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Insistent Terminology: Religion
  • Taoism teaches that to name something is to define it, and since the Tao is infinite, it has no definition, and therefore no name. So the ethereal force that permeates the universe is called the Tao for the sake of conversation, but it is not named the Tao because it has no name.
    The Tao that can be known
    Is not the true Tao.
    The name that can be named
    Is not the true name.
  • Some, though not most, Christians get very offended if you call Christianity a religion. They prefer to be called "spiritual" rather than "religious", and may refer to their beliefs as a "faith" or a "relationship with God", but insist that it's not a religion. There are Christians online who have said things like "as a Christian, I follow no religion", and they sometimes refer to other religions as religion, except their own.
    "It's not a religion, it's a relationship!"
    • Some non-Catholic groups, especially ones more hostile to the Catholic Church, also chafe at calling Catholics "Christians". Even less friendly ones extend this exclusion to anyone not practicing their version of Christianity.
    • There are people on the other end of the spectrum who insist that Catholicism is distinct from Christianity. Note that, semantically, both versions in this case are wrong; Christianity is divided into Catholics* and Protestants, and Protestants are further subdivided into various denominations based on how they think God should be worshiped beyond "not how the Catholics do it".
  • Messianic Jews do not typically identify themselves as "Christians" — insisting, instead, that they are "Jews who found Jesus". "Traditional" Jews will usually fire back with, "Nope, you guys are definitely Christians!" Given that acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah is the point of divergence between Judaism and Christianity...
  • The robes worn by a Catholic priest on the third Sunday of Advent and the fourth Sunday of Lent are rose-colored. They are not pink.
  • Many atheists are quick to point out that it is incorrect to say "they believe there's no God", because its not a matter of belief... its a matter of disbelief.
  • God isn't the Lord, he is THE LORD or THE LORD Your God.

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