Ethnicity And Religiosity Flashcards
What percentage of Pentecostal Church members are Black?
40%
What ethnic groups are more likely to attend places of worship than white people?
EMs except Chinese people
How does religion help to maintain tradition, group cohesion and community solidarity according to Davie?
Places of worship like Mosques and Temples are community centres:
-provide a focus for social life
-protect and promote cultural values and traditions that the dominant white culture could threaten
What did Modood et al. Find that supports Davies argument?
Religion important in EM lives for socialisation; maintaining traditional morality and to help cope with discrimination from the racism of wider society
What issues are there with Davie and Modood et al’s argument?
It’s outdated, in postmodern society ethnicity isn’t a barrier and EM’s can feel solidarity with other people not just those that share their religion.
How does social deprivation and marginality make EMs more religious?
EMs are more likely to face status frustration (dissatisfaction with status in society) and thus turn to religion as a solid and secure source of identity they can’t find in society
Which households are the poorest in Britain? And how might this show that EM religiosity may be more to do with class than religion?
Pakistani and Bangladeshi households poorest in Britain (63% in poverty in 2005)
This suffering is based around money not ethnicity
What ideas provided by Marx and Weber explain why EM marginalisation leads to higher levels of religiosity?
Marx: religion ‘opium of the people’, comforting diversion from racism and causes of poverty
Weber: theodicy of disprivelidge, suffering and poverty is just a test of worthiness
Might explain why Pentecostalism is so
popular amongst African Caribbean people
Why might EMs (especially Asians) feel more pressure to conform to religious values?
Family structure tightly knit, more pressure to conform from family members
How can it be argued that closer knit families don’t necessarily lead to higher religiosity and instead just performance?
It could just be a cultural expectation than actually believing (belonging without believing, Davie)
What is cultural transition according to Bruce?
how religion eases people into a new culture by providing support and a sense of community for EMs
What were Ken Pryce’s findings in his study of the African Caribbean community in Bristol?
Both cultural transition and defence have been important
Why does Ken Pryce describe Pentecostalism as?
A highly adaptive ‘religion of the oppressed’
It provides migrants with values that allow them to adapt to British values through the ‘Protestant Work Ethic’
How does Bird support Bruce’s idea of cultural defence?
Religion in EM groups can be a was to preserve culture and language, eg. Black Christian’s were rejected by white churches and so formed their own (mainly Pentecostal)
What is cultural defence according to Bruce?
How religion allows people to defend and protect their culture
