Secularisation

Question 1

What 5 Changes to religion in the UK does WILSON give?
- since 1851

Answer 1

1- A decline in the proportion of population going to Church or belonging to one
2- An increase in the average age of churchgoers
3- Fewer baptisms and church weddings
4- Decline in traditional Christian beliefs
5- Greater diversity, including more non-Christian religions

Question 2

What is the definition of secularisation?

Answer 2

The process whereby religious belief practises and institutions lose social significance

Question 3

How does Church attendance today show that a Britain has become a secular society?

Answer 3

‘Bogus baptisms’, infants Bs decline, older increase as they use it as an entry ticket to high performing schools, rather than a sign of Christian commitment
- declined 1.6million to 0.8 million

Question 4

How does Religious affiliation today show that a Britain has become a secular society?

Answer 4

Continuing decline in the number of people affiliated with a religion
- those identifying as Christian fell by 1/3
- rise in non-Christian religion (Islam)
- immigration and high birth rate

Question 5

How does religious belief today show that a Britain has become a secular society?

Answer 5

Declining- along with church attendance and membership
- surveys show a decline in belief in personal God, Jesus as the son of God
- Christian teachings about the afterlife and the Bible

Question 6

How do religious institutions today show that a Britain has become a secular society?

Answer 6

Declining- less social influence, the state provides education, not the Church, replaces its function
- Catholic priests fell by 1/3
Bruce- ‘steady and unremitting decline’
- clergy are an aging workforce

Question 7

How can we criticise the claim that Britain is becoming a more secular society?

Answer 7

Rise in NRMs/NAMs

Question 8

Explanations of secularisation
How has modernisation affected religious belief?

Answer 8

Been replaced with rational and scientific ways which undermines religion

Question 9

Explanations of secularisation
What is the effect of industrialisation on small communities?

Answer 9

Break them up
- were held together by common religious belief

Question 10

Explanations of secularisation
What is the impact of religious diversity on religious institutions and religious beliefs?

Answer 10

The growth of diversity both undermines the authority of religious institutions and the credibility of religious belief

Question 11

WEBER: Rationalisation
What is rationalisation?

Answer 11

Refers to the process where rational ways of thinking and acting come to replace religious ones

Question 12

WEBER: Rationalisation
What was the medieval Catholic world view?

Answer 12

Saw the world as an enchanted garden, God and other spiritual beings/forces could change the course f events

Question 13

WEBER: Rationalisation
How did the Protestant world view differ from that of Catholicism?

Answer 13

They believed that God did not intervene as he existed above and beyond or outside the world
- as a transcendant

Question 14

WEBER: Rationalisation
What does Weber mean by the ‘disenchantment of the world’?

Answer 14

It squeezes out magical and religious way of thinking
- dominance of rational thought

Question 15

WEBER: Rationalisation
How did the Protestant Reformation lead to the ‘disenchantenment’ of the world?

Answer 15

Undermined by scientific knowledge, no evidence of intervention
- technological advancements give humans more power and control

Question 16

WEBER: Rationalisation
What does Bruce mean by the technological world view?

Answer 16

Scientific knowledge does not challenge religion directly but results in people taking it less seriously

Question 17

WEBER: Rationalisation
What is the impact of scientific knowledge on people’s attitudes towards religion?

Answer 17

People become atheists and take religion less seriously

Question 18

Structural Differentiation
What is it?

Answer 18

A process of specialisation that occurs with the development of an industrial society
PARSONS

Question 19

Structural Differentiation
What is meant by disengagement?

Answer 19

Functions are transferred to other institutions such as the state, becomes disconnected from wider society
e.g. the Church loses its influence on the law, education and welfare

Question 20

Structural Differentiation
Why does Bruce say that religion has become privatised?

Answer 20

It is a matter of personal choice- home and family
- lost its meaning and influence
- separate institutions

Question 21

Social and cultural diversity
How has a decline in community led to a decline in religion?

