Belief of a higher power. This can range from on god to millions. Monotheism means believing in only one god while Polytheistic is the belief of more than one god. The three largest being Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.

Examples of religions that believe in more than one god are Hinduism, Buddism, and Shinto. Many religions do things to please their gods, goddesses, by having sacrifices, festivals, gifts, fasting, etc.
Religion is NOT evil. The people who taint religion are known as extremists, these people believe that they are doing whats right but kill many in the process.

So please don't be ignorant and be respectful!

Can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. Religion is not inherently evil, its is people that make it what it is. It is only the biggest lie in human history if one allows a large bureaucratic organization to take control of it and make people believe under pain of death or some other unfortunate punishment.

In an ideal world religion should be a personal experience, but that is not part of the human condition as a whole. Religion brings hope in times of great duress and it can bring inspiration. Don't forget that it was the people of the Islamic faith who developed and pursued germ theory while Christians were wallowing in the Dark Ages.

Religion is ingrained in all of humanity, even atheists, who do not believe in a higher power still engage in religion like activity, such as rituals (taking a shower or bathing) and/or holding preconceived notions about Humanity (inherently good or evil). All things revolve around religion, no matter how much we distance ourselves from it.

People do terrible things in the name of religion, but they also do terrible things in the name of ideologies or creeds, such as skin color or capitalism vs. communism. Lets all just take a breath and accept that this is who we are, and try to enjoy the short time on this pale blue dot in the inescapable lens of the human experience and the human condition.

An organized group of people with a common belief. Most religions strongly stress ethics and morals along with setting guidelines for people to follow in their day-to-day life.

A denomination, lifestyle, following. A personal choice to follow the higher power one believes in.

An organized group of typically many people who share similar beliefs and in most cases believe in one or more gods or deities. Many religions have symbols and sacred histories as well as narratives intended to explain the meaning or origin of life and teach values and principles. There have been many religions over the course of history, some helpful and some destructive. Religion is often blamed for causing most of the world's problems, however the blame should be placed on the persons and/or nations that caused them and not the religion they belonged to. Conflict would exist with our without religion, however many easily-offended atheists would have you believe otherwise.

The organized practice of believing in a spiritual being, moral values, and/or a certain way of life by different cultural groups or people. religion may also give people a more devised meaning of life. Certain religions may have a way of living due to their religious past and/or cultural reference(wearing certain clothes, eating certain foods, certain ways of doing things or worshipping etc.). Religion MAY also contain mythology. Religious places to worship often contain: churches, temples, mosques, and monasteries.

One of the easiest ways to get people angry at each other quick.

An organized set of spiritual beliefs for the purpose of gaining knowledge about the ultimate nature of reality. It serves as a constant source of purpose and comfort for countless millions of people. It is often incorrectly blamed for every evil in human history. Religion is not, and never was the source of these evils. It is our own corrupt and violent nature as human beings that cause evil. This coupled with strong socio-economic forces have made history quite violent, however it has all been in spite of religion not because of it.

An excuse for willfully ignorant and stupid bigots to justify their intolerance and hate against people who are different than them (race, creed, gender, sexuality etc...)

Don’t let those assholes discourage you from believing in god since most religious people are good people.