the Kampilan exclusively Moro?

[David]

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

This is an intriguing discussion!
It seems reasonable to note that in any culture or civilization there will be deviations, ideals, religious and traditional variations etc. so assuming that any tribal group or ethnicity were entirely 'standardized' would be profoundly incorrect.

Well, probably the main thing that all Moros share in common as a standard is the religion of Islam. I honestly can't be sure, but i image that this religious belief as practiced by the various Moro tribes is fairly similar. However, the Moros are not a tribe per se, but rather they are are group of many tribes with varying languages (Manguindanaon, Tausug, Maranao mostly, though there is also Sama-Bajau languages, Yakan and Kalangan) and traditions.

Originally Posted by Jim McDougall

Question on 'animism', would this not be considered a 'classification' of a following of a form of faith rather than a structured religion?
It seems that Paganism was more structured, and often used animist oriented practices and beliefs. Perhaps I am misunderstanding the two terms so clarification would be appreciated.

Jim, religions can be considered "pagan", but there is no structured religion called Paganism. The term is often defines as below:
A religion that has many gods or goddesses, considers the earth holy, and does not have a central authority.
In my readings on the indigenous population of this area i am most often finding their beliefs describes as animistic. This is the indigenous belief system that existed amongst the peoples of these regions before the influx of outside religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Animism is often defined as follows:
The belief in the existence of individual spirits that inhabit natural objects and phenomena.