Religion

The word religion derives from the latin word religare: to join, or link, classically understood to mean the linking of human and divine. What constitutes a religion is subject to much dispute in the field of theology and among ordinary people. We might begin by defining religion as a system of beliefs based on humanity's attempt to explain the universe and natural phenomena, often involving one or more deities or other supernatural forces. Religious adherents tend to gather together to celebrate holy days and to pray, but solitary practice is also usually just as important. Most religions also have a code of laws to be followed, like the Ten Commandments of Old Testament, and some have specific texts they hold as sacred, and totally different from other writings.

Two identifying features of all religions are that to some extent they all (a) require faith and (b) seek to organise and guide the thoughts and actions of their adherents. Because of this, some people contend that all religions are to some degree both unempirical (see empiricism) and dogmatic, and are therefore to be distrusted. As they see it, a system of thought that is purely rational would be a science rather than a religion, and a system that is not in the least dogmatic would be unable to guide its adherents in any way.

Many Western people nowadays prefer to use the term 'spirituality' for their position. This reflects a disillusion with organised religion which unless it stays small scale, must grapple with worldly pressures of power and economics where ideals so often become corrupted. Priesthoods and monasteries frequently show increasingly low recruitment. Studies in the UK show a fast diminishing attendance at churches, synagogues etc (except among charismatics) and throw up worried media articles on the decline of religion today. However, studies that look further and examine people's beliefs and practices without defining religion strictly in terms of organisation membership, find that spiritual beliefs are flourishing, and often extend to cherished family and community customs. New variations of religions are being constantly generated, showing that the religious impulse is not dying, but taking new forms.

There are several scientific approaches to religion to answer questions such as why religious belief is ubiquitous in every society. In neurology, work by scientists such as Ramachandran and his colleagues from the University of California at San Diego [1] has found evidence of brain circuitry in the temporal lobe that gives rises to religious experiences. In sociology, Rodney Stark has looked at the social forces that have caused religions to grow and the features of religions that have been most successful. In evolutionary psychology, scientists consider the survival advantages that religion might have had in the hunter-gatherer societies.

Religions are systems of belief which typically deal with

the divine, the sacred and the supernatural,
our purpose as beings, on earth, in this life and possible other states of being,
what happens to us when we die and how to prepare for that,
the nature of Deity (or Deities) (cf God) and what She, He, They, It wants from us,
our relationships with Deity(-ies), the sacred, ancestors, other people, and the world around us, that is, how to behave well in relationship.

The following three types of religion are helpful, but should not be read as completely distinct as they do share in each other's characteristics.

Theistic religions are primarily focused on a Deity(-ies) and begin when Deity intervenes in the lives of a person or group, enlightening them and establishing a superior way of life leading to internal peace in this life, and qualification for some kind of Heaven after this life. Examples of monotheisms (one Deity religions): Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá'í Faith.
Some faiths, perhaps "Spiritual Philosophies" begin with practical teachings on achieving human happiness or equanimity in the context of both earthly and other dimensions. Examples: Buddhism,Taoism, and Confucianism.
A third type, perhaps "Traditional Religions" which seems to involve the oldest religions, evolves slowly over long millennia, and is centered more on symbol, icon, sacred story and customs. These sorts of sources can be interpreted very differently at different times and places: an image can even mean contradictory things to different interpreters. Hinduism is one example of this type, although most Hinduisms are theistic. Further examples are the many kinds of Shamanism and Ancestor religions.

Religions deal with the (more or less) divergent lifestyles espoused by other religions in several ways. Religions with a duty to convert, or with more closed sets of beliefs typically label all others wrong, corruptions or counterfeits of the true faith. More open religions praise all belief systems as beneficial, and among open religions it is often possible to practice more than one faith together with integrity, as occurs commonly in Asia and Africa.

Some religions have charismatic leaders, such as Jesus Christ, Martin Luther, Billy Graham, Adi Sankara, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Swami Vivekanada, Sai Baba, Joseph Smith, Muhammad, the Buddha, etc. These leaders may be the central figure in the religion, like Muhammad, Jesus or Buddha. Or they might be founders, like Martin Luther. Or they may be merely prominent persons like Billy Graham--who is an influential speaker but not the head of a large organization or movement.

The Founders of some of the major world religions include Abraham and Moses for Judaism, Zoroaster for Zoroastrianism, Buddha for Buddhism, Jesus Christ for Christianity, Muhammad for Islám, and Bahá'u'lláh for the Bahá'í Faith.

Origin of religion

The origin of religion in general and for particular religions is usually controversial, since religions often claim to have been derived directly from information supplied by god(s) to chosen human messenger(s). Followers of the religion (by definition) accept the claims, either literally or in a metaphorical, or partial fashion. Although followers of a religion, although they may hold strong belief, may also be interested in looking at possible human origins for religious events, together with non-religious enquirers.

