Religion in one form or another has existed in the world throughout human history. She was one of the first stones in the foundation of the cultural development of various peoples. The exact number of religious movements is impossible to establish due to the constantly emerging new branches of existing confessions, sects and teachings.
The largest religions
The largest number of followers are Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism and Hinduism. As of 2011, in total, they belong to almost five billion people; all other groups of believers are much smaller in number. All modern religions of the world can be divided into several categories: paganism or polytheism - worship of many gods; Abrahamic branch: Judaism, Christianity and Islam - followers of the teachings of Abraham; and Indian: Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Hinduism.
The original teachings were also Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism. However, they have largely absorbed the previous religious traditions.
In turn, each religious trend splits into several branches. For example, the main branches of Christianity are Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy. The Islamic world is divided into Shiites, Sunnis and Kharijites. In Hinduism, four major directions are officially recognized: Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Shaivism, Smartism. Each of these currents is also fragmented many times. Various philosophical teachings are often equated with religions, in particular Confucianism, Taoism, yoga, etc. These worldview moral and ethical teachings combine the basic religious principles of many confessions and the scientific and materialistic views of the modern world.
New religions and sects
Among the smallest religious movements, the most widespread is shamanism, as well as uninterrupted pagan cults of various countries. In addition, there are such strange religious sects as Raelianism, Cargo, Heaven's Gate, Pastafarianism and Shakers. Among them, Pastafarianism is one of the youngest officially registered religions, which does not belong to any known religion in the world.
Pastafarianism is the worship of a pasta god or monster. This parody religious teaching arose in 2005 in response to an attempt by the authorities to introduce a discipline called "intelligent design" into the school curriculum.
Recently, new religious movements have been gaining momentum, which can be united by a common term - neo-paganism. At its core, it is a reconstruction of old polytheistic cults prevalent in any territory. These include the ethnic neo-paganism of Europe, India, China, Rodnovers in Russia, etc. An interesting attitude towards German neo-paganism has developed both in Germany and throughout the world. The ancient polytheistic views of modern Germany are equated with fascism and radical nationalism, largely due to the events of World War II. The mere fact that a rather ancient pagan symbol - the swastika, which before Hitler came to power, had nothing to do with Nazism, became its immediate symbol, says a lot.
