Religion has been a very important part of cultures here on Earth. Since the formation of human civilizations religion has affected world events.
While most civilizations have different religions, many of them have several things in common. Many of the religions have some of the basic beliefs while the religions were created at many different times in history and many of them had no contact with the others. While the basic beliefs are similar, many of the more advanced beliefs are different giving Earth a great diversity. The diversity in religions has brought about many events in history such as: wars, peace and revolutions. Religion on Earth has existed since the beginning of record history and will most likely exist until the human race no longer exists.
While religions have come and go with their civilizations there has always been a new religion to take it place. Diversity of religions on Earth is mostly due to the fact that most religions were built to help control the overall public and keep the current ruling body in control. Some religions are setup so that the average person would see the ruler as either the son of a god or a god themselves. Others were setup that the gods would give out blessings to those who deserved it and punish those who deserved to be punished. But each civilization had it own god or gods so that it was separated from the other religions and with different gods the religion had its own character and the people could say that it was all theirs. Also time played a role in the diversity of religions because the current time plays a role in how the religion deals with the surroundings and the current events in time.
Time also effects religion because the religion changes and updates as time goes on. Diversity in religions is also due to the different locations where the religions were formed. The local land plays a role in where important events occurred in the history of the religion which helped to shape it. Also, the local land events can affect different parts of the religion. Certain natural events that occur would be integrated into the religion so that the gods were the ones that were causing the events.
There are many more reasons why there is such a diversity in religions. The main reason there is such diversity is that the religion is made specific to the people that fall under it. This is because religion has to be something that the people under it must be able to believe in it and follow its teachings. If the people cannot believe in the religion then the religion is not doing its job and it is lost most of the time it is replaced by another religion. Another reason for the diversity is the fact that most of the human race needs something or someone to believe in. Even if they do not believe in a religion, they believe that religions are false so by believing that they are false they end up believing in something.
Through time most religions were attached to a certain civilization but in very recent history religions have spread beyond the just controlling people to a civilization but instead the new religions taught just the way to live. These new religions slowly took over the old civilization-based religions. As the new religions spread, they played a more important role in world affairs because the religions spanned more than just country or state. Also these new religions did not stress compliance to a certain society so they can out last the society in which they were created giving the religion the ability to adjust over time to changes that occur. All of these reasons have lead to the great diversity in religions on Earth.
All this diversity has left Earth specked with religious tombs, shrines and other artifacts that still to this day are studied and look after for their historical importance. Also the diversity has brought about many advancements in overall human life and it has also brought about stops in the advancement. Diversity in religions is good from the stand point that one person has so many different religions to choose from but this also causes problems in inter-species relations. Overall though diversity has been a good thing in Earth history. Though there is great diversity in religions many of them have some of the basic beliefs in common.
Most have a Supreme Being which can be one person or several people with one leader or head god. The god or gods are the ones that create the world. The creation of the world though is usually considered a holy event. The first thing created is light, and then usually the creation of water and its creatures follows. The basic outline of the creation is usually the same and is constant for most of them.
The creation of man is usually so the gods can have someone to spend time with. The gods are lonely so they decide to create something that can spend time with the gods and give them praise. Many of the stories set the people that it is for as the main people and the people that the world was created for. Creation is not the only thing that religions have in common. The basic beliefs are also similar such as: it is not right to kill someone or robbing someone is not right. The basics are while being similar has different things about them.
Under different religions the punishment for theft is different. Beside the basic beliefs on what not to do but what should be done for a day to day life. The basics are the same while the more advanced rituals and customs are very different. While all these things are in common, the most fundamental is the fact that all religions have a god or gods. God is a being that is greater than humans and controls the overall actions that occur on Earth. All major religions have a Supreme Being which the people who believe in it worship and follow.
This being is the one who sets the beliefs and is also the creator of the world. Most of the time this being is all powerful and all knowing. A Supreme Being is the fundamental unity of religions on Earth. The question might arise how can there such diversity while there such astounding similarities in all the religions. First, human beings have what can be best called a built-in belief in something larger or greater then themselves. That is where the fundamental unity comes from.
This built-in belief does not point to the same god or to just one god as a matter of fact. Some of the religions have more then one god but the gods are still greater beings. Human beings have this deserve for a greater being because when a person looks around and sees what destruction the human race can do they have a hope that there is a greater being that is more graceful and kinder. The human race also sees how for no matter word low we are so there must be something greater then us.
The similarity in basic beliefs can best be described as inter desire in humans to be good. This desire is not as strong in some as others. Religions just copy what is built into the normal human. That is why those beliefs are common in most religions.
Now the similarities in the creation stories can be explained in many ways. The most common way is that all these different religions came at different times so the religions after the first one took what the people believed easily and adapted them to their needs. The people easily believed the creation story so other, later religions took it and used it. All the similarities are easily explained now but at the time no one actually saw those similarities. Religions on earth have always played an important part in earth’s history.
Religions have come and gone and they will probably continue to come and change as time goes on. While the greatest part of religions on Earth is different for each individual person because each person relates to the religion different and they understand different parts of the religion in different ways. Though the basic beliefs of most religions are closely related even, they are interrupted differently for each person. Even though to this day religions are adapting to changes the overall concept of religions can be understood and give great insight into the human race. religion
