When (and how) does one differentiate a religion from a sect ?
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A sect would be the subset of a religion.
It’s sort of like the uncanny valley in CGI. It’s somewhat easy for people of two different religions to understand they have different religions. But once get really, really close to the same belief structure there is usually a “rejection” zone where people will feel very strongly “I DO NOT AGREE WITH THAT!” It might seem minor to someone on the outside, but to the “in group” that little difference is a HUGE difference and they no longer accept that belief as compatible with their own.
Now factor in the size of the beliefs, if 1,000,000 million hold “the original” belief, and 1,000 branch off with their new subtly different belief, they are the sect, and the “original belief” is the religion.
In usage, like the Uncanny Valley premise, the term “sect” is a loaded term, it implies a strong rejection of the subtle different with over tones of ‘dangerous’ or ‘extreme’. Calling someone a sect isn’t a minor thing, it implies a severe, negative, judgement.
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