To me "religion" is mere ritual. As in "what can I do for God so that he will accept me?" rather than "God accepted me for no specific reason other than he loves me, so I will do whatever he asks because I too love him."
Reminds me of a conversation I had with the local J-dubs one Saturday morning. Two well dressed Witnesses knocked on my door, and I had always wanted to talk with these people. But what came out of my mouth wasn't what I expected.
J-Dub: "Hello! I wanted to know if you had every heard of Jehovah God and his Son Jesus?"
Me: "No thanks. I'm currently an active member of a church."
J-Dub: "Oh, so I see you are a religious man."
Me: "Nope. Religion is mere ritial. Faith is a relationship."
J-Dub: "Say that again? What do you mean?"
Me: "A relationship with Christ will gain you access to Heaven. Not ritual. Religion is ritual."
I haven't seen another one since.
