Secularism

Question 1

Jose Casanova identifies 3 ways in which people talk about secularisation

Answer 1

1 The decline of belief and practice in modern society some suggest this is a normal universal, human development process
2 The privatization of religion… where religion should be private and should not be seen in public
3 The secular separation of spheres of state, economy, science, which are free from a religious institution

Question 2

Pragmatic secularism

Answer 2

All religious views should be excluded from public institutions such as government, schools, and public events

Question 3

Procedural secularism

Answer 3

Should not give preference to religion but treat it equally along with all other institutions

Question 4

The secularisation thesis

Answer 4

The thesis that religion will progressively decline as democracy and technology advances

Question 5

The secularisation thesis is controversial because:

Answer 5

1 Difficult to measure and define the ways people are told to become less religious
2 In some countries UK, Italy, Spain- religious institutions have authority and influence over the population
3 It is difficult to measure the level of religious commitment only from church attendance

Question 6

Freud on religion:
1
2
3

Answer 6

1 Form of neurosis, both obsessive-compulsive disorders, and religious rituals are concerned with: purity, guilt, and repetition
2 Religious rituals and obsessive actions stem from an inner feeling of disorder and anxiety
3 Much of Freud’s research has been deemed unscientific

Question 7

Freud on religion 
4
5
6
7
8

Answer 7

4 Religion is a mass delusion
5 Religion is a product of wish fulfillment
6 Religion represses human desires
7 Religion provides information that is highly craved
8 Religion- infantile fears

Question 8

Humanism

Answer 8

Is an umbrella term to describe people who believe that humans can live good and noble lives without the need for religion

Question 9

Charles Taylor and subtraction stories
1
2
3

Answer 9

1 Too much importance to the individual and to his or her private experience. This is negative because it breaks down the communal aspect of society
2 Lack of belief in God is a place in western history. For the majority of the past, all over the world people have seen the divine as an essential part of life
3 Until we steer ourselves out of this secular phase of history, we will never be able to experience the fullness of life

Question 10

Terry Eagleton

Answer 10

Surrogates for God

Question 11

Secularism

Answer 11

The idea that religious beliefs and institutions should not affect how the state is run; all belief systems are equal in the eyes of the law

Question 12

Secular

Answer 12

Worldly or non-religious

Question 13

Secularisation

Answer 13

The process of making society more secular by removing the influence of religious institutions

Question 14

Dawkins thinks that religious belief is problematic for society

Answer 14

It causes war and conflict
It holds back children - it is a form of child abuse because parents label their children before they can think for themselves

Question 15

what percentage of relgious schools are there in the UK ?

Answer 15

33.3% or 1/3

Question 16

Dawkins Main ideas

Answer 16

He thinks that life should be meaningful without reference to religion

The human need for God is childlike and an adult should be able to find meaning in life from other sources than religion

Religion is repressive and is something that everyone needs to escape from.

Religion narrows our view of the world, while science widens it

Religion dims our view of the world and causes conflict

Religion indoctrinates children and can be harmful to them

Question 17

SOWA in support of Dawkins

Answer 17

Nicholas Humphry’s Amnesty lecture 1997:
“In short, children have a right not to have their mind addled by nonsense, and we, as a society have a duty to prevent them from it”

Question 18

Freud quotation

Answer 18

“Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires”

“When a man is freed of religion, he has a better chance to live a normal and wholesome life”

Question 19

Jo Marchant- benefits of religion

Answer 19

• Jo Marchant, a science journalist, suggests there are positive medical and psychological benefits arising from some beliefs.
• In Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body (2016), she does not seek to defend religion but explores how a range of practices and beliefs (including social gatherings, belief in a loving God, time of prayerful stillness and silence, and being part of something bigger) bring about physiologically measurable benefits to the participants.
• For example, she cites a scientist who studied loneliness and found that social connections and a belief in the transcendent were important features for living happier and longer lives.
• Anything you can do to reduce stress, improve social relations and meaningful activities, all of these things are going to help combat illness but don’t rely on them alone, they need to be used with conventional approaches as well.
• We learn to associate certain environments and psychological approaches with certain physiological responses for things like digestion, digestion and the immune system.

Question 20

Christianity in the UK:

Answer 20

The head of state (The queen) is the head of the church of England

Most oaths are taken in court over the Christian bible or alternative sacred texts

The study of the bible in schools, outstanding merit and influence it has had on the arts, music and language for centuries

National holidays are linked to Christian festivals at Easter and Christmas

The nation’s flag has a Christian cross at its centre

Question 21

Christianity in the UK

No

Answer 21

The cultural changes that have taken place as a result of migration and religious pluralism in recent decades mean that Christianity is no longer the sole, or even dominant, influence on our culture and values