Religion is the human being’s relation to that which he or she regards as holy, sacred, absolute, spiritual, divine, or worthy of especial reverence. It is most commonly regarded as a system of beliefs and practices. It is also often interpreted as the way people deal with ultimate concerns about their lives, their fate after death, and other existential questions. Religions often provide a system of sanction and reward, approval and disapproval, inspiration and ideation, and guidance in life, and they may also contain mythologies or histories, holy texts, symbols, and sacred places.
In the modern world, it is common to treat religion as a set of beliefs and practices that are held by different groups of people in all cultures. It is also common to assume that these religious beliefs and practices are necessary and inevitable features of human existence. This view reflects the influence of Emile Durkheim’s ideas, which suggest that the social functions of religion are universal regardless of what specific religious beliefs a culture chooses to endorse.
Research on religion has shown that it has many concrete benefits, including morality and self-control, a sense of community, helping with anxiety about death, and improving health and wellbeing. However, the question remains whether these effects are special to religions or could be achieved in other ways. A new study suggests that a key factor in the beneficial effects of religion is social connection. This helps with feelings of belonging and support, which in turn reduces the stress and uncertainty that can be associated with being a stranger in a strange land.