by Bengal Hotdog

Created on: April 23, 2009

Some of the most pressing issues in today's world are connected to religion in some way. But are these problems rooted in faith, ritual, or cult-like believers? What really defines a "religion"?

Some might say that religion is a belief or set of values exclusively held by a group of people, whether it's a few hundred or a few million. Others would say it's a set of rituals performed by an assembly with a common belief in some form of higher power. The dictionary says it's the belief in, or worship of a superhuman controlling power, for example, "God". (However, this definition ignores religions such as Buddhism, which believe in no such divinity). It then goes on with a bulleted list of other possible definitions, including "a particular system of faith or worship".

With well over four thousand "systems" of religions being practised in the world today, it's hard to give anyone credit for having the "right idea". Because that's all it really boils down to: ideas.

Religion is all about ideas. For some, these are ideas that make life worth living, a reason to push forward and "serve" their particular deity in whatever form their writings dictate. For others religious practices are simply a habit they were taught as young children.

It is a wide, wide world out there and the vast majority of it believes in something. Maybe the definition of religion doesn't really matter as much as the uses of it. For some it invokes feelings of love and caring, others hate and violence.

Perhaps understanding the definition of ones own religion is more important than understanding the definition of religion itself. There are thousands of people who go through the motions of their said religion, calling themselves "religious", without actually having any "faith", or even caring to understand what it is they are worshipping and why. At the same time there are people who read and study their religious writings and take them literally, believing every mystical word to be actual historic fact. We don't need to get into that particular debate, but it should be said that no religion of any kind has real, hard proof to back it up.

Therefore, everyone is right. Not wrong. Why? Religious belief is internal. It's something you have to feel. You have to just know that it's true. It doesn't matter whether there's proof to back it up or not, some would even call faith a placebo of sorts. It has had the power to heal trauma and emotional crisis. Even medical situations have been miraculously survived due to the immense willpower that a person of strong faith tends to have.

Religion is as personal as your DNA. It is something deeply rooted in your soul (if you believe in souls) and each and every person, even within the strictest religious practice, will have their own personal spin on it. To define the word itself is to label something that just can't be classified. But over and above all, religion is food for the soul, prepared any way you like.

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