Key Theorists - Religion, Renewal and Choice

Question 1

Key Theorist – Grace Davie (2007): Secularisation

WHAT DOES THIS THEORY CLAIM?

Answer 1

• That there are multiple versions of modernity. For example America and Britain are both modern societies, but have very different church attendance patterns.

Question 2

Key Theorist – Grace Davie (2007): Secularisation

WHAT OTHER THEORY DOES THIS THEORY REJECT?

Answer 2

• Secularisation theory.

Question 3

Key Theorist – Grace Davie (2007): Secularisation

WHAT DOES DAVIE SUGGEST?
GIVE AT LEAST TWO EXAMPLES.

Answer 3

At least two from:

• Religion is not declining it is just taking a more privatised form.
• People can ‘believe without belonging’
• The decline of traditional religion is matched by the growth of a new form of religion.
• There is a trend towards ‘vicarious religion’. Despite low church attendance many people still use the church for rites of passage. For example, baptisms, weddings and funerals.

Question 4

Key Theorist – Grace Davie (2007): Secularisation

WHICH VIEW DOES DAVIE REJECT?

Answer 4

The view that religion was replaced by science and (instead) argues the two will continue to co-exist.

Question 5

How can Davie’s ideas be evaluated?

Answer 5

• Voas and Crockett reject Davie’s claim that there is believing without belonging. Evidence from the British Social Attitudes surveys from 1983 to 2000 shows that both church attendance and the belief in God are declining. This suggests that the concept of ‘believing without belonging’ is not true, because if people still believed in religion but chose not to attend church, then there would still be high amounts of people saying that they are religious.

Question 6

Key Theorist - Danielle Hervieu-Leger (2000; 2006): Spiritual Shopping

WHAT DOES SHE ARGUE?

Answer 6

• People become spiritual shoppers – meaning that they choose the best aspects of religions to find one that fits them as best as possible. For example, a Muslim who chooses to drink alcohol which is traditionally not accepted in Islam.

Question 7

Key Theorist - Danielle Hervieu-Leger (2000; 2006): Spiritual Shopping

HOW CAN THIS THEORY BE EVALUATED?
GIVE AT LEAST ONE EXAMPLE.

Answer 7

At least one from:

• Lyon supports Hervieu-Leger’s view of individuals being able to be ‘spiritual shoppers’. Lyon argues that religion has relocated to the sphere of consumption. Individuals select what aspects of different religions suit them.
• People no longer believe in ‘meta-narratives’. Thus old dominant, traditional religions decline and many new religious movements spring up, that the consumer can ‘sample’.

Question 8

Key Theorist – Lyon (2000): Study of ‘Jesus in Disneyland’ and The Relocation of Religion

WHAT DOES THIS THEORY ARGUE?

Answer 8

• Society has a number of features which are changing religion, including: globalisation, increase in media and communications and the growth of consumerism.
• Religion is becoming de-institutionalised. Religious signs and symbols are being removed from its original location (the church) and becoming more of a cultural resource that individuals can adapt for their own purposes.

Question 9

Key Theorist – Helland (2002): Online Religion and Religion Online

WHAT DOES THIS THEORY DO?

Answer 9

• Distinguish between two kinds of internet activity, which he calls religion online and online religion.

Question 10

Key Theorist – Helland (2002): Online Religion and Religion Online

ACCORDING TO THIS THEORY, WHAT IS RELIGION ONLINE?

Answer 10

• A form of top-down communication where a religious organisation uses the internet to address members and potential converts.
• There is no dialogue or feedback between the parties.

Question 11

Key Theorist – Helland (2002): Online Religion and Religion Online

ACCORDING TO THIS THEORY, WHAT IS ONLINE RELIGION?

Answer 11

• Is a form of ‘cyber religion’ that may have no existence outside of the internet.
• It is a many to many form of communication that allows individuals to create non hierarchal relationships and a sense of community, where they can visit virtual worship or meditation spaces, explore shared spiritual interests or provide mutual support.

Question 12

Key Theorist – Lyon: Criticism of Secularisation Theory

HOW DID THIS THEORY CRITICISE SECULARISATION THEORY?

Answer 12

It argues that secularisation theory assumes that religion is declining and being replaced by a rational, scientific, world view.

Question 13

Key Theorist – Lyon: Re-Enchantment of the New World

WHAT DOES LYON ARGUE?

Answer 13

• We now live in a period of re-enchantment, with a growth of unconventional beliefs, practises and spirituality.

Question 14

Key Theorists – Heelas and Woodhead (2005): Traditional Religion

IN THEIR STUDY OF KENDAL IN CUMBRIA, WHAT DID THEY INVESTIGATE?

Answer 14

• Whether traditional religion has declined, and if so, how far the growth of spirituality in compensating for this.

Question 15

Key Theorists – Heelas and Woodhead (2005): Traditional Religion

WHAT DID THEY FIND?

Answer 15

• In 2000, in a typical week 7.9% of the population attended church and 1.6% took part in the activities of the holistic milieu.
• However, within the congregational domain, the traditional churches were losing support, while evangelical churches were holding their own and fairing relatively well.

Question 16

Key Theorists – Heelas and Woodhead (2005): Traditional Religion

WHAT EXPLANATIONS DO THESE THEORISTS GIVE FOR THE RENDS IN WHICH THEY FOUND?
GIVE AT LEAST TWO EXAMPLES.

