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An ethnic religion is generally defined by the ethnicity of its adherents, and conversion essentially equates to cultural assimilation into that ethnoreligious group. Some scholars classify religions as either universal religions that seek worldwide acceptance and actively look for new converts, or ethnic religions that are identified with a particular ethnic group and do not seek converts.[1]
In antiquity, religion was one defining factor of ethnicity, along with language, regional customs, national costume, etc. The notion of goyim ("nations") in Judaism reflect this state of affairs, the implicit assumption that each nation will have its own religion. With the rise of Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, ethnic religions came to be marginalized as "leftover" traditions in rural areas, referred to as paganism or shirk (idolatry). Historical examples include Germanic polytheism, Celtic polytheism, Slavic polytheism, and pre-Hellenistic Greek religion.
Over time, even revealed religion will assume local traits and in a sense will revert to an ethnic religion. This has notably happened in the course of the History of Christianity, which saw the emergence of national churches with different ethnic customs such as Germanic, Ethiopian, Armenian, Syrian, Greek, Russian, and others. The term "ethnic religion" is therefore also applied to a religion in a particular place, even if it is a regional expression of a larger world religion. For example, Hinduism in the Caribbean has been considered an ethnic religion by some scholars, because Hindus in Trinidad, Guyana, and Suriname consider themselves a distinct ethnic group.[2] Some Korean Christian churches in the United States have been described as ethnic religions, because they are closely associated with the ethnic identity of immigrant Korean Americans.[3]
Hinduism as a whole is mostly classed as one of the world religions, but some currents of Hindu nationalism take it as definitive of a Hindu ethnicity or nation. Within Hinduism, there are regional or tribal currents with ethnic traits, sometimes termed Folk Hinduism.
Adherents.com cites Barrett's 2001 world religion calculations for a demographic estimate, ranging at 457 million "tribal religionists, "ethnic religionists," or "animists," including African traditional religionists, but not including Chinese folk religion or Shintoism.
A partly overlapping concept is that of folk religion referring to ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an institutionalized religion (e.g. folk Christianity).
Heathenism (also Heathenry), or Greater Heathenry, is a blanket term for the whole Germanic Neopagan movement. Various currents and denominations have arisen over the years within it.