
Luther in the early 16th century as
an attempt to reform Roman Catholicism. It was
joined by Zwingli, Bucer, Calvin and others, and
resulted in a complete break with Catholicism.
Millions of people died during the resulting religious
wars. The reformation led to the fracturing of
Christianity into approximately 35,000 faith groups. |
| Reformed
theology: A system of religious belief based
on the writings and beliefs of Calvin. |
| Regeneration:
The process by which God is believed to work on
a born-again person, whereby her/his soul
is renewed and becomes a new creation. |
| Reincarnation:
the belief that when a person dies, their soul
is reborn into another living human. In North
America, belief in reincarnation is found among
Buddhists, Hindus, followers of the New Age, and
most Neopagans. It was a common belief in early
Christianity. Often confused with the Hindu concept
of the Transmigration
of the Soul. |
| Relativist:
one who is convinced that religious disagreements
are neither productive nor important. Relativists
tend to emphasize areas of harmony among religions,
minimizing or ignoring their differences. |
| Religion:
"Any specific system of belief about deity,
often involving rituals, a code of ethics, and
a philosophy of life." Thus we would
include Agnosticism, Atheism, conservative Christianity,
Humanism, Islam, Judaism, liberal Christianity,
Native American Spirituality, Wicca and other
Neopagan traditions as religions. |
Religious
liberty:
| - |
Within
a religion, this is a measure by which individuals
can hold beliefs that deviate from those
taught by their faith group, without incurring
oppression, expulsion, or trial for heresy.
|
| - |
Within
a nation, this is a measure of an individual's
right to hold beliefs that differ from the
dominant religion; to worship freely according
to these beliefs; to attempt to peacefully
convince others to convert to their faith;
and the right to change their religion or
set of beliefs. Historically, countries
with a strict separation between governments
and religion have tended to exhibit the
greatest religious liberty for its citizens.
|
|
Religious
market, Religious marketplace: We have seen
the following two uses of these terms:
| - |
The
social arena in which congregations, denominations,
and para-church organizations compete for
members and resources. |
| - |
The
economic expenditure by religious individuals
on religious retreats, meetings, conventions,
missions, etc. |
|
| Religious
Right: A group of very conservative, politically
active organizations within Fundamentalist Christianity
which is attempting to implement conservative
changes to society and its laws. The American
Family Association, Christian Coalition, Concerned
Women for America, Family Research Council, Focus
on the Family form part of the religious right.
Their main areas of activity are in reducing choice
in abortion
access,
homosexual rights,
same-sex
marriage, physician
assisted suicide, and
prayer in the public school. |
Religious
tolerance:
| - |
Among
religious conservative, this means that
one must accept all religious faiths as
equally true. |
| - |
Among
others, it means to grant full religious
freedom to persons of all religions, including
those different from your own faith. |
The
second definition is used in this web site. |
| Religism:
A word that we created during the 1990s that is
non-existent, but badly needed in the English
language: Any attitude, action or institutional
structure which systematically treats an individual
or group of individuals differently because of
their religion. The word seems to be catching
on: On 2006-MAY-07, Google found 54 hits for the
word. The most common form of religism in North
America is in the form of discrimination against
non-Christians, up to and including the promotion
of genocide against them. However, it also surfaces
often as discrimination against conservative Christians.
A secondary meaning is the belief that persons
who follow one religion are inherently superior
to those of other religions. See also racism,
sexism
and
homophobia. |
| Replacement
Theology: (a.k.a. Supercessionism).
This is the theological concept that, because
the vast majority of Jews in the first century
CE
did not accept Jesus as their Messiah, God unilaterally
terminated his covenants with the Jewish people
and transferred them to the followers of Christianity.
It relegates Judaism to an inferior position and
recognizes Christianity as the 'true'
or 'spiritual' Israel. This concept was first
developed by Justin Martyr (circa 100 to 165 CE)
and Irenaeus of Lyon (circa 130 to 200 CE). It
was largely accepted within the church by the
4th century. It has led to a great deal of persecution
of Jews by Christians. Although the
Catholic Church reversed its stance on replacement
theology in the 20th century, many conservative
Protestant grops still believe in this principle.
