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essential part of many communities,
and in some religions has wielded
considerable political power.
Death and the afterlife
Most religions address the central
human concern of death with the
promise of some kind of continued
existence, or afterlife. In eastern
traditions, such as Hinduism, the
soul is believed to be reincarnated
after death in a new physical form,
while other faiths hold that the soul
is judged after death and resides in
a nonphysical heaven or hell. The
goal of achieving freedom from
the cycle of death and rebirth, or
achieving immortality encourages
believers to follow the rules of
their faith.
Conflict and history
Just as religions have created
cohesion within societies, they
have often been the source—or
the banner—of conflict between
them. Although all the major
traditions hold peace as an
essential virtue, they may also
make provision for the use of force
in certain circumstances, for
example, to defend their faith or to
extend their reach. Religion has
provided an excuse for hostility
between powers throughout
history. While tolerance is also
considered a virtue, heretics and
infidels have often been persecuted
for their beliefs, and religion has
been the pretext for attempted
genocides such as the Holocaust.Challenges to faith
Faced with the negative aspects of
religious belief and equipped with
the tools of humanist philosophy
and science, a number of thinkers
have questioned the very validity
of religion. There were, they argued,
logical and consistent cosmologies
based on reason rather than faith—
in effect, religions had become
irrelevant in the modern world.
New philosophies, such as
Marxism-Leninism considered
religions to be a negative force
on human development, and asa result there arose communist
states that were explicitly
atheistic and antireligious.New directions
Responding to societal change
and scientific advances, some of
the older religions have adapted
or divided into several branches.
Others have steadfastly rejected
what they see as a heretical
progress in an increasingly rational,
materialistic, and godless world;
fundamentalist movements in
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism
have gained many followers who
reject the liberal values of the
modern world.
At the same time, many people
recognize a lack of spirituality in
modern society, and have turned to
charismatic denominations of the
major religions, or to the many new
religious movements that have
appeared in the past 200 years.
Others, influenced by the New
Age movement of the late 20th
century, have rediscovered ancient
beliefs, or sought the exoticism
of traditional religions with no
connection to the modern world.
Nevertheless, the major religions
of the world continue to grow and
even today very few countries in
the world can be seen as truly
secular societies.INTRODUCTION
All religions, arts, and
sciences are branches
of the same tree.
Albert Einstein