religion, renewal and choice Flashcards
is religion declining
Secularisation theories argue that religion is declining. Others argue it is not. Religion today just works different to old forms of religion
from obligation to consumption
Davie argues that modern religion is based on consumption rather than obligation. In the past, churches could oblige people to go to church to believe certain things and to behave in certain ways. Davie argues that nowadays religion is no longer inherited or imposed but a matter of personal choice. People no longer feel obliged to attend church or baptise their children. For example, in England and France, infant baptism was once seen as an obligatory rite of passage but now only a minority of babies are baptised. People now believe without belonging - a situation where religion becomes a personal and private choice, people are increasingly reluctant to belong to organisations but some still hold religious beliefs.
Vicarious religions
Religions are now vicarious religions - a minority are now active for the majority. Voas and Crockett argue that Davie is wrong. Evidence from 5750 respondents shows that both church attendance and belief in God are declining together. If Davie were right, there would be higher levels of belief. Bruce adds that if people are not willing to go to church and invest their time, this reflects a decline in the strength of their belief. When people no longer believe they no longer wish to belong, and so their involvement in religion diminishes.
spiritual shopping
Leger argues that traditional religions have declined due to cultural amnesia. This is partly due to parents today letting children decide for themselves what to believe instead of socialising them into religious beliefs. As a result, young people no longer have a fixed religious identity imposed on them through socialisation and they are ignorant of traditional religion and so they reject it. However, while traditional institutions have declined, religion itself has not disappeared. Instead, individual consumerism has replaced tradition. People are ‘spiritual shoppers’ picking whatever element of religion works for them. Two types of new religious types are emerging as a result. Pilgrims - those seeking to discover themselves in new-age religions. Converts - those seeking religion for community
post-modern religion
Lyon agrees with Davie that believing without belonging is increasingly popular, Traditional religion is giving way to a variety of new religious forms that demonstrate its continuing vigour
forms of postmodern religion
- Globalisation, the media and religion
- Online Religion and Religion Online
- Religious Consumerism
- Self-religious
- Re-enchantment of the world
globalisation, the media and religion
Globalisation has greatly increased the movements of ideas and beliefs across national boundaries. This is due to the central role played in post-modern societies by the media which saturate us with images and messages from around the globe, giving us access to the ideas and beliefs of previously remote places and religions. For example, the electronic church and televangelism disembed religion from real, local churches and relocate them to the internet, allowing believers to express their faith without attending church. As a result according to Lyon, religion has become deinstitutionalised - detached from its place in religious institutions floating in cyber-space. Removed from their original location in the church, religious ideas become a cultural response that individuals can adapt for their own purposes.
online religion and religion online
Helland argues that the internet creates a range of opportunities for religious organisations and individuals to exploit. Religion online - a form of top-down communication where a religious organisation uses the internet to address members and potential convents, there is no feedback or dialogue between parties, it is an electronic version of the traditional hierarchical communication of churches to their members, communicating only the officially approved ideas.
Online Religion - A form of cyber-religion that may have no existence outside the internet. It is a form of communication that allows individuals to create non-hierarchical religious organisations and a sense of community where they can visit virtual worship, explore shared spirituality and provide mutual support. For example, the pagans described by Cowan gained a sense of self-worth from feeling that they belonged to a global network. However, while PM might see online religion as a radical new alternative that may be replacing religion, evidence from Hoover shows that for most users it is just a supplement to their church-based activities rather than a substitute
religious consumerism
PM society involves the growth of consumerism and the idea that we now construct our identities through what we choose to consume. According to Hervieu-Leger, this is also the case for religion where we act as spiritual shoppers choosing religious beliefs and practices to meet our individual needs with the vast range available in the religious marketplace, We no longer have to sign up to any specific religious tradition, instead, we can pick and mix elements of different religions to suit our tastes and make them part of our identity - this is referred to as individualised religion. Similarly, Lyon argues that religion has relocated to the sphere of consumptopn, though people may have ceased to belong to religious organisations, they have not abandoned religion instead they have become religious consumers, making conscious choices about which elements of religion they find useful. EG American Christain Fundamentalists in Ammermans study made use of the a number of churches without giving strong loyalty to any of them. One family attended services at a methodist church, bereavement counselling at a baptist church, they are simply evolving taking on new forms that fit the consumerist nature of PM society
self-religions
New-Age Beliefs and practices have been called self-religions. It rejects the idea of obligation and obedience to external authority found in traditional religions, instead, it emphasises the idea of life as a journey of discovery and personal development. The key idea linking all these features is individualism according to Lyon
re-enchantment of the world
Lyon disagrees with secularisation theory and its assumptions that religion is declining and being replaced by a rational scientific worldview. He argues that, unlike Weber’s prediction of disenchantment of the world, we are now in a period of re-enchantment with the growth of unconventional beliefs, practices and spirituality. Traditional forms of religion may have declined in the EU but it is evergrowing in the West with non-traditional religions and traditional religions are still strong elsewhere
evals of RRC
Bruce - Problem of scale. Even if new age forms of religion are springing up, not as many people follow them for it to be able to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional religions. For example, in Kendal in 1851, 38% of the population attended church today only 3000 attend church in the town
Socialisation of the next generation - for a belief system to survive it must be passed down to the next gen, In Kendal, only 32% of parents who were involved in the New Age said their children shared their spiritual interests
Weak commitments - Bruce argues that although many people dabbled in meditation and other forms of New Age beliefs and practices. Serious commitments to them are rare. Most show no serious interest in it after a while
New age religions cause secularisation because of its subjective and individualistic nature. It is based on the idea that there is no higher authority than self. They are structually weak and unlikely to fill in the gap left by the decline of traditional institutional religion. It lacks an external power and consensus, meaning it lacks cohesion as a movement.
Religious Market theory
critical of secularisation - Stark and Bainbridge
* There is a rational choice theory for religion as well as
crime
1. People are naturally religious as religion meets
human needs
* Everyone is in search of a religion and answers
2. It is human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs
* People weigh up the costs and benefits before of
the options available
religions are in competitions
Religions operate like businesses competing with each
other and selling their beliefs in a market
* Religions have to change their product in order to
appeal to largest amount of people as possible
* Those that are successful grow, those that are
not collapse
* This leads to higher quality religious ‘goods’
criticisms of Religious market theory
Bruce rejects the view that diversity and competition increases the demand for religion. Diversity has matched religious decline
