Religion Flashcards
Brown - Brown Thesis (9)
- Hegemony of an idea is not simply demonstrable by stats, but exists in the form of a more intangible ethos and atmosphere2. “Really quite suddenly in 1963” secularisation occurred. 3. “1950s… acutely affected by genuflection to religious symbols, authority and activities”4. “1800-1963 as a highly religious nation” rejection of modernisation thesis, + WC as vanguard of change 5. “women, rather than cities or social class, emerge as the principal source of explanation for the patterns of religiosity”6. “The point is that the complex web of legally and socially accepted rules which governed individual identitiy in Christian Britain until the 1950s has been swept aside since the 1960s”7. Early 19th C attributed to the feminisation of piety. “teenage years were the woman’s most morally vulnerable period… evangelicals counselled parents about letting daughters near ballrooms”. Focuses on dress, protocols8. Male religiosity undermined by masculine temptations, esp. after war9. “Discursive Christianity ’ was a salvation industry, driven by the ‘salvation economy’, its product the saving of souls, its means practically all of the media churches and associated organizations could compel” (McLeod)
Robbins - Scotland
- Scottish religion – Presbytarianism stronger than CoE – due to fact it became aspect of national identity – however, this is deceptive – can have such a thing as a Presbytarian atheist
Taylor - on secularisation from within
- From 1963, especially in the wake of Honest to God, the idea of the ‘secular society’ was accepted by a wide range of Christian leaders, and consequently it passed into the received wisdom, allowing secular sociologists to dominate the debate from 1965.”1. Secularisation discourses not from secular sociology, but Christianity – legacy of Bonhoeffer (Nazi prisoner theologian) – claimed time of religion had come – martyrdom meant taken seriously in coming decade.2. Articles on secularisation generally consumed and relayed by Christians – Christians created their own crisis3. Christian re-imagination of religion had secularising impacts for law, media and churches.BBC and newspapers propagated religion (Guardian had protected religious column)Taylor points to Robbins as the source of major controversy – bishop of Woolwich appeared to deny validity of theism through book Honest to God. Book sales extremely high. Rise of new age and technological revolution also undermined stability of religion
Bruce
“all you’ve got is a trend”
Wolfe - sources of secularisation
- Secularisation geographically disparate – outer regions typically more religious2. Gender divided – women typically more faithful3. Retreat from Empire in 1960s had implications for religious consciousness – national as well as religious identity crisis4. Minority growth important – 1980s – 2mil. Collective – matching contemporary active Anglicans5. Religion in 1980s shown through enthusiasm around David Jenkins (challenging virginity of Mary), Rushdie, Sermon on Mound and Pope visit to Britain?6. Growing leisure time among chief cause for declining attendance7. War – stimulus for decline in faith – brutalisation/ however, consider alt faith (i.e. contacting dead)8. Religion – hallmark of pre-modern society
Woodhead - on Brown and growth
- Rejects Brown thesis – religion thrives outside media lens. Secularisation – metanarrative – 2001 Census Data – 72% of pop. Identify as Christian. 23.2% had ‘no religion’. More people believe ‘God as Spirit or Lifeforce’. “turn of millennium talk of desecularisation”2. “Fastest-growing forms of religion cease to be those which are most closely allied with political power and social prestige. Rather than being ‘the Tory party at prayer’, religion becomes more closely associated with minorities, including the women active in many forms of alternative spirituality and healthcare, and the Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and others forging new forms of identity and representation in British society.”
Davie - complexity of belonging
- Show how complex and pervasive elements of Christian identity and expressions of belonging remain today - one cannot predicate absolute continuity of institutional influence and authority on a declining basis of active participation.Anglican, Baptist, RC figures suggest exogenous growth - numbers remain stable, and sometimes increase. Scotland consistently more religious than South. Judaism strengthened – secularisation tends to be a Christian phenomenon.
Green - point of secularisation
- re-reading of the fate of organized religion, which still adheres to a chronology of eventual decline – now posited as from the 1920s – but which refuses to develop a speculative theory to account for it. Established the ‘associational ideal’ - a framework of shared assumptions about inclusiveness, mission, commitment, and voluntarist ethics which, in a context of increasing social pluriformity, rendered the churches’ guiding belief in the possibility of social consensus ultimately untenable. This culminated in 1920s, when ‘the local religious classes lost heart’, due to leisure clubs, political organizations, etc.
Erdozain - socialism
- Identifies Socialism as the product of religious crisis during French Revolution
Define Religion
Religion - ‘a belief in an all-powerful and benevolent Creator, worship of whom, and obedience to whose commandments offers the only path to individual and collective well-being, together with the practices and institutions founded on such belief’ – McLeod
Define Secularisation
Secularisation – “Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward nonreligious values and secular institutions. The secularization thesis refers to the belief that as societies progress, particularly through modernization and rationalization, religion loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance.” – Norris
Varying interpretations of secularisation
Secularisation – “Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward nonreligious values and secular institutions. The secularization thesis refers to the belief that as societies progress, particularly through modernization and rationalization, religion loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance.” – Norris
Patterns of religious adherence
UK – Peak of religion appears to be 1850-60 – membership of various denominations peak in terms of % of population, but go into decline towards 1914. Rise mid-19th C – due to stricter New Poor Law, plus concerted effort of religious groups from fear of commercial society
UK vs US
USA – evidence suggests rising faith across 20th c – from 35% (1890) to 55.1 (1996) HOWEVER, pre-marital sex rates soar, particularly for women – from 11% (1929) to 85% (1972), male increase, but not as dramatic – 73% to 82%. More so the growing equalisation of men and women? Comparative to UK – one night stands (1967) much lower – 7.2% in US, 33.7% UK
UK vs GER
Contra Germany – Vidler, in 1940s – “In Germany the post-Christian secularization and paganization of society is already blatantly occurring and even patently accomplished fact, whereas here we are drifting into a similar condition without being aware of it.”
Baptism Stats
UK – Baptism – relatively stable @ 700-730m between 1900-1950, rapid decline from 1960-2005 (to 300m) (CoE)
