Religion

"Religion is something that is more than just believing in a higher power. We are talking about belief and worship. What you believe, you worship. Christians worship Jesus because they believe in him. Whoever does not believe in Jesus will then believe in some other God. If a person chooses not to worship some God, it will choose to worship something else. Some worship celebrities. Others worship technology. Satanists for example worship their own ego, seeing themselves as gods. Everyone has their own religion. The man who denies this is a liar and lies to himself."

- Odin about Religions.

Religion are a mortal's relation to that which they regard as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence.

Overview
It is commonly regarded as consisting of the way people deal with ultimate concerns about their lives and their fate after death. Different religions may or may not contain various elements, ranging from the divine, sacred, faith, a supernatural being or supernatural beings or some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life.

In many traditions, this relation and these concerns are expressed in terms of one’s relationship with or attitude toward gods or spirits; in more humanistic or naturalistic forms of religion, they are expressed in terms of one’s relationship with or attitudes toward the broader human community or the natural world.

Religious practices may include rituals, sermons, commemoration or veneration (of deities or other such beings), sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trances, initiations, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dances, public service, and many other activities centered around religious beliefs or aspects of human culture. In many religions, texts are deemed to have scriptural status, and people are esteemed to be invested with spiritual or moral authority.

Description
In many religions, texts are deemed to have scriptural status, and people are esteemed to be invested with spiritual or moral authority. Believers and worshipers participate in and are often enjoined to perform devotional or contemplative practices such as prayer, meditation, or particular rituals. Worship, moral conduct, right belief, and participation in religious institutions are among the constituent elements of the religious life.

Ancient polytheistic religions, such as those of Greece, Rome, and Scandinavia, are usually categorized under the heading of mythology. Religions of pre-industrial peoples, or cultures in development, are similarly called "myths" in the anthropology of religion. The term "myth" can be used pejoratively by both religious and non-religious people. By defining another person's religious stories and beliefs as mythology, one implies that they are less real or true than one's own religious stories and beliefs.

Quotes

 * "No one really sure why humans have religion, they just do. Ever since they first came out of their caverns, they had already worshipped tons of things. Fire, earth, animals, the sun and moon, stars, a mother's womb... For as long as human had been in this world, they have been believing in something greater than their imagination, in gods and divinities above, regardless whether they existed or not. Through their belief in the divine, they shaped themselves and their societies, less so on how these gods truly felt but based on how these humans believed these gods would feel. Countless miseries, countless blessings. All of them are contributed to religion." - Matt Wright.


 * "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." - James 1:27.

Image Sources

 * (Religion.jpg) Religion (1896) by Charles Sprague Pearce
 * (World Religions.jpg) Religions from History of Religion