VIRB

One of the most influential sociologists to have written about religion would be Peter Berger somewhere in the 60's. One of his classics would be the 'The Golden Canopy' in which he speaks about religion being an intrinsically human construct. Through the processes of externalisation, objectivation and internalisation humans give meaning to their surroundings thus making it comprehensible. The fear of this chaotic reality humans are thrown into makes them construct structures to cope with and influence their surroundings.

Most of the time religion is something that isn't transparent where people feel themselves being submerged and surrounded by this structure they take for granted. The meaning system they live in makes sense and there is little reason to question its validity. But Berger speaks of the possibility for people to be alienated when they 'forget' the human source of religion. The Golden Canopy is man-made but people can lose track of their influence and control over religion (seeing they are the source of it) when they ascribe it to something outside of themselves. It becomes a reality by itself without the link to the aforementioned process of externalisation and objectivation. The structures imposed on reality by man are thus being perceived as part of reality which should be internalized as a given.