ABSTRACT
Institutions are given prominence in this account of religion. They are considered central as networks of norms, rules and values. Institutions build on human intentionality and the functions of language in creating the social world. Social and religious institutions may be so common that they go unnoticed, but their ubiquity becomes discernible in the analyses of classification systems and cosmologies. Institutions have powerful functions in cognitive governance and in emotion regulation. On the collective and social levels, institutions function significantly in matters of authority, economy and power. The issues of individual and collective religious identity are also constituted and regulated through institutions. Morality and ethics practices are mediated through institutions. Routinely, religious ethics and morality are considered rooted in religious dogma but here religious articulations of morality and ethics are seen as evolving from human moral psychological dispositions. Religious purity systems are complex sets of institutions that ascertain the ubiquity and importance of institutions.
