religion and postmodernism

Question 1

decline of traditional religions

Answer 1

meta narratives dominated modernist society (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam etc) but in postmodern society people are exposed to alternative belief systems that in the past they would have no contact with

Question 2

Davie - believing without belonging

Answer 2

religion has become a private rather than a public matter, where there is no public commitment for holding religious beliefs, meaning traditional religions have changed to ‘believing without belonging’

Question 3

vicarious religion (Davie)

Answer 3

small number of individuals are publicly involved in the church but the ‘believers but not belongers’ turn to them for rites of passage, such as weddings and funerals

Question 4

consumption (NRMs)

Answer 4

in postmodern society the religion we consume says something about who we are as people

Question 5

Hervieu-Leger - spiritual supermarket

Answer 5

suggests we are spiritual shoppers and choose different aspects of religions to consume from a global spiritual supermarket
- scientology is marketed as a product and individuals have to purchase seminars
- in Kabala followers have to purchase materials

Question 6

hybridity (NRMs)

Answer 6

new religions have developed containing aspects of many other religions, both old religions and even non-religious ideas
- scientology is a hybrid of scientific, spiritual and psychodynamic ideas

Question 7

Lyon - ‘Jesus in Disneyland’

Answer 7

argues that religion is undergoing a process of Disneyfication, the process of using mass marketing and a range of global media to sell products (in this case the religion), where people will shop around and select the best religion for their personal beliefs
- 10,000 Christians attended Harvest Day Crusade at Disneyland, two worlds which would normally clash due to their worldviews

Question 8

strengths of postmodernist views of religion

Answer 8

• up to date with current trends

Question 9

weaknesses of postmodernist views of religion

Answer 9

• meta narratives still exist
• limited choice constructing identities (Bruce)
• fundamentalism has always existed, so maybe not linked to post modernity
• overgeneralises based on western countries