silveroak:
Actually Budhism is a religion which is non exclusive- Buddhism teaches that teh world is illusion, but allows for the existance fo Gods and spirits as a part of that religion. Thus there are many Shinto Budhists, but also some Christian Buddhists, wiccan Buddhists, and so on.
There are many different sects of Buddhism. Pushing them altogether will lead to inaccurate conclusions. Some sects of Buddhism are clearly religion, and some are not.
I have particular familiarity with Buddhism, having lived many years in Japan. Most Buddhists in Japan do not consider Buddhism to be a religion per se. This also allows them to be part of multiple "religions," such as Buddhism and Shintoism without fear.
To some extent, some things called religions are, if not philosophies, then a kind of mysticism--which is what some sects of Buddhism are.
And I'm not asking anyone to accept my definition. I'm just stating fact.
If you want to include all those things lumped into "religion," then the result is that you have to then split the meaning of the word "religion" into sub-categories. The more you generalize a word like that, the more the fine tuned meaning of the word is lost and technical jargon will become necessary.
Granted, the definition of a word will be different when it is applied, for example, to a legal context, as opposed to a societal context. For example, the supreme court in defining "religion" for purposes of the first amendment interpreted religion to mean "a sincere and meaningful belief that occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to the place held by God in the lives of other persons." And the legal interpretation is usually pretty broad to make sure no one's rights are violated.