Religion is a unified system of thoughts, feelings and actions shared by a group and that gives its members something sacred to believe in, often a god or spiritual concept. It also teaches them to behave morally and provides a code of ethics. It deals with the supernatural or spiritual, about forces and powers that are beyond human control. It is a source of hope and comfort, giving meaning to life. It helps people to cope with death and suffering. It is a community that provides extended families, rules to live by and rituals for celebrating important events such as birth, coming of age, marriage and death.
Most religions have a spiritual leader or figure of authority who guides and directs their members’ lives. Religions also teach them what is right and wrong, how to treat their neighbors and family members. This social control function of religion strengthens a society and makes it more stable. It also gives its followers a common language and vocabulary with which to express their ideas about the world.
One theory of the origins of religion is that it grew out of the natural curiosity of early humans about their place in the universe and the fear of uncontrollable forces that might threaten them. It developed into a sense of hope, with beliefs in immortality or life after death and the idea that a good creator would watch over humankind.
Many sociologists of religion have emphasized that religion serves multiple functions, both psychological and social. Emile Durkheim, who is considered the father of modern sociology, wrote that religious beliefs and practices bring people together as a community and give them a sense of belonging. His analysis of this “collective consciousness” continues to influence sociological thinking about religion today.
A similar approach to religion is found in the work of anthropologists, who study the cultures and societies of different human groups. Some anthropologists, like Mary Douglas and Ninian Smart, believe that religion is a result of a combination of cultural and biological factors.
Other anthropologists and sociologists take the view that the nature of religion depends on what a culture values and the traditions it passes down. This is often referred to as a cultural definition of religion. This approach is often contrasted with the scientific view of religion, which describes a phenomenon that exists independently of what it does or doesn’t mean for the people who practice it.
The teeming diversity of the world today presents unique challenges to any definition of religion. Endless philosophies, ideologies and truth claims clamor for attention and are magnified by instantaneous media. The world’s globalization has pushed the boundaries of people’s formerly familiar cultures and religions into new, often conflicting territory. In this whirlwind, it is easy for individuals to become detached from their communities and lose the social support that they find in those communities.
A scholarly definition of religion must take into account these differences. While it is tempting to search for a general concept that can be applied to all religions, this will often lead to a minimum definition, a lowest common denominator. The discipline of comparative studies has therefore rejected the notion that any one universal conception of religion can be established and instead emphasizes a phenomenological understanding of religion as it is experienced in specific historical contexts.