Secularisation Flashcards
what is it?
-decline in the importance of religion
-wilson= it is the process in which religious institutions, practices and beliefs lose social significance
wilson’s 3 aspects of secularisation:
-religious beliefs= influence of religion on ppls beliefs/ values e.g. whether they believe in God etc
-relig practice= things ppl do to carry out their relig commitment e.g. the extent they take part in worship
-relig institutions= the extent which they have maintained social influence in wider society
Definitions of religions
-exclusive/ inclusive
-the broader it is defined the less likely it’s to be seen to be in decline as smth will fit it
-important bc secularisation may be diff in diff societies
measuring secularisation (problems)
-church attendance:
>over/under estimates participation
-diff definitions of membership
-unverifiable historical data/ no records
-opinion poll:
>abstract ‘belief’ is problematic
>meaning etc vary
-difficult to see how beliefs influence behaviour
Marx view
-secularisation caused by communism and there’ll be a complete disappearance of religion bc it’ll no longer be needed
Durkheim view
Industrialisation has led to decline of mechanical solidarity and increase in organic solidarity. There’d be a reduction in importance of religion for shared beliefs and integration. Education would take its place, religion less functionally important
Weber views
Rationalism would cause secularisation. Development of science, importance of bureaucracy and rationality. They’d be an increase of importance of knowledge based on evidence
Decline of relig practice (arguments for secularisation)
-1851= 40% of pop attended church vs 6.3% in 2005
-Wilson (NR) looks at decline in church marriages and rising divorce rates as evidence
-ETV= interpretivists argue historical stats may be unreliable bc no sophisticated data collection. Bellah= those that attend may not be religious and religion is private
Disengagement (arguments for secularisation)
-Wilson= church is no longer socially involved I.e. politics. Ppl are likely to take direction from media and we only use religion to ‘hatch, match, dispatch’
-etv= religion is a provider for welfare for poor and Parsons argue that disengagement is a good thibg so church can focus on their central role
Disenchantment (arguments for secularisation)
-Weber= increase in rationalisation has reduced religious ways of thinking which enables science to thrive and tech allows us to control nature so don’t see things as will of god
-etv= belief in science also depends on irrational faith. Ppl accept science without question. Lyon argues that spirituality has increased in past decades
Tech/ science (arguments for secularisation)
-Bruce= tech worldview has replaced religious explanations e.g. plane crash. Science has reduced scope for relig explanations
-ETV= relig explanations survive in areas where tech/ science are less effective. E.g. pray where science has no cure
Disneyfication- postmodernism (arguments for secularisation)
-Lyon= religion has been changed. It’s forced to package itself differently I.e. televangelism in order to compete with others
-disneyfication= diminishes human life by trivialising it. This has happened to religion bc it’s now for sale in the ‘spiritual supermarket’ in diff variations of same product
-etv= growth of electronic church is evidence against secularisation but doesn’t attract new believers. Bruce argues that this is weak religion
secularisation from within (arguments for secularisation)
-Bruce= the emphasis on traditional Christian beliefs has declined and American religion has been ‘psychologised’ or turned into a type of therapy.
- American religion has become less religious to remain popular. The purpose of American religion has changed from seeking salvation in heaven to seeking personal improvement in this world.
-etv= Roof & McKinney= that Bruce has ignored the growth of conservative Protestantism which inc a refusal to compromise religious beliefs. Therefore, they seem to directly contradict Bruce’s claims about secularisation within religious institutions.
The decline of metanarratives and the rise of ‘spiritual shopping’ - Postmodernism (arguments for secularisation)
-lyotard=metanarratives like religion have lost their power to influence how people think.
-Hervieu-Leger= decline in religion is caused by ‘cultural amnesia’ where religion is no longer passed down. Social equality also undermined power so young ppl don’t have fixed religious identity
-ETV= consumerism replaced collective worship as ppl now act as ‘spiritual shoppers’ where religion is individualised. But religion still has roots in culture etc
Resacrilisation (arguments against secularisation)
-Heelas= Kendal project there’s a process of resacrilisation – a renewal and continuing vitality of religious beliefs - as people shift from traditional religions to a more individualistic spirituality centred on the self. Religious belief is reorientated where ppl ‘pick and mix’ and decide what works for them.
-ETV= Glendinning and Bruce pointed out that fewer than one in fifty people in and around the area of Kendal were engaged in ‘New Age’ activities in a typical week, and fewer than half of them saw them as spiritual activities.
