Beliefs In Society - The Secularisation Thesis (Evidence For And Against)

Question 1

What is secularisation and who proposed the idea?

Answer 1

Wilson -> the decline in significance of religion

Question 2

Why is secularisation a contested concept?

Answer 2

There are deep theories & debates over what it is, how to measure it & whether/not is is occurring

Question 3

What are the inclusivist and exclusivist definitions of religion?

Answer 3

Exclusivist -> narrow (religion is involved in beliefs in the supernatural)

Inclusivist -> broad (religion doesnt need to include belief in supernatural, but can include activities that have a ‘sacred’ quality e.g. spirituality)

Question 4

What are the 3 methodological issues with measuring secularisation?

Answer 4

Validity
Reliability
Representativeness

Question 5

What are the 4 issues with measuring religion in the past & if religion was more prominent?

Answer 5

Historical records are sparse
Data collection methods weren’t as reliable
There were no polls/interviews (it was an expectation that people were religious)
Most people couldn’t read/write (those who could were the minority -> not representative)

Question 6

What are 3 issues with the interpretation of evidence of secularisation?

Answer 6

High participation doesn’t mean strong belief -> people may attend church for social support/to be seen as socially respectable etc.)

Low participation doesn’t mean lack of belief -> people may have strong belief but choose to privately practice religion

Quantitative/qualitative data -> quantitative data may suggest religion is in decline/ qualitative may suggest opposite

Question 7

What are 2 issues with interpreting statistics on membership/attendance of religious institutions?

Answer 7

Information about smaller groups is often unavailable (some sects/cults overestimate membership)

A lot of religious practice not recorded at all (not taken into account in official stats e.g. the growth of the Christian house church movement -> people meet to worship in private homes)

Question 8

What are 4 reasons for the cause of secularisation?

Answer 8

Growth of science & rationalisation (Weber & Comte) of modern world

Trad religious orgs are mainly seen as conservative & old

Changing leisure patterns (Sundays not seen as time for religious observance & now seen as leisure time)

Religious ministers have lost status in society

Question 9

What are 3 reasons for the evidence of secularisation?

Answer 9

The decline of religious thinking & belief
The decline of religious practice
The decline of religious institutions

Question 10

Who suggested that the growth of scientific explanations & the application of technology has undermined religious belief?

Answer 10

Bruce

Question 11

Who suggested the idea of desacralisation, and what is it?

Answer 11

Weber -> The loss of the capacity to experience a sense of sacredness in life

Question 12

Is desacralisation evident in society & give an example?

Answer 12

Opinion polls confirm this

2011 census -> 1/4 of pop (eng & wales) said they had no religion

Question 13

Who suggested that religious beliefs have become marginalised?

Answer 13

Bruce -> religious beliefs only last resort (when we have tried every cure for cancer, we turn to prayer)

Question 14

How has religious morality declined in society?

Answer 14

Due to trad beliefs (e.g. disapproval of abortion/divorce), has little impact on people’s behaviour (seen in rising divorce rates etc.)

Question 15

Who suggests that in postmodern societies, metanarratives have lost their influence due to pix n mix identities and beliefs, meaning religions is now just 1 form of belief competing with others?

Answer 15

Lyotard

Question 16

What evidence is there to suggest that their is a decline in religious knowledge?

Answer 16

2011 census -> 59% of pop didnt know much of life of Jesus or religious meaning of Easter/christmas (even if they described themselves as Christian

Question 17

What are the 4 reasons for the decline of religious practice?

Answer 17

Decline in membership -> as older ppl die, they not replaced by younger recruits

Declining attendance -> (40% in 1851, 2% in 2007)

Only 1/3 marriages involve religious ceremony, fewer than 1/5 babies are baptised (2/3 in 1950)

1/2 children 100 yrs ago attended Sunday skl, on the decline

Question 18

Who suggests that a decline in religious practice doesnt necessarily mean a decline in belief?

