Magic Scie?ice and Religion 63 



3, Social and Individual Contributions m Pt imitive Religion 



We are forced therefore to the conclusion that publicity is the 

 indispensable technique of religious revelation in primitive com- 

 munities, but that society is neither the author of religious truths, 

 nor still less its self-revealed subject. The necessity of the public 

 mise en scene of dogma and collective enunciation of moral truths 

 is due to several causes. Let us sum them up. 



First of all, social co-operation is needed to surround the 

 unveiling of things sacred and of supernatural beings with solemn 

 grandeur. The community whole-heartedly engaged in per- 

 forming the forms of the ritual creates the atmosphere of homo- 

 geneous belief. In this collective action, those who at the moment 

 least need the comfort of belief, the affirmation of the truth, help 

 along those who are in need of it. The evil, disintegrating forces 

 of destiny are thus distributed by a system of mutual insurance in 

 spiritual misfortune and stress. In bereavement, at the crisis of 

 puberty, during impending danger and evil, at times when prosperity 

 might be used well or badly — -religion standardises the right way 

 of thinking and acting and society takes up the verdict and repeats 

 it in unison. 



In the second place, public performance of religious dogma is 

 indispensable for the maintenance of morals in primitive com- 

 munities. Every article of faith, as we have seen, wields a moral 

 influence. Now morals, in order to be active at all, must be uni- 

 versal. The endurance of social ties, the mutuality of services and 

 obligations, the possibility of co-operation, are based in any society 

 on the fact that every member knows what is expected of him ; 

 that, in short, there is a universal standard of conduct. No rule of 

 morals can work unless it is anticipated and unless it can be counted 

 upon. In primitive societies, where law, as enforced by judge- 

 ments and penalties, is almost completely absent, the automatic, 

 self-acting moral rule is of the greatest importance for forming the 

 very foundations of primitive organisation and culture. This is 

 possible only in a society where there is no private teaching of 

 morals, no personal codes of conduct and honour, no ethical 

 schools, no differences of moral opinion. The teaching of 

 morals must be open, public, and universal. 



Thirdly and finally, the transmission and the conservation of 

 sacred tradition entails publicity, or at least collectiveness of 



