Beliefs in Society - Secularisation

Question 1

Wilson (1966) and the definition of secularisation:

Answer 1

The process whereby religious
beliefs, practices and institutions lose social significance.

Question 2

Census (2021) and decline in belief:

Answer 2

2021 was the first year the UK was not majority Christian: 46%

Question 3

Wilson (1966) and church attendance over time:

Answer 3

Mid-19th century: 40% of UK attends church
2015: 5% of UK attends church

Question 4

English Church Census (2006) and small churches:

Answer 4

Whilst larger Churches like the Catholic Church have expereinced a decline in attendance, smaller churches have remained stable or even grown, though this has not supplemented the loss.

Question 5

Give evidence that church weddings remin popular and an explanation why.

Answer 5

In 2012, 30% of weddings were in a church. This may be due to Davie’s (2013) idea of Vicarious Religion.

Question 6

Explain the increase in believers’ batisms.

Answer 6

Baptism of older children is often ‘bogus’ and only a requirement of ahigher-performing faith-schools.

Question 7

BSA (2015) and religious affiliation:

Answer 7

The % of adults who have ‘no religion’ rose from 1/3 in 1983 to 1/2 in 2014. This decline was sharpest among Anglicans, whose numbers halved, compared to Catholics who rose slightly due to Eastern European migration

Question 8

How has the Church lost institutional power?

Answer 8

Although there are still Bishops in the HOL, the Church has lost control over many functions that are now state-controlled: for example, the Church was the dominant educating force till the 1870 education act nationalised education.

Question 9

What is the issue with the clergy?

Answer 9

They’re ageing: only 12% are under-40. This means multiple things: they may eventually die out and they lack the boots on the ground to keep up the day-to-day influence of religion.

Question 10

Woodhead (2014) and the number of clergy:

Answer 10

“No longer enough troops left to keep the show on the road.”

Question 11

What are the explanations for secularisation?

Answer 11

• Weber (1905): rationalisation and disenchantment
• Parsons (1951): structural differentiation
• Wilson (1966): decline in community
• Berger (1969): religious diversity and the plausability structure

Question 12

What is rationalisation?

Answer 12

The process by which rational ways of thinking come to replace religious explanations.

Question 13

Weber (1905) and disenchantment:

Answer 13

The Protestant Reformation began the process of rationalisation in the West; replacing the Catholic view of the World as an ‘enchanted garden’ that cannot always be explained and influenced, with the Protestant view: God is transcendant so the world runs according to rules of nature that could be found and used - the world became ‘disenchanted’ with a greater focus on rationalisation, undermining the religious worldview and religion’s power in society.

Question 14

Bruce (2011) and the technological worldview:

Answer 14

Scientific and rational explanations for events have replaced religious explanations, thus reducing its influence - we turn to ‘the black box, not the black book’. This explains why people still turn to religion where we do not have scientific explanations, such as with death.

Question 15

Parsons (1951) and structural differentiation:

Answer 15

Religion, as well as other institutions, has undergone specialisation so it is no longer as widely dominant as previously:
- Disengagement: it’s functions have been transferred to other institutions, losing its power over law, school, etc.
- Privatisation: religion is moved to the private sphere so there is less social pressure to conform

Question 16

Wilson (1966) and the decline in community:

Answer 16

Greater individualism in industrial society has led to the relative loss of community that, through shared collective rituals, would socially intergrate individuals and regulate their behaviour. Bruce (2011) agrees.

Question 17

Give a criticism of Wilson’s (1966) explanation of secularisation.

Answer 17

Aldridge (2012) argues that, some religions have flourished in urban areas with low levels of community (such as Pentecostalism) and others have found non-physical communities using the internet.

Question 18

Berger (1969) and the sacred canopy:

Answer 18

In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had a monopoly on religion, with everyone living under their ‘sacred canopy’ and very few challenging their ideas. The Protestant Reformation caused many more Churches to grow and challenge eachother’s views, leaving no monopoly on the truth.

Question 19

Berger (1969) and the plausability structure:

Answer 19

The diversity of religions undermines each religion’s claim to the truth, their ‘plausability structure’, with people questioning all religions and each worldview becoming subjective, allowing people to ‘opt out’.

Question 20

Give a criticism of Berger (1969)

Answer 20

Berger (1999) actually changed his own view, noting that, although some secularisation has occurred, society is not entirely secular as predicted and there have been large upticks in religion in some areas, such as the Islamic revolution the East and the Evangelical revolution in the West.

Question 21

Bruce (2011) and cultural defence/transition:

Answer 21

There are two trends that counter secularisation:
- Cultural defence: groups will gather around a collective religion as a means of defending their identity from a dominating force, e.g. Black Protestants and racism
- Cultural transition: religion provides a way for immigrants to ease into the culture of a different country

Question 22

Bruce (2011) and the three sources of evidence:

Answer 22

Bruce uses three sources of evidence to show that America is secularising:
- Declining church attendance
- Secularisation from within
- Religious diversity

Question 23

Hadaway et al (1993) and American church attendance:

Answer 23

Although official statistics have placed church attendance at a stable 40%, estimates from the researcher found that this was about 80% higher than reality.

Question 24

Bruce (2011) and American church attendance:

Answer 24

The widening gap between the reality of church attendance and people’s self-reported attendance (2x between 1972 and 1996) may be due to the social desirability of going to church leading many to lie.

Question 25

Bruce (2011) and ‘secularisation from within’:

Answer 25

Bruce argues that traditional Christian beliefs have adapted in order to remain relevant in a secular America, the purpose moving from salvation to personal improvement.

Question 26

Hunter (1987) and ‘secularisation from within’:

Answer 26

Bruce’s ‘secularisation from within’ is reflected in the loosening of traditional religious morality:
- 6x more and 2x more young evangelicals oppose alcohol and smoking respectively in 1951 compared to 1982

Question 27

Bruce (2011) and ‘practical relativism’:

Answer 27

Churchgoers are becoming less dogmatic in their views due to greater levels of religious diversity, accepting that others are entitled to their own beliefs, known as ‘practical relativism’. This effect is known as ‘the erosion of absolutism’.
- 2x as many Americans views Christianity as ‘the one true religion’ in 1924 compared to 1977