Religion, Renewal and choice Flashcards
what does Davie argue about the new forms of religion
in todays society there is a major change in religion, away from obligation and towards consumption of choice.
what is argued about believing without belonging
Davie
- people no longer feel the obligation to make their religious beliefs public by attending church with others. still hols onto belie but its privatised
what does Davie argue about vicarious religion
Although religion is not practised overtly in Europe, people engage vicariously (indirectly) through other people
in Europe, religion is seen as a spiritual health service like the NHS. majority of people use kit when they need it. eg mourning
Does various religion show that religion is unimportant
no as people still access religion when they need it. Also it is practised by clergy on the behalf of others. But you could say that it is not as they do not always attend
is ‘Silent religion’ as strong as ‘public religion’
‘silent religion’ dont go to church cant measure silent religion (A03) difficult to quantitive data, might be as strong but we dont know
what is the A03 for Davie believing without belonging claim
Voas surveys consistently show that church attendance and beliefs are declining together. if Davie were right, we wound expect to see higher levels of belief
what is spiritual shopping
religion has become a personal, spiritual journey where we choose the elements we want to explore and the groups we want to join
Nowadays, children decide for themselves what they want to believe. They have become spiritual shoppers.Children have no foxed religion but this does mean that religion has disappeared we just have a DIY religious belief
what does Daniele Hervieu - leger
calls spiritual shopping cultural amnesia - the loss of collective memory of what religious traditions and used to be like
children no loner have religion handed down to them from the older generations because fewer children teach their children about religion
what are the two new religious types
- pilgrims - follow their own individual path to ‘self discovery’ eg exploring new age spirituality
- converts - join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging eg evangelical movements
quick definition of post modernists
They reject all embracing theories that claim to have absolute truth such as feminism, functionalists, Marxism, scientific explanation- call them meta analysis - just someone’s version of the truth
what is the post modernists view based on
the idea that society is an unstable, fragmented, media saturated global village, where image and reality are indistinguishable.
in a postmodern society we define ourselves by what we consume
what does Lyon argue about post modern religion
Globalisation, media and religion ideas and beliefs have moved across national boundaries because of the media saturating us with images and messages from around the globe
what is an example of globalisation, the media and religion
the electronic church
Tv programmes/websites that present a preacher and religious service online so that believers need no longer to go church to express their faith they can do it via the media
In the USA there are 1,064 religious radio stations had 25 religious stations and the number continues to grow at about 1 per week
How has the media (electronic church) impacted religion
Religion has become disembedded from real local churches to the TV and internet
Religion has become deindustrialised removed from its original location and is floating in cyber space
what is the example of David Lynn’s study which shows that people are still spiritual and religious
Towards the end of the second millennium in the Christian calendar, 10000 pilgrims took part in a Harvest Day parade in Disneyland USA. The organisers mission was to bring Gods magical kingdom to the magical kingdom of Disneyland which is a theme of Disneyland
what is a ‘religious realm’
Lyon calls this for how faith and spirituality is flourishing in diverse forms
what is a effect of religious consumerism
the lose of meta narratives: theories or worldview that claim to have absolute, authoritative truth such as traditional religions
what is the re enchantment of the world
Lyon - the decline of traditional churches does not spell the end for religion - religion is simply evolving and taking on new forms - A new age of religion
- contrary to Weber’s view, Lyon argues that society now entering a period of re enchantment - the growth of unconventional beliefs, practices and spirituality
what is argued about individualism, self religious and the new age
Christianity is giving way to ‘holistic spirituality’ / ‘holistic milieu’ and the spiritual market eg increased number of self help books alternative therapies ranging from meditation to crystal healing
summarise the main arguments against secularisation
- new age spirituality= rejects the idea of obligation but emphasises the idea of discovery and personal development
- Davie and vicarious religion= religion produced by an active minority on behalf of majority
- lyon and post modern religion = we are going through re enchantment
what is a spiritual revolution
some sociologists argue that this is taking place today in which traditional Christianity is giving way to ‘holistic spirituality’ that emphasise personal development
what are the key differences between religion and spirituality
religion- line of duty self sacrifices traditional family values are respected spirituality- life is a journey and discovery personal development
what is the Kendal project by Heelas and Woodhead
aim of study- map patterns of religion and spirituality in Kendal and exploring issues eg the meaning and significance of religion - they distinguished between two groups congregational domain and holistic milieu
- in a typical week 7.9% of the pop attend the church, 1.6% took part in activities of holistic milieu- they said this shows its growing
what was Heelas and Woodhead method for their kendal study
telephone interviews
questionnaires
participant observations
what are the results for Heelas and Woodhead kendal study
traditional churches (congregational domains) were losing support, whereas evangelical churches were holding their own holistic milieu are slowly increasing
what is Heelas and Woodhead’s explanation for their study
churches are declining because they demand obedience and duty, whereas people want to explore their own paths
what are the weaknesses of the new age
Bruce makes the following points against the view that religion is not declining but changing form
- the problem of scale= even if New age forms of individuals religion are springing up, this would have to be on a much larger scale if it is to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional religions
socialisation of the next generation= for a belief system to survive, it must be passed down to the next generation.
what do stark and Bainbridge mean by saying that secularisation theory is Eurocentric
focuses on the decline in Europe but fail to explain continuity vitality in america and eslewhere
explain how the cycle of renewal is an alternative theory to the secularisation theory
Stark and Bainbridge have a concept of a cycle of decline, revival and renewal. They describe a cycle throughout history with some religions declining and others growing + attracting new members
according to stark and Bainbridge how do churches operate like compensators, selling goods
argue that competition leads to improvements in the quality of religious goods on offer. The churches which make products attractive will succeed in attracting new ‘customers’. churches which are not responsive to customers will decline
why do stark and Bainbridge say there’s no ‘golden age’ of religion in the past
They claim secularisation theory implies, nor is it realistic to predict a future end point for religion when everyone will be atheist
what is a compensator - why is religion attractive
when real rewards are scarce, religion compensates by promising supernatural ones which makes it attractive eg the after life
why is secularisation theory one-sided
it sees the decline, but ignores the growth of new religions and religious revivals
why is religion thriving in the USA according to stark and bainbridge
there has never been religious monopoly there. In USA the constitution guarantees freedom of religion. There has always been a variation of denominations to choose from. This has encourraged the growth of a healthy religious market where religions grow or decline according to consumer demand
how does the growth of televangelism show the growth of religion is ‘supply led’
Hadden and Shupe - think because they are not a monopoly and people do not have to commit
what are the criticism of religious market theory
- Bruce rejects the view that diversity and competition increases the demand for religion. Stats show religious decline has occurred in Britain and USA
- Beckford says that RMT is not sociological as it assumes people are naturally religious and fails to explain why people make the choices they do
what do Norris and Inglehart argues about the existential security theory
reject the RMT as they say it fails to explain the variations in religiosity between societies
reasons for variations in religiosity is due to different degrees of existential security. (feeling survival is secure enough that it can be taken for granted)
religion meets the needs for security so when security is high religion is low
how di Norris and Inglehart compare societies
religion meets the needs for security so when security is high religion is low
poor societies - where people are experiencing life threatening risks eg famine, high levels of insecurity so high levels of insecurity
rich societies - where people have higher levels of living and less risk and greater security have lower levels of religiosity
