Secularisation in America Flashcards
1
Q
According to Wilson, what % of Americans went to church on Sundays?
A
45%
2
Q
What 3 sources does Bruce use to show America’s secularisation?
A
- Declining Church attendance
- Secularisation from within
- Religious Diversity
3
Q
Declining Church attendance
A
- Opinion poll research shows that church attendance has stayed at a stable 40%
- Hadaway (1993): research found that this figure was not true, found that the level of attendance claimed by the interviewees was 83% higher than the estimates of church attendance
4
Q
Secularisation from within
A
- Emphasis on traditional Christian beliefs and glorifying God has declined and religion in America has been ‘psychologised’
5
Q
Religious Diversity: Bruce, 2 processes
A
- Churchgoers are becoming less dogmatic in their views
- Bruce: there is starting to evolve an acceptance that others are entitled to hold beliefs that are different to one’s own (practical relativism)
- Erosion of absolutism: different views undermine our assumption that our own views are absolutely true
6
Q
Criticisms of the secularisation theory: 6 ways
A
- Religion isn’t declining it’s just changing form
- Ignores religious revivals and the growth of new religions
- Evidence of falling church attendance ignores people who believe but don’t go to church
- Religion may have declined in Europe but not globally
- The past wasn’t a ‘golden age’ of faith
- Religious diversity should increase participation because it offers choice
