E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 6 with culture and to explore the issue of cultural diversity in the face of the imperative of universality, an exercise which will be undertaken in the three sections that follow. A. Attempted definition of religion 6. The Latin root of the term religion, religare, means “binding together” the human and the divine.3 On the basis of that root, religion is a system within whose setting a community of men and women is linked by a set of beliefs, practices, behaviour patterns and rituals, which establish a connection between the individual and holy life. 7. It was not until much later that definitions of religion referred to a belief in a supreme being as the central characteristic of religion. However, some major ancient religions do not conform to this concept.4 From that perspective, religion is a feature of every human society irrespective of its state of development, be it extremely primitive.5 8. There does not appear to be a complete or single definition of religion and discussion of its origins is still shrouded in vagueness.6 All one can do is identify religions’ common traits, at least the most important ones. It is often difficult to distinguish secular ritual from religious experience, both being so closely entwined. Even magic is sometimes linked with religion and it is difficult to distinguish the sacred from the profane.7 9. However, as stated by the religious historian Odon Vallet, notwithstanding denominational particularities, the great religions show a surprising affinity in their view of the feminine ideal: women should first and foremost be faithful and fertile and are often, to varying degrees, relegated to universal secondary status in society.8 At the beginning of this third millennium, that view has unfortunately not entirely disappeared in many cultures and among equally varied peoples. 10. As explained by the Human Rights Committee in its general comment 22 on freedom of religion, which right is established by article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the terms “belief” and “religion” have to be broadly construed. That provision protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic convictions. It is not limited to traditional religions or beliefs but applies also to religions and beliefs that are newly established as well as to those of religious minorities (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.3, p. 36, para. 2). Legal rulings have stated that there are two criteria for determining the existence of a religion: belief in a supernatural being, thing or principle and acceptance of rules of conduct which give effect to such belief. Any organization whose beliefs or practices are a revival of, or resemble, earlier cults could thus claim to believe in a supernatural being or beings, or in an abstract entity or god, and would be regarded as religious.9 Hence orthodoxy, number of followers, worshippers or longevity do not constitute criteria for establishing the existence of a religion. The credibility and sincerity of an individual’s beliefs and the fact of their not being illegal or contrary to clearly defined public policy have, however, been accepted as prerequisites for the protection of asserted religious beliefs.10 11. Freedom to manifest one’s religion is both an individual and a collective freedom, as stipulated in article 18 of the Covenant. It may be exercised “individually or in community with others and in public or private”. With respect to the subject of the present study, such freedom is exercised through worship, observance, practice and teaching and it is its collective aspect or rather the collective expression of that individual freedom which concerns us here.