Sociology-beliefs-religion, renewal and choice Flashcards
Why do some sociologists reject the secularisation thesis that religion is undergoing an inevitable decline in modern Western society?
Instead they argue that, while some aspects of traditional religion are in decline, new forms are emerging, often as a result of changes in wider society such as greater individualism, choice and consumerism
What does Davie argue about changes in religion?
In today’s late modern society, we are seeing major change in religion away from obligation and towards consumption/choice
What does it mean to move from obligation to consumption?
In the past, churches such as the Church of England and the Catholic Church could ‘oblige people to go to church, to believe certain things and to behave in certain ways’. This is no longer the case: religion is no longer inherited or imposed, but a matter of personal choice. Eg in England and France, infant baptism was once seen as obligatory rite of passage, but now only a minority of babies are baptised-by contrast there has been an increase of adults making an individual choice to be baptised
What is believing without belonging?
Davie argues religion is not declining but taking a different, more privatised form. People are increasingly reluctant to belong to organisations, whether these are churches, political parties or trade unions. But despite this, people still hold religious beliefs-a situation Davie calls believing without belonging
What is ‘vicarious religion’?
Davie notes a trend towards vicarious religion meaning religion practiced by an active minority (professional clergy and regular churchgoers) on behalf of great majority, who experience religion at second hand. This is typical of Britain and Northern Europe where, despite low levels of attendance, many people still identify with the churches
What does Davie argue about the major national churches in Europe?
They are seen as public utilities, or a sort of ‘Spiritual Health Service’ that, like the NHS, is there for everyone to use whenever they need to. This includes using the churches for rites of passage such as baptisms, weddings and funerals, as well as for major occasions, like the public mournings over the death of Princess Diana in 1997 or tragedies such as the massacre of 93 people in Norway by the neo-Nazi Anders Breivik in 2011
What does Davie compare vicarious religion to?
She compares it to the tip of the iceberg and sees it as evidence of believing without belonging. Beneath the surface of what appears to be only a small commitment (very few attend church regularly) lies a much wider commitment. Most people may not normally go to church or pray, but they remain attached to the church as an institution that provides ritual and support when needed and they continue to share at some level its beliefs
What does Davie say about secularisation theory?
Secularisation theory assumes that modernisation affects every society in the same way, causing the decline of religion. However she questions this assumption. Instead of a single version of modern society, she argues there are multiple modernities. Eg Britain and America are both modern societies, but with very different patterns of religion, especially in relation to church attendance-high in America, low in Britain, but accompanied by believing without belonging
What do Voas and Crockett argue about Davie’s views?
Voas and Crockett do not accept Davie’s claim that there is more believing than belonging. Evidence from 5,750 respondents shows that both church attendance and belief in God are declining together. If Davie were right, we would expect to see higher levels of belief
What does Bruce argue about neither believing nor belonging?
Adds that if people are not willing to invest time in going to church, this just reflects the declining strength of their beliefs. When people no longer believe, they no longer wish to belong, and so their involvement in religion diminishes
What do census results show about religion?
72% of people identified themselves as Christian, which supports the ‘believing without belonging’ view
What does Day argue about the census results?
Found that very few of the ‘Christians’ she interviewed mentioned God or Christianity. Their reason for describing themselves as Christian was not religious, but simply a way of saying they belonged to a ‘White English’ ethnic group. As Day puts it, they ‘believe in belonging’. Describing themselves as ‘Christian’ was actually a non-religious marker of their ethnic or national identity
What does Hervieu-léger talk about?
Continues the theme of personal choice and the decline of obligation. She agrees there has been a dramatic decline in institutional religion in Europe, with fewer and fewer people attending church in most countries. This is partly because of what she calls cultural amnesia
What is cultural amnesia?
A loss of collective memory. For centuries, children used to be taught religion in the extended family and parish church. Nowadays, however, we have largely lost the religion that used to be handed down from generation to generation, because few parents now teach their children about religion. Instead parents today let children decide for themselves what to believe
What has happened at the same time as cultural amnesia?
At the same time, the trend towards greater social equality has undermined the traditional power of the Church to impose religion on people from above. As a result, young people no longer have a fixed religious identity imposed on them through socialisation and they are ignorant of traditional religion
What is spiritual shopping?
While traditional institutional religion has declined, religion itself has not disappeared. Instead, individual consumerism has replaced collective tradition. People today now feel they have a choice as consumers of religion-they have become spiritual shoppers. Religion is now individualised-we now develop our own ‘do-it-yourself’ beliefs that give meanings to our lives and fit in with out interests and aspirations
How is spiritual shopping evidence of how religion has changed?
Religion has become a personal spiritual journey in which we choose the elements we want to explore and the groups we wish to join. As a result, Hervieu-Léger argues two new religious types are emerging-pilgrims and converts
What are pilgrims?
They are like the holistic milieu in the Kendal Project. They follow an individual path in a search for self-discovery, eg exploring New Age spirituality by joining groups, or through individual ‘therapy’. The demand is created by today’s emphasis on personal development
What are converts?
