The basis of all religions is split into two parts--people sharing a common belief, and people preforming "rituals" based upon that belief. Every religion makes some distinction between that which is "sacred" and that which is "profane". When around an object, or person that is sacred, religious people will act in a certain way, a ritualistic way, which is to say they will not act in the same fashion they would around an ordinary person, or object. A Catholic person, will, for instance, bow his head as he approaches a crucifix. He will show deference to the object. Yet, if he passes an ordinary sign on the street that happens to be in the shape of a cross, he will not act differently. At the same time, any person who does not believe in Catholicism will not show deference to a cross-shaped object, whether it be a crucifix or not--he will not participate in the ritual.
Anything that is not considered sacred, then, or the profane, is any object that one does not show deference to. If one is walking down the street, he is not going to stop and do a jig around a street sign (or if he does, he probably needs help) because it is not part of his beliefs. It is ordinary. It is mundane.
No matter what religion a person prescribes to (or even none at all), he or she still makes the distinction as to whether something is sacred or profane, and acts accordingly. This is the basis of religion.
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Ok job. You use the concepts in the book, but still leave the distinction between sacred and profane up to the individual and not up to the society, and this is just wrong. Such decisions are never made by the individual, though, the individual can opt out of one system of symbolic ordering, only to reside in another.
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