What is religion?

Religion consists of a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain.

-Mark Twain

When you say the word "religion," what are you trying to describe? By "religion," do you mean a system of beliefs and rituals? If so, then what isn't a "religion"? This definition would clearly be too broad. Maybe you mean to say, "Religion includes a system of supernatural beliefs, rituals, and a supernatural deity." The problem with this definition is that Eastern traditions, like Buddhism, would not classify as religions. This definition, then, is that it is too narrow.

Nevertheless, it seems to be common knowledge that when a person says "religion" that he or she means to include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and other major world religions--although, I wonder how the person using "religion" in this way would define it. But this common knowledge definition of religion doesn't really work for me. I see Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as radically different from Buddhism, Taoism, and other Eastern traditions. When I speak of religion, I am normally just speaking of the three major monotheistic religions.

I use Peter Berger's definition of religion: religion is the audacious attempt to conceive of the entire universe as being humanly significant. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Eastern traditions do not conceive of the entire universe as being humanly significant. On the other hand, the three major monotheistic religions do. They believe there is a deity that has created the universe and us. He created us so that we could love him. He cares and watches over us. Uh, no. The entire universe could care less about the human species. This universe was in no way built for us, and we are definitely not the center of the universe. The universe is comprised of Nothingness. This "Nothingness" is reality: meaning does not exist; God does not exist; morals do not naturally exist; etc. Therefore, religion is an attempt to deny the reality of Nothingness.

True reality isn't a reality to be accepted by all; it is a hard reality to swallow. Perhaps this is why religion is so popular. Religion, using the definition above, is for the feeble and naive minds of humanity. The religious, in this sense, simply live in a fantasy world apart from true reality.