majority vary involves ethical as influences required applies constitutes allow Religion is an important aspect of life, it (1) a great many things. The odd part is that many people are not actually clear on what a religion is. There are several key aspects that make something a religion although the exact details can (2) . In reality there is no firm agreement on just what a religion is. Religion is a belief system that uses symbols to (3) people to explore their spirituality. Religions usually rely on narratives and symbols that are used to offer a meaning to life or to explain things like how the universe was created. In addition most religions have an (4) component that teaches people how they are expected to live. There is a lot of variation within this (5) can be seen by the number of religions that exist in the world. In fact there is no firm agreement about what (6) a religion and what does not. One aspect of religion that (7) in all cases is that it is a public process. Having a personal belief system does not make it a religion. By definition a religion is an organized activity that (8) other people. Most religions have a hierarchical system for example with priests and bishops and so on but this is not (9) . Most religions also have a specific place of worship and there are usually sermons, festivals and many other activities that are part of the process. None of this is strictly required; the only requirement is that the religion be a belief system that is held by a group of people who publicly share that religion. However in practice the vast (10) of religions have some aspect of these things.