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 +{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
 +| style="text-align: left;" |
 +"But if cattle and horses and lions had hands [[But if cattle and horses and lions had hands|[...]]]" --Xenophanes
 +<hr>
 +"I should like there to be perfect freedom to [[derision|deride]] them all [all [[religion]]s]; I should like men, gathered in no matter what temple to invoke the eternal who wears their image, to be seen as so many comics in a theater, at whose antics everyone may go to laugh." --''[[Yet Another Effort, Frenchmen, If You Would Become Republicans]]'' (1795), Marquis de Sade
 +<hr>
 +"All known [[religious belief]]s, 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 [[Sacred–profane dichotomy|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 the Religious Life ]]'' (1912), Émile Durkheim, tr. Joseph Ward Swain
 +<hr>
 +"The [[Roman religion|various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world]] were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosophers as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful." --[[Edward Gibbon]]
 +|}
 +[[Image:Tommaso.Laureti.Triumph.of.Christianity.jpg|right|thumb|200px|''[[Triumph of Christianity]]'' by [[Tommaso Laureti]] ([[1530]]-[[1602]]), ceiling painting in the [[Sala di Constantino]], [[Vatican City|Vatican Palace]]. Images like this one celebrate the destruction of ancient [[Paganism|pagan]] culture and the victory of [[Christianity]].]]
 +[[Image:466px-Yin yang.svg.png|thumb|right|200px|This page '''{{PAGENAME}}''' is part of the [[Eastern religions]] cycle.
 +<br>
 +Illustration: [[Yin and yang]]]]
 +[[Image:Hands of God and Adam.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Hands of God and Adam]]'' ([[1500s]]) is a detail of the [[Sistine Chapel ceiling ]] by [[Michelangelo]]. It is a detail from [[Adam and Eve on the Sistine Chapel ceiling|Adam and Eve cycle]]]]
[[Image:Traité des trois imposteurs.gif|right|thumb|200px|''[[Traité des trois imposteurs]]'' by [[Anonymity in publishing|anonymous]] (date unknown, edition shown [[1777]])]] [[Image:Traité des trois imposteurs.gif|right|thumb|200px|''[[Traité des trois imposteurs]]'' by [[Anonymity in publishing|anonymous]] (date unknown, edition shown [[1777]])]]
-[[Image:Tommaso.Laureti.Triumph.of.Christianity.jpg|right|thumb|200px|''"Triumph of Christianity"'' by [[Tommaso Laureti]] ([[1530]]-[[1602]]), ceiling painting in the [[Sala di Constantino]], [[Vatican City|Vatican Palace]]. Images like this one celebrate the destruction of ancient [[Paganism|pagan]] culture and the victory of Christianity.]]+ 
[[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}}
-:''[[What is Enlightenment?]]''+'''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.
-A '''religion''' is a set of beliefs and practices generally held by a [[community]], involving adherence to codified [[belief]]s 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.+ 
 +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]].
 + 
 +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]].
 +==Theories of religion==
 +:''[[Theories of religion]]''
 +'''[[Theory|Theories]] of [[religion]]''' can be split up into substantive theories (focusing on what religion is) and functional or [[reductionism|reductionist]] theories (focusing on what it does). Influential substantive theories have been proposed by [[Theories of religion#Edward Burnett Tylor and James George Frazer|Tylor and Frazer]] (focusing on the explanatory value of religion for its adherents), by the [[theology|theologian]] [[Theories of religion#Rudolf Otto|Rudolf Otto]] (focusing on the importance of [[religious experience]], more specifically experiences that are both fascinating and terrifying), [[Theories of religion#Mircea Eliade|Mircea Eliade]] (focusing on the longing for otherworldly perfection, the quest for meaning, and the search for patterns in mythology in various religions).
 + 
 +Influential functional theories have been proposed by [[Theories of religion#Karl Marx|Karl Marx]] (focusing on the economic background), [[Theories of religion#Sigmund Freud|Sigmund Freud]] (focusing on [[neurosis]] as a [[psychology|psychological]] origin of religious beliefs), and [[Theories of religion#Émile Durkheim and functionalism|Émile Durkheim]] (focusing on the social function of religions).
 + 
 +[[Theories of religion#Max Weber|Max Weber]] did not so much propose a general theory of religion as he focused on the interaction between society and religion. He also introduced a number of key concepts to the [[sociology of religion]].
 + 
 +In contrast to earlier theorists, the [[anthropology|anthropologists]] [[Theories of religion#E. E. Evans-Pritchard|E. E. Evans-Pritchard]] and [[Theories of religion#Clifford Geertz|Clifford Geertz]] performed detailed [[ethnography|ethnographical]] studies of "primitive" cultures, and came to the conclusion that earlier theories had been one-sided at best. Geertz denied that it would ever be possible to propose a general theory of religion.
 +==Religion and science==
 +:''[[Relationship between religion and science]]''
