ABSTRACT
Religion, belief, spirituality, faith or the lack of all the above – and many other ways in which people self-identify – are integral aspects of life. Such identities have, for centuries, offered the basis for shared values, norms, beliefs and collective mentalities which all lead not only to the formation but the advancement of societies. Sociology has best taught us this lesson (e.g., Scott, 2006), and if we pay close attention to the work of Auguste Compte's (Comte, 1855), one of the pronounced fathers of sociology from the 19th century, we will quickly realise that the focus on these characteristics is not only essential but inevitable. Expressly, Compte (1855) argued that humans differ from other animals on the basis of collective being, which is the product of linguistics. It is only with language, signs, symbols and the meaning attached to them that societies come together and are sustained. In other words, religion, belief and spirituality are a rich source of linguistics and meaning: associated factors in contemporary societies and individual consciousness.
