Answer:
the collective, shared, and enacted nature of religion, the emotions it generates, and the meanings it embodies.
Step-by-step explanation:
Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) was a French philosopher, considered the founder of the discipline of sociology. Durkheim is renowned for his studies on religion, particularly his 1912 book, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, where he analyzed the role of religion in society and argued that it serves the social function of providing emotional security through a feeling of belonging to a certain group. He noted the role of religious rituals in building group unity, as often times during these events, people would enter an almost ecstatic state of enhanced religious fervor around said rituals. Durkheim deemed this religious effervescence. The intense emotions experienced during this religious effervescence has the effect of further reinforcing the emotional connection and devotion to the religious group by its participants. Later anthropologists in the 20th century would follow on Durkheim's early discoveries, and through the study of various religions around the world, they confirmed his findings. They found that the collective, shared, and enacted nature of religion, the emotions it generates, and the meanings it embodies, are what defines the social function and importance of religion for different cultures.