Arguments in favour of secularisation 2 Flashcards
Church membership and attendance have declined in society
Church attendance is also in general decline. By using the English Church Census to track Church attendances over 150 years, Brierley shows that there has been a decline in attendance over this period from a high of about 40% of the adult population in the 1850’s to a low of 6.5% in 2015. (Dr Peter Brierley, Religious Trends).
Peter Brierley, the leading expert on church attendance in Britain, suggests that Christian life will be all but dead in 40 years with less than 0.5% of the population attending a church service. He said the decline in church attendance will also be marked by a general decline in the basic beliefs of Christianity.
These statistics showing the decline of religion in society are also backed up by the national Census results of 2011. Census results show a sharp decline in the number of people in England and Wales identifying themselves as Christian; this fell to 59% in 2011, from 72% in 2001. Secularists say this is a sign of the religion’s weakening influence in society.
The secular trend is confirmed by the significant increase in the percentage of people describing themselves as having ‘no religion’ from 15% to 25% over the same period.
Church membership and attendance have declined in society a03
Moreover, people can be religious without church membership and attendance, they may simply choose to express their convictions in different ways. Martin’s point here is that it is not possible to reliably infer the extent of people’s religious belief from statistics about religious practice.
This supports Grace Davie’s point that in today’s postmodern age, people are likely to have amore privatised belief and not publically show or declare their religiosity; they have “belief without belonging”.
Ethnic minorities will not reverse the process of secularisation
dismiss the increase of ethnic minority religious practice as a temporary phenomenon and they claim immigrants will eventually lose
Ethnic minorities may use religion as a form of cultural defence in response to feelings of persecution and marginalisation in society. In this respect, one of the functions for religion might be as a focus for the retention of some form of common identity and values, rather than it being an indication of greater religiosity.
Moreover, the ethnic group that has shown the greatest decline in religious participation over the past 50 years, the Jewish community, is also the immigrant group that has been resident in British society the longest. This indicates that as minorities settle into a country they lose the need to ‘hang on’ to their religion for purposes of cultural transition.
Bruce argues that as ethnic minorities become increasingly involved in the social life of a country, the strength of their religious faith starts to decline. He quotes a 2009 survey which found that only 10% of Muslims in Western Europe prayed 5 times a day.
Ethnic minorities will not reverse the process of secularisation A03
Census results from 2011 show that all the major religions have received a boost from immigration into the UK. For example, over 1 million Christians have entered the UK since 2011, with the largest number coming from Poland. Most British Hindus are born overseas and Islam in the fastest growing religion in the country.
For most people the practice of religion is no longer part of the socialisation process
Wilson says there has been a decline in traditional values which once stressed that going to church was necessary in order to be seen as respectable in society.
Nowadays, people can declare themselves atheist without any unfavourable public reaction. In fact, the reverse may often happen with people being surprised by those who are deeply religious in society.
This change in attitude means that children no longer experience religion as part of their primary socialisation. Children are less likely to ‘inherit’ a religious identity or to have an ‘involuntary’ religious membership in baptism. Parents bring their children up to think of material values far more than the spiritual side of life. This means that future generations will have little experience of religion in their life.
For most people the practice of religion is no longer part of the socialisation process
Parsons argues that religious values have impacted on everyone as they have become embedded in the “overall moral framework” of society. The values that were originally created through religious teachings, such as it being wrong to commit adultery and to steal, have come to serve as a “design for living” and they provide a general moral framework for behaviour.
