That was the point I was aiming at. There are people who will call a cluster of beliefs “like a religion”, “like a cult”, and so on, just because it is a cluster of beliefs. What do they even mean? Nothing beyond trying to associate the thing with the name of something else that may have nothing to do with the thing.
This argument proves too much, doesn’t it?
That was the point I was aiming at. There are people who will call a cluster of beliefs “like a religion”, “like a cult”, and so on, just because it is a cluster of beliefs. What do they even mean? Nothing beyond trying to associate the thing with the name of something else that may have nothing to do with the thing.
What is a religion if not a cluster of beliefs? (The Buffy fandom doesn’t sound like a cluster of beliefs.)
Every religion is a cluster of beliefs (and practices), but clusters of beliefs and practices covers far more than just religion.
It seems like a fandom would be defined by
valuing or appreciating a work.
watching/etc. the work as applicable.
These don’t seem like beliefs.