Talk:Religious symbolism

Discussion from Talk:List of religious symbols merged here

Exactly what is the difference between a symbol of a religious movement and a symbol representing a religious movement? - Mike Rosoft 14:25, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm sorry mike, I missed your question entirely. Symbols of a movement are used by that movement in some religious context. Symbols representing a movement are also used by outsiders to "point to" the religion. The menorah (not on the list because it is not a graphical symbol, as far as I can tell) is a symbol used by jewish ppl, while the Star of David represent judaism in its entirety (sort of). I hope this clarifies things.

Hey! Why not add the Atheist Atom? I know that Atheism technically isn't a religion (due to lack of beliefs), but how about we put one there just for the sake of pleasing everybody? Anonymous, 11:57, 26 January 2006 (GMT-8)

I do not object. Zanaq 18:58, 26 January 2006 (UTC)

But apparently they do. Zanaq 14:03, 26 February 2006 (UTC)

External link

Do we need this link to a list of symbols? On one hand it's a nice list, on the other hand I found it using google fairly easily and it's not categorized, and on an ad laden website. Zanaq 17:17, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Crescent

The previous edit held that Islam has no symbol, which is true - yet the crescent (and star) is so often used for practical purposes that it can't be omitted or disregarded. I tried to add a neutral mention of it. Joffeloff 11:38, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

The Crescent was never a symbol of Islam, and it should be noted that the crescent was nothing kore than an Ottoman symbol (it was never used by the Caliphs). See this link for the Islamic ruling on the symbol - [1]. An appropriate replacement would be the Shahada which is the official symbol of the Islamic state, as seen on the flag of Saudi Arabia, minus the sword.140.159.2.31 04:29, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

The star and crescent (Ay-yıldız) are symbols of the Turks, before and after the Ottoman Empire and even before the Turks accepted islam. What might be related to islam as a "symbol" -so to speak- may only be the "crescent" because it is used on top of minarets and that crescent is specifically called "alem". Please if you are going to make original research at least ask someone who knows the issue better. I will remove the word "star" form the text and add "alem" to "crescent". I request someone (as I am not very able with these things) to put an "alem" (or crescent if you wish) pic there instead of the "ay-yıldız", Turkish symbol. --E4024 (talk) 09:55, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Accuracy of distinction

I'm unconvinced that the distinction between symbols that represent a movement vs. those that are used by it is accurate. References to reliable sources would be helpful if it is to be maintained, though I'm not sure it's the most important sorting characteristic. -- Beland 21:38, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

Closer to God

"closer to God" belongs in quotes here because its a religious term used within a non-religious (secular) description. The term "closer to God" can only be used with some religious understanding, and those without this can see that its within quotes as a special treatment. So two things= NPOV and the use of a religious term. Remove the term (in this non-religious context) or simply put quotes around it --to let people know. 戴&#30505sv 06:20, 21 Oct 2003 (UTC)

another symbol

Other than the Star and the cresent there is a symbol of allah. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.82.61.171 (talk) 09:58, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, the Crescent and Star is the symbol of the Ottoman Empire. Islam doesn't have a real symbol, and the name Allah/God is used to represent Islam. Just like Hinduism uses the Om symbol. --Sharangir (talk) 09:01, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

Symbols versus symbology

This page looks to be in need of change. The merge of "list of religious symbols" into "religious symbology" may have been appropriate in 2005, but many of the links to this article seem to be intended to reference the top section, which is essentially still a stub. Symbology - of water, fire, sacrifice etc. - in religion as a general phenomenon seems to me quite separate from the graphical symbols which represent a particular religion.

On a more minor note, a recent edit (30 December 2008) by 67.182.242.147 seems better-suited to an article on Christian symbols. Robin S (talk) 05:27, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

Ankh?

What about the ankh?:

Text on Christianity

This was apparently deleted without explanation by 98.14.122.178 on 30 June 2009, and then restored by MertyWiki on 30 June 2009 with the note "why ? good information".

"The cross together with the crown is an important symbol of Christianity which symbolizes not only the sufferings of life that Jesus experienced (the cross), but also the victory Jesus proved was possible by following his teachings about God as divine Love, proved by the healing he accomplished, and which we see throughout the world today in his name (the crown)."

