How many Religions are there?

There are probably as many definitions for the term "religion" as there are religions, but the definition that is most used is; "Religion is any specific system of belief about deity, often involving rituals, a code of ethics, and a philosophy of life."

Explaining 'religion' -An old East Indian tale:

Once upon a time a king gathered a few men who were born blind. They were asked to describe an elephant after each one was presented with only a certain part of the animal. To one the king presented the head of the elephant, to another the trunk, to another its ears, to another the leg, the body, the tail, tuft of the tail, etc. The one who was presented with the head said: "The elephant is like a tea pot!" The one who was presented with the trunk said, "The elephant is like a snake." The one who touched only the ears thought that the elephant was like a fan, the others said that it was a pillar, a wall, a rope, a brush, etc. Then they quarreled among themselves, each thinking that he was the only one right and the others were wrong. The obvious truth is that the elephant is a unity of many parts, a unity that they could not grasp in their ignorance.

Thus, to narrow the scope, included here are the great monotheistic (a doctrine or belief that there is only one deity) religions, Eastern, Neopagan, and a wide range of other faith groups, spiritual paths, ethical systems; and beliefs about the existence of God(s) and Goddess(es).

Funny, this list may generate some angry zealots out there that will say they don't judge others, but in the next breath will be insistent on excluding some religions from the christian group, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Catholic Church, the Mormons as well as some other denominations.

Christianity is dealt with in greater detail than other religions simply because 75% of North America identifies themselves with that certain religion. There is no implication here that Christianity is superior or inferior to other religions, only that Christians outnumber the next largest religious group, Judaism and Islam, about 40 to 1 in the U.S. and Canada.

1. Christianity: 2.1 billion
2. Islam: 1.5 billion
3. Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion
4. Hinduism: 900 million
5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million
6. Buddhism: 376 million
7. primal-indigenous: 300 million
8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million
9. Sikhism: 23 million
10. Juche: 19 million
11. Spiritism: 15 million
12. Judaism: 14 million
13. Baha'i: 7 million
14. Jainism: 4.2 million
15. Shinto: 4 million
16. Cao Dai: 4 million
17. Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million
18. Tenrikyo: 2 million
19. Neo-Paganism: 1 million
20. Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand
21. Rastafarianism: 600 thousand
22. Scientology: 500 thousand

Separate lists by type:

• Hinduism-oriented new religious movements
• List of Neopagan movements
• List of groups referred to as cults or sects in government documents
• List of new religious movements