ABSTRACT
Throughout the history of Western civilization there have been many who have suggested that religious legitimation is absolutely necessary for social order. Societies are full of legitimations and rituals of all sorts, and the ones people refer to as "religious" function precisely in the same way as the so-called "non-religious" ones—there is no substantial difference between the two when it comes to the way they work. It is useful to think of a culture as a "toolbox" with a wide variety of "tools" inside. Throughout the history of Western civilization there have been many who have suggested that religious legitimation is absolutely necessary for social order. The tools in the cultural toolbox can be used to reflect and reinforce social boundaries, hierarchies, and prescribed behaviours; they can also be used to challenge and reshape these things. The naïve theory of religion supposes that practices and behaviors follow directly from beliefs, but in fact "beliefs" are often invoked secondarily.
