Religion is a set of beliefs, values and practices that help people make sense of their lives and find meaning in what they do. It provides a context for moral reasoning and a basis for social cohesion, a sense of belonging, and an enduring identity.
It is a system of beliefs that offers explanations of the origin and purpose of life, the universe and human beings. In this context, it usually includes the belief in one or more deities and/or one or more afterlives. It also often includes rituals and practices for purification, forgiveness and veneration.
A religion’s guiding principles are ethical codes that govern people’s behavior and relationships. These codes can be based on an individual’s spiritual level or they may be derived from a culture. The guiding principles can be about how to live in the world, about how to treat others, and about what is right or wrong. They can also include a belief in a supernatural being or beings who can punish good and evil behaviour.
Many religions contain ideas about how people should be educated, what kind of work they should do and who they should marry. This makes religions influential and powerful in the world. They also have a profound impact on a person’s personality, as demonstrated by the fact that most people who describe themselves as religious are much more likely to engage with their extended family and to volunteer and contribute to society.
There is a strong link between the intensity of a person’s religiosity and their level of happiness, health and well-being. In a recent study, researchers at the Pew Research Center found that highly religious people report being happier and less depressed than those who are not very religious. They are also more likely to be involved in their communities, and to say that they are satisfied with the way things are going in their lives.
For some, however, religion can be a source of intolerance, cruelty, bigotry, social oppression, and self-opinionated nastiness. It is often a major source of political power, and it can be used as a justification for war.
Those who are religious are also more likely to have higher incomes and to have completed a college degree, and they are more likely to vote and donate money to charities. They are also more likely to be active members of their churches and synagogues.
The word “religion” was originally a Latin term, religio, that meant a serious attachment to god or to a community. It was a defining characteristic of certain ancient societies, and it became a universal concept as the result of a process of cultural diffusion. In the modern era, scholars have emphasized that the concept of religion is a social construct. This has led to a shift from the use of monothetic definitions of what constitutes a religion, such as those developed by Durkheim or Karl Marx, towards polythetic approaches that recognize several properties that are associated with religions but do not fasten on a single one as an essence of the category.