Religion is the centralized system of beliefs and practices that a group of people follow in order to achieve spiritual health and well-being. It also serves as a social bond and provides moral guidance. Religious beliefs often involve the belief in one or more gods. Beliefs about an afterlife and cosmological orders are also common in religions. Many religions have rituals and ceremonies, which are designed to be sacred experiences. They can include chanting, dancing, crying, laughing, trancelike conditions and a sense of connectedness with others. Religions can be helpful or harmful to human health and can contribute to peace and violence in the world.
Sociologists have used several theories to explain the origins of religion. The evolutionary theory explains that religions begin as early, successful protective systems that are tied to the potentialities of humans and the environment they live in. Religions then evolve into means for achieving goals that are both proximate (to this life) and ultimate (in the next rebirth or in the end of the universe).
The sociological theory of religion developed by Emile Durkheim is based on the idea that religion is not so much a set of beliefs as a way of dealing with the ultimate concerns of human existence. This theory stresses the important role religion plays in a society and that it can have negative effects on human life, including causing stress and promoting inequality.
Other scholars, such as Charles Lincoln, argue that a religion is any social aggregation that claims to have transcendent meaning for its members. He defines a religion as an organized group of people who share a distinctive discourse that asserts their beliefs, values, beliefs and institutions have special and divine significance. Lincoln’s definition of religion is not universal and some groups of people would have difficulty qualifying as a religion, but it has become the dominant form of analysis in sociology.
Most of the world’s major religious traditions have roots that date back thousands of years and arose from tribal totems, ancestor worship, and belief in guardian and protective gods. The earliest historical religions evolved in Egypt and Mesopotamia, and were polytheistic. Later, monotheistic religions came into being, based on the idea that there is only one god who created the world and all living things.
Despite a decline in the number of Americans who consider themselves religious, most people say that their religion is very or somewhat important to them. A recent study showed that regular participation in a religion is linked to a lower risk of smoking-related illnesses and can improve psychological and physical well-being. In addition, studies show that there is a strong link between what people see as essential to their faith and how they behave in the everyday world.