This essay will discuss and evaluate three academic definitions of religion. It will use a variety of primary and secondary sources to determine what the best definition of religion is. The essay will examine and evaluate the beliefs and theories of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The word “religion” comes from the Latin words “religio,” “religere,” and “religare.” 'Religare' means to bind and 'religere' means to repeat, which connects to the works and theory of the number one scholar, Emile Durkheim. Durkheim believed that religion was more about a community of people rather than an individual. In John Bawker's Oxford Dictionary of World Religions the saying is quoted: "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relating to sacred things, that is, things set aside and forbidden - beliefs and practices coming together in one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to it." This quote suggests that no one person can be religious, and it must be a group of people with the same beliefs and practices to be religious, as he defines it, a church also important to note that, like Marx, Durkheim was raised as an atheist and not in a religious community, this may contribute to a different point of view than a religious scholar Durkheim's definition of religion is good in that it explains the large number of religious individuals around the world and explains why there are so many different and diverse religions around the world However, there are many criticisms of Durkheim's definition of religion, a key criticism I have found is that Durkheim's view focuses on the. religion and community aspect, however its definition does not focus on those individuals who work against society and claim not to be religious. . I think Durkheim's definition is good but not as good as Marx's which takes into account all religious believers, not just those who work with society as Durkheim does. Marx's definition of religion is similar to Durkheim's in that it is a function of society, however Marx's view is very different in that he is negative in saying that it is "the opium of the masses". However, scholars such as Raines disagree on whether it is negative, within his book "Marx on Religion", he discusses the possibility that religion for Marx was a moral agency for the disadvantaged of the class-based system of society. It should also be said that Marx saw two classes of society, both the working classes (proletarians) and the modern capitalists who exploit the working classes (bourgeois). It was also society's protest against suffering. It can be argued that Marx saw the function of religion in society, again taking up Raines' argument, it helped the deprived lower classes of society to protest against suffering, however Marx may have disagreed with the basis according which, in his view, the upper and controlling classes also used religion to ensure that workers knew their place in society. In my opinion, Marx's definition of religion is good as it takes into account everyone in society, however his definition and vision is not as fluid or dynamic as religion is. Sigmund Freud is the last scholar who will be analyzed in this essay. Even Freud, famous of course for his controversial work in the field of psychology, attempted, just like many psychologists before him, to define religion. Ernest Jones (1957) once wrote that Freud's work had «evoked more.