Religion is the belief in something greater than oneself. Fundamentally, it looks to answer the question of the meaning of our existence. It is one unified system of beliefs and practices in which humans can implement rituals and assign meaning to important things pertaining to that religion. For example, Catholics will emphasize holy water, an object that in other ways has no religious symbolism. Likewise, early human religious culture would emphasize hunting and agricultural fertility to explain things like weather or the nation’s prosperity. Religion can vary from anything from believe in spirits/one main spirit to believing in a way of living. Religion is a system that connects ordinary events to extraordinary powers and values. It doesn’t necessarily have to have a tradition aspect, but often times religious aspects in rituals will be passed down within the community. For example, Islam has the 5 pillars which emphasizes practices such as fasting and almsgiving. Religion can reach into the lives of people all around the world as well, making it cross cultural. For example, people in the United States can practice Taoism, a traditionally Chinese way of living. Overall, religion has major effects on writing, social organization, and culture. Often times emphasizing moral and ethical codes, religion even weaves its way into modern-day government and politics.
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Foundations of Theology 
I like how you talked about multiple religions and their points of view on certain things. I find it interesting how you talked about the past religious events such as hunting and agriculture to explain weather. I guess the only question I would have for you would be how could you make your definition of religion more concise? I like your definition, but it could be interpreted in many different ways.
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I like that you talked about the cultural and societal impacts of religion. You are right that religion is not its own separate category of our lives but rather because it informs our core values, it weaves its way into all aspects of life. I agree that these are all aspects of religion but what do you think really sets religion apart from other ideologies? Cavanaugh talks about how definitions are usually too all encompassing so if you had to write just one sentence to define it, what would be important enough to include out of all this?
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Your focus on religion’s ability to project meaning on seemingly “common” things is very interesting. I agree that religion is what weaves meaning into otherwise meaningless parts of the human experience. However, I am interested in hearing more about your thoughts on the role of rules being essential to religion. There are many other things in life where rules govern and dictate our ways of life, federal law, manners, parietals, etc. These things seemingly inflecting meaning and governance into our everyday lives. How do these things differ from religion?
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I really liked your definition of religion, I think the idea of something greater than oneself is a great way to categorize something that has many different presences in other peoples lives. Additionally, I like how you reference how religion connects ordinary people to the extraordinary, subsequently giving us greater meaning. You mentioned how religion weaves its way into politics, how do you feel about this? Do you think this is appropriate?
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