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According to the teachings of history if a lot of people agree in something it is not sure that this something must be the truth. For example Copernicus - in his century - was the only one who was on the opinion that the Earth is global. Everyone else was totally sure about that the Earth is flat. In our days we know that the multitude was wrong.

In spite of this if we deal with religions it is unavoidable to check how many adherents they have. The first one which has the largest number of followers is the Roman Catholic Church, the next is Islam, the third ones are Hinduism, Confucionism and Taoism and the fourth is Buddhism.

There are many different opinions about the exact time of the beginning of Hinduism but usually it is said to began in approximately 1500 BC. But one can find followers of the tendency which claims that Hinduism is 6000, 10000 or even 50000 years old. Anyway Hinduism is the only religion that divides its adherents into four castes which can seldom be mixed with each other. In approximately 500 BC as a breakaway from Hinduism Buddhism began. In a way Buddhism is not a religion , it is rather a lifestyle and the collection of methods which lead to enlightenment. It is interesting to mention that in one of the Buddhist branches - called Zen Buddhism - there is a saying: “After uttering Buddha’s name wash your mouth out.”. It emphasises the unique way - the way of several methods - and would not believe in any kind of Gods or Buddhas.

In the Near East Judaism developed in a contradictional way. First it mixed with Egyptian religion then step by step through the appearing of the prophets it converted in a separate and independent religion. One can clearly follow the development of the changing Jewish idea of God, because in the Old Testament every prophets’ word had been kept word by word. Judaism inspired with the waiting for the coming of Messiah, but when someone is claiming that he is the Messiah or the messenger of it the Jews lost no time in killing them. It happened with Jesus Christ as well with a slightly difference that the Roman governor Pilate Pontius condemned him to death. In approximately 600 AD Mohammed turned up with the intention of mixing the teachings of Judaism and Christianity. In his opinion Adam, Abraham, Jesus and Mohammed were all prophets, the prophets of Allah. The Jewish and Christian people did not share his opinion so the religious wars have started and continued up to our days.

Nowadays the number of religious followers are the highest than ever. The religious types of books are on the tops of the best-sellers lists. God is mentioned more than ever, so therefore unavoidably the question of what is the reason for all that popularity comes up. The first reason is the basic contradiction of human existence, because one is being born to this world maybe unwillingly and disappear from here without any questioning. And if that is the case every human being struggles between the barrier of birth and death, while fighting for implementing their secret dreams and ideas. Everyone has got a feeling that they have to crush their hopes, ambitions and desires into a short interval of a human life. To make it more difficult they can not even use that brief time without any disturbance of a higher authority which steadily interfere in everyone’s life, way of thinking and behaviour.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe that their religion is the only true way. Whereas Confucianism, Hinduism and Buddhism are a kind of summarising religion, they are trying to dissolve other opinions and conceptions into themselves, as long as that other idea would not radically differ from their own teachings. Orientalist religions are based on the doctrine of reincarnation and because rebirth is giving an infinite perspective it can give a stable background to the religious patience. Religious impatience comes from the awareness that human life is happening only once and unable to repeat itself.

What different religions have in common that they offer codes of conduct. if one observes these codes he/she can easily notice that usually they are reasonable and rational codes disguised - by a clever and wise person - as a kind of religious rule or code of conduct. But anyway one could easily mix some parts of the doctrines and statements of the different religions up and afterwards hardly anyone would notice even these changes.

Among Hungarian traditions there is a big fast around the time of Easter which coincides with the clearing the toxins out of the body suggested by the doctors and the alternative healers. In Judaism and Islam porkeating prohibition serves the same purpose.

Religions in their original form assure one’s physical and mental health and the harmony with the nature and the universe. The only problem if some fundamentalist and unintelligent people deal with the case of religions and they interpret the other way simple and rational regulations in literal sense and they use these as a weapon against the followers of other conceptions. To sum it all up every morally well-founded religions serve well the development of one’s spiritual, physical and mental state. But like everything else, religions too could be used for bad purposes and that is not the problem of a religion but the follower.