Religion was practiced long before the invention of writing, as paintings and pottery shows in images. Indeed, heavy deposits of pollen in Neanderthal graves suggest that even these early humans buried their dead along with flowers. Stories ('texts') passed orally between people and from one generation to the next. Religion may well have originated in stories created to account for the great questions of life, for comfort, to keep records of a people's history, and for entertainment. Stories in traditional societies unite adults and children in community, although it is possible that atheists (those who believe there is no Deity) or agnostics (those who believe we cannot know if there is a Deity) always existed as well. Evidence of very early human prehistory is scanty and it is best not to over interpret archaeological remains: for example it is generally thought that bones painted with red ochre (a red mud thay may link to blood colour to symbolize life) and buried with personal possessions, suggest a belief in an afterlife. It could also be because using the dead person's possessions was believed to be bad luck. For a more contemporary example, consider a future archaeologist digging the remains of a Star Wars fan's bedroom and the possible erroneous interpretations of such a find.

Evidence for early civilisation's religious ideas can be found similarly in elaborate burial practices in which valuable objects were left with the deceased, intended for use in an afterlife or to appease the gods. This custom has clearer motives as it is usually accompanied by tomb paintings showing a belief of afterlife. It reached a spectacular form with the creation of the pyramids of Giza and the other great tombs of ancient Egypt; the Sumerian royal burials, and other prehistoric (pre-written records) monument builders.

Religions created in modern times are often reasonably well documented (e.g., Scientology.) Minor religions have been called 'cults' and still are, while many scholars use the term New Religious Movement (NRM). Reasons for the creation of religions are many, including a range from idealism to a desire to obtain wealth and power over others; the two may combine in interesting ways. It's easy to speculate that similar forces were at work in the creation of earlier religions. Once a religious community increases in size and gains widespread recognition, it has to negotiate with the governing social group, the State. At this point material or political ambitions are more likely to be dominant.

Hostility to religion can have various reasons. Karl Marx famously defined religion as a social opiate, and from outside it certainly appears to operate as such, but wholesale condemnation overlooks the great numbers and scale of visionary inspirations that religions provide for compassion, practical charity and moral restraint.

When wars are aggravated or caused by religious issues they tend to be worse in their atrocities. Yet Abram Maslow's research after World War II showed that Holocaust survivors tended to be those who held strong religious beliefs (not necessarily temple attendance etc). Humanistic Psychology went on to investigate how religious or spiritual identity links with longer lifespan and better health. Humans may particularly need religious ideas because they serve various emotional needs such as the need to feel loved, the need to belong to homogenous groups, the need for understandable explanations or the need for justice.

Controversies about changes in religious doctrine

Many religions (e.g. Catholic Christianity, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Judaism, Islam) teach not only that their followers should accept a given set of doctrines as true, but also that these doctrines have never changed, and never will change. In stronger or weaker terms, religious authorities in these faiths have repeatedly stated throughout history that their doctrines of faith are infallible, and that the group has never reversed or significantly changed their position.

For those people who do not have an agenda of preserving institutional religious authority, these changes are clearly seen to be a major change or reversal of position. The claims are held to be false. For example, Roman Catholics completely reversed their official position issued during the Middle Ages that "there is no salvation outside the church". Vatican II clearly reversed this position, and more recent statements concerning salvation for Jews, not to mention Protestants, has also clearly stated an opposite position. Similarly, Orthodox Jews base their beliefs on the medieval works of Maimonides, which they claim are identical to the beliefs expounded in the Torah (five books of Moses). However non-Orthodox Jews, as well as non-Jewish historians, have shown that many of these did not develop until over a millennium after the time of Moses.

It is virtually impossible to get a Catholic Christian, Jehovah's Witness or Orthodox Jew to admit that there has been a change or reversal in their basic religious doctrine. This dispute occurs because it is ingrained in their theology that doctrine never reverses itself. Most traditional religious believers in Christianity, Islam and Judaism hold that they are the recipients of an authentic revelation from God. In their view, it is imperative for them to maintain that the received revelation was accurate. (Some might admit that the initial revelation was limited, thus allowing the possibility of a subsequent revelation to offer additional details or clarification.) However, according to the traditional religious view, once someone claims that the revelation was in error, or not really divine at all, the belief system would then no longer be internally consistent. In this view, religion falls apart if a doctrine is changed or questioned. This is the view of Fundamentalist Christians, most Muslim clerics, and Ultra-Orthodox Jews today.

