Have you ever noticed how Christianity is the only major religious institution ending in “ity”? All of the other ones are “isms.” Buddhism, Judaism, Jainism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Confucianism… coincidence?
Lets take a closer look:
“Ity” sounds important — like “Reality.”
“ism,” on the other hand, denotes a distinctive system of beliefs, myth, doctrine, or theory.
Myth? Theory? Perhaps setting the Christian religion as an “ity” lends it some sort of Eurocentric credibility.
The only notable exception to this rule is obviously Islam, which has gotten the privilege of naming itself. However, even it used to be known as “Mohammedanism” by British anthropologists.
…Just something to think about.