I am re-deleting / moving here to Talk.
(1) The table lists about two dozen symbols. We should not have text on only one religion, as this has the appearance of WP:BIAS / WP:Undue weight / WP:POV problems.
(2) This text seems remarkably inappropriate in the "Evolutionary perspectives" section.
-- 201.37.230.43 (talk) 23:06, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I think just because the other symbols don't have as in-depth explanations isn't a reason to take out this one. That argument could be made on whatever symbol first gets an explanation, thus keeping these the way they are, unexplained. I think seeing this change would be a good thing, and it has to start somewhere. This text should be allowed to exist, in hope that it will inspire others to add similar (in quality, not context) explanations to the symbols. An article on symbols should really have at least a breif explication of those symbols, due to their entire purpose of being symbolic of something. I personally came to this page hoping to learn about what religious symbols there were and wanted to observe consistencies in their shapes/meanings, but was annoyed to have to go to an article on each symbol (and some aren't even to the symbol, but the entire religion, making my goal even harder to find) just to read the definition of the symbolism. 67.106.115.42 (talk) 14:50, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Angle Moroni

I saw this recent entry, apparently a work in progress, and wondered what it was. All i could find were references to a statue of an angel. Since this article is about graphic symbols, not statues, I would suggest that the original contributor reconsider. Or, maybe there is a graphic symbol that I don't know about. Siriuskase (talk) 01:56, 10 October 2010 (UTC)

I'm acknowledging that someone has completed this entry. Siriuskase (talk) 16:57, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

Pentagram?

Why is the pentagram in the christian section? The symbol was used thousands of years before christianity was even concieved. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.219.164.35 (talk) 08:55, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Why replace the Sikhism symbol with a Ravidassia symbol

Superiorfaither added 2 new symbols to the article, the Harr Nishan and the Saunh both from the religion Ravidassia. He also replaced the top multidenominational picture with one of his own where he changed the Sikh symbol Khanda with one of Ravidassia. There was no rationale given for any of these changes. Here are the Images.

• Harr Nishan
  Harr Nishan
• Saunh
  Saunh
• 
  Previous with Sikh symbol
  3rd row, 2nd symbol
• 
  New with Ravidassia symbol replacing the Sikh symbol

I reverted the change to the lead picture, but left the new symbols. A single purpose IP 115.252.127.161 (talk) put it back again with no rationale. I've reverted it again.

I'm documenting the event here so it can be discussed. Richard-of-Earth (talk) 20:40, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

• It should be pointed out that Ravidassia is a new religious movement that has broken away from Sikhism. Here is an article about it. Richard-of-Earth (talk) 20:54, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

• While I have no objection to the Harr Nishan symbol, the Saunh symbol is cut off, has a background and looks like the Harr Nishan with different script. Can we have a translation of what is written on these symbols? Richard-of-Earth (talk) 20:54, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

Well the Saunh symbol picture was deleted due to lack of licensing information anyhow. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Richard-of-Earth (talk • contribs) 06:15, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

Christian Symbol

Why is there a Swiss symbol for Christianity instead of a cross? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Spiel (talk • contribs) 16:18, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

Good catch. I belive it is call a Greek Cross actually. I changed back to the SVG version of this picture with the Latin Cross. Richard-of-Earth (talk) 19:01, 21 September 2012 (UTC)

More

There must be some more religious symbols out there. Is the current list it? Can anyone think of more? Pass a Method talk 21:58, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

Trimming off-topic content

Just a note as to why I'm about to remove some of the content here: it's wildly off-topic. The point that the wind is considered a religious symbol is worthwhile content (though it could use some more fleshing out and citations to prove that point). The fact that Bob Dylan wrote a song with "wind" in the title is not relevant here, unless someone were trying to make a point about the song having religious meaning. Details about Bob Dylan himself are getting way off-topic. Ditto the point about roots being a religious symbol (on-topic), Roots being a miniseries (off-topic), and Roots winning Emmy awards (way way off-topic). If anyone wants to use this stuff to actually make a point, it could be reintroduced into the article. Thanks. Jessicapierce (talk) 00:14, 11 February 2018 (UTC)