Glossary
Since I use some terms that are not (yet) in common usage, I thought I’d set up this glossary to help clarify things. I am also including some terms to clarify the way I define the term since they are often difficult to define, such as “religion.” Obviously, this is a work in progress… (What isn’t?!?)Atheism
Strictly speaking this means the denial of a theistic god, i.e., a god that meddles in our day-to-day life. It is often expanded to include the denial of any gods or goddesses. One of my favorite definitions is: Believing in one less god than Christians/Muslims/Jews.
Matrimania
Term coined by Bella DePaulo to summarize the cultural obsession with marriage and coupledom. More details are in this post.
Religion
Books have been written about this one! I call anything a religion that acts or smells like one, i.e., a world view that contains at least some supernatural elements, whether those elements are a god or nirvana doesn’t really matter. For example, unlike many Western Buddhists, I think that Buddhism is a religion.
Secular humanism
Humanism that is devoid of anything supernatural. I am a bit ambivalent about the advantages of distinguishing secular humanism from humanism in general. I fear that this is creating an unnecessary splintering of the humanism movement.
Singlism
Term coined by Bella DePaulo to describe discrimination and bias against people who are not married or part of a couple. More details are in this post.
Spirituality
A less organized version of religion, thus it includes something supernatural (like an unprovable presence of a free-floating consciousness in the universe aside from) and faith in something, such as a god, spirits, or ghosts (hungry or otherwise).
The Wrong
I use this term to describe what is usually called the Right (or Religious Right). Although the opposite is “left,” the usage of the term “right” seems to imply that somehow they are right about what they’re claiming… More details are in this post.
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