Religion
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| [[Image:Speculum Sophicum Rhodostauroticum.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Illustration to the ''[[Speculum Sophicum Rhodostauroticum]]'' ([[1618]]) by [[Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens]]]] | [[Image:Speculum Sophicum Rhodostauroticum.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Illustration to the ''[[Speculum Sophicum Rhodostauroticum]]'' ([[1618]]) by [[Teophilus Schweighardt Constantiens]]]] | ||
| {{Template}} | {{Template}} | ||
| + | '''Religion''' is an organized collection of [[belief system|beliefs]], [[cultural system]]s, and [[world view]]s that relate humanity to an order of existence. Many religions have [[mythology|narratives]], [[symbol]]s, and [[sacred history|sacred histories]] that are intended to explain the [[meaning of life]] and/or to explain the [[creation myth|origin of life]] or the [[religious cosmology|Universe]]. From their beliefs about the [[cosmos]] and [[human nature]], people derive [[Moral code|morality]], [[ethics]], [[religious law]]s or a preferred [[lifestyle (sociology)|lifestyle]]. According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world. | ||
| + | Many religions may have organized [[religious behaviour|behaviors]], [[clergy]], a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership, [[holy places]], and [[Religious text|scriptures]]. The practice of a religion may also include [[ritual]]s, [[sermon]]s, commemoration or veneration of a [[god|deity]], [[gods]] or [[goddess]]es, [[sacrifice]]s, [[festival]]s, [[Banquet|feasts]], [[trance]], [[initiation]]s, [[funeral|funerary services]], [[matrimony|matrimonial services]], [[meditation]], [[prayer]], [[music]], [[art]], [[dance]], [[Community service|public service]] or other aspects of human culture. Religions may also contain [[mythology]]. | ||
| - | A '''religion''' is a set of [[belief]]s and [[practice]]s generally held by a [[community]], involving adherence to codified beliefs and [[ritual]]s and study of ancestral or cultural [[tradition]]s, writings, history, and [[mythology]], as well as personal [[faith]] and [[mysticism|mystic experience]]. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction. | + | The word ''religion'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''[[faith]]'', ''[[belief system]]'' or sometimes ''[[dharma|set of duties]]''; however, in the words of [[Émile Durkheim]], religion differs from private belief in that it is "something eminently social". A global 2012 poll reports that 59% of the world's population is religious, and 36% are [[irreligion|not religious]], including 13% who are [[atheism|atheists]], with a 9 percent decrease in religious belief from 2005. Some people follow multiple religions or multiple religious principles at the same time, regardless of whether or not the religious principles they follow traditionally allow for [[syncretism]]. |
| - | All [[patriarchal]] religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains, one [[sacred]], the other [[profanum|profane]]. Religion is often described as a communal system for the coherence of belief focusing on a system of thought, unseen being, person, or object, that is considered to be [[supernatural]], sacred, [[Divinity|divine]], or of the highest [[truth]]. | ||
| - | [[Moral code]]s, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and [[scripture]]s are often traditionally associated with the core belief, and these may have some overlap with concepts in secular [[philosophy]]. Religion is also often described as a "[[way of life]]". | ||
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| - | "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "[[faith]]" or "[[belief system]]," but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions. | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| * [[Philosophy of religion]] | * [[Philosophy of religion]] | ||
Revision as of 21:10, 4 November 2013
| "All known religious beliefs, whether simple or complex, present one common characteristic : they presuppose a classification of all the things, real and ideal, of which men think, into two classes or opposed groups, generally designated by two distinct terms which are translated well enough by the words profane and sacred (profane, sacré). This division of the world into two domains, the one containing all that is sacred, the other all that is profane, is the distinctive trait of religious thought. --The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912), Durkheim, tr. Swain |
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Religion is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence. Many religions have narratives, symbols, and sacred histories that are intended to explain the meaning of life and/or to explain the origin of life or the Universe. From their beliefs about the cosmos and human nature, people derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle. According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions in the world.
Many religions may have organized behaviors, clergy, a definition of what constitutes adherence or membership, holy places, and scriptures. The practice of a religion may also include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration of a deity, gods or goddesses, sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trance, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service or other aspects of human culture. Religions may also contain mythology.
The word religion is sometimes used interchangeably with faith, belief system or sometimes set of duties; however, in the words of Émile Durkheim, religion differs from private belief in that it is "something eminently social". A global 2012 poll reports that 59% of the world's population is religious, and 36% are not religious, including 13% who are atheists, with a 9 percent decrease in religious belief from 2005. Some people follow multiple religions or multiple religious principles at the same time, regardless of whether or not the religious principles they follow traditionally allow for syncretism.
See also
- Philosophy of religion
- Sociology of religion
- Enclosed religious orders
- Irreligion
- Religious violence
- Faith
- Belief
- History of religions
- List of religious texts
- Religious conversion
- Theocracy
- Theogony
- Unbelieving
- Religious art
