To what extent does the work of the founding fathers inform the sociological debate about religion at the start of the twenty-first century?

Many sociologists of the twenty-first century refer to or are influenced by the work of the three founding fathers of sociology, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Their separate studies, written at different periods, have contrasting themes, however the role of religion within social life and its declining influence was a concern of all three writers. They saw religion adopting a diminishing role within society due to the penetration of rationalism into all spheres of social life. Their early contributions to the discussion of secularisation and the changes, politically and economically, within society can be seen to appear in many recent contributions to the sociological debate about religion….(short extract)