Religion
William Vallicella, a Ph.D. in Philosophy, writes deep philosophical posts in his blog called Maverick Philosopher.
Recently, he wrote 3 interesting posts on what are the essential characteristics of religion, among 5 religions he compared.
Maverick Philosopher What is Religion, Part I
Maverick Philosopher What is Religion, Part II
Maverick Philosopher What is Religion, Part III
Nice thoughts, but, ofcourse, not all people think alike.