Referencing Huston Smith's The World's Religions and Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, how did the emergence of sacred thought affect...

Smith
and Durkheim both maintain that sacred thought was a primary motivator in early societies.
Huston Smith from his post-World War II perspective, aims to counter the dominance of secular
views, while ‰mile Durkheim formed his ideas in the late 19th century. Smith, while clearly
influenced by Durkheim in positively valuing the belief systems that predated organized
religion, does not see religion as primarily social, which was Durkheims position. Also
similarly to Durkheim, Huston Smith bases much of his analysis in Australian Aboriginal society;
both analyze their contemporary beliefs for insights into religion in ancient times.

Huston Smith discusses the earliest or primal religions as moral guides that encoded
positive values and enabled society to develop. He also calls them tribal religions, noting
how they reflect the tribal thinking that binds people. Claiming that they predate writing and
were transmitted orally, he emphasizes the importance of memory at the...