 +The '''relationship between religion and science''' has been a focus of the [[demarcation problem]]. Statements about the world made by science and religion sometimes rely on different methodologies. [[Religion]], it is often argued, relies on [[revelation]] and [[faith]]. The [[Science#Scientific_method|methods of science]] are elaborate. Some scholars say the two are separate, as in [[John William Draper]]'s [[conflict thesis]] and [[Stephen Jay Gould]]'s [[non-overlapping magisteria]], while others ([[Thomas Berry]], [[Brian Swimme]], [[Ken Wilber]], et al.) propose an interconnection.
 +==Irreligion==
 +:''[[Irreligion]]''
 +'''Irreligion''', '''irreligiousness''', or '''nonreligion''' is an [[umbrella term]] which, depending on context, may be understood as referring to [[atheism]], [[agnosticism]], [[deism]], [[skepticism]], [[freethought]], [[secular humanism]], general [[secularism]], or [[heresy]].
 + 
 +Irreligion has at least three related yet distinct meanings:
 +* absence of [[religion]] (either due to not having information about religion or to not believing in it)
 +* hostility to religion
 +* behaving in such a way that fails to live up to one's religious tenets
 + 
 +Although people classified as irreligious might not follow any religion, not all are necessarily without belief in the [[supernatural]] or in [[deity|deities]]; such a person may be a non-religious or non-practicing [[theism|theist]]. In particular, those who associate organized religion with negative qualities, but still hold spiritual beliefs, might describe themselves as irreligious.
 +==History of religion==
 +:''[[History of religion]]''
 + 
 +The earliest evidence of religious ideas dates back several hundred thousand years to the [[Middle Paleolithic|Middle]] and [[Lower Paleolithic]] periods. Archeologists refer to apparent intentional burials of [[Archaic homo sapiens|early homo sapiens]] from as early as 300,000 years ago as evidence of religious ideas. Other evidence of religious ideas include symbolic artifacts from [[Middle Stone Age]] sites in Africa. However, the interpretation of early paleolithic artifacts, with regard to how they relate to religious ideas, remains controversial. Archeological evidence from more recent periods is less controversial. A number of artifacts from the [[Upper Paleolithic]] (50,000-13,000) are generally interpreted by scientists as representing religious ideas. Examples of Upper Paleolithic remains associated with religious beliefs include the [[lion man]], the [[Venus figurines]], cave paintings from [[Chauvet Cave]] and the elaborate ritual burial from [[Sungir]].
 + 
 +==Religious groups==
 +:''[[Major religious groups]]''
 + 
 +The list of still-active religious movements given here is an attempt to summarize the most important regional and philosophical influences on local communities, but it is by no means a complete description of every religious community, nor does it explain the most important elements of individual religiousness.
 + 
 +The five largest religious groups by [[world population]], estimated to account for 5 billion people, are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism (with the relative numbers for Buddhism and Hinduism dependent on the extent of [[syncretism]]) and Chinese folk religion.
-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]]. +{| class="wikitable" style="width:640px;"
-[[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]]".+|+
 +|- style="background:#666688;"
 +! style="width:160px;"| Five largest religions
 +! style="width:160px;"| Adherents in 2000
 +! style="width:160px;"| % of world population
 +! style="width:160px;"| Demographics
 +|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e8ee;"
 +| [[Christianity]]
 +| 2.0 billion
 +| 33%
 +| [[Christianity by country]]
 +|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e8ee;"
 +| [[Islam]]
 +| 1.2 billion
 +| 19.6%
 +| [[List of countries by Muslim population|Islam by country]]
 +|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e8ee;"
 +| [[Hinduism]]
 +| 811 million
 +| 13.4%
 +| [[Hinduism by country]]
 +|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e8ee;"
 +| [[Chinese folk religion]]
 +| 385 million
 +| 6.4%
 +| [[Chinese folk religion#Demographics|Chinese folk religion]]
 +|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e8ee;"
 +| [[Buddhism]]
 +| 360 million
 +| 5.9%
 +| [[Buddhism by country]]
 +|}
-"Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "[[faith]]" or "[[belief system]]," but is more socially defined than that of personal convictions.+==See also==
-== See also ==+* [[Ancestor worship]]
-*[[Enclosed religious orders]]+* [[Philosophy of religion]]
-*[[Faithless]]+* [[Sociology of religion]]
-*[[Irreligion]]+* [[Enclosed religious orders]]
-*[[Religious violence]]+* [[Irreligion]]
 +* [[Religious violence]]
 +* [[Faith]]
 +* [[Belief]]
 +* [[History of religions]]
 +* [[List of religious texts]]
 +* [[Religious conversion]]
 +* [[Religious satire]]
 +* [[Theocracy]]
 +* [[Theogony ]]
 +* [[Unbelieving]]
 +* [[Religious art]]
 +* [[Vaccination and religion]]
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

