secularisation Flashcards
BRYAN WILSON - defining secularisation
“the process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions loose social significance”
- level of religious participation
- level of religious belief in a society
- how far religious institutions have maintained their influence
STEVE BRUCE - privatised religious belief
Does not believe society has become more secular, instead religion has become separated from wider society
It’s become more privatised – confined to the home and the family
Religious beliefs are a private/individual choice
Decline in collectivism / increase in individualism
STEVE BRUCE (postmodernism) - technological worldview
People now seek scientific answers / evidence to explain tragedy e.g. plane crash is due to failed technology rather than evil spirits
However, when science cannot solve a problem (e.g. incurable illness) we may still pray for help
Postmodernists argue metanarratives like religion have lost their power to explain the world as people are less willing to be told religious theories
DAVID LYON - disneyfication
Religion is still alive; it is just made more appealing
Diminishes religion by trivialising/simplifying it
Religion markets and packaged itself, through simplifying itself, to appeal to customers
e.g. canterbury rave church
MAX WEBER - disenchantment
Disenchantment of western society as science has become the dominant belief system
Rational thinking has replaced religious (superstitious) ways of thinking
We have more (medical) control over life and death
Religion is losing its ‘sacred qualities’ due to lack of evidence – desacralisation
