BELIEFS: RELIGION, RENEWAL AND CHOICE

Question 1

What do theories of late modernity and postmodernity argue in criticism of the secularisation theory?

Answer 1

Religion is not declining, it is changing with society as it develops

Question 2

What does DAVIE believe religion in post modern society is moving away from and now towards, in comparison to previous church of england/ catholic society?

Answer 2

-Religion is no longer INHERITED or IMPOSED, rather an act of PERSONAL choice.

Question 3

why does DAVIE argue religion is not declining?

Answer 3

because religion has actually just taken a privatised form

Question 4

DAVIE: believing without belonging

Answer 4

people are reluctant to join organisations e.g. churches
-BUT STILL HOLD ONTO THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS PRIVATELLY

Question 5

what is vicarious religion?

Answer 5

-religion practised by an ACTIVE MINORITY ON BEHALF of great majority

-EXPERIENCE religion at SECOND HAND

Question 6

how does DAVIE argue the ‘spiritual health service’ is like the NHS?

Answer 6

• national churches are seen as public utilities for people to use when they need to
  -even though most people don’t usually go to church to pray they can still remain attached to church as an institution for rites of passage e.g. baptisms, weddings and funerals.

Question 7

what are criticisms of DAVIE?

Answer 7

●VOAS and CROCKETT:
there is neither believing or belonging; from their study 5750 respondents show that there is a decline in both believing & belonging
●BRUCE: if people aren’t willing to invest the time in going to church it reflects the decline in the strength of their beliefs

Question 8

what does cultural amnesia mean?

Answer 8

-A loss of collective memory : people have lost the religion that used to be passed down through the generations.
-Young people no longer inherit a fixed religious identity due to greater equality meaning the church no longer has a monopoly

Question 9

According to Hervieu-Leger, how is religion continued?

Answer 9

-through individual consumerism, people are now ‘spiritual shoppers’ in the religious marketplace.
-people can feel like they have a choice as consumers to pick and choose what they want to believe in.
-Religion has relocated as the sphere of consumption.

Question 10

what are the two types of religion that are emerging, according to Hervieu-Leger?

Answer 10

Pilgrims - follow an individual path in search of self-discovery
Converts - join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging. This re-creates a strong sense of community.

Question 11

how does religion still have an influence on society’s values according to Hervieu-Leger?

Answer 11

-religion no longer acts as the source of collective identity but continues to have some influence on society’s values e.g. equality and human rights have their roots in religion.

Question 12

how does Hervieu-Leger’s view link to late modernity?

Answer 12

-some of the trends within modern society have begun to accelerate e,g, the decline of traditon which explains the weakening of religion

Question 13

Post-modern religion- what Lyon’s features of postmodern society? :Globalisation the media and religion

Answer 13

1. religious ideas become disembedded due to the media
   = The media lift them out of physical churches and move them to a different place and time.
2. It has become de-institutionalised- detached from its place in religious institutions, floating in cyber space.
   -Removed from their original location in the church, religious ideas become a cultural resource that individuals can adapt for their own purposes.

Question 14

Post-modern religion- what are Lyon’s features of postmodern society : Online religion and Religion online

Answer 14

online religion: form of top down communication where a religious organisation uses the internet to address members and potential converts.

religion online: cyber religion with no existence outside of internet- allows individuals to create non-hierarchical relationships.

Answer 15

Loss of faith in meta narratives ( theories that claim to have the absolute truth) = an effect of having religious variety

Beger- People now have access to a wide range of contradictory beliefs- this weakens traditional religion that claim a monopoly of truth
Lyon- this is not the end of religion- new movements can be sampled to create a personal belief system

Question 16

what is a spiritual revolution?

Answer 16

In which traditional Christianity is giving way to holistic milieu or New Age spiritual beliefs and practices that emphasise personal development and subjective experience.

Available products in the spiritual market- books on self help and spirituality
-practitioners who offer consultations/ courses
-therapies e.g. meditation, crystal healing

Question 17

what is Heelas and Woodead’s study?

Answer 17

they distinguish between 2 groups:
the congregational domain: of traditional and evangelical Christianity
the holistic milieu: of spirituality and the New Age

in 2000, in a typical week, 7.9% of population attended church and 1.6% took part in holistic milieu activities

Question 18

why is traditional religion declining?

Answer 18

Traditional churches losing support, evangelical were holding together. Holistic milieu growing for 3 reasons:

1. subjective turn in today’s culture- shift away from the idea of doing your duty and obeying external authority towards spiritual paths and self-exploration
2. traditional religion declining due to increase in holistic milieu because traditional tells you what to believe and is out of date
3. evangelical churches are more successful- emphasise importance of spiritual healing and personal growth

Question 19

The weakness of the New Age- Bruce- the problem scale (EV.)

Answer 19

Bruce criticises the view that New Age beliefs show religion is changing rather than declining:

the problem scale- even if new age forms of individualised religion is increasing, it would have to be on a larger scale to fill gap of traditional religion e.g. 7.9% congregational domain to only 1.6% holistic milieu

Question 20

The weakness of the New Age- Bruce-socialisation of the next generation (EV.)

