Describe and distinguish the views of Durkheim, Marx, and Weber on religion. What elements of religion did each emphasize, and what role did each believe religion plays in society?

Please provide the best answer for the statement.


1. For Durkheim, religion is the social glue that holds society together. Durkheim believed all societies are organized around notions of the sacred and the profane. These differ from society to society, but the divide between them always exists. He emphasized the role of ritual in bringing society together.
2. For Marx, religion is a tool of social control. Marx emphasized the ways that religion prevents social change by justifying existing hierarchies and explaining the order of life as natural and divinely willed.
3. For Weber, religion itself can be a catalyst for social change. Weber analyzed religion in relation to the emergence and spread of capitalism in the Western world. He argued that earlier forms of religion had restrained capitalist impulses in society, but Protestant Christianity contained elements that encouraged the types of thinking and behaviors that enabled capitalism to take Europe by storm.

Sociology

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