MT3 - Secularisation/Religiosity

Question 1

Weber

Answer 1

The Catholic worldview that saw the world as an enchanted garden but the Protestant reformation started the process of rationalisation using newly discovered scientific principles, people were able to understand how the world works) which caused the disenchantment of the world (replacing supernatural ways of thinking with rational thought)

C: There are still religious people in the more advanced, rationalised 21st century.

Question 2

WIlson

Answer 2

There has been a decline in the number of people going to church and in the number of people who say they hold a belief in God, in Jesus and in the afterlife.

C: statistics may lack validity as respondents may not take the survey seriously, e.g. 2001 census 0.7% of respondents listed their religion as Jedi Knights.

Question 3

Parsons

Answer 3

structural differentiation (process of specialisation and loss of function) which has contributed to Religion’s loss of influence and subsequent increase in secularisation e.g education, welfare and the law are now taken over by the state.

Structural differentiation leads to the disengagement of religion because as its functions are transferred to other institutions, it becomes disconnected from wider society.

Question 4

Davie

Answer 4

eople still identify with religion despite low attendance to church so religion is not declining, rather it is simply changing and taking on a more privatised form as it is now based on believing without belonging

Question 5

criticise Davie

criticise Davie

Answer 5

Voas and Crockett

Both church attendance and belief in God is declining therefore there is no belonging nor believing.

Question 6

Stark and Bainbridge

Answer 6

People are naturally religious and that religion meets their needs therefore, the demand for religion remains strong. Religion is attractive because it provides people with compensators (through the promise of salvation) – when real rewards are unobtainable, religion promises supernatural ones, e.g. life after death.

Question 7

Norris and Inglehart

Answer 7

Different levels of religiosity are a result of different degrees of existential security

religiosity is high in countries with a low degree of existential security which explains why wealthy Western countries are becoming secular, while in LEDCs religiosity is high.

Question 8

Criticism of Norris and Inglehart

Answer 8

Vasquez criticises Norris and Inglehart as they only used quantitative data on people’s income levels and ignored individuals’ definitions of existential security.

Question 9

Hervieu-Leger

Answer 9

Decline in traditional institutional religion because of cultural amnesia (a loss of collective memory - parents not teaching)

People have become spiritual shoppers – individualised consumers of religion as they choose the elements of religion(s) they are interested in pursuing

C: A multi-faith society doesn’t mean that one religion is not dominant, e.g. Christianity in the UK.

Question 10

Heelas and Woodhead

Answer 10

Defined spiritual revolution as the process through which traditional religion has been replaced with the holistic milieu – New Age Movements such as self-help books, meditation, crystal healing, etc.

NAMs are growing because of the subjective turn in culture – the move from obeying traditional religious authority and instead exploring your inner self by following a spiritual path.

c: Bruce - low commitment

Question 11

Berger

Answer 11

Religion used to be part of the plausibility structure (provided answers to questions about life based on faith - not questioned) and therefore provided the sacred canopy – (a set of beliefs shared by all)

Religious diversity means that no single religion can claim the monopoly of the truth so society is no longer unified under the single sacred canopy provided by one religion.

Instead there is the plurality of life worlds – in which people’s interpretations of the truth vary which undermines religion and leads to secularisation.

C: Religious diversity, rather than discouraging religiosity, in fact increases it by offering choice of beliefs to people.

Question 12

Bruce - Cultural transition

Answer 12

This refers to the ways in which religion can be used to help recent migrants ease into a new culture.
Bruce argues that religion does this by providing support and a sense of community.
For example, places of worship can support you by helping you integrate into a new community such as help with finding work, language as well as comfort from religious rituals.
Example - Pryce’s study of Caribbean immigrants showed how Penecostalism supported them when they first arrived in Bristol.
+C as the second and third generation migrants become integrated into the new culture, their level of religiosity declines.