Secuarlarisation

Question 1

What 3 sections come under Religion in Society Today?

Answer 1

• secularisation
• renewal
• globalisation

Question 2

In 1979, what % of people attended church?

Answer 2

12%

Question 3

In 2016, what % of the population attended church?

Answer 3

2%

Question 4

What are the 4 criticism of the statistical evidence for secularisation?

Answer 4

• methods used to record religious belief
• regional variation
• cynical of how religious people really were in the past
• church membership data

Question 5

Explain the criticism of methods in terms of recording secularisation?

Answer 5

A churchs records of chruch goers and not standardised, meaning there is no set time for a church to record its attendance. Also, the national census has no way of confirming a belief

Question 6

Explain the criticism of securlisation in terms of regional variations?

Answer 6

Inner city areas have a vast amount of proportion of ethnic minorities, compared to outside areas

Question 7

Explain the criticism of secularisation statistics in terms of how people were cynical in the past?

Answer 7

Up until the 20th century, church attendance was a routine behaviour and part and parcel of British culture.

Question 8

Explain the criticism of secularisation statistics in terms of chruch membership data?

Answer 8

If children are baptised into a church, they are counted as a member of the church community, the same with marriage.

Question 9

What are the 4 reasons for secularisation?

Answer 9

• rationalisation thesis
• structural differentiation
• societalisation
• religious pluralism

Question 10

According to Weber (1905), how has rationalisation lead to secularisation?

Answer 10

Believes that the decline in religious belief systems correlates with the emergence of rational belief systems such as science and economics. Interested in how the Protestant Reformation lead to a dramatic overhaul in society. As more and more of people began to break away from the Catholic Church, people began to pursue Calvinism and lost touch with their Christian roots.

Question 11

According to Weber (1905), how did Catholicism have an enchanted view on the world lead to disenchantment (rationalisation)?

Answer 11

Catholicism promoted an enchanted view on the world. Protestantism promoted a realistic world view, prompting people to pursue vocations, trade and money making. Over the years this lead to advancements in technology and changes to the economic system leading to great societal development. These changes were made by humans, rather than being an act of God therefore people became disenchanted; they stopped believing in God.

Question 12

According to Bruce (2011), how has rationalisation lead to secularisation?

Answer 12

Believes that society has developed a technological worldview. Meaning we have replaced supernatural explanations for world mechanisms for scientific and logical ones. Extreme weather, now meterological

Question 13

Evaluation of the view that rationalisation has lead to secularisation?

Answer 13

• behaviour today isn’t more rational, crystals

- it isn’t possible to measure the concept of rationality

Question 14

According to Parsons (1951), what is structural differentiation?

Answer 14

Is the process of where a society advances and becomes more complex, longstanding institutions begin to lose their functions.

Question 15

According to Bruce, how has structural differentiation lead to a decline in religion?

Answer 15

In the past religion performed a range of functions such as provision of education, care services and general socialisation. However today, the functions of religion are privatised meaning they use it for individual reasons. For example, personal comfort or using religious values to raise their children.

Question 16

According to Bruce, what has structural differentiation lead to in terms of religion?

Answer 16

Religion has become disengaged from society, meaning it has lost its influence and significance. In the past religious leaders would of held a great deal of influence, but now there is a separate role for religion from the state. Nowadays only specialised practitioners are allowed to work in education, whereas in the past this role would be of been done by Nuns

Question 17

Evaluation of the claim that structural differentiation has lead to a decline in religion in the UK?

Answer 17

• because religion has become specialised, its strengthened its position of religion in society
• religious values are still very influential over individuals

Question 18

According to Bruce, what is societalisation?

Answer 18

Socialisation explains are some areas have become more socially and culturally diverse, meaning religion has lost its significance.

Question 19

According to Bruce, what 2 societalisation processes have lead to a decline in religion?

Answer 19

• industrialisation

- urbanisation (huge, sprawling towns and cities)

Question 20

According to Bruce, how has urbanisation lead to a decline in religion (societalisation)?

Answer 20

Communities demonstrate a diversity in roles and belief. In his view, this diversity weakens religion overall as different people from different cultures have different interpretations of the world around them. Leads to problems with plausibility. For religion to thrive, people must have a shared faith however in urban communities, this is not the case as multiple faiths live side by side. People will therefore begin to question their beliefs leading to a decline in religion practices.

Question 21

Evaluation of the view that societalisation has lead to a decline in religion?

Answer 21

-pentacostalism is rife in urban communities.

Question 22

According to Wilson, what is relgious pluralism?

Answer 22

Where a society contains an extremely broad range of belief systems

Question 23

According to Wilson, what two negative consequences are there of religious pluralism?

Answer 23

• people no longer feel constrained by religion into which they are born due to alternative thinking
• there is a now a ‘religious supermarket’ where religions compete for shoppers. Undermines the credibility of religion as they all claim to have the ‘right’ answer

Question 24

According to Berger (1969), how has religious pluralism lead to a decline in religion? (sacred canopies and monoplies)

Answer 24

Pre Reformation, Europe was held together under a sacred canopy of Catholicism whereby the Church had a monopoly over peoples thinking. The Protestant Reformation saw huge numbers of people breaking away from Catholic Church and joining the Protestant Church. This lead to the creation of smaller Christian communities called sects which eventually grew into larger organisations such as Methodism and Baptism.

Question 25

According to Berger (1969), what has global migration lead to in terms of religious pluralism?

Answer 25

More and more religions have settled in the UK such as Islam and Sikhism. The many different belief systems in operation has lead to people questioning religions plausibility as there are so many different religions to choose from

Question 26

Evaluation of the view that religious pluralism has lead to a decline in religion in the UK?

Answer 26

• Britain is just changing, not becoming more secular

- pluralism means society is becoming more spiritual