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| Religious symbols
from left to right, top to bottom: Christianity,
Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, the Baháʼí
Faith, Eckankar, Sikhism, Jainism, Wicca,
Unitarian Universalism, Shinto, Taoism, Thelema,
Tenrikyo, and Zoroastrianism. |
Religion
A religion is a set of beliefs that is passionately held
by a group of people that is reflected in a world view
and in expected beliefs and actions (which are often
ritualized).
There are many different religions, each with a
different set of beliefs. The beliefs are about the
world and the people in it, about how they came into
being, and what their purpose is. These beliefs
according to some religious sects, are often linked to
supernatural beings such as God, a number of gods or
spirits. They may also be linked to an idea such as a
path that the spirit of each person should take towards
goodness, truth and duty. This they called spirituality.
Each religion has different ideas about these things.
Each religion also has a "moral code" which is a set of
beliefs about how humans should act. Each religion
usually has their own type of "devotions" when people
worship or pray. They often have rituals (special things
that are always done in the same way) for certain times
of the year or certain times of a person's life. Other
words that are used for religion are "faith" and "belief
system". Altogether, followers of religion can be known
as 'believers', or 'the faithful'. Few people follow
more than one religion at a time.
The largest religions are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism,
Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Judaism and Jainism. There
are many other religions. People who do not believe in
any gods are called atheists. People who say that there
is no evidence are called agnostics. |
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Religious beliefs
God
In many religions, one of the main beliefs is that there
is a "deity" (or god) who is a great creator spirit. In
many religions, there is just one deity that the people
believe in. In other religions, there are many deities
who each have different roles in the universe. In many
religions, there are other types of spirits. These may
include angels, devils and other such things which can
be both good and bad.
Giving honour to God, the gods or the spirits is an
important part of most religions. While this may often
be done privately, it is also often done with gatherings
of people and rituals. These rituals are often based on
old traditions, and may have been done in almost the
same way for hundreds, or even thousands of years.
Human spirit
Another main belief is that humans have a "soul" or
spirit which lives on after their body has died.And they
believe that they must kill thou to any one in the
earths name. The person's spirit is on a journey through
life that continues after death. Most religions believe
that what a person does during their lifetime will
affect what happens to their spirit in the afterlife.
Many religions teach that a good person's spirit can
reach a special place of peace and happiness such as
Heaven or Nirvana, and that a bad person's spirit can
travel to a place of pain and suffering such as Hell.
Still other religions believe in reincarnation - that
instead of going either to Heaven or Hell, spirits of
the dead return to earth in a new body.
Morality
"Morals" are the way a human behaves to other humans.
Most religions make rules about human morals. The rules
of how people should act to each other are different in
different religions.
For some religions, following a "path" of goodness,
truth and duty is very important. This is called Tao in
China. In the teachings of Judaism, people were told to
"love your neighbour as yourself". In the teachings of
Jesus, people were told to think of every single person
as their "neighbour" and treat them with love. |
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Traditions
Teaching
A religion is passed on from one person to another
through teachings and stories (which are often called
"myths") which may be written down like the Bible, or
told from memory like the Dreamtime stories of
Australian Aboriginal people. In many religions, there
are people who take the role of "priest" and spend their
lives teaching others about the religion. There are also
people who take the role of "pastor" and spend their
life caring for other people. A person may be both a
priest and a pastor. They are called by different names
in different religions.
Symbols
Symbols are used to remind people of their religious
beliefs. They are also used or worn as a sign to other
people that the person belongs to a particular religion.
A symbol might be something that is drawn or written, it
might be a piece of clothing or jewellery, it might be a
sign that a person makes with their body, or it might be
a building or monument or artwork. Picture symbols for
different religions are shown in the box in the
introduction to this article.
Witness and conversion
In many religions, it is thought important that people
should show other people that they are following a
particular religion. This might be done in a general way
by wearing a symbol or a type of clothing. Many people
believe that it is important to tell other people about
their religion, so that they can believe as well. This
is called "witnessing".
There are many ways to witness. A person may tell their
classmates, workmates and friends about their beliefs. A
person might go to other people's houses and talk about
their beliefs, or invite the people to join in the
rituals of the religion, such as going to church or to a
religious festival. A person might have printed material
such as books or leaflets that they give to other people
to read. A person might travel to a different country to
teach, to work in a health service or to help people in
some other way. (People who do this are called
"missionaries".) These are different ways that people
witness to their religion.
When a person hears a witness and decides that they will
join the religion, this is called a "conversion".
Usually a person decides to join a religion because they
like what they have read or been told, and they believe
that they are hearing the truth. They join the religion
because they choose. However, throughout history there
have been many times when people have been forced to
join a religion by violence and threats. This is still
happening today.
In most countries of the world, people are free to
belong to whatever religion they choose. This is
generally thought of as a basic human right. However,
there are parts of the world where it is illegal
(against the law) to witness to any religion except the
one accepted by the government of the country. People
who belong to other religions may be threatened, put in
jail or murdered.
Ritual
Rituals are an important part of the tradition of many
religions. In many religions, it is the tradition for
people to meet for a celebration on one day in every
week. There are also major celebrations that may be held
only at certain times of the year, for example, on the
birthday of a person who is honoured in that religion.
Some religions have celebrations for different seasons
of the year, or when the sun or moon is in a certain
part of the sky.
In nearly every religion, the important stages of a
person's life have a religious celebration. Birth,
naming, reaching an age to think for oneself, reaching
adulthood, marriage, childbirth, sickness and death are
all celebrated by some religions. Having a celebration
or special traditions when a person dies is very common.
It is the traditions that are about death that give the
earliest evidence of religious beliefs. Scientists have
discovered that 120,000 years ago, Neanderthal people
started burying their dead. Early Homo sapiens put tools
and other things into graves with the bodies, as if they
could use them in the afterlife. From 40,000 years ago,
many of the objects in graves are small artworks.
Scientists believe that these objects were put there for
religious reasons.
Groups and institutions
An institution is one name for an organization. Many
religions have organizations that manage the way that
people who follow the religion are to act. The
organization might employ religious leaders, educate
people into the ideas of the religion, manage money, own
buildings and make rules. Many religions have sub-groups
which are called denominations. In Islam, for example,
there is Ahmadiyya, Sunnism, Shi'ism and Sufism.
Buildings
Most religions have special buildings where people meet.
They are often called temples. In Judaism, they are
called synagogues. In Christianity, they are called
churches. In Islam, they are called mosques. In Buddhism
there are pagodas, temples and monasteries. In Hinduism
they are called Mandirs. People often try to make their
religious building as beautiful as possible. Some
religious buildings are great works of architecture. |
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Art and music
People often make artworks that are about their
religion, or that are used in religious celebration, or
are put in a religious building. Religious art comes in
all shapes and sizes, from tiny pieces of jewellery to
huge statues and paintings. Artworks often give
important clues to historians about different ancient
religions that are not well understood.
Music is often important in religious celebrations.
Singing, chanting and playing musical instruments are
often part of regular religious gatherings of people.
Special music is often used on special occasions. Many
famous composers have written religious music. The words
of songs that are 3,000 years old are used every day in
Christian churches and Jewish synagogues. |
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