Secularisation

Question 1

Parsons view on secularisation

Answer 1

structural differentiation:
development of separate institutions performing functions the church once did (education)

Question 2

Lyon, disneyfication

Answer 2

religion disembedded in post modern society, pick & mix different belief systems, customise. ‘commodity on the market shelf’

Question 3

Berger view on secularisation

Answer 3

Religious diversity, plausibility structure. so many different contradicting beliefs, what is the truth?

Question 4

Weber view on secularisation

Answer 4

Rationalisation, growth of scientific knowledge, rational ways of thinking replace religious ones

Question 5

Why secularisation my not be occurring

Answer 5

Religion is not declining but changing as society progresses (individualism, consumerism). NAMS (Heelas) pick n mix

Religion taking a more privatised form (Davie) believing without belonging (TV)
People can believe without regularly attending church

Evidence 25% attend church frequently and 80% said they were religious

Question 6

stats on decline in religion

Answer 6

• less than 1/2 marriages, religious ceremony
• 2007, only 2% of population attended religious ceremonies on sundays
• less than 1/4 of babies are baptised

Question 7

What is religiosity?

Answer 7

the extent to which someone sees themself as religious

Question 8

problems with measuring secularisation

Answer 8

• validity? (subjective interpretations, sparse documents
• reliability, variables (wording of questions) social desireability
• representative, can the sample be generalised?

Question 9

causes of secularisation:

Answer 9

• loss of functions
• growth of science
• change in leisure patterns
• religious pluralism