2.1.4 Beliefs in society: Religion, Renewal and choice

Question 1

New forms of religion

What does Davie argue about church attendance?

Answer 1

• declining due to religion becoming more privatised.
• ‘believing without belonging’
• people no longer feel obligated to go to church, but can choose to.

Question 2

New forms of religion

What does Davie identify as a new form of religion?

Answer 2

• ‘vicarious religion’ - where an active minority practice religion on the behalf of a wider, less active majority.

Question 3

New forms of religion

What does Davie compare the modern view of church to?

Answer 3

• The NHS
• Davie calls church the ‘Spiritual Health Service’ as it is available for use when people need it. e.g funerals, weddings…

Question 4

New forms of religion

Why does Davie reject secularisation theory?

(Multiple modernities)

Answer 4

• Believes there are ‘multiple modernities’
• modernisation affects every society in different ways, creating different patterns of religion

Question 5

New forms of religion

What does Hervieu-Leger mean by ‘cultural amnesia’?

Answer 5

• a loss of collective memory.
• People have lost the religion that used to be handed down from generation to generation.

Question 6

New forms of religion

How does Hervieu-Leger believe that religion continues through individual consumerism?

Answer 6

• People have become ‘spiritual shoppers’ who have a ‘do it yourself’ attitude to religion.

Question 7

New forms of religion

What are the two religious types that Hervieu-Leger identifies?

Answer 7

• Pilgrims - following an individual path in a search for self-discovery. E.g New Age.
• Converts - join religious groups that offer a strong sense of community and belonging

Question 8

New forms of religion

What feature of postmodern society does Lyon focus on impacting religion?

Answer 8

• globalisation

Question 9

New forms of religion

What does Lyon identify as the general trend of religion?

Answer 9

• Traditional religion is giving way to new religious forms, such as the New Age.

Question 10

New forms of religion

What are the two types of internet religion according to Lyon?

Answer 10

• Religion online - a form of top down communication where a religious group uses the internet to reach its members.
• Online religion - a form of ‘cyber religion’ that doesn’t exist outside of the internet where many communicate to many, creating a sense of community.

Question 11

New forms of religion

What has been the impact of globalisation on religion according to Lyon?

Answer 11

• increased movement of ideas across national boundaries.
• Religion has been de-institutionalised as they occupy online space.

Question 12

New forms of religion

How does Lyon see religion as being located into the ‘sphere of consumption’?

Answer 12

• People have become religious consumers / ‘spiritual shoppers’ who ‘pick and mix’ their religious beliefs.

Question 13

New forms of religion

What are the two types of religion identified by Heelas and Woodhead?

Answer 13

• The congregational domain of traditional and evangelical christian churches.
• The holistic milieu of spirituality and the New Age.

Question 14

New forms of religion

What are the three main trends identified by Heelas and Woodhead?

Answer 14

1. New Age spirituality has grown due to a shift in society’s culture to explore inner self, leading to a decline in traditional churches promoting obediance.
2. Evangelical churches being more sucessful than traditional churches as they emphasise more subjective aspects e.g spiritual healing.
3. In the spiritual marketplace, the winners are those who appeal to peronal experiences as the source of meaning rather than teaching or commands.

Question 15

New forms of religion

In what way is the ‘spiritual market’ growing?

Answer 15

• the huge number of books around self-help and spirituality and many ‘therapies’ from meditation to crystal healing.

Question 16

New forms of religion

What are the weaknesses of the New Age?

(and theorist)

(4)

Answer 16

• Bruce argues that the New Age is too weak to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional religions.
• It has weak commitment
• Weak socialisation as very few people pass it along generations.
• Structural weakness - New Age spirituality is a form of secularisation because of its individualism.

Question 17

New forms of religion

How does Bruce criticise Davie’s theory of believing without belonging?

Answer 17

He argues that if people are not willing to invest time in going to church then it reflects a declining strength in their beliefs.

Question 18

Religious Market theory

Who are the theorists who created religious market theory?

Answer 18

Stark and Bainbridge

Question 19

Religious Market theory

What is religious market theory also known as?

Answer 19

Rational choice theory

Question 20

Religious Market theory

What do Stark and Bainbridge criticise secularisation theory on?

