Sociology

Ever since the prehistoric times, men already had a sense of religion through gestures such as arranging the body of the deceased and praising nature for bountiful harvests. Though the word itself had not been defined during those times, it can be inferred that men had religious practices since then. Around the world, there are hundreds of religions followed by people. Their religions affect their everyday lives in great ways that some people cannot explain why.

There is no clear narrative or explanation that can designate a precise meaning to what the concept of religion is (de Vries 2). Though some authors try to give a logical explanation to what the word religion really means, some still do not understand the real meaning of it. Religion is not something abstract and it is important in the culture of the people. The simplest definition of religion can be traditions which are universal and can be found in every human being (Nye 7).

Worldwide, there are presently over a billion Muslims, 750 million Hindus and over a billion Christians who support their religion dearly. These are only rough estimates from popular religions and it does not include other religions that are newly founded and have several followers at this time. There are the Mormonism, Jehovahs Witness, Wican and others which are on the rise and attracting supporters around the world (Richardson 5).

Roman Catholic, Protestantism, Hinduism and Buddhism are only some of the religions in the world which shaped the worlds history. Crusades or holy wars which started during the eleventh century are often talked about in history and how it led to several important events in history. The holocaust also involved conflicts between religions, Christian-Jews and the Nazis (Wolffe 154). 

Sacred texts can be considered as one of the foundations of a religion. Also called religious texts or scriptures, followers of a certain religion consider such texts as divinely written or inspired. In some cases, the scriptures of a religion are made available to everybody such as the Bible of the Catholics but there are also religions which keep their sacred texts hidden and only for followers who are loyal. Sacred texts are written documents which support the existence of a certain religion and the respective religions deity. Examples of sacred texts are the Bible, Koran and Vedas. Scriptures are very important in a religion because followers and leaders of the religion derive the teachings from their respective scriptures. Although based in history many ancient civilizations produced written texts of their religion, the first printed scriptures that was intended for wide distribution was The Diamond Sutra of the Buddhist, printed in 868 AD.

Hierographology or the study of the religious texts is sometimes done in order to make further understanding of a certain scripture. Though it is not fully supported by all religion because of the criticisms it may pose to the religion, some people still indulge in the study in order to gain understanding of the scripture as part of their culture. One scripture followed by a certain religion may be different from another however, it is important to remember that it is the foundation of their religion and should be respected.

Spirituality on the other hand is what binds the people or the followers of the religion to their God. Spirituality may be an inspiration or an orientation which touches the existence of a person and shape his life through reflections or being loyal to his religion (Waaijman 1). Spirituality can be characterized into three forms- lay spirituality, schools of spirituality and counter-movements (Waaijman 19). Lay spirituality is shaped in the persons life history. It takes root in the family and has the home as its center. The home serves as protection of the intimacy of the spirituality and is the mediator between the inside and outside world.

Schools of spirituality on the other hand are subcultures of certain spirituality and it has its own rituals and social conventions. They pass on the teachings and rituals to the young who belong to the same religion. A countermovement meanwhile is outside the framework of the standard pattern of spirituality. This is because the people entrust themselves fully to their God that their life order is generally affected by it.

Religion and its many aspects affect the lives of the people in more ways than one. A persons moral and religious life shapes the way a person thinks about certain situations. There are times when the teachings of the religion are considered to be more righteous than the common law. Divorce or annulment is considered to be acceptable in the common law. However, in the eyes of a religious group, such as the Christians, divorce is not considered since it goes against the teachings of their Lord and the sanctity of marriage.

Believing and following a religion is not wrong because it is part of the culture of the people. Though it is meant to do well, there are also instances when religious organizations indulge in something negative. The aforementioned crusades or holy wars are one of the many negative effects of a religion. When masses of people are influenced directly by a religious group, they do anything for that religion.

Religion may bring about negative effects however their positive effects to the people are much stronger and noticed by the public. When a disaster strikes a certain country religious groups organize themselves in order to help the victims. When an earthquake struck Haiti, organizations bridge their differences and lend aid to the many victims of the earthquake. Another positive effect of religious groups is their power to reform people. Criminals after exposure to the teachings of a certain religion change their life views and become better. They atone for their sins and become better members of the society.

Indeed through the years many religious organizations have been developed and followed by people around the world. Religion and its effect to the lives of the people will be a part of their culture as long as the people will believe in the existence of a deity or a supreme being. Believing and following a certain religion is not a bad thing as long as the people are aware of the positive and negative effects of his beliefs.