Answer 18

Bellah et al

Question 19

Who contradicts this and says that both decline in religious belonging and believing is declining?

Answer 19

Voas & Crockett

Question 20

Who argues that the growth of NRMs doesnt correlate to resacralisation?

Answer 20

Bruce -> the influence of those groups is marginal & cannot be seen as taking the place of religious institutions

Not significant in the lives of the majority & mainly driven by secular rather than religious concerns

Question 21

What are the 5 types of evidence that suggests that there is a decline in religious institutions?

Answer 21

Churches are closing, whereas in the past they were well maintained & donated to generously

Religious education is similiar to personal development (Sunday schools on the decline)

Religious institutions unable to command respect for major festivals & they have little religious meaning

Ceremonies marking rites of passage e.g. birth which were church monopolies can be performed without religious ceremony of any kind

Structural differentiation (Parsons) -> other social institutions e.g. the welfare state have taken over performing functions that religious institutions did in the past

Question 22

Who suggested that secularisation is happening from within as religious institutions have watered down their beliefs to mirror society?

Answer 22

Herberg -> examples are easier divorce, ordination of female priests etc.

Religions now weak that they dont set trends but follow them

Question 23

Who suggested the concept of disneyfication of religion, and what is it?

Answer 23

Bryman -> the process where religion becomes simplified & packaged like a Disneyland theme park

Question 24

What does Lyon say about disneyfication?

Answer 24

Religion blends with consumerism & has become less serious

The harvest day crusade in Disneyland CA -> makes religion appear less serious

In postmodern society, religion has become more about choice, fun & amusement rather than trad belief. Therefore religon has turned into a product in a spiritual marketplace where many ‘brands’ have to compete

Question 25

What are the 3 main arguments against secularisation?

Answer 25

Religious thinking & belief Religious practice Religious institutions

Question 26

What are the 4 reasons that show that religious thinking and belief isnt in decline?

Answer 26

Many people still show signs of religiosity Resacralisation Trad beliefs still remain strong Continuing vitality of religiously based morals

Question 27

What evidence is there to suggest that many people still show signs of religiosity?

Answer 27

70% still claim to believe in a soul & sin (suggests up to 70% still have some elements of religiosity in their thinking)

Question 28

What evidence is there to suggest that there is Resacralisation, and give an example?

Answer 28

Religion is not dying but changing (ppl turning to individualised spirituality e.g. meditation) While trad religion is declining, spirituality is still important (just more personal & less tied to institutions AO2: the Kendall project -> growing spiritual involvement with ‘holistic milieu’ (new age movements)

Question 29

What evidence is there to suggest that Trad beliefs still remain strong?

Answer 29

Various forms of Christianity remain strong (denominations e.g evangelicals are growing -> based on fundamentalist belief) Religious fundamentalism Eurobarameter (2010) -> 4/5 of Europeans have religious/spiritual beliefs

Question 30

What evidence is there to suggest that there is a Continuing vitality of religiously based morals?

Answer 30

Crime rate, divorce etc. cannot be explained by declining religious beliefs Rapid growth of religious fundamentalism is a reaction of modernisation & secularisation (rise of liberalisation of religious based morals caused reaction among those desiring to reassert trad values) -> still some life left among defenders of religiously based morals

Question 31

Who suggested that people are ‘believing without belonging’ and that many are becoming ‘unchurched’ as people dont attend churches as much and instead choose to practice religion at home?

Answer 31

Davie

Question 32

What is ‘fuzzy fidelity’ and who proposed it?

Answer 32

Voas -> the casual loyal to tradition among those who are non-churchgoers or not religious

Question 33

What is the main argument against secularisation regarding believing without belonging?

Answer 33

Those may choose to practice privately, doesnt necessarily mean people have stopped believing

Question 34

What evidence is there to suggest that not all denominations & faiths are declining?