(2)

Answer 20

• criticises it for being eurocentric (focuses on the decline of religion in Europe and fails to explain its continuing vitality elsewhere.
• It has a distorted view of past and future - no ‘golden age’ of religion and no future where everyone is athiest.

Question 21

Religious Market theory

What are the two assumptions that Stark and Bainbridge’s religious market theory is based on?

Answer 21

• People are naturally religious so the demand for religion remains constant.
• It is human nature to weigh up the costs and benefits of choices - seek rewards and avoid costs (rational choice)

Question 22

Religious Market theory

How is religion attractive by providing compensators?

Answer 22

Stark and Bainbridge argue that religion is attractive by providing compensators when real rewards are unobtainable. Religion compensates by promising the supernatural. E.g immortality is unobtainable but religion compensates by promising life after death.

Question 23

Religious Market theory

What is the cycle of renewal by Stark and Bainbridge?

Answer 23

• In contrast to secularisation theory, Stark and Bainbridge see religion as in a cycle of renewal.
• This cycle consists of religious decline, revival, and renewal.

Question 24

Religious Market theory

How do religious market theorists take an opposite view to secularisation theorists on religious diversity?

Answer 24

• S&B argue that religious diversity creates competition where churches operate like companies selling goods in a market, which leads to improvements in the religious ‘goods’ on offer.
• Churches strive to make their product attractive, getting more customers.

Question 25

Religious Market theory

Why do S&B believe religion thrives in America?

Answer 25

• Because they have a high religious diversity so lots of competition
• Never been religion monopoly.
• Healthy religion market

Question 26

Religious Market theory

Why do S&B believe in ‘supply not demand’?

Answer 26

• The demand for religion increases when there are different sorts to choose from, because consumers find one that can meet their needs.
• Participation increases when there is an ample supply of religious groups to choose from, but declines when supply is restricted.

Question 27

Religious Market theory

What do Hadden and Shupe argue ‘televangelism’ in America shows?

Answer 27

• The growth of ‘televangelism’ in America shows that religious participation is supply led.
• It opens up competition in which evangelical churches thrive.

Question 28

Religious Market theory

How does Bruce criticise Religious Market theory?

(2 arguments)

Answer 28

• Argues that religious diversity leads to a decline in religion
• Shown in both Europe and America
• Argues that S&B misinterpret secularisation theory which does not claim there was a golden age, nor that everyone will become athiests, but that religion is in a long term decline.

Question 29

Religious Market theory

How does Norris and Inglehart’s study of Venezuela contradict religious market theory?

Answer 29

• In Venezuela, there is a catholic monopoly with high levels of religious participation.
• This contrasts areas with high religious pluralism, such as Australia, which has lower levels of religious participation.

Question 30

Religious Market theory

How does Beckford (icon) criticise religious market theory?

Answer 30

• Argues that religious market theory is unsociological because it assumes that people are ‘naturally’ religious and fails to explain whu people make the choices they do.

Question 31

Existential Security theory

What is Norris and Inglehart’s existential security theory?

Answer 31

• Argues that the reason for variations in religiousity between societies is different degrees of existential security.
• This means the ‘feeling that survival is secure enough that it can be taken for granted’

Question 32

Existential Security theory

How does existential security theory fit in poor and rich societies?

Answer 32

• Poor societies: people face life threatening risks such as famine, disease, and environmental disasters so have high levels of insecurity and high levels of religiousity.
• Rich societies: poor people who live in rich societies are more religious then the rich in those societies.
• Rich people often have lower levels of religiousity.

Question 33

Existential Security theory

How do Norris and Inglehart explain America’s high levels of religiousity as a rich country?

Answer 33

• They are the most unequal of the rich countries, with an inadequate welfare safety-net and ‘dog-eat-dog’ values.
• This creates lots of poverty and insecurity.

Question 34

Existential Security theory

How do Gill and Lundegaarde support Norris and Inglehart’s existential security theory?

Answer 34

Found that the more a country spends on welfare, the lower the level of religious participation.

Question 35

Existential Security theory

How does Vasquez criticise existential security theory?

Answer 35

• Norris and Inglehart use quantitative data about income levels but Vasquez argues that qualitative data would be needed to understand people’s ‘why’.
• Criticise N&I for only seeing religion as a negative response to deprivation and ignoring the positive reasons people have for religious participation.