What is the difference between a sect and a religion? It is not easy to answer this question. Is it the age, how old is it in relation to the newness? What about the size, how many believers are there? Or what about its popularity differentiates a sect from a religion? According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, the definition of religion is "belief in a god or group of gods: an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or group of gods: an interest, belief, or activity that is very important to a person or group” (“Religion”). This same dictionary defines a sect as "a small religious group that is not part of a larger, more accepted religion and that has beliefs considered by many people to be extreme or dangerous: a situation in which people admire and care a lot about something or someone. or too much: a small group of very devoted supporters or fans” (“Cult”). So when is a sect just a sect or when is that sect classified as a religion? The old question of time. Throughout history, evidence shows that there has always been some type of religious worship dating back thousands of years to some of the earliest known ancient societies. When you look at two very well known ancient societies, the Greeks and the Romans, they both worshiped many gods. The Greeks worshiped famous gods such as Zues, Poseidon, Hades, and Apollo, to name a few. These same gods were known as Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto and Apollo to the ancient Romans. Religion is therefore ancient by definition. What is it today, what are some of the modern religions? Although there are many, some of the most popular are Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, Islam and the most common Western... middle of paper ... people choose who or what they love and have faith. So these so-called cults, when new and unknown, will grow and prosper, becoming their own religion in due time. Get ready, world, I don't think we've seen the end of new religions. The greatest thing in life itself is freedom of worship. Works Cited “Cults”. International Encyclopedia of Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Flight. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 187-189. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Internet. February 5, 2014. “Cults”. Merriam Webster. Merriam-Webster, nd Web. February 4, 2014. “Religion”. Merriam Webster. Merriam-Webster, nd Web. February 4, 2014.Watts, Jill. “Cults”. Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Flight. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 476-478. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Internet. February 5, 2014.eb. 2014