Answer 34

Christian research stats (2010) -> the decline of numbers in people attending worship during later years of last century has become more stable Has been increase in membership of some religions (islam & Hinduism (ethnic minorities), and in some Christian denominations e.g. Pentecostalism People still use religious ceremonies as rights of passage e.g. people still hold funerals in churches/baptisms

Question 35

What evidence is there to suggest that the institutional power of churches remains?

Answer 35

The Church of England (c of e) is still the official Church of England & British monarch must be a member of it (crowned by Archbishop of Canterbury C of e still wealthy & Roman Catholic Church still has large influential power in European countries e.g. Spain, Ireland & Spain

Question 36

What evidence is there to suggest that religious institutions remain very influential in education in Britain?

Answer 36

Still has many c of e schools & catholic faith schools, growing number for other faiths Schools still need to teach religious education as a compulsory part of the national curriculum a

Question 37

What evidence is there to suggest that religious institutions are strengthening?

Answer 37

Parsons -> structural differentiation (may weaken influence of religion in many parts of life, strengthens place of religion in people’s lives as the church is more focused on spiritual matters & avoids ‘pollution’ from involvement in non-religious affairs -> suggests that religion is becoming stronger

Question 38

What evidence is there to suggest that religious institutions remain very important to ethnic minorities?

Answer 38

Places of worship e.g. mosques/temples often a focus of cultural & religious life & important symbols in minority communities Religion acts as a means of cultural transition & defence & minority ethnic religious leaders are becoming increasingly influential (particularly in Muslim communities)

Question 39

What are the 2 theories that explain why some religions are in decline while others remain strong?

Answer 39

Religious market theory & existential security theory

Question 40

What is religious market theory & who proposed it?

Answer 40

Stark & bainbridge -> Humans have a basic need for meaning, religion provides this by offering compensators (life after death) There is high religious choice due to religious pluralism (religion is stronger & popular as they have to work harder to appeal to people) Religions act like businesses (have to constantly adapt to demands of potential customers) Religious decline isn’t universal (only happening in Europe not in USA where there is religious freedom & competition) Where there is one church which has a monopoly, people become less interested (leads to religious decline, church doesnt need to adapt) People have a cost-benefit analysis when they choose to pursue in religion

Question 41

What are 3 criticisms of religious market theory?

Answer 41

Sharot -> only applies to the US, only focuses on Christianity & has little application to other forms of non-mainstream religiosity Herberg -> process of secularisation from within in the US where is is it is becoming Disneyfied Norris & inglehart -> fails to explains variations in religiosity between different societies & there is evidence that there is high religious participations with places of low religous choice e.g Ireland

Question 42

What is existential security theory, and who proposed it?

Answer 42

Norris & Inglehart -> different levels of religiosity are because of different levels of existential security (feeling safe and secure) Religion is more important is places with low levels of existential security (caused by poverty etc) as it provides hope, comfort etc (therefore religion is more prominent in developing countries) Religion is less important in places with high levels of existential security (majority grew up with feelings of wellbeing) -> those countries are more secular (e.g. Europe) USA is outlier -> developed country but highly religious -> suggest that resources are unequally distributed (high inequality & less reliance of welfare, explains religion is more important among poorer social groups & lowest among the most affluent)

Question 43

What are the 3 reasons why there is a continuing significance in the world?

Answer 43

Religion remains strong among ethnic minorities Religious belief & practice remain high in many countries & growing in others (in countries denominated by Catholicism) Religion still dominates in many societies e.g. Iran (the Islamic revolution of 1979 -> political power to religious leaders)

Question 44

Who suggested that religious fundamentalism is a response to social, political & economic changes that threaten religious values?

Answer 44

Bruce

Question 45

What is Christian fundamentalism?

Answer 45

New Christian right -> wields political influence (example -> has got theory of evolution taught in schools banned & some activists campaign against abortion, homosexuality etc.)

Question 46

What is Islamic fundamentalism?

Answer 46

Growing force in Muslim counties & seen as rational means of defending trad Islamic beliefs & values which are threatened by the western world (a form of cultural defence)