Religion is a way of life that includes a system of belief and ritual behavior. It has a profound impact on how people view themselves and others, their ideas of justice, and how they respond to perceptions of injustice.
It is also a social category that has shaped the lives of many individuals and communities. It is an important cultural force that has influenced the lives of great thinkers such as Gandhi, Tolstoy, Einstein, Martin Luther King, and Ashoka.
There are several different approaches to the study of religion. One of them is a functional approach, which considers religion as a distinctive role that a form of life can play in an individual’s life. The other is a substantive approach, which determines membership in the category based on the presence of a particular kind of reality.