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AQA A-Level Sociology Burnley College > Beliefs - Secularisation - 5.5 > Flashcards

Beliefs - Secularisation - 5.5 Flashcards

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1
Q

Secularisation

A

When religious thinking, practice & institutions lose signifcance

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2
Q

Evidence of Secularisation in UK

A

> Religious Practice
Religious Belief
Religious Institutions

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3
Q

Religious Practice - Evidence of Secularisation in UK

A

Less people attending churches, sunday schools & weddings & baptism all declining.

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4
Q

Bogus Baptisms

A

Mostly now by older children to get in to faith schools fewer infant baptisms

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5
Q

Religious Belief - Evidence of Secularisation in UK

A

> Atheism increased & commitment to christian beliefs has declined

> Smaller organisations have grown

> Other non christian religions increased due to immigration and increasing birth rate in these groups

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6
Q

Religious Institutions - Evidence of Secularisation in UK

A

> Religion used to effect every part of life, but now just private spheres

> State taken over church functions e.g. schooling, but faith schools?

> Numbers of clergy fallen, whilst the population has increased - reduces church’s influence

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7
Q

Secularisation in US - Key Thinkers

A

> Wilson (Reg as Superficial)

> Hadaway (Declining Church Attendance)

> Bruce (Secularisation from Within & Religious Diversity)

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8
Q

Wilson - Religion as Superficial

A

> 45% of Americans went church on Sunday, but was more expression of US way of life, not deep religious belief.

> US increasingly secular & religion is superficial

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9
Q

Hadaway - Declining Church Attendance in US

A

> Research showed 40% went church

> After headcounts, empty pews found in churches, reality didn’t match church attendance records (Exaggeration)

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10
Q

What does Hadaway & Wilson study show about secularisation in the US?

A

> Still socially desirable to attend church but holds little conviction as few attend regularly.

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11
Q

Bruce - Secularisation from Within

A

> American religion still exists as it’s less religious & focused on glorifying god

> But as form of therapy, wanting improvement in real life, not afterlife.

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12
Q

Bruce - Religious Diversity in the US

A

> Now acceptance by US Christians others entitled to different beliefs

> No longer assumption our own beliefs are fully true - increasing doubt

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13
Q

Explanations For Secularisation

A 
> Weber (Disenchantment)
> Bruce (Technological World, Privatisation, Reg Diversity)
> Switch in Narratives
> Parsons (Structural Differentiation)
> Wilson (Social & Cultural Diversity)
> Berger (Religious Diversity)
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14
Q

Disenchantment - Weber

A

> Due to industrialisation, people use science & rational ways of thinking not religion & supernatural, move from medieval Catholic worldview to modern Protestant worldview

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15
Q

Weber - before disenchantment…

A

> Saw world as magical garden, with supernatural forces present & active in the world

> Humans influenced supernatural through chants & charms

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16
Q

Weber - after Protestant Reformation and after disenchantment…

A

Saw God as transcendent & creator of world, but uninvolved left to laws of nature

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17
Q

Implications of Disenchantment - Weber

A

> Events no longer seen as work of God, but predictable workings of nature

> Understood through science, religious experiences no longer needed.

18
Q

Bruce – Technological Worldview

A

> No longer see bad events as God’s punishment, but scientific explanations, reducing scope for religious explanations

> Religion only used when technology ineffective e.g prayer for incurable cancer

19
Q

Implications of Technological Worldview

A

Science doesn’t turn people into atheists, but encourages people to take religion less seriously.

20
Q

Parsons – Structural Differentiation

A

Church performed variety of functions eg. education, caring for sick & poor, but replaced by NHS & Education

21
Q

Consequences of Structural Differentiation for Religion

A

> Disengagement
Privatisation
Controlled by State

22
Q

Disengagement - Structural differentiation (Parsons)

A

> Church now disconnected from wider society

> People no longer engage with it on a daily basis

23
Q

Privatisation - Structural Differentiation (Bruce)

A

> Religious belief privatised in home & family is now matter of personal choice

> Traditional rituals & symbols have lost meaning.

24
Q

Controlled by State -Structural Differentiation (Parsons)

A

> Even where religion is involved in education/welfare, needs to conform to state controls

> e.g. teachers must have qualifications recognised by state

> Church lost political power, separate from state in modernity

25
Q

Elements to Wilson’s Idea of Social & Cultural Diversity

A

> Decline of Community & Industrialisation
Diversity
Individualism

26
Q

Decline of Community & Industrialisation - Wilson

A

Local communities shared rituals, reinforcing social solidarity. Industrialisation destroyed stability & religious basis for society.

27
Q

Diversity - Wilson

A

> Created large urban society with diverse faiths & lifestyles, even where people hold religious beliefs

> Can’t avoid knowing people around them have different views

28
Q

Individualism - Wilson

A

Replaced collective values, led to absence of practising religious community, functioning daily

29
Q

Aldridge A03 - Criticisms of Wilson

A

> Religion can be source of identity on world scale e.g. Muslim & Jew communities

> Now imagined communities interacting through global media

> Pentecostal groups flourish in urban areas

30
Q

Elements to Berger’s Idea of Reg Diversity

A

> Sacred Canopy
Implications of Protestant Reformation
Plausibility Structure & Implications

31
Q

Sacred Canopy - Berger

A

In pre-industrial society, Catholic Church had no competition, all lived under same unquestioned shared beliefs.

32
Q

Implications of Protestant Reformation - Berger

A

> Number of religious organisations has increased all with different versions of the truth

> Society no longer unified under single canopy

33
Q

Plausibility Structure - Berger

A

> Plausibility of all religious views are undermined with multiple versions of the ‘’truth’’

> People fearful of choosing wrong truth so chosen none or create pick n mix of beliefs

34
Q

Implications of Plausibility Structure - Berger

A

Religious beliefs become relative & personal opinion, not absolute so people opt out of religion.

35
Q

Bruce & Religious Diversity

A

Hard to live in word with a number of incompatible beliefs with no evidence of one as fully true.

36
Q

General Criticisms of Berger & Bruce (Religious Diversity)

A

Berger found diversity/choice creates interest & participation in religion

> e.g. New Christian Right in USA & Evangelism in Latin America, show religious vitality

37
Q

Beckford A03 - Criticisms of Berger & Bruce

A

Contact with alternative views can confirm beliefs e.g. religious fundamentalism.

38
Q

Explanations Against Secularisation - Key thinkers

A

> Bruce (Counter Trends, Cultural Defence & Cultural Transition)

> Bruce (Criticisms of Counter Trends, Cultural Defence & Cultural Transition)

39
Q

Cultural Defence - Bruce

A

> Religion gives a focal point for defence of national identity in struggle with external forces e.g. hostile foreign power

> e.g. Catholicism in Poland before fall of communism

40
Q

Cultural Transition - Bruce

A

Gives sense of community for Black, Asian and minority ethnic people living in a different country & culture e.g. Muslims in UK

41
Q

Bruce - Criticisms of Counter Trends, Cultural Defence & Cultural Transition

A

> Don’t contradict secularisation theory, as religion only survives as form of group identity not faith

> e.g. church attendance fell after fall of communism in Poland

42
Q

General Criticisms on Secularisation

A

> one- sided ignores growth of new religions & renewals & only focuses on Europe, secularisation isn’t universal e.g. Pakistan

> Falling church attendance ignores those who believe but don’t go Church

AQA A-Level Sociology Burnley College (36 decks)

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