secularisation Flashcards
Crockett (1998)
there has been an huge decline in the number of worshippers in church on a Sunday in the UK since 1988.
what evidence is there to suggest secularisation in the UK.
- A decline in proportion of the population going to church or belonging to one.
- An increase in the average age of churchgoers
- fewer baptism and church weddings.
- number of clergy
secularisation
refers to the decline in the importance of religion.
Wilson
argued that western societies had been undergoing a long-term process of secularisation. he defined secularisation as “the process whereby religious beliefs, practises and institutions lose social significance.
church attendance today
By 2015 5% of the adult population attended church on Sundays. churchgoing in Britain has therefore more than halved since Wilson’s since Wilson’s research in the 1960s.
The English Census (2006)
shows that attendances at large organisations such as the church of England and the catholic church have declined more than small organisations
church weddings
In 1971, 60% of weddings where in church, by 2012 the proportion was only 30%. the number weddings in catholic churches fell by threequarters between 1965 and 2011.
Bogus baptisms
while infant baptisms have declined, those of older children have increased in recent years. research indicates that this is because of faith schools, which tend to be higher-performing schools, will only take baptised children. this means that baptism thus becomes an entry ticket to a good school rather than a sign of Christian commitment.
religious affiliation
refers to the membership of or identification with a religion.
the clergy
during the 29th century, this fell from 45,000 to 34,000. Had it kept pace with population growth, the clergy would be now number over 80,000. the number of catholic priests fell by a third between 1965 and 2011.
What are the processes of secularisation
rationalisation, structural differentiation ,social diversity and religious diversity.
what does Bruce predict will happen to the Methodist church and the church of England
the church will fold around 2030 and by then the church of England will be merely a small voluntary organisation with a large amount of heritage property
processes to explain secularisation
rationalisation, structural differentiation, social diversity and religious diversity
rationalisation
refers to the process by which rational ways of thinking replace religious ones.
weber- rationalisation
he argued the protestant reformation begun by martin Luther in the 16th century started a process of rationalisation.
how did rationalisation undermine religion
this process undermined the religious worldview of the middle ages and replaced it with rational scientific outlook in modern society
How did weber believe the medieval catholic see the world
as an enchanted garden.
what did Catholics believed existed in the world with humans.
God and other spiritual beings and forces such as angels and the devil were believed to be present and active in this world changing the course of events through their powers.
AO3 for rationalisation:
technology has had more of an impact.
disenchantment
protestants saw God as transcendent (existing above and beyond) who lives and exists beyond this world whereas Catholics saw God as being an interventionist God.
interventionist God
this means that God created the world but then allowed the natural world to exist independently.
God is a watchmaker
who created the watch or the world but left it to run on its own forces. people where left to work out how the watch world works through scientific methods to find out how the world operated- this then les to rational explanations of the world.
structural differentiation
parsons defines this as the process of specialisation that occurs when the development of the industrialisation- this means religion became less significant as society became more industrialised
what does parsons argue that structural differentiation leads to
leads to disagreement of religion .
what does Bruce believe has happened to religion
religion has become separate from wider society and lost many of its former functions.as religion is a personal choice-rituals and symbols have lost meaning
decline of community
decline in community from pre-industrial to industrial society brings about the decline of community and this contributes to the decline of religion.
what does Wilson argue about the decline of community?
Wilson argues that pre- industrial communities, share values were expressed through collective conscience rituals that integrated individuals and regulated their behaviour
A03 for structural differentiation
technological worldview may be more significant or important in contributing and explaining secularisation
religious diversity
Berger- in the middle ages the catholic church had no competition. As a result, everyone lived under a set of beliefs. after industrialisation there was more diversity of belief this means that people began to question the plausibility of religion and moved away from religion.
A03 of religious diversity
people may have been conformists and forced into being religious
Beckford
argues that religious diversity will lead to question or even abandon their religious beliefs
what counter trends does Bruce identify which go against the secularisation theory.
- going to religion for cultural defence
2. cultural transition different ethnic group religion helps group identity
Hadaway
if 40% of Americans were going to church they would be completely full but they are not
secularisation from within
Bruce argues that American religion has adjusted to the modern world by secularising from within. this means the traditional Christian beliefs have declined and religion has been turned into a type of therapy or has become psychologised.
religious diversity
church goers are becoming less dogmatic (strict) in their view. Bruce identified a trend towards practical relativism-different view among American Christians, a view where others are entitled to hold beliefs that are different to one’s own
criticisms of secularisation theory
- religion is not declining it is changing form
- secularisation theory ignores the growth of new religion
- religion may have declined in Europe but not globally
