What does it mean to be religious? It means almost everything because religions deal with the whole of human life and death. For centuries people have searched for the meaning and truth of their own nature and the nature of the universe. Religions are the result. We view religions as communities of people who share practices and beliefs, who gather together in special buildings to worship, and who have a special way of living. More then three-quarters of the world's population consider themselves members of some time of religion. Religion deals with almost all aspects of human life. It may have influence in marriage, work, and even food. Religion has been around for thousands of years and it will continue for many more.

There are thousands of religions and thousand more subdivisions of those. Religions are divided mainly into ancient and modern religions. Not to sa

Many religious leaders have abused their powers in the past and have been involved in brutal religious battles. The leaders in the churches gain power and develop a state of dictatorship. They go to war for their god. The crusades were a violent conflict, which occurred between two separate religions. This particular conflict was between the Christians and the Islamic people. The Muslims took over Jerusalem and the Christians spent years trying to recover the center of their religion. In more recent times the Jews were persecuted because of their religion. Hitler ordered the massacres of millions of people because of their religious beliefs. Many people have died sacrificing themselves for their religion. That is how powerful the institution of religion really is.

In the movie, School Ties, a boy experiences the prejudice of a private religious school. He was from the lower class among society and that put him at a disadvantage. People did not give him respect because of how little his dad makes. He was used to going to a public school, so he had not experienced the close bonds to his classmates that occurs in private institutions. He managed alright in the beginning until religion came up. He was Jewish and the school he attended was Catholic. These religions conflict and he was discriminated against for his beliefs. He lost friends and respect because he believed differently. Whenever people are different, they suffer discrimination. This proved true in School Ties.

Religion affects many things and United States politics are no exception. The churches try to influence who gets elected. They support candidates to further their beliefs. For example: abortion, euthanasia, and homosexuality are current issues that churches are trying to have an impact on. They may contribute money

Some common words found in the essay are:
Public Education, Religion Education, Jerusalem Christians, East Christianity, School Ties, Catholic Church, Baptist Lutheran, Norse Celtic, Vatican City, Christianity Islam, throughout world, modern religions, religion education, religion religion, world hinduism buddhism, school ties, opportunity learn, equal opportunity, hinduism buddhism, public education, throughout world hinduism, human life,
Approximate Word count = 1227
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)