Secularisation Flashcards
What three things does Wilson say are declining?
- Religious belief
- Religious institutions
- Religious practices
According to Wilson why are religious beliefs declining?
- Due to scientific advancements and loss of influence from religious institutions
- The state control more now, not religious institutions
- Church attendance has gone down
(Explanations of secularisation) What does Weber mean by Rationalism?
- Rational ways of thinking and acting replace religious ways of thinking and acting
- This undermines religious world view and replaces it with scientific ones
- E.g., Protestant reformation
(Explanations of secularisation) What does Weber mean by Disenchantment?
People are now using science to learn how nature and the world works
(Explanations of secularisation) What did Weber and Bruce (2011) mean by technological worldview?
- There’s an increase in technology
- E.g., if a plane crashes, we don’t blame God, we use science
AO3 of Wilson
Albridge criticises Wilsons’ idea of declining community leading to declining religion because:
- community doesn’t have to be in a specific area
- religion can be a source of identity on a worldwide scale
(Explanations of secularisation) Social and cultural change - Wilson: decline of community
- As there’s a decline in community there’s a decline in religion
- Pre-industrial society: there was one religion, shared values were shared through rituals binding society.
- Industrial society: religion lost its’ space in local communities due to there being a variation
(Explanations of secularisation) Social and cultural change - Bruce: Industrialisation
- Due to industrialisation the beliefs that held societies together has now been broken apart
- Due to social and geographical mobility community breaks up but brings people together from many different background
(Explanations of secularisation) Parsons: Structural differentiation
- Religion is becoming more separate from society
- Disengagement: church’s’ job is given to the state
- Privatisation: idea that religion is confined at home, making it personal/private choice
Berger - Religious diversity: Sacred Canopy
- Catholic church held the monopoly previous to the protestant reformation
^ People believed in on truth and shared same values and beliefs, so there was no competition - After the Protestant reformation, there was a new variant of truth made their own church so there was competition
(Explanations of secularisation) Berger: Religious diversity
- Plausibility structure: what makes something believable
- Religious diversity undermines plausibility structure because alternative versions of the truth that makes people question their own beliefs
Berger - Religious diversity: Personal choice
- Increases individualism because people are considering other versions of truth
- Personal choice means there’s no longer solid community
AO3 of explanations of secularisation
- Berger: diversity and choice stimulates interest and participation in religion
- Beckford (2003): religious diversity will lead to some leaving their religion but its not inevitable
^ opposing views can strengthen current beliefs
Secularisation in America
- Church attendance is high but still declining
^ Secularisation from within - State is less strict and accepting religious diversity
Bruce: Cultural defence
- Religion is a type of safety valve when faced with hostility
^ helps some ethnic minorities in the face of an unwelcoming hostile mainstream culture
