• Durkheim, the founder of modern sociology has contributed to the study of religion and society. In his essay on “The Elementary forms of Religious Life (1912)”, which deals with clan system and totemism in Arunta tribe of Australian aboriginals, Durkheim has tried to reveal the principles and beliefs in the area of religion. He rejected the reigning theories of origin of religion i.e. Animism by Edward B Tyler and Naturalism by Max Muller because they cannot explain universal distinction between sacred and profane. According to Durkheim, by common beliefs, rituals and symbols, religion brings a sense of collective consciousness in society and it integrates the society. He equated the religion to society wherein God was only a symbol or a metaphor but in reality, religion was the worship of society and not of God.
• According to Durkheim, the essence of religion is a division of world into two spheres i.e. sacred and profane. Sacred means things which are set apart and require special treatment while profane is reverse of sacred. Sacred things are par excellence which the profane should not and can not touch without impunity. Religion as Durkheim saw and explained it is not any social creation but is in fact society divined itself.
• Most sociologists believe that he has over stated his case. Whilst agreeing that religion is important for promoting social solidarity and reinforcing social values, they wouldn''t support the view that religion is worship of society. Moreover, religion has been cause of discord and many bloody conflict. Rise of religious fundamentalism and extremism in contemporary times such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, Heaven''s Gate, Khalistan movement, Hindu-fundamentalists etc refutes the Durkheim''s assumptions about religion. Also, when Durkheim talks about Religion, he talks about some supernatural force behind anything Sacred but Buddhism and Confucianism had no conception of supernatural, but did allow sufficient reverence for things and persons which they considered sacred. The definition of sacred as stated by Emile Durkheim seems to have lost sense in today’s time as the religion is being misused to create disturbance in the democratic setup of the society rather being worshiped.

Consequences of religious revivalism

• In contemporary context the rise of religious consciousness or the growth of religious revivalism is offering a major challenge to the pluralistic secular & egalitarian character of the civil society.
• New insecurities and alienation that arise out of migration and urbanisation in a globalised world are driving more people to religion as a way of establishing their identities and validating their experiences.
• One of these transitions is the unprecedented migration of communities and the increasing perception that there is socio-cultural and economic inequality across the world. There is an increasing sense of multiple layers and a process of alienation emerging out of multiple levels of ‘dislocations’ of the self, community and identity.
• However, the relative visibility of institutional religion may be due also   to the increasing role of the ‘image’ industry, rather than true conversion or   transformation of people from one faith to another. Religion has many   manifestations and we often tend to confuse institutionalised religion with   other aspects of religion (personal experience, belief, theology etc).
• The revival of institutionalised religion is partly due to the high visibility it has gained in the media explosion of the last ten years. As institutionalised religions are historically strong in terms of institutionalised resources (money, network, people, structures etc) they can make greater use of the new media, particularly television, to acquire more visibility.
• Then there are new insecurities arising out of social, economic and political transitions and the consequent feeling of alienation they engender.