Religious Life of the Planet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religious Life of the Planet - Essay Example Humans appear to be psychologically pre-disposed to accumulate a certain system of beliefs and practices that can be called religion. From psychological point of view religion is a means of assuaging anxiety. From cognitive perspective religion provides explanation of phenomena encountered in daily life and abstract concepts. From sociological point of view religion is a means of creating order and establishing group identity (Tremlin, 2010). Religion appears to manifest itself in the way it functions, and that is in its ability to serve psychological, intellectual, and social human needs (Tremlin, 2010). Being a system of rituals, beliefs, and considerations religious practices are institutionalized and help to connect humans with the world beyond. They provide people with the sense of fulfillment, leading adherents to another level of consciousness. (Super, Turley, 2006). Religion can be regarded as fundamental element of society, as it shares concepts with collective consciousness. It is a type of human activity that manifests itself as a specific behavior accepted by the members of the group sharing a certain system of beliefs. The nature of beliefs cannot be validated by direct observation (Super, Turley, 2006). However, elements of religious behavior can be singled out: gathering in groups, communal eating, theoretical discourse about the existence (Dow, 2007). Strictly speaking, religion can be defined as a collec tion of behavior patterns and observable behavior complexes. The latter include: prayer, music, physiological exercise, exhortation, reciting the code, simulation, mana, taboo, feasts, sacrifice, congregation, inspiration (Dow, 2007). Criteria to be employed in the attempts to determine whether human beings are religious may include the following: 1) theory or system of beliefs concerning unobservable agents or powers, which is shared by the members of the group; 2) meetings, processions and feasts; 3)