2.1.4 Beliefs in society: Religion, Renewal and choice Flashcards
New forms of religion
What does Davie argue about church attendance?
- declining due to religion becoming more privatised.
- ‘believing without belonging’
- people no longer feel obligated to go to church, but can choose to.
New forms of religion
What does Davie identify as a new form of religion?
- ‘vicarious religion’ - where an active minority practice religion on the behalf of a wider, less active majority.
New forms of religion
What does Davie compare the modern view of church to?
- The NHS
- Davie calls church the ‘Spiritual Health Service’ as it is available for use when people need it. e.g funerals, weddings…
New forms of religion
Why does Davie reject secularisation theory?
(Multiple modernities)
- Believes there are ‘multiple modernities’
- modernisation affects every society in different ways, creating different patterns of religion
New forms of religion
What does Hervieu-Leger mean by ‘cultural amnesia’?
- a loss of collective memory.
- People have lost the religion that used to be handed down from generation to generation.
New forms of religion
How does Hervieu-Leger believe that religion continues through individual consumerism?
- People have become ‘spiritual shoppers’ who have a ‘do it yourself’ attitude to religion.
New forms of religion
What are the two religious types that Hervieu-Leger identifies?
- 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
New forms of religion
What feature of postmodern society does Lyon focus on impacting religion?
- globalisation
New forms of religion
What does Lyon identify as the general trend of religion?
- Traditional religion is giving way to new religious forms, such as the New Age.
New forms of religion
What are the two types of internet religion according to Lyon?
- 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.
New forms of religion
What has been the impact of globalisation on religion according to Lyon?
- increased movement of ideas across national boundaries.
- Religion has been de-institutionalised as they occupy online space.
New forms of religion
How does Lyon see religion as being located into the ‘sphere of consumption’?
- People have become religious consumers / ‘spiritual shoppers’ who ‘pick and mix’ their religious beliefs.
New forms of religion
What are the two types of religion identified by Heelas and Woodhead?
- The congregational domain of traditional and evangelical christian churches.
- The holistic milieu of spirituality and the New Age.
New forms of religion
What are the three main trends identified by Heelas and Woodhead?
- 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.
- Evangelical churches being more sucessful than traditional churches as they emphasise more subjective aspects e.g spiritual healing.
- In the spiritual marketplace, the winners are those who appeal to peronal experiences as the source of meaning rather than teaching or commands.
New forms of religion
In what way is the ‘spiritual market’ growing?
- the huge number of books around self-help and spirituality and many ‘therapies’ from meditation to crystal healing.
New forms of religion
What are the weaknesses of the New Age?
(and theorist)
(4)
- 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.
New forms of religion
How does Bruce criticise Davie’s theory of believing without belonging?
He argues that if people are not willing to invest time in going to church then it reflects a declining strength in their beliefs.
Religious Market theory
Who are the theorists who created religious market theory?
Stark and Bainbridge
Religious Market theory
What is religious market theory also known as?
Rational choice theory
Religious Market theory
What do Stark and Bainbridge criticise secularisation theory on?
(2)
- 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.
Religious Market theory
What are the two assumptions that Stark and Bainbridge’s religious market theory is based on?
- 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)
Religious Market theory
How is religion attractive by providing compensators?
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.
Religious Market theory
What is the cycle of renewal by Stark and Bainbridge?
- 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.
Religious Market theory
How do religious market theorists take an opposite view to secularisation theorists on religious diversity?
- 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.
Religious Market theory
Why do S&B believe religion thrives in America?
- Because they have a high religious diversity so lots of competition
- Never been religion monopoly.
- Healthy religion market
Religious Market theory
Why do S&B believe in ‘supply not demand’?
- 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.
Religious Market theory
What do Hadden and Shupe argue ‘televangelism’ in America shows?
- The growth of ‘televangelism’ in America shows that religious participation is supply led.
- It opens up competition in which evangelical churches thrive.
Religious Market theory
How does Bruce criticise Religious Market theory?
(2 arguments)
- 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.
Religious Market theory
How does Norris and Inglehart’s study of Venezuela contradict religious market theory?
- 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.
Religious Market theory
How does Beckford (icon) criticise religious market theory?
- 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.
Existential Security theory
What is Norris and Inglehart’s existential security theory?
- 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’
Existential Security theory
How does existential security theory fit in poor and rich societies?
- 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.
Existential Security theory
How do Norris and Inglehart explain America’s high levels of religiousity as a rich country?
- 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.
Existential Security theory
How do Gill and Lundegaarde support Norris and Inglehart’s existential security theory?
Found that the more a country spends on welfare, the lower the level of religious participation.
Existential Security theory
How does Vasquez criticise existential security theory?
- 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.
New forms of religion
What’s the difference between religion and spirituality?
- Religion emphasises conforming to church authority and self-sacrifice whereas spirituality focuses on personal development, autonomy, and connecting to you inner self.
