THE UNTOUCHABLES : WHY SHOULD BEEF-EATING... 351
To begin with the definition [1] of religion. There is one universal feature which characterises all religions. This feature lies in religion being a unified system of beliefs and practices which (1) relate to sacred things and (2) which unite into one single community all those who adhere to them. To put it slightly differently, there are two elements in every religion. One is that religion is inseparable from sacred things. The other is that religion is a collective thing inseparable from society.
The first element in religion presupposes a classification of all things, real and ideal, which are the subject-matter of man’s thought, into two distinct classes which are generally designated by two distinct terms the sacred and the profane, popularly spoken of as secular.
This defines the scope of religion. For understanding the function -of religion the following points regarding things sacred should be noted :
The first thing to note is that things sacred are not merely higher than or superior in dignity and status to those that are profane. They are just different. The sacred and the profane do not belong to the same class. There is a complete dichotomy between the two. As Prof. Durkhiem observes [2] :—
“The traditional opposition of good and bad is nothing beside this; for the good and the bad are only iwo opposed species of the same class, namely, morals, just as sickness and health are two different aspects of the same order of facts, life, while the sacred and the profane have always and everywhere been conceived by the human mind as two distinct classes, as two worlds between which there is nothing in common.”
The curious may want to know what has led men to see in this world this dichotomy between the sacred and the profane. We must however refuse to enter into this discussion as it is unnecessary for the immediate purpose we have in mind. [3]
Confining ourselves to the issue the next thing to note is that the circle of sacred objects is not fixed. Its extent varies infinitely from religion to religion. Gods and spirits are not the only sacred things. A rock, a tree, an animal, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house, in a word anything can be sacred.
1 This definiton of religion it by Prof. E’nvile Durkhiem. See his The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life’ p. 47. For the discussion that follows I have drawn upon the same authority.
2 Prof. Durkhiem’s The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life p.38
3 The curious may refer to page 317 of the above book.