Religion and beliefs in Esperanto: faiths and holidays

Religion in Esperanto is religio (re-li-GI-o), belief is kredo, to believe is kredi and to pray is preĝi. Religions are often named with -ism- "doctrine" and followers with -an- "member": kristanismo, kristano. The words are neutral labels, and the page takes no side on belief or unbelief. Pronunciation guides split words into syllables, with the stressed syllable in capitals.

#Belief, faith and prayer

Kredi takes je for belief in something (kredi je Dio "to believe in God") and ke for belief that something is so: Mi kredas, ke vi pravas "I believe you are right".

#Religions and their followers

PMEG shows the pattern: Kristo gives kristano (follower) and kristanismo (doctrine). For Buddhism PMEG prefers budhisto and budhismo, with budhano also used; ReVo's main entries are budaismo and budaisto. Adjectives end in -a: kristana, islama, juda, hinduisma.

Notes on choosing words:

• Muslim. Use islamano. ReVo says mahometano (Zamenhof's and PIV's word) should be avoided in neutral contexts, because Muslims consider it offensive.
• Islam. For the religion say islamo; ReVo defines islamismo as politics aiming at a strict form of Islamic society.
• Catholic. Romkatolika is the exact adjective; ReVo notes that plain katolika also appears in the names of other churches.
• Jewish. ReVo defines judo as a member of the people descended from the ancient Hebrews or of their religion. The sport is ĵudo (ĴU-do).

#Places of worship

PMEG explains that preĝejo is traditionally used mostly for Christian churches, but can serve any religion; to be exact, add an adjective: islama preĝejo, hinduisma preĝejo.

#Festivals and holy days

PMEG treats festival names as proper names: capital letter, normally no la (Kristnasko, Pasko). Dates shift between calendars, so the table gives only what ReVo and Vikipedio state. Greetings are on the wishes and celebrations page.

#People and roles

#Word parts for faith words

Religion names take a small letter. See suffixes, prefixes and word building.

#Sentences

Direct objects take -n (festas Kristnaskon), and so do time expressions without a preposition (ĉiun dimanĉon, ok tagojn): see the accusative.

#Esperanto and religion

Esperanto itself has no religion. Since the Declaration of Boulogne in 1905 the movement has defined it as a neutral language that anyone may use for any purpose. In Brazil, Spiritists (spiritismo, spi-ri-TIS-mo) have promoted it since the Brazilian Spiritist Federation opened a free course in 1912: see Esperanto and Spiritism. Zamenhof's philosophy of equal peoples, homaranismo (ho-ma-ra-NIS-mo), was kept apart from the language on purpose: see Homaranismo.

#Common questions

#How do you say "religion" and "I believe" in Esperanto?

Religio and Mi kredas. Add je for what you believe in (Mi kredas je Dio) or ke for what you think is true (Mi kredas, ke vi pravas).

#How do you say "I am a Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist or atheist" in Esperanto?

Mi estas kristano, islamano, judo, budhisto, hinduo or ateisto. These are ordinary nouns: no article, no capital letter. Add -in- for a woman: kristanino, judino.

#Is it islamano or mahometano?

Islamano. ReVo marks mahometano as a form to avoid in neutral contexts, because Muslims find it offensive.

#What is the difference between preĝejo and kirko?

Preĝejo is any place of prayer, though traditionally a Christian church. Kirko means a Christian church only and is very rare. For other faiths use moskeo, sinagogo or templo.

#Is Esperanto a religion, or tied to one?

No. It is a neutral language, and the movement has said so since 1905. Brazilian Spiritists have promoted it, and Zamenhof's homaranismo was his own philosophy, not part of Esperanto.

#Sources

• PMEG: ISM, AN, IST, EJ, UL, Majuskloj kaj minuskloj ĉe propraj nomoj
• ReVo: religio, kredi, kredo, kredanto, fido, Dio, diino, sankta, sanktulo, sanktejo, preĝi, preĝejo, kulto, rito, diservo, Biblio, Korano, Torao
• ReVo: animo, spirito, spiritismo, profeto, anĝelo, miraklo, peko, beno, ĉielo, paradizo, infero, reenkarniĝo, karmo, fasto, pilgrimo, ateisto, ateismo, agnostikulo
• ReVo, religions: kristanismo, kristano, kristaniĝi, katolika, katoliko, protestanto, luterano, ortodoksa, islamo, islamano, islamismo, mahometano, judismo, judo, judaismo, ĵudo, hinduismo, budaismo, budao, ŝintoismo, daŭismo, konfuceanismo, bahaismo
• ReVo, places, festivals, people: kirko, katedralo, moskeo, minareto, sinagogo, templo, pagodo, monaĥejo, monaĥo, kapelo, altaro, Kristnasko, Advento, Epifanio, Karesmo, Pasko, Pentekosto, Jomkipuro, Ĥanuko, Ramadano, haĝo, sabato, dimanĉo, pastro, pastoro, episkopo, papo, imamo, muezino, rabeno, lamao, guruo, predikisto, klerikaro, homaranismo
• Vikipedio: Divalo, Pesaĥo, Roŝ Haŝana, Karesmo, Sikismo
• Akademio de Esperanto, Deklaracio pri la Esenco de la Esperantismo (9 August 1905)