… if they’re not a high quality version of that thing.
And who is the arbiter of quality, and who draws the line in the sand?
I know this has all kind of devolved into a semantic argument, and a weird discussion about Popery, and I think at this point it’s worth reiterating my initial point: If someone claims to belong to a religion, they do. Whether that claim enables anyone to make predictions or judgments about a person’s other statements or actions is another question entirely.
If someone claims to belong to a religion, they do.
I think this is 100% true for generic things like “Christianity”. When they’re more official organizations…still maybe, but if someone’s been excommunicated from something it makes sense to me from a practical standpoint that they no longer belong to that thing.
And who is the arbiter of quality, and who draws the line in the sand?
I know this has all kind of devolved into a semantic argument, and a weird discussion about Popery, and I think at this point it’s worth reiterating my initial point: If someone claims to belong to a religion, they do. Whether that claim enables anyone to make predictions or judgments about a person’s other statements or actions is another question entirely.
I think this is 100% true for generic things like “Christianity”. When they’re more official organizations…still maybe, but if someone’s been excommunicated from something it makes sense to me from a practical standpoint that they no longer belong to that thing.