ABSTRACT
Religions have helped individuals to face injustice, suffering, pain, and death. They have inculcated values of love and respect for others that have been fundamental for the smooth running of societies. In most societies religious and secular systems have been closely interwoven. But religions have also been used to perpetuate inequities, and religious differences have been used to justify torture and horrific religious wars. Religions have provided people with a sense of purpose – though sometimes that sense of purpose has led believers to destroy the ways of life of those who thought differently from themselves. They have
provided a medium for much, perhaps most, of the great artistic, musical and literary creations of human history. They have provided answers, satisfying to many, to the fundamental questions of ‘Where did we come from?’ and ‘Where are we going?’ – yet those answers have stemmed from systems of beliefs that have always been unverifiable and which, at least if taken literally, can now be seen as wrong in many respects.
