Many Christian nuns wear plain, simple clothes and cover their hair. This helps them think less about their appearance & enables them to concentrate on God.
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Buddhist monks and nuns wear saffron robes & carry a begging bowl. Local people give food to them. The act of giving is important in Buddhism.
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Monks of the Jain religion in India believe in non-violence. The monk sweeps the ground to avoid stepping on living creatures & he wears a mask to avoid breathing them in.
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The Ancient Greeks believed that lightning was caused by the anger of the god Zeus.
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A strand of DNA is the substance that controls how all living things grow & develop. Since the discovery of DNA in the (?) mid-twentieth century, much more is known about how living things reproduce. This does not people from feeling that the creation of new life is miraculous.
SACRED PLACES
SOME PLACES ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE A SPIRITUAL QUALITY. THIS IS OFTEN BECAUSE IMPORTANT RELIGIOUS EVENTS TOOK PLACE THERE. IN MANY RELIGIONS, BELIEVERS MAY TRY TO VISIT THESE SACRED PLACES AT LEAST ONCE IN THEIR LIFETIME. JERUSALEM, IN ISRAEL, FOR EXAMPLE, IS SACRED TO JEWS. CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS ALIKE, BUT FOR DIFFERENT HISTORICAL REASONS.
A JOURNEY TO A SACRED PLACE IS CALLED A PILGRIMAGE. IF THE JOURNEY IS DIFFICULT, IT MAY BE THOUGHT TO STRENGTHEN A PERSON'S FAITH ALL THE MORE.
RITES OF PASSAGE
RELIGIONS USUALLY HAVE SPECIAL CEREMONIES TO CELEBRATE KEY STAGES IN PEOPLE'S LIVES. THESE EVENTS INCLUDE BIRTH, THE BEGINNING OF ADULTHOOD, MARRIAGE, AND DEATH. THE CELEBRATIONS THAT MARK THEM ARE SOMETIMES KNOWN AS RITES OF PASSAGE. THEY ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF LIFE AND TO HELP INDIVIDUALS THROUGH TIMES OF CHANGE. THERE IS ALSO THE HOPE THAT THOSE TAKING PART WILL BE BLESSED BY THE SUPREME POWER.
MONKS AND NUNS
IN MANY RELIGIONS THERE ARE GROUPS OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIFFERENT STRICTER RULES GOVERNING THE WAY THEY LIVE. THE MEN ARE CALLED MONKS. THEY LIVE IN MONASTERIES, SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF SOCIETY. THE WOMEN, CALLED NUNS, LIVE IN NUNNERIES.
MONKS AND NUNS TRY TO LEAD SIMPLE, MODEST LIVES. THEY DON'T MARRY AND MOST DON'T HAVE ORDINARY JOBS. OFTEN THEY AREN'T ALLOWED TO TOUCH MONEY. SOME SPEND THEIR LIVES PRAYING, MEDITATING, AND STUDYING THE SCRIPTURES; OTHERS DO CHARITY WORK. MONKS AND NUNS USUALLY WEAR SIMPLE, PLAIN CLOTHES. THIS HELPS THEM AVOID BEING VAIN, AND ENCOURAGES THEM TO THINK OF EVERYONE AS EQUAL.
FUNCTIONS OF RELIGION
RELIGIOUS PEOPLE FEEL THAT WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN IS TRUE. PEOPLE WHO STUDY RELIGIONS SAY THAT, TRUE OR NOT, RELIGIONS HAVE MANY FUNCTIONS IN SOCIETY.
SOME EXPERTS SAY THAT IN THE PAST, RELIGION WAS RELIED UPON TO EXPLAIN MANY THINGS THAT PEOPLE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND, SUCH AS THE WEATHER, OR THE SEASONS. NOW THERE ARE SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS FOR MANY OF THESE THINGS. MANY PEOPLE FEEL THAT SCIENCE AND RELIGION CAN EXIST ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER.
PEOPLE WHO STUDY HOW EARLY HUMANS LIVED IN SOCIAL GROUPS SEE RELIGION AS A FORCE THAT HELD COMMUNITIES TOGETHER. IT GAVE ITS MEMBERS SHARED RULES FOR LIVING AND A SHARED WAY OF UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD.
PSYCHOLOGISTS LOOK AT THE WAY RELIGION REDUCES PEOPLE'S FEARS BY GIVING THEM SOMETHING BEYOND THEMSELVES TO RELY ON. SOME THINK THIS IS A HEALTHY WAY OF COPING WITH A DIFFICULT WORLD. OTHERS THINK THAT IT STOPS PEOPLE FROM BECOMING CONFIDENT IN WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR THEMSELVES.
OTHER VIEWPOINTS
NOT EVERYONE IN THE WORLD HAS A RELIGIOUS FAITH. MOST PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE A RELIGIOUS FAITH FEEL THAT IT IS PERFECTLY POSSIBLE TO LEAD A GOOD LIFE WITHOUT RELIGION.
PEOPLE WHO DON'T BELIEVE THAT A SUPERNATURAL POWER EXISTS ARE ATHEISTS. OTHERS, WHO ARE CALLED AGNOSTICS, SAY THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT GOD EXISTS BECAUSE THERE IS NO PROOF EITHER WAY. AS THIS IS THE CASE, THEY DO NOT THINK THAT IT IS WORTH BUILDING THEIR LIVES ON UNPROVEN IDEAS.
MANY PEOPLE ARE HUMANISTS. THEY SAY THAT HUMAN BEINGS HAVE THE CAPACITY WITHIN THEMSELVES TO DEVELOP AND FLOURISH, AND TO BUILD A WORLD THAT WILL BE HAPPIER, JUSTER, AND MORE CARING.
HUMANISTS BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE ONLY LIFE WE HAVE. THEY SAY THAT PEOPLE SHOULD TRY TO LIVE FULL AND HAPPY LIVES AND BY THEIR ACTIONS, MAKE IT EASIER FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO DO THE SAME. HUMANISTS BELIEVE THAT ALL SITUATIONS AND PEOPLE DESERVE TO BE JUDGED ON THEIR INDIVIDUAL MERITS, RATHER THAN BY A RIGID SET OF RELIGIOUS RULES.
FUTURE OF RELIGION
SOME PEOPLE FEEL THAT, WITHIN THE RICHER, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, RELIGION HAS LOST SOME OF ITS IMPORTANCE. THEY BELIEVE THAT SOME PEOPLE IN THESE SOCIETIES ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE OBSESSED WITH MAKING MONEY AND GAINING MATERIAL POSSESSIONS AND THAT THEY HAVE ABANDONED MANY OF THEIR RELIGIOUS IDEALS.
OVER THE WORLD AS A WHOLE, THOUGH, RELIGIONS ARE GROWING. IN ADDITION, SOME EXPERTS PREDICT THAT THERE WILL BE A SWING AWAY FROM THIS MATERIALISTIC OUTLOOK AND THAT PEOPLE WILL TURN BACK TO THE MORE SPIRITUAL VALUES OF RELIGION.
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For links to websites where you can read more about what religion is and examine the idea of sacredness and the beliefs of humanists, go to
From the book "The USBORNE Encyclopedia of World Religions".
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