Talk:Western religions

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The term Western Religion does not refer to those religions that originated in the Western Roman Empire. It refers primarily to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the dominant religions of the Western world. The claim that these religions "are fundamentally opposed to Western Culture" is highly suspect and POV, given that virtually all Western countries are predominantly Christian.

You may think your own system of breaking down Eastern and Western makes more sense, but it does not reflect the mainstream use of the terms "Eastern religion" and "Western religion." See Comparing Eastern and Western religious traditions for the standard meaning of these terms. Pterodactyler 15:30, 13 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

The last paragraph of this article reads like it was penned by a first grader! Moreover, only the most clueless, illiterate morons in the West would be COMPLETELY unaware that we of European ancestry adhered to various pre-Christian beliefs before the arrival of Christianity.

Lastly, what's with the last line? The sooner people become aware of the fact that Europe was not Christian two millenia ago the better?! Let me guess, the author of that intellectual gem would like to see Europe revert to its "traditional" (read: manufactured in the 1950's) Wiccan/neo-pagan/feminist/[insert left-wing/Llewellyn publication-esque sentiment here] beginnings. Spare me. Or, rather, spare the readership of Wikipedia. Can someone with a NPOV and a GED add substance to this article and remove this last paragraph? Please?!

Done. D. Wo. 22:00, 26 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect there is little of value here and this should merely be a redirect to Abrahamic religion, but I will allow the religion experts to determine this for themselves. KSchutte 16:08, 14 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. The Abrahamic religion article includes information about religions that usually aren't considered "Western." In addition, this complements Eastern religion well. joturner 00:02, 16 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

In that case, can somebody put something on Islam in this article, because it really needs it. KSchutte 02:23, 16 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've come to the conclusion that this really is a bad article. There's a proposal to merge it with Abrahamic religion. I've just looked at it, and it looks kilometres ahead of this article in quality and content. Should we merge the two? — D. Wo. 17:51, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Even though this article may be poorly written and biased, it still should cover more about religion than just Abrahamic religion. Disagree with merger. -- DSGruss 18:37, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Last paragraph is much better, and I think it gets a key point across in a decidedly NPOV manner.

Judaism and the derivatives, or simply put, the mosaic religions are eastern religions or at best Mediterranean religions. The idea of Mosaic religions being termed as western religions is inaccurate. Robin klein 17:50, 21 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, Western religion ought to be limitted to the Western church or latin church and its derivatives. Near Eastern Religions should include Islam, Orthodoxy and Judaism - none of which fit the standard of 'western religion' DxRxXxZx (talk) 22:51, 25 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I understand that point 4 may appear to be religiously biased to some readers. In response, I have made changes to clarify the wording on the article: that this is simply stating what some passages of the Christian Bible teach (i.e. that faith in God should not be restricted to particular nationalities and cultures, and that the nations of the world make valuable contributions to the worship of God - thus, passages in the Christian Bible itself teach that Christianity isn't just for members of a particular nationality or culture). I have included some references.

If you still have questions or issues regarding point 4, or if you wish to further explain which part of point 4 appears or appeared religiously biased to you, and in what way, I invite you to discuss the issue here. Also, if you wish to do some further reading, you could perhaps look at well-known Bible passages with examples of non-westerners worshipping (such as the wise men from the East [1] or the Ethiopian official to Queen Candace [2] etc,) or the Jew-Gentile debate in Acts 15 [3] (see also Judaizers) Blessings, Fh1 12:44, 29 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Western religions should also include the Zoroastrian religion. The western faiths are not necessarily just based on the Abrahamic religions. In the original sense the western religions are called such because it is based on the western side of the border between India and Pakistan, where they originated. They should include Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism. 70.67.140.175 04:58, 27 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How are Greek, Roman, Norse, and several other pagan religions not "western"? They originate in Europe. 199.117.69.60 (talk) 18:59, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How can the Abrahamic religions, by their nature as Near Eastern religions, be considered "Western religions" by any stretch? It appears that this aritcle is based on a single naive false dichotomy, grouping all "non-Eastern religions" as "Western". --dab (𒁳) 11:51, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've tried to fix it. Imo the topic is salvageable, but it needs references. --dab (𒁳) 12:07, 28 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

i'm a little curious, and what authority decided what the boundary between eastern and western religion is? 97.118.191.93 (talk) 20:14, 10 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

