secularisation

Question 1

How does Wilson define secularisation?

Answer 1

Decline in social significance of religious thinking, practice, and institutions

Question 2

Does religious belief support secularisation?
Give evidence

Answer 2

Yes, less people have religious beliefs
2001=15% aethiests
2021=37% aethiests

Question 3

Do institutions support secularisation?
Give evidence

Answer 3

Yes, state has taken over the Church’s control, and the decline of clergy
E.g. Church used to provide education, state does this now, even in most ‘faith schools’
Catholic priests have halfed from 1965 and 2020

Question 4

Does attendance support secularisation?
Give evidence

Answer 4

Yes
Church:
1851=40%
Now=>5%
Weddings:
1800=100%
Now=>25%

Question 5

What are the 3 reasons for secularisation?

Answer 5

Rationalisation
Disengagement
Pluralism (religious diversity)

Question 6

What is rationalisation?
What does Weber argue about this?

Answer 6

How rational ways of thinking and acting replace religious ones
The Protestant reformation started it, replacing it with a scientific outlook on modern society

Question 7

In rationalism, what does Weber argue about an ‘enchanted garden’?
What ended this?

Answer 7

That’s what Catholics saw the world as
Humans could try to influence God and spiritual beings e.g. angels by magical means e.g. spells/prayers to ensure good harvests disease

Question 8

What caused an end to the ‘enchanted garden’?

Answer 8

Disenchantment:
Protestant reformation saw God as existing beyond this world, he couldn’t intervene with issues>rationality: reason, science, technology
No need for enchanted garden

Question 9

What does Weber argue about a technological worldview?

Answer 9

Growth of tech has replaced religious explanations for why things happen e.g. when a plane crash happens, we dont think of it as Gods punishment, instead technological error

Question 10

What is a criticism of rationalisation?

Answer 10

Religious explanations can occur in circumstances with little technological help e.g. terminal illness, we pray as there’s nothing tech can do

Question 11

According to Parson’s, what is disengagement?

Answer 11

Religious functions being transferred to other institutions e.g. the state, becoming disconnected from wider society e.g. the Church loses influence it once had on education

Question 12

What is a criticism of disengagement?

Answer 12

Church isn’t fully disengaged from society e.g. ‘Church of England’ schools

Question 13

What is Pluralism (religious diversity)?

Answer 13

There are many religious organisations and interpretations of faiths, instead of 1

Question 14

In pluralism, what is the ‘sacred canopy’?

Answer 14

The European Catholic Church used to hold a ‘monopoly’ -no competition>everyone lived under a shared canopy of shared beliefs

Question 15

How did the sacred canopy change?

Answer 15

When protestant Churches broke away from the Catholic Church
Since then, the number and variety of religious organisations has grown

Question 16

What is a criticism of religious diversity?

Answer 16

They argue religion is becoming more diverse with religions…how is this desecularisation

Question 17

What are 2 examples of desecularisation?

Answer 17

1 Cross being used by non-Christians
2 Sundays

Question 18

What arguments undermine the 3 secularisation arguments?

Answer 18

Myth of ‘golden age’ of religion
Invalid statistics on Church attendence

Question 19

What does the myth of the ‘golden age’ argue?

Answer 19

People weren’t really as religious as it seemed

Question 20

One feature of the myth of the ‘golden age’ is that the attendance (40%) doesn’t reflect the majority of society
Explain

Answer 20

Church attendence:
1851=40%
Now=>5%
*We don’t know how the statistics were collected

Question 21

One feature of the myth of the ‘golden age’ is that people didn’t go to Church for religious reasons
Explain

Answer 21

Reasons people went to Church in the 1900s:
Social status, to look like MC
Employer making them go
Religious ceremonies

Question 22

What does Church attendance statistics measure?
What do they not measure?

Answer 22

Physical presence
If they’re really religious and engaging

Question 23

How do Church’s measure attendance?

Answer 23

Priests estimate attendance
Some do regular headcounts, some estimate from previous headcounts

Question 24

Why are the Church of England’s attendance stats too high?
Why are the Catholic’s Church attendance stats too low?

Answer 24

Exaggerate to stay open and prevent shutting down
Avoid paying more fees to the head office

Question 25

RELIGION RENEWAL AND CHOICE

Question 26

Why would people be attending church other than belief?

Answer 26

Social How they always grew up Belonging not believing

Question 27

What does Davie argue?

Answer 27

Religion isnt declining, its changing People now have personal choice, couldn't always do this e.g. Catholic Church used to oblidge people to attend Church Statistics on attendance aren't accurate as not everyone is counted

Question 28

What does Davie argue about 'privatised religion'?

