belief in society topic 3

Question 1

secularisation is happening : Wilson (5)

2 evaluation

Answer 1

1) There has been a decline in number of people going church

2) Sunday school has rapidly declined

3) baptism of older children are increasing. however these are bogus baptism - parents have their children baptised because many top schools are faith schools and they only admit children who have been baptised. this shows they are being baptised not because of religion but to be accepted by faith schools.

4) there has been a decline in number of people who say they hold a belief in God , in Jesus or after life.

5) church buildings are being ruined or converted

lacks validity = many questions in religious survey focuses on Christianity such as heaven and hell. Buddhist and Hindus would reply no does that mean they are atheist.

Question 2

secularisation is happening: weber

why does weber say secularisation is happening? ( 3)

evaluation for weber 2

Answer 2

1. secularisation is happening because of rationalisation (rational ways of thinking and acting and replacing religious ones)
2. catholic worldview dominated Europe until 16th century. the view saw the world as enchanted garden full of supernatural beings that could affect peoples lives.

3.as people develop rational understanding of the world there was no longer need for religious explanations

evaluation
1. fundamentalism on increase

2. there are still religious people in 21st century

Question 3

secularisation is happening : Bruce

why does Bruce believe there is secularisation

2 evaluation

Answer 3

because development of technological world view

• for e.g we know the flooding in Pakistan is not a punishment from god but the affects of global warning.
• therefore scientific knowledge results in people taking religion less seriously

evaluation
- there are still religious people
- highlights influence of scientific development on religion.

Question 4

secularisation is happening : Berger

why does Berger say secularisation is happening? (4)

1 evaluation for Berger

Answer 4

1) religious diversity = more than 1 religion

2) religion use to be apart of plausibility structure = it provided answers to questions about life. so religion use to legitimate social institutions e.g laws were based around religious teachings “thou shall not kill”- its illegal to murder

3) therefore religion provided sacred canopy= set of beliefs shared by all

4)however religious diversity meant that no single religion can claim the monopoly of the truth as society is no longer unified
- instead there is plurality of life words =people interpretation of the truth is different.
- this undermines religion and causes secularisation

evaluation : it could be argued that religious diversity can cause an increase in religion because its offering people more than 1 belief to choose from.

Question 5

What are 3 way Bruce say America is becoming more secular?

evaluation

Answer 5

1. church attendance is declining = he argues doing polls asking people if they still go church regularly is invalid as it shows church attendance is high. however he says Americans when ask do they go church they say yes when they don’t actually go because churches are still seen as socially desirable so they overexaggerate their attendance.
2. secularisation from within = churches themselves are becoming more secular as they moving from preaching strict Christian dogma to promoting more secular ideas such as self improvement.
3. increasing religious diversity = Christian are adapting practical relativism = becoming more accepting of the view that others are entitled to hold their own opinion.
   eroding absolutism= belief that your religion is the only correct one.

evaluation : many people believe but do not attend church. Bruce ignores this and only considers attending church as expression of religiosity.

Question 6

Anti- secularisation theories

• Davie
  why does Davie argue that religion is still happening? ( 3)

what is criticism?

Answer 6

1. religion is not declining but it just becoming more privatised.
2. religion is based on BWB ( believing without belonging) whereby people hold religious beliefs but don’t attend church
3. there is evidence of bwb as there are trends towards vicarious religions= whereby small group of clergy practice religion on the behalf of the larger number of people.

evaluation
= voas and crocket argue both attendance and belief is declining therefore there is no belonging or believing.

Question 7

anti secularisation theories

helland

why does helland say religion is still going on?

Answer 7

because of the internet
there are 2 types of religious internet activities

1.religion online = is when religion organisation use the internet to communicate with its followers or potential converters. there is no dialogue between

2. online religion = is form of cyber religion that may have no existence outside. for e.g attending virtual workshops

Question 8

anti secularisation theories

religious consumerism

Answer 8

consumerism major feature of postmodern society and indiviuals
now construct their identity through what we choose to consume.

• this affects the way we practice religion as we know pick and choose what suits us .
• therefore people are no longer part of religion but are religious consumers making conscious choice about which elements of religion they find useful