This page groups religions by whether they are open to anyone who wishes to join or reserved for a closely defined community. Wikipedia notes that while some religions claim to be universal, "others are intended to be practiced only by a closely defined or localized group." Browsing this way separates missionary faiths that actively seek converts from traditions that restrict who may take part.
Facts
Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryContested: ethnoreligious is a comparative compound rather than a self-description, and the line between a religion and a people is one that neither these traditions nor their histories draw cleanly. 2 Overview
What Defines This GroupingMonotheistic traditions in which religious identity and membership of a particular people are the same thing, so that the tradition is inherited rather than joined and does not seek converts. 2 Learn More
Ethnoreligious monotheism
This group gathers an ethnoreligious monotheistic tradition, a monotheism bound closely to a particular people and their descent, so that religion and ethnic identity are deeply intertwined and membership is largely by birth.
The browser will find the tradition the atlas classes here. The entries describe it in its own terms, noting how the religion functions as the faith of a specific community rather than a universalising mission.
Closed Practice Status
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
John Bowker (ed.), Oxford University Press, 1997s.v. YazidisView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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