The Challenge of Secularisation Flashcards
Freud (1856-1939)
was an atheist psychoanalyst. He believed that religion was a great hindrance to society and so set out to prove that it is merely a product of the mind, an illusion.
Religion is a human construct
He offered both a psychological and a historical explanation for the origins of religion to prove that it was a construct set up by humans, rather than based on objective reality.
Religion is wish-fulfilment
Religion is wish-fulfilment because it is a reflection of our subconscious projecting into our conscious minds. Freud argues that the main characteristic of an illusion is that it is “derived from human wishes.”
Importance of wishes
no real proof or evidence for religion, and yet sensible men and women continue to believe.
For Freud, this suggests that religion persists because it “contains within it the wishes of those men and women which are so important to them that they cancel out any doubts they may have about the truth of the religion itself.”
Illusion based on wish fulfilment
Freud believed that religion was an illusion based on wish fulfilment.
He believed that in certain circumstances, the human mind will create beliefs and images to satisfy its most basic longings and desires.
Reasons for religion freud
Religion is created by the mind to help us overcome:
The external forces of nature.
The internal forces of nature.
The need for a father figure.
Dawkins
Dawkins argues that religion is not based upon rationality but is the product of wishful thinking and blind faith.
Teapot sun analogy
Dawkins likens belief in God to randomly supposing that there is a teapot circling the sun (an example that was first used by Bertrand Russell).
Dawkins believes that there is simply no reason to believe in God’s existence and plenty of contrary evidence such as the existence of evil.
Philosophical arguments for the problem of evil as disproving God’s existence come from Mackie and, originally, Epicurus.
Dangers of religion.
Dawkins argues that religion is not only blind and irrational but also dangerous.
It causes wars, misery, death and prevents the progress of science.
People commit suicide in the name of religion and destroy other people, including unbelievers and those of different faiths, in the process.
Concerned with fundamentalism
Dawkins is concerned by the rise of Christian fundamentalism.
This approach causes the greatest harm to scientific advancement about the origin of the universe.
Anti-creationists
Dawkins acknowledges: “I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world.”
Dawkins has creationists in mind, who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible and think that evolution is false.
Creationists typically refuse to accept science when they think it conflicts with their interpretation of the Bible.
should religion play a part in public life
Many secular humanists think that Christianity is about personal beliefs and should not, therefore, play a role in public life, such as government, state, education and schools.
British Humanist Association
The British Humanist Association campaigns against schools with religious character, saying “we aim for a secular state guaranteeing human rights, with no privilege or discrimination on grounds of religion or belief young people of all different backgrounds and beliefs can learn with and from each other.”
Danger of religious schools
Some people who are against religious schools might argue that they could become places where radicalisation takes place.
Some religious schools are anti-science and teach that evolution is a myth.
Faith schools can increase intolerance as they can teach that all other faiths are mistaken or even evil. This can promote hatred, fear and mistrust.
In their opinion, the state has no obligation to teach faith and taxes (from many non-religious people) should not be used to fund religious schools
Dawkins religious schools
Dawkins adds that religious schools replace evidence-based approaches to understanding our world with superstitions.
He argued that teaching evolution alongside other theories, such as creationism in science classes, fails to credit the evidence of evolution.
Dawson - dangers of secularism
Christopher Dawson’s essay The Challenge of Secularism argues that secular education is problematic. Dawson points out that where education systems were consciously anti-religious (meaning deliberately avoiding religion), such as in communist countries, that religion becomes endangered. Removing religion from culture, art, architecture, music not only deprives religion but also people who are trying to make sense of their own culture.
Conroy - liberal democracy
Professor James Conroy argues that religious schools have an important role in a liberal democratic state – they provide parents with a choice and prove counterbalance to any single driving influence on education.
Argument for - Ten Commandments
some people might argue that spiritual values and human values are very similar.
For example, the Ten Commandments have many core ethical demands that are universal — you do not need to be religious to follow those that are not about God.
