How about the word "fat"?

And "religion" ?

Negative ideas have grown up around all three of those terms, yet we all know there is a good and bad for each of them. Don't know that much about fat and cholesterol, except what the doctor tells me, so let me talk religion.

Even saying "talk religion" these days makes a soul feel guilty. But there is a good religion.

The Bible word, in English, comes from a Greek word that is also translated "worship." So when "religion" is spoken of in the book of James, it's definitely with a good connotation. Is there someone in your midst, he asks, that seems to be religious ? That is, he seems to be a worshiper, devout, set apart for God, all good ideas.

But if he can't stop running his carnal mouth, that doesn't make religion a bad thing, it makes him in need of repentance. In other words, he's not really religious at all, in the best sense, even though he can worship with the best of them.

James adds that there is a pure religion, or worship, characterized by caring for others and a life of separation and holiness.That, added to the visible worship, describes a very religious person. And no apologies for the using of that word.

Both Cain and Abel had religion. Cain's was casual, Abel's was intense. In each case, the man defined the concept, but the concept's original goal is a good thing.

So when we hear people today saying, "I used to be religious, but I got delivered from that," we hope they are trying to convey the idea that they internalized their relationship to God. We assume that they don't mean that they have thrown worship and devout service to God and people, out the window.