| − | Religion is a mental condition caused by lack of intelligence, causing the sufferer to hallucinate in the presence of some sort of omnipresent supernatural being, often termed a god. | + | '''Religion''' is a system of belief and practices shared by a community that attempts to answer the ultimate questions of life and death, and, in doing so, goes beyond the verifiable. Religions frequently involve [[supernatural]] elements such as [[gods and goddesses]], [[angels]] and [[demons]], ancestors, transmigratory souls, and [[heaven]], [[purgatory]] and [[hell]]. Developed religions generally consist of a central creed or body of beliefs, an ethical component (i.e. a code of morals), a body of literature or holy texts or stories, a set of individual and communal practices. Religion played a major role in all human societies prior to the twentieth century. It is a core belief of [[conservatives]] that the recent decline in religious observation are a key source of the undermining of social and moral order. |
| − | Religion is generally considered to be a contagious problem, but can be treated with a course of education. It can also be transmitted by close proximity to unhygenic places, such as
| + | [[Evangelicals]] disparage the term "religion" as a system of works by which human beings attempt to approach [[God]] without a personal relationship with [[Jesus Christ]]. According to them, for the person who is born again, religion can only interfere and distract from that prayerful union. |