Never mind, already made this joke.
I think religion is more about how you organize your life and attribute meaning to it than it is about what gods you believe in.
Sure. I’m not really prepared to define religion here, but if I had to answer the question “What makes a Buddhist a Buddhist?” I would say, “Alignment with the Four Noble Truths.” I mean, the Eightfold Path is a prescription for how to live your life. (Literally. I learned recently that the Four Noble Truths are intentionally organized to mirror what would, at the time, have been a physician’s prescription: In four steps, a diagnosis of the problem, and the recommended remedy.)
Zen is weird. There are people who don’t even consider Zen a form of Buddhism because of the absence of mysticism. And that’s what I practice. It is mostly sitting around and paying attention. We have certain texts that we emphasize such as the Heart Sutra, and there’s some chanting, and we get deep into philosophy at times, but it really is mostly paying attention. Which is harder than you might think.
The way I put it, what you pray for says more about your religion than whom you pray to.