What is A Religion?

I think there are a lot of people who conflate the idea of a belief in a deity or deities with religion despite the fact that not all religions have or require a belief in any deities (for example, the Jain religion).  Thus there are a whole category of atheistic religions and the word 'religion' by necessity therefore cannot refer to a required belief in one or more deities. A belief in one or more gods is therefore not necessary for a belief system to be a religion.

I do, however, think that it's reasonable to place some boundaries on what this word means.  I think a religion is a specific type of philosophical belief that declares itself as a comprehensive form of morality or ethics that one can use to inform all of their moral choices.  However, some people follow multiple religions, which to me simply indicates that they don't personally view those religions as a comprehensive system of ethics, but that the religion itself can be viewed as such.  This is still a definition with a potential for odd edge cases, but I believe it to be more suitable than a definition that requires belief in deities (in that even assertions of truth that are commonly considered religions today do not necessarily contain this belief).  

I also assert that a belief in one or more deities by itself is not sufficient to be a religion. This is relevant in the case of Deism, the belief in a god that takes no interest in human affairs. Such a belief cannot, by itself, offer any form of philosophical framework by which to live one's life, and thus could not be viewed as a comprehensive ethical framework. Thus atheism by itself is also not a religion, as it is not a comprehensive moral framework by which to live one's life.  However, if one presumes that everyone has some comprehensive moral framework by which they live their life, we can assume that everyone, by necessity, has a religion, even if it has no name, and even if it is unique to that individual.

Searching For the Glimmers of Understanding

I love philosophy and grappling with ideas.  Trying to understand an inconceivably vast universe in whatever limited human way I am able.