Religion is a word of Latin origin (religion) and can mean rigidity, rereading, re-electing and/or reconnecting.
Thus, religion would be what connects us to the sacred.
Summary
Since the most primitive times, the first human beings felt the need to explain natural phenomena such as rain, wind, eclipses, etc.
Likewise, they wanted to understand events such as birth and death.
It is this need for explanation that will generate the search for a metaphysical world, that is: beyond physics, beyond what I can see and touch.
Thus, as a phenomenon inherent to human culture, religions are configured as a set of cultural systems and beliefs.
They have Metaphysical content, which seeks to relate humanity to the spiritual world.
Anyway, this is a Western definition. This is because there is no equivalent word in eastern culture (in Hinduism and Buddhism, Dharma is the closest concept).
History
Generally speaking, religions have similar creeds according to geographical proximity.
The Greeks and Romans were the first to systematize religious reflections.
In the early centuries of Christianity, new theological reflections will emerge and develop in order to reconcile Greek philosophy with Christianity.
During the Middle Ages, the Scholastic Philosophy when the Theocentrism will be valued. It will be during the Rebirth that this model will begin to be questioned.
It is also worth noting that the advent of European expansion across continents led to Western religion around the world.
However, he also came into contact with cultures and religions very different from those known until then.
Currently, in the countries of Europe, there is a certain decline in religion, especially Christian.
On the other hand, Christianity is growing in the United States, Latin America and Africa.
Islam spreads across Southeast Asia and Europe; and Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto are still the majority in the Far East.
It is also important to highlight Protestantism, in its Pentecostal strand, which has been growing in Latin America.
Finally, as a fundamental component of human culture, Religion was the reason for countless wars.
Furthermore, it structured societies and defined scientific, philosophical and artistic knowledge for many centuries.
Religious Systems
Religions have some aspects in common such as:
- public character,
- clerical hierarchies,
- regular meetings,
- establishing boundaries between the sacred and the profane,
- the sacralization of certain places, veneration of deities,
- sacred scriptures or oral tradition,
- sacrifices, parties, funeral and matrimonial services,
- meditation, art, religious calendars and
- a belief system in the supernatural, usually explaining the afterlife or the origin of the Universe.
The word "sect" designates the minority segment in religions, while "heresy" is any content contrary to the theoretical structure of the dominant religion.
Types of Religion
From left to right: a Catholic priest, a rabbi, a Muslim, a hare-khrisna, a saint-mother, an Indian and a Protestant pastor
- pantheists: the most primitive religious manifestations do not have sacred books, they deify natural elements such as wind, water, fire, animals, among others.
- Polytheists: “replace” the pantheists when the divine elements are personified and humanized, with an equivalence between female and male deities in the cults.
- atheists: they deny the existence of a central and supreme being (which, for them, would be the Void or a Non-Being). They do not believe in personified gods, but believe in invisible forces, such as inexplicable phenomena of nature. In this way, the harmonic interdependence of the Universe is preached, balanced through the Tao or found in Nirvana. Examples are Buddhism, in India and China, Taoism and Confucianism.
- Monotheists: they are the most recent and popular religions (about 50% of the world population), they have a Holy Book in which present the truth of Divine Revelation, where sovereign divinity is established and worships are eliminated independent. The paucity of representations of the supreme God is curious, while lesser entities (such as angels) are often portrayed. Another detail is that the one God (Hebrew, Christian and Islamic) are masculine and have absorbed the feminine elements such as goodness.
In Brazil
In Brazil, most people practice some religion.
The predominant religion is Christianity with 86.8%. Of these 64.6% declare themselves Catholic and 22% Evangelical.
Spiritists account for 2% of the Brazilian population.
Despite being very popular, African-based religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda always appear with very low percentages in the censuses.
This is due to the historical persecution to which these beliefs were subjected, causing their practitioners to have to hide their identity.
Likewise, people who claim to be spiritualists reached the figure of 4.4%. They are people who do not have a specific religion, but believe in different metaphysical manifestations.
Another religion that has been growing in Brazil is Islam, whether due to the arrival of immigrants or the Brazilians themselves who are discovering this doctrine.
Atheism
Usually, people who don't have a specific religion are called "atheists".
This would be an imprecise definition because the word designates those who do not believe in God. Thus: Theos - god and "a" would be the negation.
Likewise, there are those who claim to be "agnostics". Gnosis - knowledge. Therefore, agnosis would be the denial of knowledge. Whether God exists is unknown and indifferent.
Another aspect emerged with Scientism, socialism and anarchism. All these movements denied the existence of God and wanted to destroy religion as an institution. Marx claims that religion is the "opium of the people", in the sense that it left them numb and without the initiative to fight against social injustices.
Forto knowmore:
- Buddhism
- Candomblé
- Confucianism
- Christianity
- Hinduism
- Islam
- Judaism
- Taoism
- Paganism
- Umbanda
- Wicca
- Shinto
- Zoroastrianism
- Laic State
- Religious intolerance