‘Do not steal’ and ‘Do not kill’ are commandments that are laws in the vast majority of societies, including more secular societies.
Argument against - distinct values
But many Christians would disagree as if the two are the same, then there is nothing that makes Christianity distinctive.
Upholding the dignity and the sanctity of human life over personal choice (for example, when considering euthanasia or abortion) and loving your enemies are examples of values that make Christianity distinctive, but would not be shared by all of society or secularists/humanists.
Argument against - salvation
Christianity talks of an afterlife and a creator God who loves and sustains the world and wants people to worship him. Many values are based upon reaching salvation and this eternal life.
Argument against - Jesus’ teaching
Jesus’ stories, which many Christians try to emulate the teachings of, include messages such as ‘turn the other cheek’.
These are arguably standalone Christian values.
For - causes warfare
Some people argue that Christianity has caused wars when it has tried to gain supremacy over other traditions, such as in the Crusades.
For - rejects science
Dawkins argues that certain denominations of Christianity reject the indisputable advances of science and hold society back — for example, beliefs about Creationism.
For - old-fashioned views
Some Christian ethical stances are at odds with modern, progressive society.
E.g. views about homosexuality, women having rights over their bodies and people being allowed to decide when they want to die.
You could argue that any absolutist approach to life is intolerant of the views of others and damaging to society. Mary Daly argues that Christianity is patriarchal and sexist.
Against - good work of Church
Christians might point to all the good that the Church has offered the world: educating the poor, working abroad, supporting the civil rights movement (for example, Martin Luther King), food banks — as well as the work churches do on a local level.
Christianity has been a major contributor to art, architecture, literature and music.
Christians are called to work for the good of society and to be distinctive within society — to challenge where injustice is seen.
Against - drive Charity values
Ethical messages based on Jesus’ teaching, like ‘love your neighbour’, are driving forces behind many charities, both Christian and non-Christian charities.
For - updated Church teachings
Christianity has had to develop new ways of thinking and acting over the 2,000 years of its existence.
The Church has brought in new teachings to be more in line with societal advancements and has reasserted Church teachings and beliefs (such as the dignity and importance of women as written about in Mullieris Dignitatem).
So you could argue that Christianity has evolved in an increasingly secular society.
For - technological advances
The Church has begun to use social media to evangelise. This is a recent advancement.
The Pope now has a Twitter account to interact with followers and react to current global issues.
Secularism has given Christians the opportunity to look at what makes their religion distinctive in its values and what makes Christianity stand out from secular ideologies, such as valuing the sanctity and dignity of every human life.
Against - need to resist change
But some Christians might argue that now, more than ever, Christians need to stand up for the truth revealed through Christ and the Bible and resist the move towards change.
They might argue that if Christianity is side-lined, religion might be able to affect the lives of far fewer people.
Secular
Non-religious
The failure of the secularisation thesis
religon has been upheld , route 207
“the world today is as furiously religous as ever” Berger
conracts of marriage
religous ministers and services required to fufiill contract marriage
Lord Spiritual
The 26 bishops of the Church of England who are members of the House of Lords.
Defender of the Faith
Title given by the pope to England’s Henry VIII prior to England’s break from the Catholic church.
leslie francis
evidence that young people comitted to christianity are more open to ppl from other backgrounds
lee vs mcarthur
Lee ordered a cake from christian bakery and wanted the cake decorated with support gay marriage ashers refused
Eweida
was told she was not allowed or to cover up her cross neckalce by BA ewida said this was a double standard as sikhs and musilms allowed to express themsleves freely
Dawkins
Humans need for God is infantile “ adults should find their own meaning in life “
Indoctrination of children
religion harming children
Jo Marchant quote
” although these beliefs may be false they do sometimes work they make us feel better “
Secularism
An indifference to religion and a belief that religion should be excluded from civic affairs and public education.
Secularisation
The process whereby the influence of religion in a society declines.
