Religion
a system of beliefs and practices -based on some sacred or supernatural realm- that guides human behavior, gives meaning to life, and unites believers into a single moral community.
Faith
unquestioning belief that does not require proof or scientific evidence.
Sacred
refers to those aspects of life that are extraordinary or supernatural.
Profane
the everyday, secular aspects of life.
Rituals
regularly repeated and carefully prescribed forms of behaviors that symbolize a cherished value or belief.
Simple Supernaturalism
the belief that supernatural forces affect people's lives either positively or negatively.
Animism
the belief that plants, animals, and othe4r elements of the natural world are endowed with spirits or life forces that have an impact on events in society.
Theism
a belief in a god or gods.
Monotheism
a belief in a single, supreme being or god who is responsible for significant events such as the creation of the world.
Polytheism
a belief in more than one god.
secularization
the process by which religion beliefs, practices, and institutions lose their significance in sectors of society and culture.
Civil Religion
the set if beliefs, rituals, and symbols that makes sacred the values of the society and places the nation in the context of the ultimate system of meaning.
Ecclesia
a religious organization that is so integrated into the dominant culture that it claims as its membership all members of a society.
Church
large , bureaucratically organized religious organization that tends to seek accommodation with the larger society in order to maintain some degree of control over it.
Denomination
a large organized religion characterized by accommodation to society but frequently lacking the ability or intention to dominate society.
Sect
a relatively small religious group that has broken away from another religious organization to renew what it what it views as the original version of the faith.
Cult
a loosely organized religious group with practices and teachings outside the dominant cultural and religious traditions of society.
Fundamentalism
a traditional religious doctrine that is conservative, is typically opposed to modernity, and rejects "worldly pleasures" in favor of other worldly spirituality.
Liberation theology
the Christian movement that advocates freedom from political subjugation within a tradition perspective and the need for social transformation.
Nontheism (nontheistic religion)
a religion based on a belief in divine spiritual forces such as sacred principles of thought and conduct, rather than a god or gods.