Religion
A religion is a set of beliefs that is held by a group of people. 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 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 is 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.[1] Other words that are used for religion are
"faith" and "belief system".[2] Altogether, followers of religion can be known as
religionists. Some people follow more than one religion at a time.
The largest religions are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism,
Sikhism and Judaism. There are many other religions.[3] People who do not
believe in any gods are called atheists. People who say that they are not sure
whether they believe or not are called agnostics.[4][5]
A statue of the Hindu deity Brahma.
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...