"Church" definitely is the generic English word for place of (particularly, Christian) worship (or, similarly, for the actual worship services), largely as the result of it being the word used by the religious groups that were dominant throughout the entire evolution of modern English for their places of worship.
Yes, there are certain groups that object to that for etymological reasons because "church" also is the English word for the body of believers, and who don't use the word that way, but that doesn't make it any less a normal (and, in fact, the primary) meaning the word has in English.
Here's an example of it used in the specific (rather than generic) sense for a particular non-Christian place of worship, by the people that run that place of worship, the "Church of Scientology of Sacramento".
>>"Church" definitely is the generic English word for place of (particularly, Christian) worship
Not particularly. Only. As in, the word "church" only refers to Christian places of worship.
Honestly it is pretty bizarre that you and tptacek are claiming otherwise. Maybe we're talking past each other. I just don't know any Muslims who say "I'm going to the church tomorrow," or any Buddhists say "I was at the church yesterday". I also don't know of any Christians who refer to synagogues as "churches."
Now, if you are saying that "church" means any Christian place of worship - as in, people don't differentiate between church and cathedral, which are different things - then yes, I can agree with that. But that's not how I read your comments.
> As in, the word "church" only refers to Christian places of worship.
That's not correct; e.g., the first definition from the full definitions at m-w.com is "a building for public and especially Christian worship".
In practice, there is more to it than that -- its not uncommon to be used generically and inclusively for place of worship, but you'd never (except through ignorance) use it for a specific place of worship except consistently with the usage of the group for whom it is a place of worship. (But the groups who use it specifically for their places of worhsip is also not the same as "Christian" -- it includes many, but not all, Christian groups as well as some, mostly newer, non-Christian groups.)
More relevant to the thread: the use of "church" doesn't seem to be about a place of worship, anyway, its about a body of believers, which is a use of the term which is somewhat less divisive, though still has the same generic for unspecified religions (though "congregation" would probably be better) and specific for some, mostly Christian, religions. So, its not an unreasonable single-word term to use in explaining the function of a generic product, though the complexities of the use and the emotional attachment that goes with naming issues around religion may make it problematic. Though, really, the name ("OneBody") of the product is far more of a specifically Christian reference than the word "church" in its description of purpose.
> Now, if you are saying that "church" means any Christian place of worship - as in, people don't differentiate between church and cathedral, which are different things
Well, this is far off the point of even this subthread, but the set of cathedrals is a proper subset of the set of churches in the way both terms are used by most groups that use the former term at all. That is a cathedral is a church that is also the seat of a bishop. So even outside of the generic sense, its proper to refer to a cathedral as a church.
If both sides of this debate are in some way correct, it's clear that the "church is a Christian term" side of the debate is more correct, so if just getting that on the table and stipulating it to be true ends an unproductive discussion: it is so stipulated.
> the word "church" only refers to Christian places of worship
In general, yes, but...
1. In protestant nomenclature, the Church (capitalization important) is the collection of all believers worldwide and a church (lower case) refers to a particular body of believers. A church may also colloquially refer to the building where a church (body) holds its weekly service, but some denominations use alternate words to purposefully make the distinction: meeting house, worship center, etc. Also, many larger churches in urban areas meet in several buildings simultaneously but still identify in one church. At any rate "church" has at least three distinct meanings in Christian usage alone.
2. There are non-Christian "churches" (again, sometimes colloquially): atheist, universalist, Mormon (might or might not count depending on who you ask), etc. No, Muslims and Buddhists don't "go to church", but many other religious groups do.
Yes, there are certain groups that object to that for etymological reasons because "church" also is the English word for the body of believers, and who don't use the word that way, but that doesn't make it any less a normal (and, in fact, the primary) meaning the word has in English.