The first etymology given by the OED suggests that religion comes from the Latin root religare, “to tie or bind together,” and thus religion shares its origin with the English words ligature and ligament. Augustine recognized this usage. This derivation suggests that religion somehow binds our lives together in a meaningful way, just as our ligaments hold our bones together and allow them to function. Without our ligaments, our bones would be rather randomly organized. With them, our bones work together effectively. In this sense, religion should “re-ligament” us.

Gary Eberle | from Dangerous Words: Talking about God in the Age of Fundamentalism