In Emile Durkheim’s Elementary Forms of Religious Life, he reasons that the initial purpose of religion was not to meet with God but to reach out to others. Primitive rituals centered around experiences of birth, marriage and death when we all have a great need to share our sadness and joy with one another.
“When we feel so terribly alone, singled out by the hand of fate, when we are tempted to crawl off into a dark corner and feel sorry for ourselves, we need to be reminded that we are part of a community, that there are people who care about us and that we are still part of the stream of life.” – quoted from When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
We are one community, one extended family.
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