Answer 21

The move from pre-industrial to industrial led to a decline in community and therefore religion
WILSON- shared values, collective rituals integrated the workers
- religion lost its basis

Question 22

Social and cultural diversity
How has industrialisation led to a decline in religion?

Answer 22

Undermines the consensus of religious belief, held small rural communities together
- social and geographical mobility breaks up communities, many different backgrounds creates more diversity

Question 23

Social and cultural diversity
How has the diversity of occupation, cultures and lifestyles led to a decline in religion?

Answer 23

BRUCE- Plausibility (believability) of beliefs is undermined by alternatives

Question 24

What are 3 criticisms of the view that the decline of community causes the decline of religion?

Answer 24

1X Religion can be a source of identity on a worldwide scale, Jewish, Hindu n Muslim
2X some religious communities are imagined that interact through the us of global media
3X Pentecostal and other religious groups often flourish in ‘impersonal’ urban areas

Question 25

Religious diversity
What is meant by the scared canopy?

Answer 25

A set of beliefs shared by all
- The Catholic Church held absolute monopoly = greater plausibility, no challenges or competition to ‘one truth’

Question 26

Religious diversity
How did the Protestant Reformation lead to religious diversity?

Answer 26

BERGER- sects broke away, variety of religious organisations, different versions and interpretations of the truth

Question 27

Religious diversity
How does religious diversity create a crisis of credibility for religion?

Answer 27

It creates a ‘plurality of life worlds’, perceptions vary, no single belief can go unchallenged
- crisis of credibility
- undermines the plausibility structure
- break down, makes things believable

Question 28

Cultural defence and transition
What does Bruce mean by cultural defence?

Answer 28

Religion provides a focal point for the deference of national, ethnic, local or group identity in a struggle against external forces

Question 29

Cultural defence and transition
What does Bruce mean by cultural transition?

Answer 29

Religion provides support and a sense of community

Question 30

Cultural defence and transition
Why does Bruce say religion survives in these situations?

Answer 30

Focus for group identity, survives where it performs functions other than relating individuals to the supernatural

Question 31

How does BERGER criticise the secularisation theory?

Answer 31

Diversity and choice stimulate interest and participation

Question 32

How does BECKFORD criticise the secularisation theory?

Answer 32

Opposing views can have the effect of strengthening commitment to existing belief rather than undermining it

Question 33

America- Declining church attendance
WILSON- Why is America a secular society despite relatively high church attendance?

Answer 33

More of an expression of the ‘American way of life’ than deeply held religious belief

Question 34

America- Declining church attendance
How does HADAWAY’S research question the statistics for church attendance?

Answer 34

Churches weren’t full meaning the opinion polls exaggerate church attendance

Question 35

America- Declining church attendance
What reason does BRUCE suggest for the difference in actual and reported church attendance?

Answer 35

Social desirability bias, it is seen as normative to go to church

Question 36

Secularisation from within
What does BRUCE mean by this?

Answer 36

The emphasis on traditional Christian belief has declined, turned to a form of therapy
(self improvement)

Question 37

Secularisation from within
How do statistics explain a decline in commitment to traditional beliefs?

Answer 37

1982- 0% of people said that social dancing was morally wrong
1951- 91% of people said it was morally wrong

Question 38

Religious diversity
What does BRUCE mean by practical relativism?

Answer 38

Acceptance of the view that others are entitled to hold beliefs that are different to ones own

Question 39

Religious diversity
What is meant by the erosion of absolutism?

Answer 39

Many people hold views that are completely different to ours, undermines our assumption that our own views are absolutely true

Question 40

What are 4 criticisms of the secularisation theory?

Answer 40

1X Evidence of falling church attendance ignores people who believe but don’t go to Church
2X It’s not declining, just changing its form
3X Not universal, Europe decline, not globally
4X Religious diversity increases participation, offers choice, no overall downward trend