Religion is a way of life for many people. It provides guidance on how to treat other humans and how to live a good life. It often teaches that there are higher spiritual powers that can help us in difficult times. It also answers questions that science cannot, such as the meaning of life and what happens after death.
Almost all religions involve some form of organization and worship, sacred texts or books, rites and rituals, a clergy or priesthood to administer the religion, a place or symbols that are holy, a belief in a supreme being or gods or spirits, and a code of ethics and morality. Many religions believe in some form of salvation, whether it is a literal heaven after death as in Christianity, or a spiritual end to suffering like nirvana as in Buddhism.
Most scholars agree that the word religion is used today to define a taxon, or a category of social practices that are all similar in some ways. But there is disagreement about what that taxon should be. One approach, called realist theory, argues that social kinds exist regardless of being conceptualized. Its classic example is the fact that human beings have practiced various forms of religion since prehistoric times, even though they did not use the concept of a religion to label them.
The realist view of religion also argues that religious beliefs and practices have a powerful influence on the world around us, including the lives of individual believers. It suggests that human beings are naturally inclined to believe in a supreme being or gods, and that this is what most religions teach.