What Is Religion and Why Does It Exist?

I've been studying religions for 10 years and realized: when you ask yourself "what am I living for?" — you're practicing religion. And your intermittent fasting is Ramadan without Allah. Of course, let’s back all of this up with scientific research.

This is Part 1 of a 3-part series "Religion: Myths, Reality, and Why It Exists":

• Part 1 — What Is Religion and Why Does It Exist?
• Part 2 — How Spiritual Practices Work and the Evolution of Religion
• Part 3 — Science, the Roots of Modern Practices, and a 30-Day Challenge

Recently I was talking to a girl who declared right from the doorstep: "Religion is manipulation, corruption, and indoctrination." I didn't argue. Instead, I simply asked: "Have you ever personally known someone whose life changed for the better because of faith?" She paused. And honestly answered: "No. Not once."

I had. I knew a guy who was running scams and couldn't get off drugs — he was gradually losing any sense of why he was alive and saw no meaning in life whatsoever. Until someone told him about the Christian idea of God as a loving Father — not some abstract force somewhere in the sky, but someone who cares specifically about him. Something changed in his mind. For the first time in many years, he wanted to live.

I'm not saying right now whether God is real or not, and I'm not saying religion is only for people with serious addiction problems — I simply want to emphasize that people's lives can change profoundly when they turn to religion.

I personally know many wonderful people who shared their stories with me about how they began searching for a higher calling and ultimately found true friends, built strong families, and live very happy lives. My conversation partner had seen none of this. And no wonder — it rarely makes the news. The news tends to cover scandals, not gradual transformations. But those barely visible changes happen every day, in millions of people around the world.

A large-scale study by Harvard University (Chen, Kim & VanderWeele, 2020, International Journal of Epidemiology), which pooled data from three large groups — young, middle-aged, and older adults of both sexes — found that those who regularly attend religious services have lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness, as well as higher levels of life satisfaction, social integration, and sense of purpose. According to Pew Research Center (2019), they are one and a half times more likely to describe themselves as truly happy. And in everyday life, religion can bring: more focus, more inner peace, more of a sense that you're not just drifting through life.

Religion, whatever form it takes, is a phenomenon that genuinely changes people's lives for the better. And I want to tell you exactly how and why.

There's a lot of material, so there will be 3 parts to this article, where I'll cover:

• What the word "religion" actually means — and why it's far more than a church or an institution
• How religious practices affect the brain, body, and quality of life
• Why your gratitude journal, meditation, and intermittent fasting are religious techniques with a thousand-year history
• How science and religion don't compete but complement each other
• And how 30 days of systematic practice can transform your daily life

There will be no sermons here. Just a straightforward conversation — with research, examples, and concrete steps. Ready? Even if not — save it anyway so you don't lose it.

1. Religion is not just church. And not even always about God

What if I told you that the word "religion" means far more than you think?

Most of us grew up with one image: a church, a priest, candles, a grandmother praying. But that's just one form — and far from the only one. Religion as a phenomenon is so broad that even scholars can't agree on how to define it [4].
Some describe it as a system of beliefs about the sacred [1]. Others — as a set of symbols that shape deep moods and motivations [3]. And some define religion without any mention of God at all. Why such variety? Because religion is not one thing. It's an entire spectrum of human searching.

Buddhism: a religion without God

Here's a concrete example that breaks the familiar stereotype of "religion = belief in God."

Buddhism is one of the world's largest religions, with over 500 million followers. Yet classical Buddhism has no creator God. None whatsoever. Buddhists do not believe in an almighty deity who created the world and judges people  [5].
Instead, Buddhism focuses on practices that help a person achieve enlightenment — a state in which suffering ceases. Meditation, ethical living, mindfulness. The German scholar Helmuth von Glasenapp even published a book in the 1930s titled Buddhism: A Non-Theistic Religion [6]. If Buddhism is a religion, and it requires no God, then what exactly is religion?

Religion is the search for answers to the "big" questions

Let's pose an interesting question. What unites Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religious traditions?

They all attempt to answer existential questions — questions about life in general (and beyond):

• What am I living for?
• What happens after death?
• How should I live "rightly"?
• Is there something more than just my body and the material world?

Research in psychology shows that the search for meaning in life is a fundamental human need that significantly affects psychological and physical health  [7]. People who feel that their lives have meaning live longer, healthier, and happier lives [8]. And religion has historically been — and still is — one of the primary ways people seek answers to these questions.

"Spiritual but not religious" — a new form of the same need

An interesting fact: according to Pew Research Center, only 47% of Americans identify as religious, but 33% call themselves "spiritual" [9]. Among young people aged 18–24, only 46% identify as Christian, compared to 80% among people aged 74 and older  [10].

