... united them. Durkheim took as an example, aboriginal society. He argued that the aborigines worshipped their society as a whole through a system of beliefs and practices in relation to specific totems. He believed that this totemism reinforced the belief that society was more important than the individual. This attitude of respect and reverence to sacred objects and duties was transferable to social duties and obligations. He also argued that "If the totem is at once the symbol of God and society, is that not because the God and society are only one?" Therefore he suggested that through worshipping a god, people are also worshipping society. However, critics of Durkheim argued that not only had he studied a very limited number of aboriginal groups, he did not get a broad enough spectrum to be able to make informed generalisations. Also it was argued by Hamilton, writing in 1995, that Durkheim ...

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