They join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging, usually based on shared ethnic background r religious doctrine. Such groups re-create a sense of community in a society that has lost many of its religious traditions. As in the Kendal Project, these include evangelical movements and also the churches of ethnic minorities
What happens as a result of the trends associated with spiritual shopping?
As a result, religion no longer acts as the source of collective identity that it once did. However, Hervieu-Léger notes that religion does continue to have some influence on society’s values. Eg the values of equality and human rights have their roots in religion, she argues. Such values can be a source of shared cultural identity and social solidarity, even for those who are not actively involved in religion
What can Hervieu-Léger’s views be related to?
The idea of late modernity. This is the notion that in recent decades some of the trends within modern society have begun to accelerate, such as the decline of tradition and increasing individualism. This explains the weakening of traditional institutions such as the church, as well as the growing importance of individual choice in matters of religion
What does Lyon believe about Davie’s views?
Agrees with Davie that believing without belonging is increasingly popular. He argues that traditional religion is giving way to a variety of new religious forms tat demonstrate its continuing vigour
What type of sociologist is Lyon?
A postmodernist. He explains changes in religion in terms of a shift in recent decades from modern to postmodern society. In Lyon’s view, postmodern society has a number of features that are changing the nature of religion. These include globalisation, the increased importance of the media and communications, and the growth of consumerism
What is globalisation?
It refers to the growing interconnectedness of societies, which as led to greatly increased movements of ideas and beliefs across national boundaries
What is globalisation a result of?
It is due to the central role played in postmodern society by the media and information technology, which saturate us with images and messages from around the globe, compressing time and space to give us instantaneous access to the ideas and beliefs of previously remote places and religions
What has happened to religious ideas due to globalisation?
They have become ‘disembedded’-the media lift them out of physical churches and move them to a different place and time. For example, the ‘electronic church’ and televangelism disembed religion from real, local churches and relocate it on the internet, allowing believers to express their faith without physically attending church-an example of how the boundaries between different areas of social life become blurred in postmodern society
What has happened as a result of religious ideas becoming disembedded?
Religion become de-institutionalised. It becomes detached from its place in religious institutions, floating in cyber-space. Removed from their original location in the church, religious ideas become a cultural resource that individuals can adapt for their own purposes
What does Helland talk about?
The internet creates a range of opportunities for religious organisations and individuals to exploit. Helland distinguishes between two kinds of internet activity, which he calls religion online and online religion
What is religion online?
A form of top-down communication where a religious organisation uses the internet to address members and potential converts. There is no feedback or dialogue between the parties. This is an electronic version of the traditional, hierarchical communication of churches to their members, communicating only the officially approved ideas
What is online religion?
A form of ‘cyber-religion’ that may have no existence outside the internet. It is a ‘many-to-many’ form of communication that allows individuals to create non-hierarchical relationships and a sense of community where they can visit virtual worship or meditation spaces, explore shared interests and provide mutual support. Eg the Pagans studied by Cowan gained a sense of self-worth from feeling they belonged to a global network
What does Hoover et al believe?
While postmodernists may see online religion as a radical new alternative that may be replacing religion, evidence from Hoover et al shows that for most users, it is just a supplement to their church-based activities rather than a substitute for them
What is a main feature of postmodern society?
The growth of consumerism, and especially the idea that we now construct our identities through what we choose to consume
What does Hervieu-Léger argue about religion and consumerism in postmodernity?
Argues that the growth of consumerism is also true of religion, where we act as ‘spiritual shoppers’, choosing religious beliefs and practices to meet our individual needs, from the bast range available in the religious marketplace. We no longer have to sign up for any specific religious tradition; instead we can pick and mix elements of different faiths to suit our tastes and make them part of our identity-until something more fashionable or attractive comes along
What is Lyon’s view of religious consumerism?
Religion has relocated to the sphere of consumption. While people may have ceased to belong to religious organisations, they may have not abandoned religion. Instead they have become ‘religious consumers’ making conscious choices about which elements of religion they find useful, as shown by Ammerman’s study
What happened in Ammerman’s study?
The American Christian fundamentalists in her study made use of a number of churches without giving strong loyalty to any of them. One family attended services at a Methodist church and bereavement counselling at a Baptist church, while taking their children to another church for day care
What is one effect of variety in choice of religious products?
One effect of this is a loss of faith in ‘meta-narratives’. These are theories or worldviews that claim to have the absolute, authoritative truth. These include the traditional religions
Why does faith in ‘meta-narratives decrease due to religious choice?
People now have access to wide range of different contradictory religious beliefs. As Berger notes, this weakens traditional religions that claim a monopoly of the truth and that try to oblige people to believe them. This is because exposure to many competing versions of the truth make people sceptical that any of them is really or wholly true. Thus previously dominant religious institutions such as traditional mainstream churches lose their authority and decline
What do postmodernists, such as Lyon, argue about the decline of traditional churches?
The decline of traditional churches does not spell the end of religion. In their place, he argues, many new religious movements are now springing up that the religious consumer can ‘sample and from which he or she can construct their own personal belief system. In this view, religion and spirituality are not disappearing: they are simply evolving, taking on new forms that fir the consumerist nature of postmodern society
