Comment by aebtebeten

The conceptualization of religion as a category, is actually quite a bit older. The idea that it was created recently was, well, created recently.[1]

Casadio details it going back thousands of years across cultures.[2]

[1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/concept-religion/index.ht...

[2] https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780191045882_A29773...

it's an interesting point, and i don't think it can be resolved quite so neatly. to the people building such monuments, or writing such texts, the activity may have been closer to what we now refer to as "history" or "natural philosophy" (or even "civic infrastructure").

the fact that _now_, we have independent traditions referred to by those terms, and so categorize the ancient practices under "religion" is quite confusing, and it may be productive to make the distinction clear.

for a modern example, suppose we build a skyscraper in such a way that it lines up with, or reflects the setting sun on the solstice. we would regard this as "architecture", not "religion". i would be quite offended if, some thousand years from now, the aesthetic decision is dismissed as primitive superstition.

cf. "The Map is not the Territory"

Wikipedia says similar [1]:

> The concept of "religion" was formed in the 16th and 17th centuries. Sacred texts like the Bible, the Quran, and others did not have a word or even a concept of religion in the original languages and neither did the people or the cultures in which these sacred texts were written

That said, GrowingSideways is mistaken. He is confusing the thing with the category of the thing.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_religion

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