Religion, renewal and choice Flashcards
New forms of religion
Some sociologists argue that there is actually not a decline in religon and there is simply just more to choose from due to changes in society such as increased consumerism and choice
Obligation to Consumption
- Eng and France, baptism was seen as compulsory obligation and now people have the choice, contrasting this there has been a rise in adult baptisms
- DAVIES religion is no longer inherited its simply personal choice
- DAVIE people are still believing but are just reluctant to belong to an organisation, just become more privatised
- VICARIOUS RELIGION refers to religion practiced by an active minority of the population that allows others to experience it second hand.
Obligation to Consumption
- Eng and France, baptism was seen as compulsory obligation and now people have the choice, contrasting this there has been a rise in adult baptisms
- DAVIES religion is no longer inherited its simply personal choice
- DAVIE people are still believing but are just reluctant to belong to an organisation, just become more privatised
- VICARIOUS RELIGION refers to religion practiced by an active minority of the population that allows others to experience it second hand.
Vicarious religion
When the majority of population practice a religion in order for people to second hand identify with it.
Major national churches
Seen as public utilities or a spiritual health service
- NHS
- Using churches for rites of passage or national mourning
- DAVIES BELIEVING WITHOUT BELONGING
Neither beleiving nor belonging
Crockett and Voas do not accept davies claim of there being more believing then belonging and simply see both church attendance and beleif in god are declining together - if DAVIE was right we would also see more belief
- BRUCE if people were not willing to invest time in church it just reflects their declining beliefs
- DAY found that many christians identified w christianity just to have a mark of their ethnic or national background
Spiritual shopping
HERVEIU LEGER continues the theme of personal choice - agreeing w decline in institiutional religion
CULTURAL AMNESIA - loss of passing down religion as more parents now let their children decide for themselves,
Religion has now become consumerised with a do it yourself mentality and allow us to cater religion to our own needs.
HERVIE LEGER sees pilgrims and converts resulting from this
- Pilgrims follow a personal paths
- Converts join grps that offer strong sense of belonging
Postmodern religion
LYON agrees with DAVIE that believing wihtout belonging is popular. He argues that traditional religion is giving way to new religious forms
Postmodern society has features such as increased importance of the media and comms that effect this
Globalisation, media and religion
Refers to the interconnectedness of society leading to increased movements of ideas and beliefs across boundaries
People can now use electronic church and disembed religion from locality and now worship without having to even physically attend a church
Online religion and Religion online
Religion online is a form of top down communication where a religious organisation uses the internet to address members and potential converts, theres no feedback or dialogue between the parties.
Online religion is a form of religion online that may not exist irl eg the PAGANS 2005 had feelings of self worth feeling like they belonged to a global network
HOOVER said its just a supplement not a substitute.
Religious consumerism
We act as spiritual shoppers and we choose what we like from religion.
Religion and spirituality dont disappear but just simply evolve and take on new forms fitting consumerism.
Self religions and the new age
Many of the new form of religions that Lyon refers to are new age movements
The individual is free to worship how they like
Re-enchantment of the world
Lyon is against secularisation and argues instead we are simply just developing more un conventional beliefd and practices.
Theres a growing of non traditional religion
A spiritual revolution?
A spiritual revolution is taking place in which traditional christianity is giving way to holisitic spirituality
Theres a growth in the spiritual market - courses and therapies such as crystal healing
Congregational domain
V
Holistic Milieu
Heelas and Woodhead investigate whether traditional religion has declined
- Congregational domain is traditional and evangelicial christianity
- Holistic Mileiu of spirituality and new age
- Spirituality has grown due to a massive change in todays culture Theres been a shift away from doing your duty which now focuses on finding your own path
The weakness of the new age
- Problem of scale Even if new age religions were springing up this would have to be on a large scale to make up for the decline
- Soc of the next gen : only 32% of ppl with new age religion had children who followed their beliefs.
- Weak commitment Bruce found that those who identified as spiritual didnt actually have strong religious beliefs.
Religious Market Theory
- people are naturally religious and religion meets human needs
- its human nature to seek reward and avoid cost
Religious Market Theory
Compensators
The cycle of renewal - when churches decline they make a gap for sects and cults to grow.
Religious competition - STARK and BAINBRIDGE churches operate like selling goods in a market, competitions lead to improvements in quality of goods
Religious Market Theory
America Vs Europe
Stark and Bainbridge say that in the USA religion thrives as there has always been a freedom of religion and religions always been held away from the state meaning there is opportunity for religions to either grow or decline dependant on consumer demand
In Europe this is totally different as competition has been held back thus having a lack of choice, leading to a decline,
Supply not demand
Stark and Bainbridge, conclude that the main factor is supply not demand as where there is an ample flow of religions there is choice and where the supply is restricted, theres secularisation
Supply led religion
- FINKE lifting of asian immigration, led to establishment of asian religious organisations.
- STARK free market in japan has stimulated participation
Religious Market Theory
Criticisms
Bruce rejects the idea of supply not demand as he finds stats that show the decline of religion comes with more choice
Beckford criticises this as unsociological as it assumes everyone is naturally religious which is not true.
An alternate view : secularisation and security
Existential security theory
NORRIS AND INGLEHART Religion helps provide security and therefore places that already have high levels of security have low demand for religion so religions more likely to be helpful to those in poor societies
An alternate view : secularisation and security
Europe vs America
WESTERN EUROPE - low religious demand which makes sense
USA - still religious as its the most unequal and is insecure
State welfare and religiosity
The more a country spends on welfare- the lower the religiosity
gill and lundegaarde found religion provides welfare
welfare provision doesnt account for ultimate qs
