10 Religion and Society
Sean Ashley
What is religion? Pioneer sociologist Émile Durkheim said religion consists of “things that surpass the limits of our knowledge” (1964, p. 25). He went to explain that religion is “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say set apart and forbidden, beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community, called a church, all those who adhere to them” (Durkheim, 1964, p. 47). Some people associate religion with places of worship (a gurdwara or church), others with a practice (prayer or meditation), and still others with a concept that guides their daily lives (like dharma). All these people can agree that religion is a system of beliefs, values, and practices concerning what a person holds sacred or considers to be spiritually significant.
The term “religion” comes from the Latin religio (respect for what is sacred) and religare (to bind, in the sense of an obligation). Across the world, people use religious narratives, symbols, and traditions to give meaning to life and understand the universe. Some form of religion is found in every known culture, and sociologists have recently begun paying attention to those who identify as having no religion at all (the so-called nones, after the common multiple-choice response on censuses to the question “What is your religion?”) (Müller, 2022).
The sociological approach to religion does not question whether a particular religion is true. As Durkheim said, “All [religions] are true in their own fashion; all answer, though in different ways, to the given conditions of human existence” (1964, p. 3). Sociologists are interested in the social aspects of religion–things we can see or hear–rather than the philosophical question of whether gods exist. For example, sociologists might study how a ceremony brings people together as a group, and all the ways gender, caste, or group identity may be expressed in a ritual context.
The History of Religion as a Sociological Concept
In the wake of nineteenth century Europe, three social theorists attempted to examine the relationship between religion and society: Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. They are among the founding thinkers of modern sociology.
Émile Durkheim on religion
French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) believed religion is about community: It binds people together (social cohesion), promotes behaviour consistency (social control), and offers strength during life’s transitions and tragedies (meaning and purpose). By applying the methods of natural science to the study of society, Durkheim held that the source of religion is the collective mind-set of society and that the cohesive bonds of social order result from common values in a society.
Durkheim (1964) defined religion as a “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things.” To him, sacred meant extraordinary—something that inspired wonder. He argued that religion happens when there is a di