How is religion a human response in the search for meaning?

Essay by rissoleHigh School, 11th grade April 2004

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Every culture has some kind of religion, and all faiths answer the question "What is the meaning of life?" Humanity's search for an answer to this question is one of the main reasons that people are drawn to religion. The answers, although different from religion to religion, give people's lives purpose, meaning, and hope.

Religion is found in all ages and all cultures. Its principles and values have given motivation and guidance to every human society. The function of religion in a society is often to explain to people their primal origins, the nature of life, the function and aims of life and reasons for living.

Religion is just one of many answers to the questions that most human beings spend their lives searching for. Maybe that's why so many strongly religious people are so at peace with themselves and with the world. Everyone's looking for meaning in life, from all kinds of different sources.

It's human nature to want connection, a sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves, and a sense of community.

This is derived from the human characteristic of curiosity. We want connection to our pasts and our heritage. We want answers to the big questions: Where do we come from? What's the meaning of life? Why do good people suffer? Why is evil often rewarded? Religion provides solutions to many of these questions, to those who believe, but it also provides many new questions.

Religion is a human response to the search for meaning for some people, but ultimately all are looking for the answers. Whether their path is through religion, obsessive meditation, staring at crystals, running 47 kilometers a day or talking to walls, everyone has to come to their answers on their own terms.

Some people use religion for this purpose.