From: Martin DeMello <martindemello@...>
Date: 2003-09-06T18:32:31+09:00
Subject: Re: Correction: "religious"

Daniel Carrera <dcarrera@math.umd.edu> wrote:
> It has come to my attention that the word religious can, indeed, be 
> correctly used in contexts that have nothing to do with God.  The word 
> "religious" apparently can also be used to mean "strict" or as a reference 
> to zealous devotion to something.
> 
> I was not aware of this alternative definition.  I am sad that it exists 
> because it casts people of faith in a bad light.  Someone can say that 
> they are "religious" and mean that they believe that God exists, and the 
> listener might interpret that they are saying that they are zealous and 
> strict.  I guess I'll have to avoid using that word.

I don't believe this definition extends to describing a *person* as
'religious', though. Thus, "he observed the highway code religiously",
or "he maintained a religious devotion to Ruby", or even "he was
religious in his attention to detail" are all okay, but "he was
religious" is unambiguously a reference to the "God" sense of the word.

martin