Answer 20

2. socialisation of the next generation- for a belief system to survive, it must be passed down to next generation-
   e.g. in Kendal, only 32% of parents said their children shared same spiritual interests.
   -Women in holistic milieu are more likely to be childless.
   - In at least 3/4 marriages with a woman in holistic milieu, the husband does not share his wife’s beliefs- further reducing likelihood of transmitting them to their children.

Question 21

The weakness of the New Age- Bruce- weak commitment

Answer 21

3. weak commitment- many dabble in meditation, astrology etc… but New Age commitment was rare. Even those who said they were ‘spiritual’, it was rare to say practices were important to them.

-Bruce notes that most people in every demographic category show no interest in alternative spirituality.

Question 22

the weakness of the new age- Bruce- structural weaknesses

Answer 22

4. structural weaknesses- New Age spirituality is a cause of secularisation due to its subjective, individualistic nature. It is based on the idea of no higher authority than the self. Unlike traditional religion, the New Age lacks:

-an external power (church hierarchy) to extract commitment from New Age participants against their wishes

-cannot achieve consensus about it’s beliefs because everyone is free to believe whatever they wish so it lacks cohesion as a movement

-cannot evangelise (persuade others of the truth) it believes the enlightenment comes from within, not from someone else.

Question 23

what is the religious market theory? according to Stark and Bainbridge

Answer 23

secularisation theory is eurocentric as it focuses on the decline of religion in Europe and fails to explain its continuing.

Their theory is based on two assumptions:
-people are naturally religious and religion meets human needs- therefore demands for religion remains constant, even though demand for particular types may vary

-it is human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs- when people make choices, they weigh up the costs and benefits of the different options available.

Question 24

religious market theory- what are compensators?

Answer 24

Religion is attractive because it provides us with compensators- when real rewards are not obtainable, religion compensates by providing supernatural ones.
-e.g. immortality= unobtainable BUT religion promises life after death

Question 25

religious market theory :(the cycle of renewal)

Answer 25

An alternative to secularisation theory- DECLINE, REVIVAL, RENEWAL. A process that has been occurring throughout history e.g. established churches decline, gap left in market for sects and cults to gain new followers

Question 26

religious market theory- eurpose vs america

Answer 26

-they state that religion thrives in the USA because there is no religious monopoly (a single church with no competition) there. when there is a religious monopoly
= it leads to decline as without competition, a church has no incentive to provide people with what they want

-Europe is different, most countries have been dominated by official state church which had a religious monopoly.

-Supply not demand- participation increases when there is a large supply of religious groups to choose from but declines when supply is restricted

Secularisation is NOT a universal trend happening in all societies

Question 27

religious market theory- religious competition

Answer 27

Churches operate like companies, selling products in market. Competition leads to improvement of products= More customers.

Question 28

criticism of religious market theory: BRUCE

Answer 28

-rejects the view that diversity and competition increases demand for religion. Stats show that diversity has been accompanied by religious decline in Europe and America

-argues that Stark and Bainbridge misrepresent secularisation theory. Does not claim to have a ‘golden age’ in society or that everyone will become atheists. It claims religion in long term decline. Never says decline is universal- just applies to USA and Europe

Question 29

criticism of religious market theory: NORRIS AND INGLEHART

Answer 29

show high levels of participation exist in Catholic countries where the Church has a near monopoly e.g. Ireland or Venezuela.

Countries with religious pluralism e.g. Holland and Australia, often have low levels. Contradicts Stark and Bainbridge theory

Question 30

criticism of religious market theory: BECKFORD

Answer 30

-criticises religious market theory as unsociological because it assumes people are naturally religious and fails to explain why they make the choices they do.

Question 31

an alternative view: secularisation and security (NORRIS AND INGLEHART)

Answer 31

-reject religious market theory on the grounds that it only applies to America- fails to explain variations in religion between societies
e.g. international studies of religion have found no evidence of the link between religious choice and participation that Stark and Bainbridge claim exists

Question 32

an alternative view: existential security

Answer 32

the feeling that survival is secure enough that it can be taken for granted

Religion meets a need for security and therefore societies where people already feel secure have a low level of demand for religion:

POOR SOCIETIES: where people face life- threatening risks such as famine, disease and environmental disasters. High levels of insecurity = high levels of religiosity.

RICH SOCIETIES: high standard of living and are at less risk. High levels of security= low levels of religiosity

Demand or religion is not constant, as Stark and Bainbridge claim. =Varies between societies.
Demand is greatest from low-income groups and societies because they are less secure. Explains why poor developing countries remain religious while prosperous Western ones are more secular.

Question 33

an alternative view: state welfare and religiosity

Answer 33

The more a country spends on welfare, the lower the levels of religious participation.

European countries who spend more than the US are more secular

Gill and Lundegaarde- religion used to provide welfare state for the poor. From 20th century, the state in the West began to provide welfare- contributed to religions decline.

Religion will not disappear completely- welfare state do not offer questions about meaning of life. Although reduces need, does not eliminate.

Question 34

(EV.) VASQUEZ:

Answer 34

-accepts that Norris and Inglehart offer a valuable explanation of different levels of participation in Europe, USA and globally.

-They use ONLY quantitative data about income levels: do not examine people’s definition of the ‘existential security’. Vasquez argues that qualitative data is needed.

-They only see religion as a negative response to deprivation. Ignore positive reasons people have for participation and the appeal that some types of religion have for the wealthy