Introduction To Religion
How Religion Impacts Our Day To Day Lives
Right from our homo erectus ancestors from the stone age, to the modern day city dwellers, for a majority of the population, one thing that has transcended time and demography is religion.
Though scholars and experts have failed to give an exact and specific definition to the word, it can be explained and interpreted in multiple ways.
Most commonly, a religion today constitutes of a set of commonly shared belief system, values, cultures, organizations, sanctified and revered places, etc.
However, it is not necessary for all religions to share all the aspects mentioned above.
The origin and vision of each religion also differ considerably including the supernatural, divine, realistic, beliefs and practices of ancestors, etc.
How do religions differ from one another?
The followers of each religion indulge in the common belief system and also may or may not perform rituals, rites, rever sacred places and texts, etc.
Different religions also have different purposes to their followers.
While some preach on the context of having an afterlife, others focus on the needs and the ethics of humans in society in the mortal life.
Different religions differ immensely in most aspects and can originate from a number of sources, cultures, and beliefs.
There are estimated to be more than 10000 distinct religions in all parts of the world with 5 of them being the most followed
namely Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and forms of folk religion.
Origin and History of religion
There have been massive changes in how religions are interpreted from the ancient ages to today.
Earlier, religions were more seen as the performance of various rituals, acts, beliefs which were based on observation and beliefs of ancestors.
For example, praying to the rain gods, worshipping nature, etc.