Beliefs in Society - Religion, Renewal and Choice Flashcards
Davie (2013) and consumption:
We are moving from an age of religion being forced on people and into an age where religion is an act of consumption.
Davie (2013) and belief:
Davie argues that religion is not declining but is becoming more privatised, along with wider societies. People stop going to Churches and religious organisations but they do not lose their beliefs, also known as ‘belief without belonging’.
Davie (2013) and ‘vicarious religion’:
Davie argues that religion is now practiced by an active minority on behalf of the great majority and that the latter use Churches as ‘spiritual health services’ to use at things like weddings and baptisms. Davie argues that religious participation is the ‘tip of the iceberg’ as people appear less religious but they maintain their religious beliefs.
Give 2 criticisms of Davie (1993).
- Voas and Crocket (2005) found that both church attendance and religion are declining, both ‘belief’ and ‘belonging’ are falling
- Bruce (2011): lower levels of commitment reflect “weak religion”
Hervieu-Leger (2006) and cultural amnesia:
Parents are socialising their children into religion less, letting them decide; additionally, the trend towards social equality and structural differentiation has lost the Church’s power to impose religion on people from above. This results in a ‘cultural amnesia’ or a loss of collective religious memory.
Hervieu-Leger (2006) and spiritual shopping:
Religion is now based on consumption and choosing a religion that fits your individual identity (a feature of late modernity); people become ‘spiritual shoppers’, making ‘pick-n-mix’ religions. She gives the example of Bellah (1996)’ ‘Sheilaism’ of an individualised religious belief of a nurse
She outlines two new religious types:
- Pilgrims follow an individual path of religious self-discovery
- Converts join religious groups that offer a sense of belonging, often based on a shared ethnic background
How does Hervieu-Leger (2006) argue religion continues to have influence?
Although society has become less overtly religious, centuries of religion continues to have an effect on people’s values: equality and human rights have their roots in religion and into society. This can further connect the religious and non-religious.
Give a criticism of Hervieu-Leger (2006):
Some claim that Hervieu-Leger cherry picks the qualities that maintain in society: encouragement of slavery is in more than 10 verses of the bible but we don’t do that anymore.
Lyon (2000) and globalisation:
Due to the internet and communication technology, religion has become ‘disembedded’ as people are able to express their religious beliefs in cyber-space rather than physical churches. Thus data about church attendance is less useful in a postmodern era.
Helland (2000) and the two new religious opportunity:
Religion being disembedded provides two new opportunities for religious expression:
- Religion online: traditional churches use the internet to communicate only officially approved messaging to their followers
- Online Religion: the creation of non-hierarchal religious communities entirely in cyber-space
Give an example of ‘online religion’
Cowan (2005): pagans gained a sense of self-worth from belonging to a global community
Give a criticism of Helland (2000)
Hoover et al (2004): whilst postmodernists may see online religion as a new alternative, most who engage only see it as supplementary to church activities, rather than as a substitute.
Berger (1969) and the effect of ‘pick-n-mix’:
Berger argues that ‘spiritual shopping’ reduces faith in meta-narratives due to the competing and contradicting beliefs of multiple faiths.
How does Lyon (2005) argue that religion is not disappearing?
He argues that religion is not disappearing but is evolving to suit the consumerist nature of postmodern society.
How is spirituality different to traditional religion and why does it become prominent in Postmodernism?
The New Age is fundamentally about individualism: personal-development over self-sacrifice, autonomy over deference, and life as discovery over duty. This is key in a postmodern age of individualism, allowing ‘spiritual shoppers’ to have ‘pick-n-mix’ beliefs.
Lyon (2005) and a criticism of secularisation:
Lyon argues that, rather then society becomin rationalised and disenchanted, we have entered an age of ‘re-enchantment’, with the growth of non-traditional religion across the West and elsewhere.
What is the ‘spiritual revolution’?
Some sociologists argue that traditional Christianity is being replaced by ‘holistic spirituality’, that capitalise on consumerism with the ‘spiritual market’ (such as tea leaf readings, and spirtual books).
