Religion is the worldview of people that incorporates the existence and role within life of a supreme god or gods, divine spirits, souls, or the natural world, often involving devotional practices and worship. Religions also incorporate a set of ideas about the nature of the universe and human life. The word religion has been used to refer to a wide variety of beliefs, practices, and institutions throughout history. It is important to recognize that the term religio does not imply an ahistorical essence of social kinds, as is sometimes asserted.
Religious systems are a central feature of life as a project, supplying people with the means to attain the most important goals they can imagine. Some of these goals are proximate, having to do with how this or that life can be wiser, more fruitful, more charitable, or more successful; others are ultimate, involving the destiny of this person or that, the fate of the cosmos, or the moment of judgement after death.
Religion is an ancient, fundamental phenomenon in all cultures, and it has affected every aspect of life. It has educated fashion, the media, war, colonization and abolition, legislation and law enforcement, marriage and family, education, economics, health, literacy, the arts, and many other facets of human life. It is a source of moral and spiritual guidance, and it provides entertainment and amusement. It is a source of order, and it also organizes hierarchies and codes of recognition and behavior. It is a complex phenomenon, and it is therefore difficult to define it.
