QUOTE(RMHED @ Wed 19th January 2011, 9:07pm)
Why not also allow the clergy to define what is religious?
If they're (that is, clergy from all religions) prepared to agree upon a clear definition that can be applied with approximate uniformity and which approximately matches the sense in which the word is already commonly used (to avoid confusion), that's fine with me.
But comparing the clergy to scientists is also somewhat misleading, since the first is defined by a set of beliefs, and the second by a methodology. If a Lutheran pastor concludes through study that, for example, there is no God, then he very quickly ceases to be a Lutheran pastor, regardless of the methodology that led him to that conclusion. If a scientist concludes through study that, for example, the standard atomic model is incorrect, she is still a scientist, provided that she applied scientific methodology in reaching that conclusion.