Final answer:
Religion is integral to societal structures, serving multiple functions like social cohesion and providing behavioral guidelines, with ancestor veneration as an example. It is understood as a complex system of socially-embedded beliefs practiced by communities. Anthropologists strive to understand religion's significant role in human experience through a culturally relative and emic perspective.
Step-by-step explanation:
Religion serves various functions within cultures, including the structuring of community life, providing rules for behavior, and fostering social cohesion among community members. One example that showcases the purpose of religion in a culture is the practice of ancestor veneration in some Asian cultures, where rituals associated with the beliefs in the supernatural enhance family unity and respect for tradition. For societies, religion often becomes the means by which human culture includes nonhuman entities, attributing agency and intention to supernatural beings like gods or spirits, which further exemplifies the social qualities intertwined in religious beliefs.
From an anthropological perspective, it is crucial to understand religion through cultural relativism and emic perspectives. The convergence of supernatural beliefs with the social institutions results in an entwined system that personifies the desires and behaviors expected within a community, reflecting the deep connection between a group's collective identity and their religious practices.
The work of Emile Durkheim highlighted that religion goes beyond the belief in supernatural beings, encompassing a unified system of beliefs and practices associated with the sacred, uniting adherents into a moral community. Changes in interpretation and allegiance over time serve as a reminder of religion's dynamic nature within human societies.