Religion is a cultural system of belief and practice, encompassing teachings, symbols, rituals and sacred places. It is also a community of believers bonded together by their shared beliefs, values and ethics. Religion is a central part of the life of many peoples.
It is a system of beliefs, practices and ethical behaviors that people voluntarily choose to follow. It is based on faith in a divine being or forces and is held by its practitioners as the source of life and meaning. The word “religion” is most often used to refer to Christianity, but there are many different religious systems around the world.
The subjective side of religion is primarily, but not exclusively, an affair of the will: the will to acknowledge by acts of homage man’s dependence on the Divine Being (or beings). This recognition is prompted by a consciousness of his helplessness and a deeply felt need of Divine assistance. It is accompanied by hope, founded on the conception of Deity as a personality that invites confidence, and by the expectation of bliss-bringing communion with Him. It is strengthened by recognized instances of Divine providence and by conformity to the prevailing moral standard.
Hence, the conception of religion as an indispensable feature of human society, as a social genus that is to be found, in some crude form, among all nations and peoples. This assumption is challenged by the fact that some, perhaps many, peoples appear to have no religion.