religion: "A system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic."

what i get from this quote, is that religion is a means to change the actions of men, both physical and mental. religion changes these actions in such convincing fashion because each religion says it is the truth; the aura of factuality. people who believe in a certain religion will feel that they are believing in truth and be less likely to change their beliefs through out their lives. this is why i feel that a dudes religious belief is an large part of who that guy is, it is something that generally remains with them through out their life and shapes their actions. i agree with the general idea of this quote.

That part about 'aura of factuality' is based on peoples perception, not  necessarily what the religion itself preaches. people choose to believe in the truthfulness of a certain religion. every religion will say that it is true but unless there are people who believe in the religion, it isn't really the truth. what i said is real confusing, i guess what i mean is that there are different levels of truth. and by truth i dont really mean actual truth because what the religion says may not be the actual truth, but that "aura of factuality" which makes the religion appear to be true. when someone believes the aura of factuality of a religion, that religion moves to a deeper level of truth. it is the people that create the aura of factuality, not the religion. the religion just gives the ingredients for the aura of factuality and the people turn it into a cake.

...yeah