Religion on Planet Earth Based on Careful

Religion on Planet Earth Based on careful observation of the beliefs and practices of people on earth, I can state that human beings are mostly religious people. There are five characteristics that define their religiosity. First, religious people function in groups. They share the same beliefs and perform the same activities as part of their religious activities. Within each group, there is a hierarchy of ranks and people but all people generally identify with the group as a whole. The second religious characteristic of humans is faith.

I have encountered people with different religions. But all of them have faith. Faith involves beliefs in a deity or deities and the existence of supernatural beings called angels and demons. Each religious group believes in it and the group generally agrees upon the fundamentals of faith. The fundamentals are believed to be sacred and are very important for the adherents. The fundamentals also base the structure of religion.

Some beliefs, interestingly, seem to be more important than others because I have seen some people ignoring beliefs that are of lesser importance for them. The third characteristic of religion for people of planet earth is almost as important as the second one. It consists of a certain set and patterns of practices. Some of their practices are called rituals. A ritual can take any form and it varies from religion to religion. Some people gather on Sunday for a dinner, while others bow down to a sacred object collectively.

Another practice I have seen involves kissing a piece of cloth people on earth call a flag. I learned that this religion is called patriotism and its adherents worship a deity called America. In general, followers of a religion give meaning to its practices and some rituals are simplistic, while others are complex. Another characteristic of religion on planet earth involves a set of morals. They have the conception of good and bad, permissible and impermissible, desirable and undesirable.

For example, I have heard religious spokesmen passionately decrying a sin called adultery. In earthly religions, people are allowed to engage in sexual activities only with members of the opposite sex and those with whom they built a union called marriage. I have seen in some places one male having several female partners and learnt that in some other places a female can have several male partners. Moral codes on these behaviors are defined by religions and their followers. There are also holy books that define these morals.

I learnt the names of two: The Bible and the Qur'an. The final characteristic of religion involves veneration of certain things. Objects of veneration are called sacred and mundane things are called profane.