Revision as of 22:33, 20 February 2019

"But if cattle and horses and lions had hands [...]" --Xenophanes


"I should like there to be perfect freedom to deride them all [all religions]; I should like men, gathered in no matter what temple to invoke the eternal who wears their image, to be seen as so many comics in a theater, at whose antics everyone may go to laugh." --Yet Another Effort, Frenchmen, If You Would Become Republicans (1795), Marquis de Sade


"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 the Religious Life (1912), Émile Durkheim, tr. Joseph Ward Swain


"The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosophers as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful." --Edward Gibbon

Triumph of Christianity by Tommaso Laureti (1530-1602), ceiling painting in the Sala di Constantino, Vatican Palace. Images like this one celebrate the destruction of ancient pagan culture and the victory of Christianity.
Enlarge
Triumph of Christianity by Tommaso Laureti (1530-1602), ceiling painting in the Sala di Constantino, Vatican Palace. Images like this one celebrate the destruction of ancient pagan culture and the victory of Christianity.
This page Religion is part of the Eastern religions cycle.  Illustration: Yin and yang
Enlarge
This page Religion is part of the Eastern religions cycle.
Illustration: Yin and yang
Traité des trois imposteurs by anonymous (date unknown, edition shown 1777)
Enlarge
Traité des trois imposteurs by anonymous (date unknown, edition shown 1777)

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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.

Contents

Theories of religion

Theories of religion

Theories of religion can be split up into substantive theories (focusing on what religion is) and functional or reductionist theories (focusing on what it does). Influential substantive theories have been proposed by Tylor and Frazer (focusing on the explanatory value of religion for its adherents), by the theologian Rudolf Otto (focusing on the importance of religious experience, more specifically experiences that are both fascinating and terrifying), Mircea Eliade (focusing on the longing for otherworldly perfection, the quest for meaning, and the search for patterns in mythology in various religions).

Influential functional theories have been proposed by Karl Marx (focusing on the economic background), Sigmund Freud (focusing on neurosis as a psychological origin of religious beliefs), and Émile Durkheim (focusing on the social function of religions).

Max Weber did not so much propose a general theory of religion as he focused on the interaction between society and religion. He also introduced a number of key concepts to the sociology of religion.

In contrast to earlier theorists, the anthropologists E. E. Evans-Pritchard and Clifford Geertz performed detailed ethnographical studies of "primitive" cultures, and came to the conclusion that earlier theories had been one-sided at best. Geertz denied that it would ever be possible to propose a general theory of religion.

Religion and science

Relationship between religion and science

The relationship between religion and science has been a focus of the demarcation problem. Statements about the world made by science and religion sometimes rely on different methodologies. Religion, it is often argued, relies on revelation and faith. The methods of science are elaborate. Some scholars say the two are separate, as in John William Draper's conflict thesis and Stephen Jay Gould's non-overlapping magisteria, while others (Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Ken Wilber, et al.) propose an interconnection.

Irreligion

Irreligion

Irreligion, irreligiousness, or nonreligion is an umbrella term which, depending on context, may be understood as referring to atheism, agnosticism, deism, skepticism, freethought, secular humanism, general secularism, or heresy.

Irreligion has at least three related yet distinct meanings:

  • absence of religion (either due to not having information about religion or to not believing in it)
  • hostility to religion
  • behaving in such a way that fails to live up to one's religious tenets

Although people classified as irreligious might not follow any religion, not all are necessarily without belief in the supernatural or in deities; such a person may be a non-religious or non-practicing theist. In particular, those who associate organized religion with negative qualities, but still hold spiritual beliefs, might describe themselves as irreligious.

History of religion

History of religion

The earliest evidence of religious ideas dates back several hundred thousand years to the Middle and Lower Paleolithic periods. Archeologists refer to apparent intentional burials of early homo sapiens from as early as 300,000 years ago as evidence of religious ideas. Other evidence of religious ideas include symbolic artifacts from Middle Stone Age sites in Africa. However, the interpretation of early paleolithic artifacts, with regard to how they relate to religious ideas, remains controversial. Archeological evidence from more recent periods is less controversial. A number of artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic (50,000-13,000) are generally interpreted by scientists as representing religious ideas. Examples of Upper Paleolithic remains associated with religious beliefs include the lion man, the Venus figurines, cave paintings from Chauvet Cave and the elaborate ritual burial from Sungir.

Religious groups

Major religious groups

The list of still-active religious movements given here is an attempt to summarize the most important regional and philosophical influences on local communities, but it is by no means a complete description of every religious community, nor does it explain the most important elements of individual religiousness.

The five largest religious groups by world population, estimated to account for 5 billion people, are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism (with the relative numbers for Buddhism and Hinduism dependent on the extent of syncretism) and Chinese folk religion.

Five largest religions Adherents in 2000 % of world population Demographics
Christianity 2.0 billion 33% Christianity by country
Islam 1.2 billion 19.6% Islam by country
Hinduism 811 million 13.4% Hinduism by country
Chinese folk religion 385 million 6.4% Chinese folk religion
Buddhism 360 million 5.9% Buddhism by country

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Religion" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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