Answer 16

At least two from:

• New Age spirituality has grown because of a massive subjective turn in today’s culture. This involves a shift away from the idea of doing your duty and obeying external authority, to exploring your inner self by exploring a spiritual path.
• As a result, traditional religions, which demand duty and obedience are declining.
• Evangelical churches are more successful than the traditional churches. They both demand discipline and duty, but the evangelicals also emphasise the importance of spiritual healing and personal growth and the experience of being ‘born again’.

Question 17

Key Theorist – Bruce: Weaknesses of the New Age

WHAT DOES THIS THEORY POINT OUT?

Answer 17

• Even if New Age forms of individualised religion are springing up, this would have to be on a much larger scale if it was to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional institutionalised religions.
• To be a belief system, it must be passed down to the next generation.
• New Age spirituality is a self-cause of secularisation because of its subjective, individualistic nature – it is based on the idea that there is no higher authority than the self.

Question 18

Key Theorist – Bruce: Weaknesses of the New Age

HOW DOES BRUCE ARGUE THE NEW AGE DIFFERS FROM TRADITIONAL RELIGION?
GIVE AT LEAST TWO EXAMPLES.

Answer 18

At least two from:

• Lacks an external power (such as the church hierarchy) to extract commitment from New Age participants against their wishes.
• Cannot achieve consensus about its beliefs because everyone is free to believe what they wish – therefore, it lacks cohesion as a movement.
• Cannot evangelise (persuade others of the truth) because it believes that enlightenment comes from within, not from someone else.

Question 19

Key Theorist – Bruce: Weaknesses of the New Age

WHAT DOES BRUCE ARGUE ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NEW AGE AND TRADITIONAL RELIGION?

Answer 19

• These characteristics make the New Age structurally weak and unlikely to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional institutional religion.

Question 20

Key Theorists – Stark and Bainbridge: Religious New Market Theory

HOW DO THEY CRITICISE SECULARISATION THEORY?

Answer 20

• They claim it is Eurocentric - focuses on the decline of religion in Europe.

Question 21

Key Theorists – Stark and Bainbridge: Religious New Market Theory

WHAT DO THEY ARGUE?

Answer 21

• There is no golden age of religion.

Question 22

Key Theorists – Stark and Bainbridge: Religious New Market Theory

WHAT THEORY DO THEY PROPOSE?

Answer 22

Religious market theory - which is based on on two assumptions which are that:

• Churches operate like companies selling goods in a market.
• Competition leads to improvements of ‘religious goods’ on offer. Therefore churches who are not responsive to the needs of their members will see a decline.

Question 23

Key Theorists – Stark and Bainbridge: Religious New Market Theory

HOW CAN THIS THEORY BE EVALUATED?
GIVE AT LEAST TWO EXAMPLES.

Answer 23

At least two from:

• Bruce (2011) rejects the view that diversity and competition increase the demand for religion. Statistics show that diversity has been accompanied by religious decline in both Europe and America.
• Bruce argues that the Stark and Bainbridge misrepresent secularisation theory. The theory does not claim that there was a past ‘golden age’ of religion, or that everyone will become atheists - it simply claims that religion is in long-term decline. Nor does it claim that secularisation is universal – just that it applies to Europe and America.
• Norris and Inglehart (2011) show that high levels of just participation exist in catholic countries where the church has a near monopoly, such as Ireland. By contrast, countries with religious pluralism, such as Holland and Australia, often have low levels of participation. This contradicts Stark and Bainbridge’s theory.
• Beckford 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 24

Key Theorists – Hadden and Shupe (1998): Supply Led Religion

WHAT DO THEY ARGUE?

Answer 24

• The growth of ‘televanglism’ in America shows that the level of religious participation is supply led.
• When commercial funding of religious forecasts started in the 1960s, it opened up competition in which Evangelical churches thrived.
• As a commercial enterprise, ‘televanglism’ responded to consumer demand by preaching a ‘prosperity gospel’.

Question 25

Key Theorist – Finke (1997): Supply Led Religion

WHAT DO THEY ARGUE?

Answer 25

• Lifting the restrictions on Asian immigration into America in the 1960s allowed Asian religions to set up permanently in the USA, and Asian faith became another option that proved popular with consumers in the religious marketplace.

Question 26

Key Theorist – Stark (1990): Supply Led Religion

WHAT DO THEY ARGUE?

Answer 26

• Japan is another society where a free market religion has stimulated participation.
• Until 1945, Shintoism was the state religion and other religions were suppressed. However, after World War II religion was de-regulated, creating a market in which new religions has thrived.
• Japan’s experience contrasts with that of post-war Germany, where religion was closely regulated by the state and as a result declined.

Question 27

Key Theorists - Norris and Inglehart (2004): Existential Security Theory

WHICH THEORY DO THEY REJECT?

Answer 27

Religious market theory.

Question 28

Key Theorists - Norris and Inglehart (2004): Existential Security Theory

WHAT DO THEY ARGUE?

Answer 28

• Religion meets the needs for security.
• The demand for religion is not constant and will vary from society to society.
• Poorer societies are more religious than richer ones.

Question 29

Key Theorists - Norris and Inglehart (2004): Existential Security Theory

HOW CAN THEIR THEORY BE EVALUATED?

Answer 29

Gill and Lundegaarde (2004) found that the more a country spends on welfare, the lower the level of religious participation. European countries, that spend more than the USA, are also more secular than the USA.