But you know what? The number of people searching for meaning in life hasn't decreased. It has simply changed its form. Instead of church — meditation. Instead of prayer — a gratitude journal. Instead of sacred texts — self-help books. The essence remains the same: people are searching for answers to existential questions.

In short: Religion is not about a church building or a particular God. Religion is the human way of seeking meaning in life, answering the "big" questions, and finding one's place in the world. It can be a Buddhist who meditates without belief in God. It can be a Christian who prays in church. Or it might be you, lying awake at night thinking: "What's the point of all this?"

If you've ever asked yourself these questions — you're already practicing religion in its broadest sense. The only question is which system of answers you choose.

2. Scandals, "opium," and what really lies behind the distrust of religion

Ask your friends about religion — and you'll quite possibly hear: "It's nothing but scandals," "Corruption and priests driving Lexuses," "No thanks." The reaction is understandable. Over recent decades, news about abuses within religious institutions has become part of the general background noise. The victims are real, the pain is real, and it cannot be silenced.
But does that mean the very idea of religion is flawed?

Institution ≠ idea

Imagine you heard about a doctor who abused his patients' trust. A terrible story. But would you stop seeking medical treatment altogether? Probably not. You understand the difference between medicine as a system of care — and a specific individual who oversteps the bounds of their role.

It's the same with religion. According to Gallup 2022, only 31% of Americans trust organized religion — a historic low  [12]. At the same time, 33% describe themselves as “spiritual” [11]. In other words, people have lost faith in institutions, not in the search for meaning itself.

What about the positives?

The news rarely covers quiet goodness. But it exists — and there's far more of it than there are scandals.

According to Pew Research Center, people with an active religious life are significantly more likely to volunteer and give to charity: among those who regularly attend religious services, 45% help those in need each month — 1.6 times more than among those who don't attend (28%).

And a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (VanderWeele et al., 2017) found that participation in a religious community reduces the risk of death by despair — suicide, drugs, alcohol — by 68% in women and 33% in men. A separate study in the journal Mental Health, Religion & Culture confirmed that religious engagement has a positive effect on mental health and reduces levels of depression.

Why don't we see this? Because negativity attracts more attention. A study in Nature found that each additional negative word in a headline increases click-through rates by 2.3% [18]. We see a distorted picture — not because religion is wholly bad, but because bad news sells better [17].

The myth of the "opium of the people"

You may have heard this phrase. It's often presented as: "Marx proved that religion is a drug for fools." But that's a misreading. Marx's full quote (1843): "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people" [14]. Marx was not calling religion a drug — he was saying it was the way people found comfort in unbearable conditions [15]. For him, religion was a symptom of injustice, not its cause [16]. So Marx believed that religion is a natural human response to pain. As one can see, context very often matters.

In short: Scandals in religious institutions are real, and they must be spoken about. But they do not define the essence of religion as a phenomenon. Alongside abuses, there are millions of people who, through faith, have found meaning, community, and support. When a doctor abuses trust — we don't abandon medicine. We demand better standards. The same goes for religion.
Separate the institution from the idea. Criticize specific abuses — but don't dismiss the entire human search for meaning because of them.

In Part 2, we'll talk in more detail about the main point: why people engage in religious practices, how they affect the brain and body, and how religion has evolved alongside humanity — from the animism of hunter-gatherers to contemporary spiritual searching.

Sources

[1] Durkheim, É. (1915). The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. — OpenStax Anthropology
[2] Weber, M. (1905). Substantive definition of religion — Tutor2U
[3] Geertz, C. (1973). Religion as a system of symbols — Hartford Institute
[4] Religious Studies — No consensus on what qualifies as religion — Wikipedia
[5] Cambridge Religious Studies: Buddhism and theism — Cambridge
[6] Von Glassenapp, H. (1930s). Buddhism: A Non-theistic Religion — Lion's Roar
[7] Frontiers in Psychology: Meaning in life as fundamental human need — Frontiers
[8] PMC: Meaning in life and well-being of chronically ill patients — PMC
[9] Gallup: 47% identify as religious, 33% as spiritual — Gallup
[10] Pew Research: Spiritual but not religious Americans — Pew Research
[11] AP-NORC: Lack faith in organized religion, not spirituality — AP-NORC
[12] Gallup: Trust in organized religion at historic low — Religion Unplugged
[13] Marx, K. (1843). A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right — Marxists.org
[14] Context of Marx's opium quote: Opium was legal medicine — Marquette Law
[15] Marx: Religion as comfort for suffering people — Medium
[16] Marx: Religion as expression of real suffering — Wikipedia
[17] Negativity bias in news consumption — Nature study — Religion Unplugged
[18] Nature: Negative words increase click-through rate — Religion Unplugged