Religion on a Global and Local Scale

Religion on a Global and Local Scale

Religion is different all over the world. It varies from country to country, and it also varies within a country. Here is a link that shows where the dominant forms of religion stand around the world today.
http://www.pewforum.org/2014/04/04/global-religious-diversity/  Growing up as a catholic, I had to attend church once a week until I was about 15 then my parents and I stopped going so regularly. I have to say as a young child I did not understand religion very much and I still don't. All I remember was how awful it was to have to dress up every Sunday and go sit for an hour in church ( which felt like a lifetime when your seven years old). There are different types of religious organizations. A church that I mentioned earlier, have characteristics such as; appealing to everyone, highly formal style of worship, and attract members of high social standards. There is something a little different from churches called sects. These sects are often considered to be "more religious" in nature. They show characteristics such as rigid religious convictions, the follow of highly charismatic leaders, and attract members who are social outsiders. The last sort of religious organization would be a what is known as a cult. A cult in movies are usually portrayed as being very bad and misunderstood. A cult is defined as a religious organization that is largely outside a societies cultural traditions. There are as many as five thousand cults around the U.S. today.

Different types of religion are seen throughout the world. The main religious groups would be Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Judaism. Here in the United States we mainly see forms of Christianity. As I said before I grew up in a Christian household. We were not very religious but if we were to be asked what our religion was, we would say catholic which is a form of Christianity. They all have their different views and opinions on faith. Some even believe in multiple gods. Here is a link that goes in to more detail about the different forms of religion. http://www.typesofreligion.com/