Religion provides social control, cohesion, and purpose or people, as well as other means of communication and gathering for individuals to interact and reaffirm social norms. Durkheim's second purpose was in identifying certain elements of religious beliefs that are common across different cultures. A belief in a supernatural realm is not necessary or common among religions, but the separation of different aspects of life, physical things and certain behaviours into two categories, the -sacred and the profane-, is common.

It is this subject, Durkheim's view of the Sacred, that will be the topic of this paper. I will begin this essay by outlining some of the personal life of Durkheim himself and continue by discussing how Durkheim views what is sacred. I will

This at one point in time was quite a strong argument, but in this day and age it needs to be questioned. Society was once built very strongly on religion and the community was very focused on these beliefs. However, society has gone through many changes, family and economic changes being the dominant shifts. These shifts have changed the need for religion. With the rise in technology and double income families, the devotion to the church has become less important.

1. A recognition of a belief, or power of force.

Once Christ told one that baptism is needed to receive the life of grace in one's soul, He made sure that one knew how to preserve this life to the dawn of eternity. Christ's flesh and blood is needed to keep spirituality alive. Just as one needs food and drink to sustain their natural lives, one also needs food and drink o the Holy Eucharist to stay alive in His grace. Baptism is necessary to obtain a share in the life of God. The Eucharist is equally necessary to remain spiritually alive. Christ foresaw that His followers would sin and even lose the divine life. He therefore provided the means for restoring this life in the Sacrament of Penance, which He instituted on Easter Sunday night.

Durkheim stated that the deities which men worship together are only projections of the power of society. Religion is eminently social. It occurs in a social context, and more importantly, when men celebrate sacred things, they unwittingly celebrate the power of their society. This power transcends their own existence that they have to give it sacred and significance in order to visualize it.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2551
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)