SOCA02H3 Chapter 16: Chapter 16 - Religion and Society
Document Summary
They gain a glimpse of eternity as they immerse themselves in institutions that will outlast them and athletic feats that people will remember for generations to come. durkheim said that when people live together, they come to share common sentiments and values that form a collective conscience that is larger than any individual"s. we experience the collective conscience directly, which causes us to distinguish the secular, every day world of the profane from the religious, transcendent world of the sacred. we designate certain objects as symbolizing the saved, known as totems. we invent certain public practices to connect us with the sacred, known as rituals. The effect of rituals and of religion as a whole is reinforcing social solidarity. These groups, institutions, and ideas all transcend us. Marx, conflict, and religion as a prop for inequality. durkheim"s theory of religion is a functionalist account that offers useful insights into the role of religion in society.
