Do you consider Shinto a “religion”? Why or why not? What about it makes it “religious” or something else, like culture or a philosophy? Furthermore, we have seen other traditions over the course of this semester that did not consider themselves “religions”, like Confucianism, Taoism, or Buddhism in general. Why do you think so many Asian traditions are not comfortable with the term “religion”?
This week we learned about the indigenous religion of Japan, Shinto. Shinto has some unique characteristics that sets it apart from other religious traditions – it is almost exclusively focused on a single area, Japan, and is not missionary or widely practiced outside of Japan. It also is usually not called a “religion” by its […]