Functionalists believe that religion is beneficial for both society as a whole and its individual members, this is because it unifies society and creates consensus, which in turn gives each individual member a source of support when they need it. However some theorists disagree with the functionalist ideology.

Firstly, functionalist claim religion benefits society in a number of ways, it creates a sense of social solidarity, meaning a shared sense of identity, history, norms and values (a collective conscience). This is supported by item A, ‘religion's contribution to value consensus and social integration’. Functionalist explain that if all of a society's members are part of the same religion then they all share the same belief system, resulting in consensus between all of its members. The religious institution will teach its members the norms and values of the society they are in and the collective worship will bind societies members closer together, for example, people in Muslim countries who are part of the faith of Islam, understand it is normal to stop and pray 5 times a day and also that no-one should work on Friday however people in Christian countries understand the day of rest to be Sunday. Functionalist therefore claim members of a society have a collective conscience, they think in the same way, due to their shared norms and values.

Functionalists also believe that religion unifies people; the functionalist Emile Durkheim studied an aboriginal tribe the Arunta. He explains how the collective worship of the sacred totem by the Arunta united society into a single moral community. As their totem is sacred, it inspires feelings of wonder and awe due to the fact it is different to every other normal, profane item. Their totem is a symbol that makes them different to other clans so in effect it is like they are worshipping a symbol of their society even