Functionalism And Religion Essay

Functionalists would argue that religion contributes to social stability. Functionalism is a consensus theory which argues that the structures, systems and institution all serve to maintain vigorous cohesion in society. Durkheim claimed that religion is a way of worshiping the society. He said that religion creates social cohesion through shared beliefs, norms and values which therefore creates social solidarity. According to Durkheim, the society is divided into two, the sacred and profane. Things which are ordinary and normal that exists in our day to day life would be considered as being ‘profane’ according to Durkheim, and anything that inspires awe is considered to be ‘sacred’. Durkheim studied Aboriginal Australian and found out that

Durkheim claimed that these rituals helped to unite people together as collective worship was valued. The implication of this is that, it helps the community to understand the norms and values set within the religion and thus, creates social solidarity. This further leads to creating ‘social identity’ as they feel they belong to a society and are committed to these norms and values which Durkheim would term it as ‘social conscience’. This therefore means that these norms and values and moral attitudes set by the society function as a combining force within the society. An criticism of this theory is that, although Durkheim’s ideology may apply to a society which only consists of one religion, it is quite hard to apply it to a society which consists of many different religion as they do not all follow the same norms and values. What may be socially accepted in one religion may not be accepted in another which could create conflict. This also means that increase in diversity has led to destruction of collective conscience as there is no shared beliefs and values within one society which could be reinforced by