Answer 28

Religion isnt decling, its privatised People are reluctant to belong to organisations e.g. Church, but can still be religious' -Believing without belonging'

Question 29

What is a criticism of Davie?

Answer 29

Von and Crockett oppose Davies's claim about believing than belonging, instead its 'neither believing nor belonging' They argue that evidence shows Church attendance and belief in God is declining If people aren't willing to invest time into Church=declining religious beliefs

Question 30

What does Hervieu-Leger (postmodernists) argue?

Answer 30

Decline in religion because of cultural amnesia Lack of commitment to any religious traditions, that was once passed down from generations Instead individuals make personal choices People are now consumers of religion -'spiritual shoppers'

Question 31

What does Hervieu-Leger argue about spiritual shoppers?

Answer 31

Pick and choose/mix what elements they'd wish to keep, discarding those that don't fit their lifestyle/belief This individualised approach>longstanded traditions are challenged This has had a profound impact on traditional institutions e.g. churches and temples

Question 32

What does Lyon (postmodernist) argue?

Answer 32

Jesus in Disneyland Agrees with Davie that people can believe without belonging We are moving from traditional religion to new forms Focusses on: globalisation and religion consumerism

Question 33

What does Lyon argue about globalisation?

Answer 33

Globalisation=growing interconnectedness of societies This has led to growing interconnectedness of religion, through media and technology spreading info globally

Question 34

According to Lyon, what has globalisation led to?

Answer 34

Religion becoming disembedded Shift from physical Churches to out of church e.g. online -believing not belonging Religion becomes de-institutionalised=removed from original location (Church), to new adapted places

Question 35

What do postmodernists argue about religious consumerism?

Answer 35

Identities are constructed from what we consume We no longer have to sign up to specific religious traditions as we are now 'spiritual shoppers', we consume what is attractive to us

Question 36

What is an effect of religious consumerism?

Answer 36

Loss of faith in 'meta-narratives'=views that claim to have the absolute truth (traditional religions) People now have a wide range of religion There is no longer a monopoly of the Church, they're losing their authority, but religion isn't declining, just evolving

Question 37

What are 2 critisms of Lyon's Jesus in Disneyland

Answer 37

Traditional Church is still going Can't measure how much impact the internet has on religion

Question 38

What are New Age beliefs and practices?

Answer 38

The new forms of religion and spirituality that Lyon refers to

Question 39

What are 2 features of the New Age?

Answer 39

Detraditionalisation- rejecting external authority Self-spirituality- 'individualism'=everyone is free to decide what is true e.g. spiritual shopping

Question 40

What are 3 examples of the New Age movement?

Answer 40

Crystal healing Tarot reading Yoga *Often requires spending

Question 41

What is a spiritual revolution?

Answer 41

Traditional Christianity is giving way to 'holistic spirituality' or New Age spirituality beliefs that emphasise personal development and subjective experiences

Question 42

Give evidence to the spiritual revolution

Answer 42

Increase in spiritual market shops, books, practitioners, therapies

Question 43

How does Lyon criticise secularisation theory?

Answer 43

For assuming religion is declining and being replaced by rationality Instead of disenchanchment, there is re-enchantment- growth of unconventional beliefs, practices and spirituality

Question 44

What was the Kendal project?

Answer 44

Tested spiritual revolution, investigating whether traditional religion has declined, and how spirituality is growing

Question 45

What was the 2 groups the Kendal project distinguished?

Answer 45

'Congregational domain'-traditional and evangelical (protestant) Christianity 'Holistic milieu'-spirituality and the New Age

Question 46

What did the Kendal project find?

Answer 46

Congreational domain=7.9% Holistic milieu=1.6% Spiritual revolution is happening, eventhough new age is lower, its growing, and will eventually overtake Supports self spirituality

Question 47

What is an impact of the New Age spiritual revolution?

Answer 47

Increase in evangelical churches- emphasises the importance of spiritual healing, alongside demand for discipline

Question 48

One weakness of the New Age is the problem of scale

Answer 48

There is a growth of individualism, but this needs to be on a larger scale if it wants to fill the decline of traditional institutionalised religions E.g. in Kendals study, 7.9% vs 1.6%

Question 49

One weakness of the New Age argument is with socialisation of the next generation

Answer 49

For a belief system to survive, it needs to be passed to the next generation In Kendal's study only 32% of parents who were involved in the New Age said their children shared their spiritual interests