Emile Durkheim Theory Of Religion

Emilie Durkheim was one of the founding fathers of the modern study of sociology. His main focus and prominent social theory was the individual connection to the social world and how it was influenced by three main attributes including, religion, family, and workplace environment. Durkheim trusted that religion assumed an important part in giving union and standards in a general public. He stressed over the potential results to the social request when a general public loses its religiosity. This essay will focus on Durkheim’s two most famous analysts of suicide and religious life which both discuss religion as one of the main impacts of the individual self-worth and societal connections. Émile Durkheim was enormously affected by philosopher …show more content…
(cite sociology text book). Durkheim argued that lack of these social connections caused more of an influence on the decision to commit suicide than an individual’s relationships with a particular being such as a God. The term he used for this was collective effervescence, which is based upon individual acts, such as prayer and worship, that amounted in a feeling of solidarity and collectiveness that gives an individual value (cite). According to a New World Encyclopedia quote Durkheim states that, people have a certain level of attachment to their groups, which he called "social integration." Abnormally high or low levels of social integration may result in increased suicide rates: low levels have this effect because low social integration results in disorganized society, causing people to turn to suicide as a last resort, while high levels cause people to kill themselves to avoid becoming burdens on society. According to Durkheim, Catholic society has normal levels of integration while Protestant society has low levels. This work, which influenced proponents of "control theory," is considered a classic sociological …show more content…
In his last famous study, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Durkheim seems to expand more on his social theory of religion being a major part of a person’s interactions with others. (cite) He seems to repeat his flaw of sticking to one particular group, in this case a type of people native to Australia (cite). This however proves to be beneficial as it allowed him to study a group based on mechanical solidarity in contrast to modern societies. It is important to note that Durkheim discusses religion as a “moral community”, and does not reflect upon the religion’s individual practices.
Durkheim vied god as both a liberating and a constraining force in life. God is great and inspires people to do things they probably couldn’t do. Inspiring, protecting, understanding and a figure that lays foundations of modern law with what’s right and wrong. This is why religion is such a fundamental portion of functionalist societies, especially those with mechanical solidarities, God and religion have inspired modern law by instilling morals, shaped the importance of marriage, and many people believe that God has given them a purpose in life, such as Durkheim’s belief that everyone has a purpose or