try Western world, Near East and Middle East for definitions. Basically, Europe minus Eastern Europe and the Balkans is definitely included. Essentially all parts of Europe that were never Ottoman or Tatar rule. Whether the Balkans, Greece and European Russia (plus Belarusia, Ukraine) should be included is debatable, your 'boundary' would thus runs somewhere across the Balkans and then north to the Baltic. It turns out that this is essentially "Christendom" as it was at the beginning of the modern period, in the 16th century. --dab (𒁳) 13:07, 5 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah. The religion should really be on the Western or latin church and its derivatives. The others (Islam, Orthodoxy, Judaism) are best described as Near Eastern. Western is a very specific club, and Eastern is a very broad one: Near East, Eurasia, Middle East, Far East DxRxXxZx (talk) 22:54, 25 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Someone please explain. 184.96.230.182 (talk) 16:25, 24 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

... What? So, Western Christianity and its offshoots then? And I'm assuming the Mandeans and Baha'i aren't being counted either. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Harsimaja (talk • contribs) 01:27, 21 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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The reason why the sentence says “Abrahamic religions” even though three prominent Abrahamic faiths are crossed out as “Western” is because monotheism is an essential part of Western civilisation and the Abrahamic religions are monotheistic and Platonist in nature. Eastern Christianity is an exception because it is what created the East-West dichotomy in the first place.UltimateHope (talk) 21:18, 13 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Still makes no sense to me, but where are the sources? Theroadislong (talk) 21:26, 13 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The problem of evil is a “strikingly monotheistic argument” and its power for Modern Western atheists indicate the power of monotheism in modern Western thought [[4]]. That pretty much sums it all up. You can’t put in Eastern Christianity as “Western” when it is what created the East-West dichotomy in the first place (the situation was complicated by the Eastern Orthodox Church, which helped keep the flame of Greek identity alive under the Muslims but now placed the country in a position of “otherness” not only with regard to the Muslim East but also the Catholic and Protestant West. [[5]]. Notice how the source labels Islam as “East”-and yet we have a Islam being listed as a “Western” religion in the lead! Do you realise now how bad your reversions of me were? I’m going to restore my edits and put in “monotheistic”underneath “Abrahamic” like this “Abrahamic (monotheistic) religions” to make things somewhat clearer. Is that enough of a compromise? But one thing is something that we define really should do, and it is that we should restore “except for” in the lead.UltimateHope (talk) 21:47, 13 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

You seem to have misread the meaning of the sentence. Here is the sentence:

The term Abrahamic religions (Islam, Eastern Christianity and Judaism) is often used in lieu of using the East and West terminology.

The section in parentheses is giving examples of Abrahamic religions, i.e. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are Abrahamic. Editor2020 (talk) 20:57, 14 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Not misreading here (Where have I Said that it does not contain examples of Abrahamic religions?, and they are not by ay means the only Abrahamic religions-Western Christianity, an extremely large Abrahamic religion, is missing for example), and no personal attacks. Competence is required. First of all it doesn't say "Christianity", it says "Eastern Christianity" (a mere collective within Christianity), and there is a reason for that (See page history). It is obvious that the sentence also lists Islam, Judaism, and Eastern Christianity as "Western religions" without making it clear that they are actually exceptions. I will move the parentheses to the end of the sentence to make everything clearer so that people may not misread it.UltimateHope (talk) 22:53, 14 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Also "The section in parentheses is giving examples..." is not "what the sentence means",you just said what the parentheses was about. What the sentence means is that Abrahamic religions are Western (in lieu of...).UltimateHope (talk) 23:11, 14 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

No personal attack was made. Please reach consensus on the Talk page before reverting this change. You might also want to read WP:BRD.Editor2020 (talk) 01:20, 16 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

No mention of other religions. Doremon764 (talk) 17:27, 21 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

For most people, Western Religion refers to Western Christianity. Other Abrahamic religions (i.e. Islam, Orthodoxy, Judaism) are excluded, as these are not broadly interpretted to be "Western." On that note, it should be asked if et es meaningful to lump religions as Western and Eastern. Islam and Orthodoxy are commonly referenced as Eastern religions, or even all of Abrahamic faith as it has it's roots in the Levant.

As it is written, the article probably ought to be reinstated as Abrahamic Religions to avoid this political quagmire and provide a more meaningful and historio-scientific phylogeny.

Otherwise, it would be better to limit the article to the descendents of the Latin or Western church and create a separate article for Near Eastern religions (Islam, Orthodoxy, Judaism) and their very unique spread and influence. DxRxXxZx (talk) 22:49, 25 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Western Religions or Western Religion Doremon764 (talk) 23:40, 1 June 2021 (UTC)[reply]