2011-04-20, 08:14 PM
^ I think the purpose thing applies to more modern religion.
Personally I agree with Shidoshi's definition. Religion at its essence was something to provide an explanation to the unknown. Humans fear the uncontrollable/unknown, so religion not only gave them a "comprehensible" explanation, but also a sense of comfort.
Nowadays, the most popular ones focuses more on giving an individual a purpose for their life, and it proposes a certain lifestyle instead of providing answers(science has pretty much taken that role). Imo, this definition does not apply to religion as a whole though. It's pretty hard to give a short description of what religion if one focuses on it as a whole and what it meant for people back in the past and in the present.
Interesting topic.
Personally I agree with Shidoshi's definition. Religion at its essence was something to provide an explanation to the unknown. Humans fear the uncontrollable/unknown, so religion not only gave them a "comprehensible" explanation, but also a sense of comfort.
Nowadays, the most popular ones focuses more on giving an individual a purpose for their life, and it proposes a certain lifestyle instead of providing answers(science has pretty much taken that role). Imo, this definition does not apply to religion as a whole though. It's pretty hard to give a short description of what religion if one focuses on it as a whole and what it meant for people back in the past and in the present.
Interesting topic.