Like Malinowski, Parsons agreed that religion helped individuals cope with unforeseen stress.
Parsons identified two essential functions that religion performs on modern society. What are these?
Creates and legitimises society's central values. Religion sacralises basic norms and values. For instance, in the USA, Protestantism has sacralised core American values of individualism, meritocracy and self-discipline.
Gives a primary source of meaning. It answers 'ultimate' questions about the human condition, like why good people suffer or why people die young.
Define sacralisation
Making something sacred and attributing it to a God.
What happens as a result of ideas becoming sacralised?
It makes ideas more fixed and significant.
Things that have been sacralised are more difficult to change.
For example, euthanasia laws are heavily debated and are only possible in a post-Christian society because of the command 'thou shall not kill'.
