A religion is a set of beliefs that attempts to make sense of the things in life that are difficult to understand, such as why we are here. Human beings have always sought explanations about the world, and various religions have developed in order to provide some answers. Most religions are based around the teachings of one God or several gods — a supreme being who created the world and determines what happens in it. Religions have been an extremely powerful force in human history, inspiring art and culture and shaping countries and empires.
There are many definitions of religion. It is not that easy to pin down exactly what religion is and then to insure that the definition distinguishes religion from magic and from cults and sects. Many people offer definitions without much knowledge of the wide range of religious phenomena and the many different cultural manifestations of religion. It is a rather common misconception to think that religion has to do with god, or gods and supernatural beings or a supernatural or spiritual dimension or greater reality. None of that is absolutely necessary because there are religions that are without those elements.
In this millennium there are over 6.2 billion people on the planet earth. Most of them would declare that they are religious in some way. Rough estimates are made that place people in the various traditions.
This has implications. For one, it means that the term “organized religion” is redundant. We often hear people say they are critical of organized religion (as if disorganized religion would be any better). But if a religion is not ordered (organized) then it’s not really a religion at all, as it does not expect its practitioners to live according to any rule. Indeed, they can hardly be considered “practitioners” if there is nothing for them to practice. They are merely “believers” at that point; those whom we might call spiritual, but not religious.
I’ve often heard that phrase criticized as being code for, “I like to think of myself as a spiritual person, but don’t actually do anything about it.” Which may be true, as far as it goes. But that doesn’t mean it’s not an accurate description. Someone who is spiritual is aware of certain spiritual realities. They believe that there is more to this world than the material. But being spiritual alone doesn’t make any demands on us. It is when our spiritual beliefs motivate us to live in a certain way that spirituality becomes religious.
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