@cicerone imposter,
Precicely, which makes for the argument that any organized religion is merely a perversion of the true idea of religion, and therefore not really religion at all. I frequently wonder how much difference it would make to a christian's personal beliefs if the whole organization of christianity was recognized as the secular, political and economical institution it really is.
There is no value in "god" if you don't seek a personal and intimate relationship with it, and no organization or social circle can ever aid you in that, but it can very easily become an obstacle by telling you what to believe rather than teaching you how to identify beneficial ideas based on your own capacity for faith, in situations where scientific fact is not sufficient or applicable and you still need to take a standpoint. There are such issues in life.
Show me a thousand christians, and I will not deny that anyone of them is religious if they say they are. But the catholic church, or the protestant church or any church are not religious institutions. The very idea is a contradiction in terms if you ask me. This is the consideration that led me to ask the question if religion and theism are the same. By the "official" definition of religion they appear to be so closely linked that it hardly matters, but I believe that the definition of religion has been usurped, and that it is simply applied to the wrong thing.
So in light of this view of things it is perhaps possible to understand what I mean when I say that I am not theist nor atheist, but I am a religious person. I instinctively seek that which can connect me to a sense of purposeful unity on an emotional level, and I honestly think that this is something I share with all humans.