Religion is a belief of faith in a higher being, spirit, or any system of ideas that a group of people believe in. To have faith in a belief is to have the belief without proof that it is true. Faith can bring people together because they all believe in the same thing. Some of the things religions talk about are what happens after death, why humans exist, how humans came to exist (creation), and what is good to do and not to do (morality). Some people are very religious. Many people believe in one all-powerful god; some people believe in more than one god; some people are atheists, who do not believe in a god; and some people are agnostics, who are not sure if there is a god. People who believe in one or more gods, but do not belong to a religion, are called deists.

Religious beliefs

God

In many religions, one of the main beliefs is that there is a “deity” (or god) who is a great creator spirit. In many religions, there is just one deity that the people believe in. In other religions, there are many deities who each have different roles in the universe. In many religions, there are other types of spirits. These may include  other such things which can be both good and bad.

Giving honour to God, the gods or the spirits is an important part of most religions. While this may often be done privately, it is also often done with gatherings of people and rituals. These rituals are often based on old traditions, and may have been done in almost the same way for hundreds, or even thousands of years.

Another main belief is that humans have a “soul” or spirit which lives on after their body has died. The person’s spirit is on a journey through life that continues after death. Most religions believe that what a person does during their lifetime will affect what happens to their spirit in the afterlife. Many religions teach that a good person’s spirit can reach a special place of peace and happiness such as Heaven or Nirvana, and that a bad person’s spirit can travel to a place of pain and suffering such as Hell. Still other religions believe in reincarnation – that instead of going either to Heaven or Hell, spirits of the dead return to earth in a new body.