Religion, renewal and choice Flashcards
What did Davie argue? (3)
Religion is not declining but it is taking a more privatised form.
There are now vicarious religions which is where you can do religion through someone else.
Spiritual Health Service - like the NHS, people attend church when they need to.
What are criticisms of believing without belonging? (2)
They are evidence of a nostalgic committment to religion and shows that religious beliefs are declining.
Too broad, making it hard to generalise and quantify.
What did Hervieu-Leger argue? (2)
People are now spiritual shoppers and can pick and mix different beliefs and religions so it suits their needs.
There is now cultural amnesia.
What are criticisms of spiritual shopping? (2)
Bruce: problem of scale, growing in numbers, it would need to be on a much larger scale to fill the gap by the decline of institutionalised religions.
Spiritual shopping can be inconsistent, it can die out whereas traditional religions don’t. Spiritual shopping has a lifespan.
What did Lyon argue?
Religious ideas are now disembedded which means that the media lifts them out of physical churches and mves them into a different place or time.
They are also de-institutionalised where it is detached from its place.
What is televangalism?
Technology has allowed them to take part in practices.
What is re-enchantment? (2)
Revival or renewal of magical ways of religious thinking and there is a spiritual revolution taking place.
Kendal project - people are now focusing on the hollist milleu (mind, body, soul). Ancient practices are being revived to help people heal.
What are strengths of disembedded religion? (2)
Religion is now individualised.
Increased diversity of religious beliefs.
What are criticisms of disembedded religion? (2)
This could be a form of making money
Re-enchantment involved weak committments.
What do Stark and Bainbridge argue? (3)
Religious market theory.
Religious market theory = religion is increasingly popular in nations where this is religious pluralism.
They see secularisation as eurocentric because it only explains the decline in religion in Europe and not other parts of the world.
What assumptions is the religious market theory based on? (4)
People are naturally religious and religion meets human needs.
It is human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs.
People are naturally rational.
Religious pluralism increases participation.
What are criticisms of the religious market theory? (4)
Beckford: It is unsociological to assume that people are naturally religious.
Countries like Hollan and Australia have a big supply of religion but these countries are less religious.
Competition has weakened religion in the USA or religions undergo disneyfication.
Not a global theory because it only applies to the USA and cannot explain religiosity in other non-western societies.
What do Norris and Inglehart argue? (3)
Existential secuirty theory.
Religiosity depends on how safe you feel in the society you live in. So, societies where people feel secure have a low level of demand for religion.
The demand for religion is not contant but varies within societies.
What are conclusions of the secularisation thesis? (3)
It is impossible to say with certainty that secularisation is occurring.
It is doubtful that religion will disappear because it is a human need and people need comforting.
Woodhead notes that the UK is both secular and religious.
What does Giddens argue about religion? (3)
People have become more reflexive and they are conscious about their choices and who they want to be.
People now face a personal meaningless where they are in a moral vacuum.
Some people may return back to fundamentalist religions because of strict moral codes of behaviour etc.
