Families of Religions

In an attempt to present an overall pattern to the religions of the world, the scholar is beset with an overwhelming amount of  information. This web page and related pages is a constantly changing creation.  A religion in this scholar's mind is any system of thought and practice that offers a sense of meaning to adherents. This means that there may or may not be so-called deities in religion as understood here. Within religions the term "God" and "deity" has many definitions. These writings will wander about in the geography of the meaning making attempts of us humans.

The global family of religions is always changing and yet has a continuing identity. Religions know good times and hard times, victories and tragedies. Religions have names of persons, dates of births and deaths, and events that reveal how that religion deals with others and with outside events. Religion is like an "operating system" that has many "programs" called world religions.

 Taxonomy of religions is the placing of groups into orderly categories. In the field of religion, taxonomy is not well developed because of the complexity involved. The approach here is to try out a system and see how taxonomy can be applied to religions. 

Buddhist   Sikh   Judaism   Shinto   Islam   Christian  Baha'i Confucian Taoist   Jain   Hindu   Zoroastrian    Materialism  More Religions