Heelas and Woodhead (2005) and spirituality:
They identify two groups for their study of whether spirituality is supplementing traditional religion in Kendall, Cumbria:
- The congregational domain
- The hollistic milleu
They found that 7.9% of their population attended church and 1.6% participated in holistic milleu. However, the hollistic milleu were growing whilst traditional churches were losing support (excluding the evangelicals)
Heelas and Woodhead (2005) and explaining their results:
They argue that society is enduring a ‘subjective turn’ towards individualism that traditional religion, which “tells you what to believe and how to behave”, fails to appeal to. This is in contrast to the Holistic Milleu and the Evangelicals; the latter, although stressing duty and discipline, emphasing personal growth through ‘being born again’.
Give a criticism of Heelas and Woodhead (2005)
New Age growth would have to be on a much grander scale if it were to supplement traditional religion’s loss. For example, to supplement the loss of religion in Kendall since 1850, there would have to be 11,000 more in the holistic milleu, roughly 45x as much as there was in 2005.
What is the socialisation issue with the holistic milleu?
For a religion to survive, on average, two parents must socialise two children into their beliefs; however, only 1/3 of Kendal parents said their children shared their beliefs. Additionally, women in the holistic milleu were more likely to remain childless.
How is the New Age structurally weak?
The New Age’s focus on individualism means it lack: a decisive authority figure (God) that enforces commitment (which they lack (Glendinning and Bruce (2006)), consensus about beliefs due to ‘pick-n-mix’ and the inability to evangelise as they believe enlightenment comes from within. This all makes it is relative impossible for them to spread and fill the gap of traditional religion.
What are Stark and Bainbridge’s (1986) 2 criticisms of secularisation theory?
- They see it as Eurocentric, failing to explain the continuing vitality of religion in America and elsewhere
- It also distorts the past and future in seeing the former as a ‘golden age’ and predicting the latter to be entirely atheist
What are Stark and Bainbridge’s (1986) two aasumptions?
- People are naturally religious and religion meets human needs, as such the demand for religion remains constant but the type varies
- Humans naturally seek rewards and avoid costs
Stark and Bainbridge (1986) and compensators:
Religions stays in demand because it provides people with supernatural rewards when real rewards are scarce or unobtainable, also known as ‘compensators’, where as things like communism or humanism are unable to provide supernaturl rewards.
Stark and Bainbridge (1986) and an alternative to the march to secularisation:
They argue that society is in a constant cycle of religious decline, revival and renewal, with some religions declining (like traditional Churches) and others growing in due to the constant demand (like sects and cults).
Stark and Bainbridge (1986) and religious market theory:
Churches operate in competition and sell ‘religious goods’ in the same way as businesses. Where secularisation sees this as undermining religion, they argue that this only improves the quality of religious goods’ and provides success to Churches which are most responsive to customer needs.
To Stark and Bainbridge (1986), why has religion remained strong in the US?
As religious competition increases participation as people are able to find a religion that suits them, the fact that most European countries have had official religions that held monopolies has held back their choice and competition, causing loss of belief. On the other hand, America has always had a strong seperation of Church and State, as well as a wide variety of denominations.
Give a study that supports Stark and Bainbridge’s (1986) ‘supply-led religion’.
Stark (1990): The deregulation of Shintoism in post-War Japan led to the creation of a market for religions like Sokka Gakkai, leading religion to thrive. Thus compared to the religious regulation in East German and subsequent decline.
Give a criticism of Stark and Bainbridge (1986).
Norris and Inglehart (2011): there are high levels of participation in Catholic countries like Venezuela and low levels in countries with religious pluralism like Australia
Norris and Inglehart (2011) and existential security theory:
The demand for religion (and as such the level of secularisation) is based on varying degrees of ‘existential security’, or the feeling that society is secure enough that it can be taken for granted, as religion meets a need for security and control:
- Poor countries and poor people in rich countries have higher levels of insecurity so are more religious than those in richer countries
How do Norris and Inglehart (2011) argue that secularisation is on its way out?
If poorer nations are more religious, the lower levels of population growth in richer nations should mean that the world overall becomes religious, whilst the rich countries secularise.
How do Norris and Inglehart (2011) explain America’s religiosity?
Although America is a rich nation that they would expect to be less inseure so religious, the extreme levels of inequality accompanied by a lack of state welfare and competitive capitalist culture manufactures a high level of insecurity.
Give a supporting study for Norris and Inglehart (2011).
Gill and Lundegaarde (2004): the more a country spends on welfare, the lower their levels of religious participation
Give a criticism of Norris and Inglehart (2011).
Vasquez (2007): their use of purely quantitative date fails to analyse people’s own definitions of ‘existential security’, imposing a Eurocentric conception on them.
