Religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices that gives people an object of devotion and meaning and value in their lives. It enables them to deal with (or at least accept) the many limitations that stand across the project of their lives and supplies answers to questions of fundamental importance. It has also a function in human society, providing a basis for social order and morality.

Religions have a wide semantic range, including not only the so-called world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism but also many local religions such as the Chinese Confucianism or Cherokee religious systems. But it is now common to regard the term “religion” as a genus concept, a family-resemblance concept that sorting social practices which share several characteristics.

One way to approach this issue is to take into account the fact that most religions have a spiritual aspect, and a moral or ethical aspect, both of which are essential to their identity. Another approach is to treat the term religion as a kind of metaphysical idea, a reification of an invisible or transcendent reality that explains the world and its relations.

A third way is to focus on the functions that religions perform in human societies. Thus Durkheim regarded them as a system of solidarity, and Tillich took their axiological function to be organizing the values of a person’s life. This functionalist view reflects the fact that in most cultures, religions serve not as ends in themselves but as means to other end (or, in some cases, to a final destiny which transcends them).

In this context it is important to remember that religions are based on human values and needs. They enable people to find and hold on to values that are worth living for and, in some cases, even dying for. People need value for their lives in a way that they cannot get from science or from their families, and they find that value in their religions.

Nevertheless, the very nature of religions as value-based systems makes them susceptible to problems. In the past these have included cruelty and intolerance, and in our own era there is a risk that they could become dangerously exclusive or self-opinionated. And, of course, the human need to create meaning and value can be abused by those who seek to manipulate people for their own selfish reasons. Against these dangers, it is necessary to remember that, at the heart of most religions, is a core of wisdom and compassion. The most basic of these is the principle that all humans are children of God and deserve to be treated as such. This is a profound and noble idea which must be constantly re-affirmed in the face of the threats that lie around us. This is a very challenging time to be alive, and a very important moment for humanity. It is a time to renew our faith in the value and dignity of all humans, and to recommit ourselves to working for peace and prosperity for all.