Religion and Postmodernism Flashcards
(10 cards)
The decline of traditional religions
Modernist society was dominated by meta narratives which are grand holistic explanations of the world provided by traditional religions like Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. In post modernity with the rise of info and globalisation people are exposed to alternative belief systems
Spread of NRMS
Consumption
Hybridity
Identity
Globalisation
Spiritual supermarket
Lyon - disneyfication
EVALUATION of postmodernism
Strengths
- up to date
WEAKNESS
- meta narratives still exist - Bruce
- limited choice - Bruce
- over generalised
- fundamentalism has always existed
What is Consumption
Sociologists suggest that religion is a spiritual supermarket and has become a commodity. The religion you consume says something about who you are. Hervieu-Leger suggests we are spiritual shoppers and that individuals choose different aspects of religions to consume from a global spiritual supermarket
What is hybridity
Postmodernists would suggest that exposure to a white variety of different cultures and an overall global culture would affect religion. The features of old religions or even non religious ideas have combined in the creation of new religion eg Scientology is a hybrid of scientific spiritual and psychodynamic ideas
What is disneyfication
Lyon argues that religion is going through disneyfication - using mass marketing, a range of global media including film, TV, music and websites to sell products, and in this case the product is religion this means that people people will shop around and select the best religion for their personal beliefs
What are pilgrims and converts
Undertaking spiritual journeys according to Hervieu-Leger. They want to find a deeper connection and have the freedom to find their own spirituality in their own time. Converts are looking to adopt a set of beliefs long term and may do this by joining certain NRMs such as a sect or cult
What is cultural amnesia
An example of cultural amnesia can be seen with Catholicism. Fewer catholic parents in France feel a duty to socialise their children into the catholic faith because they believe they should raise their children to make up their own mind so religious faith is no longer an inherited culture. Secularisation could therefore be said to be caused by cultural amnesia
Religion and technology - TV Evangelism (USA)
The growth of individuals who engage in religion by watching TV or going online instead of attending church can be demonstrated via the growth of tv evangelism in the UsA over the years with 20 million people estimated to be watching these programmes every week. Example in Keeping up with the Kardashians as they are a global brand with huge influences so they make a big deal of their religious beliefs and openly talk about God as they know they need to demonstrate their religiosity or the rest of America to gain their support
Globalisation- Bloom
Bloom believes that globalisation has contributed to the declining levels of religious freedoms across the world. Many countries are interfering with worship or other religious practices in order to protect them from a perceived threat to existing traditions and values through exposure to new religious beliefs. This has led to restrictions on religious activities of minority groups
