7.6 Theorists Flashcards
Religion and Postmodernity
Taylor
postmodern perspective covers a range of viewpoints similar to modernist
Taylor, observes that postmodernist approaches to religion include arguments that:
- ‘God is dead’ and religion is disappearing
- we are witnessing a ‘return of traditional faith’ (resacralisation)
- religion evolves and takes new forms.
Lyotard
Rejection of metanarratives has led to a decline in organised religion. Individuals are now able to choose spiritual beliefs which fit into their lifestyle.
Lyon
Technology has led to greater choice in religion- more global influences in spirituality. Individuals choose religion the way the would choose consumer products.mix between consumerism and religion such as jesus in disneyland.
Harvest day parade featured christian entertainers- contrast between traditional and postmodernism. Lyon sees this as adaptation of religion to postmodernity, moving from traditional spaces to new areas of society
Bauman
Due to secularisation the rejection of authority and control in the postmodern era has led to individualisation and people guided by their own ethics and morals as well as more choice over who to seek moral guidance from, these are the impacts of globalisation and greater diversity.
Baudrillard
Religious symbols lose much of their original meaning and power as they are adopted into the everyday (profane) world of fashion
and display.
Baudrillard explains that these symbols become simulacra: things that simulate the meaning of something that may once have had a real meaning.
Televised religious services, for example, give the appearance of participation in a real religious service. The two experiences are equally real but qualitatively different.
For Baudrillard, religious simulacra give the appearance of religiosity, but they actually reduce the meaning and substance of religion. Religion, in this respect, no longer holds a central place in people’s
everyday life or identity. Instead, religious symbols and beliefs are merely ornaments to someone’s identity.
Davie
As the Christian church loses its public functions, attendance and
practice also decline, but religion does not necessarily disappear from people’s lives but becomes confined to the private sphere. This is referred to as the privatisation of religion Davie, however, argues that
religious practice often remains important even in situations where religiosity has become confined to the private sphere. People still feel the need to make public affirmations, such as weddings and funerals, because these are important life events that require both private and public acknowledgement.
Putnam
Argues that modern societies have seen a gradual withdrawal of public participation in all areas of society, from trade unions and political parties to more local community-based groups and clubs. This suggests that the secularisation of participation is part of a general cultural transition, not one restricted to religious organisations. A decline in religious participation is, therefore, part of a general ‘process of withdrawal from the public sphere’ in postmodern societies.
Bruce
Suggests that the situation is different for minority ethnicities. In the UK, these groups have moved from a situation in which their religion was dominant and widespread to an environment in which they form a small minority whose religiosity marks them as different from the ethnic majority and the wider society they live in.
Recent immigrant groups especially find themselves in a society that is at best indifferent and at worst hostile. In such a situation, it is not surprising that Pakistani minorities, for example, look to familiar traditions, customs, values and norms, and that their religion has not been privatised and has even become more visible, through, for example, the construction of new mosques.
Religion becomes a form of cultural defence.
Paul Heelas
Points out that the New Age Movement seems to have much in common with postmodernism:
- It seems to involve de-differentiation and de-traditionalisation. De-differentiation involves a breakdown of traditional categories, such as that between high and low culture. The New Age movement seems to be doing something similar with its fusion of traditional and popular religious beliefs. The New Age Movement also rejects the authority of the established church, with its belief that spirituality is within, and that it is up to each individual to find their own path to inner truth.
- The New Age Movement accepts relativism – there are diverse paths to spiritual fulfillment, and no one authority has a monopoly on truth, which fits in with postmodernism’s rejection of metanarratives.
- The spiritual shopping approach of the New Age seems to correspond with the centrality of consumer culture to postmodern societies.
- Like postmodernism, The New Age movement is, at least to an extent, about individuality and identity, focused on individual experience.
- Finally, there is the simple fact that both postmodernism and the New Age Movement emphasise the onset of a ‘new era’.
Heelas
Despite the above apparent similarities, Heelas argues that the New Age Movement is, in fact, not postmodern:
Heelas argues that while the New Age Movement rejects ‘cultural metanarratives’ (about changing society) it still has a strong ‘experiential meta narrative at its core. New agers are united by a self-spirituality metanarrative which claims that if people just strive deeply enough, they will realise absolute truths which will will help them to improve their lives. Their metanarrative is ultimately one of a faith in a radical individualism.
Although there might be different paths to inner-wisdom, New Agers still feel themselves in a position to make value judgments about themselves and others based on these beliefs. They tend take their spiritual beliefs and practices very seriously, and distinguish them as sacred, apart form other areas of their lives. This is far from the frivolous play like attitude normally associated with postmodernism.
Finally, many New Age practices are actually quite old, rooted in ancient traditions. For example, astrology, tarot and even Buddhism and Taoism, while most psycho-therapeutic practices are rooted in modernity.
Ultimately Heelas argues that the New Age movement does not represent a clear break with the past.
Bruce
Steve Bruce points out that the New Age mostly appeals to successful, highly educated, middle class individuals, especially those working in the creative and expressive professions. The kind of individualist beliefs espoused by the New Age Movement fit in well with the world view of such individuals. The doctrine of self-generated success fits their experience of life so far, as they believe they have driven their own success through their own efforts, and New Age practices are a means of achieving even further success.
Bruce further points out that most New Age practices have been stripped of the need for any significant level of self-discipline – all that is required to develop one’s potential is to attend a weekly class, or engage in 20 minutes of yoga or meditation every day. There is no requirement to make any drastic life-changes (like many of the World Rejecting NRMs) and so this fits in well with the busy life styles which most people lead.
In short, Bruce argues that the New Age Movement fits the extremely individualistic nature of late modern societies.
Heelas
Heelas suggest four reasons why the the New Age Movement has grown in popularity in the Late Modern era:
- Modernity has given people a multiplicity of roles, many of which contradict each other, and many people as a result have fragmented identities. The New Age Movement offers people a chance to construct a coherent identity
- Consumer culture has created a ‘culture of discontent’ as people fail to find satisfaction in the products and services they consume – the New Age Movement offers an alternative way of seeking perfection, but still offering a choice.
- Rapid social changes associated with modernity lead people to seeking security.
- The decline of traditional religion has meant people have little alternative.
Cowan
Spiritual shopping involves the idea that rather than being members or believers, people are consumers who ‘shop for spirituality’.
Cowan argues that this search for personal salvation is expressed through various individual preoccupations and concerns:
- peace of mind
- positive self-image
- physical health
- personal empowerment
- enlightenment/insight.
Fraser
This type of religious consumerism is, for Fraser, one that ‘offers a language for the divine that dispenses with all the off-putting paraphernalia of priests and church; it’s about not believing in anything too specific, other than some nebulous sense of otherness or presence. It offers God without dogma’.
Yip
Summarises the contradictory nature of a secularisation debate as one that sees religion ‘in a constant state of transformation (and persistence)’. In other words, evidence for or against secularisation
depends more on how religion and religiosity is defined than on any real sense of either decline or resacralisation:
- Pro-secularisation theory takes a ‘top-down’ approach, with modern societies being prone to secularisation. Institutions become secularised, then organisational practices and, eventually, individual beliefs – although this last one often appears optional.
- Anti-secularisation theory reverses this process, with individuals being prone to religion. Religion is a cultural universal that serves a human need. While organisational and practical features may change, people remain essentially religious.
