Cstreet

What is Religion?

May 14, 2012

Professor Robert Gala, Jr.

Characteristics of Religion

Religion is defined as a way of life founded upon the apprehension of sacredness in existence. This paper will help describe basic components of religious traditions and their relationship to the sacred. It will include what a religious tradition says including its teachings, texts, doctrine, stories, myths, and others. Religious tradition does include worship, prayer, pilgrimage, ritual, and so forth. It will also enlighten the reader on how a religious tradition organizes including leadership, relationships among members, and so forth. A religious tradition is something that people of a particular religion does because it was done for many years by gods or goddesses. These traditions are different for each cultural religion. Each religion has texts, stories, myths, and so on that allows people to read about the traditions of that religion. For example the Christian religion has the bible that tells the story of the beginning of earth and how it came about according to Christian beliefs. It also explains why certain days are religious holidays and why there are certain traditions.

Elements of Religions

The basic elements of religion are the Belief system- beliefs that are placed together for complete and systematically interpreted from the universe, which is known as worldviews. Community- a shared belief and practiced amongst groups. Central Myths- stories retold or reenacted that express the religious beliefs. Ritual- ceremonial beliefs that are practiced by individuals to seek a higher power or to connect to some type of element they are worshipping. Ethics- guidelines or rules about human behavior are established in this belief. Characteristic emotional experiences- emotional experiences associated this is dread, guilt, mystery, devotion, conversion and inner peace. Material expression- this belief pertains to physical elements such as painting, musical...