A
religion is a set of stories, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to an ultimate power or reality. It may be expressed through
prayer,
ritual,
meditation,
music and
art, among other things. It may focus on specific
supernatural,
metaphysical, and
moral claims about
reality (the
cosmos, and
human nature) which may yield a set of
religious laws,
ethics, and a particular
lifestyle. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural
traditions, writings, history, and
mythology, as well as personal
faith and
religious experience.
The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction. "Religion" is sometimes used interchangeably with "
faith" or "
belief system,"
[1] but it is more socially defined than personal convictions, and it entails specific behaviors, respectively.
The
development of religion has taken many forms in various cultures. It considers
psychological and
social roots, along with
origins and
historical development.
In the frame of
western religious thought,
[2] religions present a common quality, the "hallmark of patriarchal religious thought": the division of the world in two comprehensive domains,
one sacred, the other profane.
[3] 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,
divine, or of the highest
truth.
Moral codes, practices, values, institutions, tradition, rituals, and
scriptures 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" or a
life stance.
source: wikipedia