Religion is a major resource in Age of Wonders that can help boost culture, earn gold, and boost your military in the battlefield. Be sure to use it wisely depending on your civilization, strategy, and victory path.
The word “religion” derives from the Latin religio, which means “scrupulousness” or “abiding fidelity”. The concept that is now called religion was originally a term for a social genus. It was not a universal feature of human cultures but an effect that could be produced by taboos, covenants, promises, curses, and other commitments that had a profound influence on people.
Over the past few decades, there has been a “reflexive turn” in the study of religion. This shift in focus prompted scholars to pull back the camera lens and look at how assumptions baked into the concept of religion have distorted our grasp of historical realities.
Many scholars have shifted to what is called a polythetic approach, whereby multiple properties are considered to be essential to a religion. This is a departure from the monothetic definition that was popular in much of the past century.
Emile Durkheim, one of the most influential sociologists in the history of social science, pointed out that the essence of a religion is its functions rather than its particular beliefs or practices.
Almost all religions teach that one should do good for others, which is a strong socializing agent. Religion also reinforces the stability of a society and promotes solidarity and morality. Moreover, research has shown that religion can reduce out-of-wedlock births, divorce rates, family dissolution, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, and prejudice.