Religious liberals, as well as people not involved in any religion at all, reject this position as being logically flawed. The flaw is that many fundamentalists are unable to admit the possibility of any position between completely right and completely wrong. No in-between state of affairs is considered. In the non-fundamentalist view, religion is not damaged or compromised if a belief is changed or questioned. This effect could only come about if one set up an absolutists system in the first place. In other words, if the religion teaches that "All these doctrines must be accepted in toto, or the entire religion will crumble", then of course the religion will crumble as soon as an error is found or a change in doctrine comes about. The flaw is that this is a case of circular reasoning.

Another criticism of the claim that doctrines do not change is that such claims are not intellectually honest, and instead are self-serving. This view is held to be self-serving because a group gives to itself, and in particular its leadership, a putative divinely sanctioned role that is denied to those outside the power structure. The resulting suppression of dissent is thus self-serving. In hierarchical religions, such as Catholic or Orthodox Christianity, this can set up a chain of command, and claim that divine revelation is reserved to a powerful few who then set up a self-perpetuating system to make sure that the power hierarchy is never challenged.

Religion vs. Mythology

Ancient polytheistic religions, such as those of ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the Vikings, etc., are often studied under the heading of mythology. Religions of pre-industrial peoples, or cultures in development to industrial conditions, are similarly observed by the anthropology of religion. Mythology can be a term used pejoratively by religious and non-religious people both (the religious person will in this case define another religion's stories as mythology). Here myths are treated as fantasies, or 'mere' stories. But the study of religions, and the investigation of myths by psychology, not to mention how some myths turn out to have historical verification, has brought about a mixed, almost contradictory use of the term: some NRMs (New Religious Movements) such as Neopaganism actively research and use myths from older religions, both those that still exist and those that have disappeared.

Monotheism vs. Polytheism

The dominance of monotheism among influential Western scholars of religion, and theologians, proposed a division into monotheistic and polytheistic faiths. The classification fails with a religion that has no concept of "god" (like Theravada Buddhism). Many people both inside and outside of Christianity find its claim to be monotheistic problematic since it has more than one god form, (God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit), explained in the doctrine of the Trinity. This has resulted in much ingenious Christian theology. The monotheism of Islam and Judaism is much more clearcut, although very early sources for both Allah and Yahweh show signs of polytheistic origins or forerunners, which does not at all deny or contradict their sole Deity status once the religion became established. Neopaganism, a religion generally considered to be polytheistic, is also difficult to classify neatly. While adherents worship a diverse pantheon of gods and goddesses, a great many of them believe those personalities to be facets of a single Divine entity.

Some religions have secondary deities, which is straightforward in Hinduism, but less so for those Christians who venerate Mary as Theotokos (Mother of God). Mary has often attracted such a massive devotion by the faithful that the Church has been careful to clearly define her status: Christians in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions are instructed that she is to be venerated but not worshipped, and that Jesus Christ is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Creator of his strictly human mother. (see also: Third Ecumenical Council, Seventh Ecumenical Council.) Many mystics have asserted the female aspect of Deity but apart from Hinduism this has not been regarded as mainstream by major world religions for several centuries. Goddess is routinely recognised in Hindu Mahadevi, Mahayana Buddhism, Western Paganism and Goddess Spirituality.

Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christianity, Mahayana Buddhism, and most Hinduisms, also recognize the existence of lesser spiritual beings: angels and demons, but they are not worshipped as gods. In Christian Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, Mary and the saints have especially important roles as intermediaries and personal guardians. They are divine only in that they have been reunited with God. Mahayana Buddhism's lesser deities embody psychological forces, whether as guides, examples or antagonists with whom to learn power and skill. The division between Deity, deity, minor deity, angel, demon, nature spirit, ancestor or hero, is not clearcut, but developed pragmatically.

Non-religious religion

Deities both great and lesser are part of practices like transcendental psychology (which looks at the psychology of the spiritual) and therapies like Jungianism. Jung found an underworld of mythological drama in the backstage areas of the mind: in particular, he proposed that our ideas and feelings are shaped by spiritual archetypes, recurring models such as God, the Old Man, or the Mother which have become a part of our collective consciousness through ages of evolution. The New Age Movement, a late 20th century culture of eclectic beliefs in millennial change, healing traditions, alternative realities, also draws on these mythological images.

But it is important to distinguish a spiritual psychology that explores a map of the self, which goes so deep and far that it recognises divine shapes, from a religion or spirituality that explores a relationship between human self and an Other, the divine. The distinction asks whether there is dialogue between two or more with genuine voice and influence coming from the other (Martin Buber's I and Thou), or whether there is a journey in which the self encounters profound symbolic experiences. As the opening definition tells us, religion is about linking.

See also this listing of various religions: religions of the world

Origin of religion

Controversies about changes in religious doctrine

Religion vs. Mythology

Monotheism vs. Polytheism

Non-religious religion

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