Explain Durkheim’s sociological view on religion.
1. In his book, Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Emile Durkheim rejects all the existing theories of religion and instead, puts forth a sociological theory of religion.
2. In every religion, Emile Durkheim says, a distinction is made between sacred and profane things.
3. The sacred things are those which are treated as very special and superior and also which are protected and isolated.
4. The profane things are interdicted and kept at distance from the sacred.
5. The sacredness of a thing is not an inherant characteristic but something which it gets from another source and also form its opposition to the profane.
6. ‘Totemism’ according to Emile Durkheim, was the most primitive form of religion. The word, ‘totem’, according to Giddings, first originated among North American Indian tribes but has been widely used to refer to animals or plants believed to have supernatural powers.
7. Totem consists of a series of ideas. One of the ideas is the belief that the people of a social group (clan phratry, moity are such social groups in primitive societies) are related to a common mythological ancestor.
8. Symbols are used to represent the totem. Certain restrictions are applied such as, prohibition of killing and eating of totem.
