Both alienation and anomie have been brought up as a basis of studying the fundamental relationship underlying religion. As a comparison therefore, they are basic fundamental conceptions which study the relationship between people and their morals and values. However, they both depict frontiers of contrast.
Ideally, development of alienation was by Kart Marx while anomie was by Emile Durkheim.However, their development was never a direct influence in the study of religion. Indeed, the disciplines were imagined in a course activity of exploiting various sociological fundamentals. Ideally, sociological theories of Karl Marx pinpoint the capitalistic view of markets within the economy. However, theoretical developments by Durkheim were to mitigate the capitalism autonomy and argument by Marx to a more socialist understanding.To Durkhem, the state of anomie within religious perspective was to provide a progressive shield from the effects of social inequalities.
Accordingly, anomie was to deteriorate the state of various sets of moral restraints whose occurrence was in the societal industries from the inequalities and lack of equity in the market labor division. Basically, this was when the results of such division failed in producing solidarity in the social context within the industrial labor.Elsewhere, this was also depicted by the failure of equity within various social restraints hence failing to strike a balance in the interest of social wants.Though religion was used to stop the impact of anomie, too much of religious sacrifice upheld the state of personal retainment.
Sale of labor was to alienate oneself of his/her produce and to the general human population. Instinctively, Durkheim was alleged more on religion as a basic tool of safeguarding the interest of the society through the creation of and imposition of various societal values and moral obligations. To him anomie was a tool for studying the state of cohesion within the society. (Berry, 1999, 72)However unlike Durkheim, Marx was opposed to the role of religion in setting social standards within the societal population. Accordingly, Marx believed on the importance and values of the human beings in being free from any social constraints.To his basic interest, Marx was more vigilant in philosophizing on the impacts of change and the role of power within the society.
According to him, social control was legitimate in providing alienation within the society hence therefore striking a state of balance and stability from the state of changes and power brought about by legitimate social controls.From a close perspective, their attack and arguments was based on the principles of establishing the fundamentals of moral values as well as obligations within the society. Though the argumentative analysis was based on the rationale of social values and the state of morals, both depicted various distinctive oppositions in the societal role modeling.
