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Folk Religions
There are many folk religions in the world but the main categories are North American, South and Central American, African, European, Russian, Chinese and Australian. Most of these religions are of a syncretic nature, which incorporate a little of many types of religions. They are comprised of religious customs, that are integral to specific regions and usually somehow aligned with the official doctrine and practices of the main stream religions. As very well defined by Don Yoder “folk religion is the totality of all those views and practices of religion that exist among the people, apart from and alongside the strictly theological and liturgical forms of the official religion”.
There often exists tension between these religions and the more formal religions. As defined by Wikipedia: The term is also used, especially by the clergy of the faiths involved, to describe the desire of people who otherwise infrequently attend religious worship, do not belong to a church or similar religious society, and who have not made a formal profession of faith in a particular creed, to have religious weddings or funerals or (among Christians) to have their children baptized.
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