Secularisation

Question 1

Secularisation definition

Answer 1

decline in the importance of religion

Question 2

Secularisation - statistics

Answer 2

Crockett (1851) - 40% attended church on Sunday
since then:
1. decline in proportion of population going to church
2. increase in average age of churchgoer
3. fewer baptisms and church weddings
4. increased non - Christian religion

Question 3

Secularisation - Wilson

Answer 3

West has gone through process of secularisation

Question 4

Church attendance today

Answer 4

by 2015, about 5% attended church on Sunday (halved since Wilson in 1966)

Question 5

English church census

Answer 5

attendance at large organisations have declined more than small (which remain stable/have grown)

Question 6

Weddings and baptisms

Answer 6

remain popular (30% today)
infant baptisms - fallen to under half of those in 1964
bogus baptisms - those of older children have increased (often because faith schools require baptisms)

Question 7

Statistics - evaluation

Answer 7

1. figures may not be valid in showing religiosity

2. Church weddings may have decreased for different reasons e.g. cost

Question 8

Religious affiliation today

Answer 8

Those with no religion rose from a third to a half
fall was sharpest for Anglicans - more than halved
those belonging to non - Christian religion increased (immigration)

Question 9

Religious institutions today

Answer 9

influence of church as social institution has declined
some influence - 26 CofE bishops in house of lords
religion is confined to private sphere now (used to provide education)

Question 10

Clergy

Answer 10

during 20th century - fell from 45,000 to 34,000
if it kept up with population growth should be 80,000
ageing workforce - only 12% under 40
new ordinations are 10% of 1965

Question 11

Weber’s rationalisation

Answer 11

science replaces religious thought
protestant reformation in 16th century started this process
undermined religious worldview
medieval worldview - world was ‘enchanted garden’ (god, devil and spiritual beings are present and active in world)

Question 12

Weber - disenchantment

Answer 12

God as transcendent (world left to run by laws of nature)

reformation - began ‘disenchantment’ (allowed science to thrive and provide a basis for humans to control nature

Question 13

Weber - technological worldview

Answer 13

growth of this replaced religious explanations (reduce its scope)

Question 14

Explanations - structural differentiation

Answer 14

Parsons - process of specialisation that happens in industrial societies
separate institutions develop to carry out functions previously done by one (happened to religion)
1. disengagement - religion becomes disconnected from society (so has less influence over policy or law)
2. privatisation - religion is confined to private sphere of home and family, becoming a matter of personal choice

Question 15

Social and cultural diversity - decline of community

Answer 15

move towards industrialisation causes this

Wilson - in pre industrial society, shared values are expressed through religious rituals

Question 16

Social and cultural diversity - industrialisation

Answer 16

Bruce - industrialisation undermines consensus of religious beliefs that hold communities together
close - knit gives way to loose knit communities with diverse beliefs and values

Question 17

Social and cultural diversity - diversity of occupations, cultures and lifestyles

Answer 17

even where people have religious beliefs, there is an awareness that others don’t
plausibility

Question 18

Social and cultural diversity - religious diversity

Answer 18

Sacred canopy - in middle ages, church had monopoly
all lived under same set of beliefs - gave plausibility
changed with reformation - many versions of the truth

Plausibility structure

• Berger says this creates a ‘crisis of credibility’
• diversity undermines plausibility
• erodes certainty of religious
• what is the truth becomes an opinion

Bruce - trend toward religious diversity as important cause of secularisation

Question 19

Cultural defence - against secularisation

Answer 19

where religion provides focal point for defence of identity against an external force e.g. Islam in Iran

Question 20

Cultural transition - against secularisation

Answer 20

where religion provides support and sense of community for a group e.g. migrants
religion only survives because it is a focus for group identity

Question 21

Explanations - evaluation

Answer 21

1. Aldridge points out that ‘community’ doesn’t have to be local e.g. identity on a worldwide scale
2. Berger now argues that diversity and choice stimulate interest in a religion e.g. New Christian Right
3. opposing views can strengthen belief

Question 22

Secularisation in America - statistics

Answer 22

Wilson - in 1962, 45% of Americans attended church on Sunday (but more of an expression of Americanism than actual religious belief)
Bruce - declining church attendance (secularisation from within) and trend towards religious diversity

Question 23

Secularisation in America - declining church attendance

Answer 23

opinion poll about church attendance puts attendance at 40%
Hadaway - worked with researchers and found figure doesn’t match (if 40% attended, churches would be full)
- studied church attendance in Ashtabula county (head counts then interviews)
- level of attendance claimed was 83% higher than researcher estimates
- tendency to exaggerate churchgoing is recent (until 1970s, statistics matched
Bruce - religion is socially desirable

Question 24

Secularisation in America - secularisation from within

Answer 24

Bruce - US religion has adjusted with modernisation
- emphasis on traditional Christian beliefs has declined
US religion has become more popular by being less religious
Purpose of religion - seeking salvation vs. personal improvement

Question 25

Secularisation in America - religious diversity

Answer 25

churchgoers are less dogmatic in their views
Bruce - trend towards ‘practical relativism’ (acceptance of others holding different beliefs)
Lynd and Lynd - in 1924, 94% believed Christianity is ‘true’ religion and all should be converted (but only 41% in 1977)
Counterpart to this is ‘erosion of absolutism’

Question 26

Secularisation in America - evaluation

Answer 26

1. religious diversity leads to more choice
2. secularisation is not universal
3. ignores religious revivals
4. religions simply changes its form