Religion refers to the collective name given to how people express their faiths and beliefs as influenced by their various spiritual understandings. For a tradition to be termed as a religion, there are several distinct beliefs and practices that it must possess to a certain extent. The scope of the beliefs and practices are the main elements that differentiate people of one religion to another. Religion is typically a cultural system which is marked by behavior practices, morality, worldviews, organization, and ethics that are about some supernatural, spiritual, and transcendent elements. (Lipner, 2012)
Different religions express these practices in very diverse ways. Some may acknowledge some aspects like faith, divine or sacred things, supernatural beings. For instance, the christens belief in one supreme and supernatural God whom they believe to have been the sole creator of heaven and earth together with human beings and everything else that exists. The difference also comes in in terms of practices including sermons, rituals, sacrifices, festivals initiations, prayers, initiation, funeral, and matrimonial services, prayers, arts, and public services, among others.
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Religions have sacred histories and places perceived to be holy, whose aims are major to give meaning to lives. Some contain symbolic stories which explain the meaning of life as in for the case of Hinduism that equate animal symbols to their religion. The main religious tradition in the world today includes Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, and agnostics.
Religion has a great place in the making of ethical decisions in day to day life. Ethics refers to the general defending, systemizing, and giving recommendations of right and wrong behaviors in society. The essence of ethics in any society revolves around living a good life that is acceptable, worth living, marked by simplicity and satisfaction. Religions come in between the ethical behaviors by implementing the behaviors that are considered acceptable and are mostly derived from supernatural revelations and religious teachings. There is an essentiality of religion so that people live ethically. Some believe that flourishment will only exist where there is an umbrella of religion, social order, and common adherence to a particular religious tradition.
Christianity and Islam view it as ethical to avail the need for love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness, derived from the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Holy Bible. Christians are called to shun away from evil and vices and strengthen their love for enemies. The Jewish ethics are not so different from those of Christians except for the love of one's enemy, which does not exist among the Jews. Other important observances of ethics among the Christians include the maintenance of one's integrity and zero tolerance to hypocrisy together with loyalty, honesty, rejection of materialism and greed for power and wealth.
Hinduism values it ethical to live a dharma life which is considered moral virtuous and ethical life and is mainly characterized by scripts that forbid killing, lying, stealing, prostitution, and hoard up treasures. All these ethical practices dictate how different people from various religious practices make their decision in adherence to their ethical teachings. (Stenmark, 2017).
Some of the contemporary challenges and issues related to religion today includes the concept of identity, gender roles, autonomy and attachment, and power. Religious groups have a difficult time in trying to identify themselves to religion due to the several teachings emerging today that only amounts to confusion. Roles of women and men in the various traditions remain to be ambiguous, and religions are trying to define them in terms of dressing, responsibilities and masculinity and femininity.
In other religions, power is only attributed to masculinity and leadership of their holy places are only given to men. Islam is one of the religions that still do not believe in the leadership of female in the mosques. Stability, order, and change also call for religion to provide stimulus and support for individuals to deal with stability and changes in society.
References
Lipner, J., (2012). Hindus: Their religious beliefs and practices. Routledge.
Stenmark, M., (2017). Scientism: science, ethics, and religion. Routledge.