In opposition to replacement theology is the
dual
covenant theory that God's covenants
in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) are still
in place. |
|
Restorationism: The belief that the true Christian
church died out in the early 2nd Century CE, and
was restored by Joseph Smith when he established
the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(LDS, Mormon). This movement currently consists
of almost 100 denominations, many centered in
Utah and Missouri. |
| Resurrection:
The belief that Jesus died, and later returned
to life after three days. This is not to be confused
with the resuscitation of Jesus, as taught in
Islam. Muslims believe that Jesus did not actually
die, but perhaps entered into a coma and
later returned to consciousness. |
| Retrogression:
A Buddhist term that refers to one's rebirth
after death on earth or one of the lower realms. |
Revelation:
| - |
The
last
book in the Bible, which has
been interpreted in different ways. |
| - |
The
gift of knowledge that God gives to humanity
through the Bible and by other means. |
|
| Rhema:
A Greek word that means any spoken word having
a definite meaning. Romans 10:8 uses "rhema"
in place of the more common word "logos." |
Righteous:
This very important term is often mentioned
in the Bible. In 2 Corinthians 6:14, for
example, Paul states that all non-Christians
are "unrighteousness." Unfortunately,
the word has three somewhat different meanings.
A person:
| - |
Acting
according to divine law, or |
| - |
Who
is free from sin, or |
| - |
Exhibiting
moral behavior. |
Of
course, an individual may be acting according
to divine law, be free from sin, and be moral,
within one religion, but not by another. |
| Righteous
among nations: A term used to refer to non-Jews
who helped save Jews from the Nazi Holocaust. |
| Ritual:
Speech, action, singing, and other activities
which often contain a symbolic meaning, performed
in a specific order - typically during a religious
service. Rite is often considered a synonym to
ritual. |
| Ritual
Abuse: Involuntary psychological,
physical, sexual or spiritual maltreatment, associated
with a (normally religious) ritual. There is typically
one accidental death per year in North America
as a result of ritual abuse in the form of a conservative
Christian exorcisms. Satanists were widely perceived
during the 1980's and early 1990's as perpetrating
widespread Satanic
Ritual Abuse (SRA) involving the torture,
murder and even eating of human sacrifices. After
two decades without any evidence of its existence,
most investigators regard SRA as non-existent. |
| Role
Playing Games: See Fantasy
Role Playing Games |
| Roman
Catholicism: This is the largest of the four
branches of Christianity; the others being the Anglican
Communion, Protestant denominations and Eastern
Orthodox churches. During the fourth century CE,
the branch of the early Christianity which was
founded by Paul became the official religion of
the Roman Empire. The authority of the Bishop
of Rome, the Pope, gradually increased, as Christian
missionaries spread out through western and northern
Europe. Starting in the 15th century, Roman Catholicism
spread to the Americas. The church lost its religious
monopoly in Western Europe at the time of the
Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, but
remains today the largest single Christian faith
group, by far. |
| Rosary:
Prayer beads strung on a thread, used primarily
by Roman Catholics. |
| Rosetta
stone: A black basalt stone monument found
in Egypt in 1799, which contained the same messages
in three different languages: one was ancient
Greek, which was known by linguists. The other
two were Demontic script and Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Over time, the stone enabled linguists to understand
both of the latter languages. 1 |
| Routinization
of character: To change your character to
have distinct traits that conform to your religious
beliefs. |
| RPG:
See Fantasy
Role Playing Games |
| Rupa:
A Hindu and Buddhist term which generally refers
to religious statutes. |
| Rune:
(Derived from an early Anglo-Saxon word "runa"
meaning "secret" or "mystery.")
It was originally a pictorial alphabet in Northern
Italy, circa 500 BCE. Its use later spread across
Europe. There are a number of different sets of
runes, each derived from a specific alphabet,
such as the Elder Futhrk, Saxon Futhork and Norse
Younger Futhark. The word "rune"
also refers to a small piece of material marked
with a rune symbol. The latter are used in divination
by many Wiccans, other Neopagans and New Agers.
Their use is generally condemned by conservative
Christians as a practice forbidden by the Bible. |
| Russelites:
An early name for the bible students who later
became the Jehovah's
Witnesses in 1931. The name is derived
from their founder, Charles Taze Russell.. |
