How is religion a social phenomenon?

Question

We're researching Emile Durkheim right now but I'm really confused about what his stances are. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

"All religion is a social phenomenon. Although faith has a private dimension, human beings experience religion in groups or through forms created by social organizations. Every religion creates and is maintained by institutionalized rituals or concrete organizational forms. Professed beliefs are passed down by religious traditions, and ideally, these beliefs have consequences for one’s social behavior. Religious life has spawned times of war and times of peace; changed human beings and human history. Each of these social dimensions of religion can be investigated with the research methods of social scientist."

That's taken from a course syllabus, so it hopefully should clear things up.  Basically, belief/faith = personal; organized religion = social.