Re: Translating "religion"

R A Brown wrote:

> quoting me:
>> In modern English "a religion" is used mostly for an allegiance
>> group, isn't it? You belong to this and that religion. An
>> allegiance  group requiring you to accept a (smaller or bigger)
>> set of (more or  less) philosophical ideas and codes of conduct,
>> and oppose other,  competing groups, just like any other
>> allegiance group. I reckon this  is what Lennon meant at least.
>
> Yet, IIRC Lennon doesn't say say "..and no religions too", but
> rather "..no religion too" - singular. I understand this to mean
> something more abstract than this more narrow use. But I am far
> from being knowledgeable on matters to do with Lennon and the Beatles.
Now we are really getting off-topic. But given his peace activity and
statements about division, I assume his main criticism of religion
was its division in various allegiance groups. This agrees with
another main point in the song too, "imagine no country". It's all
about division. Other statements of his don't indicate that he was
against gods or spirituality as such.

Anyhow if we were to continue this discussion it would have to be off-
list I assume.

BTW - more on-topic - I have some degree of aversion to
overpunctuation. A sentence as the above is perfectly lucid even
without commas, isn't it?  But any English teacher would add at least
three, wouldn't he?

LEF

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