Religion World

Religion — organized systems of beliefs, practices, and ethical codes relating to the sacred or supernatural — is a human universal. Of approximately 8 billion people, roughly 84% identify with a religious group: Christianity (31.1%, 2.4B); Islam (24.9%, 1.9B); Hinduism (15.2%, 1.2B); Buddhism (6.9%, 535M); folk religions (5.7%); other religions; non-religious (16%). Religion has been the primary driver of art, architecture, law, social organization, and warfare throughout human history. Religion's contributions: monotheism (the idea that one universal God applies equally to all people — a revolutionary concept creating universal ethics); hospitals (founded by Christian monks); universities (first European universities were cathedral schools); calendar systems; astronomy (Islamic Golden Age preserved Greek astronomy and developed algebra); and art (virtually all pre-modern Western art is religious). Religion's harms: religious wars (Crusades, Thirty Years War, Hindu-Muslim partition violence); persecution of minorities; suppression of scientific inquiry; and support of political oppression.