Talk:Christianism

RFV discussion: November 2021

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Christianism

Rfv-sense: "Christianism" as "Christian fundamentalism".

"Christianism" is the original name of the Christian religion (from Gr. Khristianismos, La. Christianismus), pre-dating "Christianity" which originally was the Latinate synonym of "Christendom", referring to the Christian world or Christian community (which at the time of its original usage was the civilization of Medieval Europe). Later "Christianity" became the name of the religion, while "Christendom" remained the term referring to the Christian world, and "Christianism" largely fell out of use. The attempt to mutate the usage of "Christianism" to refer to Christian fundamentalism can be traced back to a few American journalistic articles of the early 21st century — apparently all written by Andrew Sullivan, who is not even a professional journalist —, and such attempt originated as a clumsy imitation of "Islamism". Such attempt is not enough to change the long established meaning of this ancient word, and Wiktionary should not invent new meanings.

In all the dictionaries of the English language "Christianism" is a synonym of "Christianity", and none of them supports the meaning invented by Sullivan:

• Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Christianism
  • "the religious system, tenets, or practices of Christians"
• Dictionary.com: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/christianism
  • "the beliefs and practices of Christians"
• The Free Dictionary: https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Christianism
  • "the religious tenets held by all Christians"
• WordReference.com: https://www.wordreference.com/definition/Christianism
  • "the beliefs and practices of Christians"

--37.161.156.78 00:23, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

Wiktionary does not invent new meanings (we leave that to Urban Dictionary). However, it IS descriptionist rather than prescriptionist, so if a term is in use, whether we personally think it is "correct" not, we include it. That is what verification is about. And this meaning is definitely cited. You could argue that the definition needs tweaking; it is not really Christian fundamentalism per se, but rather a political ideology that is based on Christian fundamentalism.Kiwima (talk) 23:00, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

Are those sources you added reliable? And, is their use of "Christianism" distinct from "Christianity"?

Oxford Lexico: https://www.lexico.com/definition/christianism

It gives "The Christian religion; Christianity" as the meaning #1 and "A movement which advocates greater influence of conservative Christian beliefs in politics and society; Christian fundamentalism" only as meaning #2 and as "US - usually depreciative". Thus it is a US term, while in the Old World the term "Christianism" still has its original meaning of synonymy with "Christianity".--37.162.117.196 14:55, 13 November 2021 (UTC)

Please read our Criteria for inclusion. We don't go by authoritative sources for languages like English, we go strictly by usage. We also adhere to a neutral point of view. Language is full of terms that are wrongheaded, offensive, stupid, evil and just plain wrong, but it's not our job to decide whether they're "real" words. If people use them to convey meaning, we include them. We may label them as "proscribed", "offensive", "non-standard", etc., but we include them. Chuck Entz (talk) 17:46, 13 November 2021 (UTC)

RFV-passed Kiwima (talk) 21:44, 20 November 2021 (UTC)