The nature and extent of secularisation in a global context

Question 1

Bryan Wilson defines secularisation as:

Answer 1

‘the process whereby religious thinking, practice and institutions lose social significance’

Question 2

The Disappearance Thesis

Answer 2

states that modernity is bringing about the death of religion. The significance of religion both for society and for individuals is steadily declining. This process will continue until religion disappears.

Question 3

The differentiation Thesis

Answer 3

states that religion is declining in social significance as it has become separated or differentiated from the wider social structure. However, it is likely to retain some significance in people’s personal lives.

Question 4

Steve Bruce has suggested that secularisation is a Western Phenomenon

Answer 4

Steve Bruce limits the secularisation thesis to Europe, North America and Australasia. These are traditionally Christian countries. They are also developed countries, which suggests modernity may have also influenced secularisation.

Question 5

EVIDENCE FOR SECULARISATION IN BRITAIN

Answer 5

Crockett estimates that in 1851, 40% or more of the adult population of Britain attended Church, which led some to claim that the 19th century was a golden age of religiosity. Wilson argues that Western societies have been undergoing a long term process of secularisation, where ‘religious beliefs, practices and institutions lose social significance’.

Question 6

CHURCH ATTENDANCE TODAY

Answer 6

Only 6.3% of the adult population attended Church on Sundays in 2005, halving since the 1960s and likely to fall further.
Very few children attend Sunday Schools. Church weddings and baptisms are also declining
The English Church census shows attendance at and membership of large religious organisations (e.g. Church of England) have declined, although participation in small religious organisations have increased.

Question 7

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS TODAY

Answer 7

Evidence about religious beliefs from over 60 years of attitude surveys show that:

• More people claim they hold Christian beliefs than actually go to Church
• Religious belief is declining, in line with the decline of church attendance and membership.
• Gill et al reviewed almost 100 national surveys on religious belief from 1939 to 1996. This showed a significant decline in belief in a personal God and in traditional teachings about the afterlife.

Question 8

RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS TODAY

Answer 8

Bruce agrees with Wilson that all the evidence on secularisation has shown that ‘there is a steady and unremitting decline’
The influence of religion as a social institution is declining. Religion once affected every aspect of life, but now is regulated tot the private sphere of individual and family.
The state has taken over many of the functions the church used to perform, e.g. schooling.
The number of clergy fell from 45,000 in 1990 to 34,000 in 2000, while the population increased in size , reducing the church’s local, day-to-day influence.

Question 9

EXPLANATIONS OF SECULARISATION

Answer 9

Secularisation and the decline of religion have often been linked to major social changes such as modernisation (the decline of tradition), industrialisation and its effects, and increased social and religious diversity. Sociologists have developed several explanations for secularisation

Question 10

1. Rationalisation

Answer 10

Rationalisation is the process by which rational ways of thinking and acting replace religious ones. Max Weber argues that Western society has undergone a process of rationalisation in the last few centuries.
The 16th century Protestant Reformation undermined the religious worldview of the middle Ages, replacing it with a modern rational scientific outlook. The Medieval Catholic worldview saw the world as an ‘enchanted (or magical) garden’ in which God, angels etc. changed the course of events through their supernatural powers and miracle-working interventions.

Question 11

Disenchantment

Answer 11

The protestant reformation brought a new worldview that saw God as existing above and outside the world, not intervening in it. The world had become disenchanted, left to run according to the laws of nature. Events were thus no longer to be explained as the work of unpredictable supernatural beings, but as the predictable workings of the natural forces. Through reason and science, humans could discover the laws of nature, and understand and predict how the world works. Religious explanations of the world are no longer needed. This enables science to develop, giving humans more power to control nature, further undermining the religious worldview.

Question 12

A technological worldview

Answer 12

Bruce argues that a technological worldview has largely replaced religious explanations of why things happen. Religious worldviews only survive in areas where technology is least effective, e.g. praying for help if you are suffering from an incurable illness.

Question 13

2. Structural differentiation

Answer 13

Parsons defines structural differentiation as a process that occurs with industrialisation as many specialised institutions develop to carry out the difference previously performed by a single institution, such as the church.
Religion dominated preindustrial society, but with industrialisation it has become a smaller and more specialised institution. Bruce argues that religion has become separated from wider society and privatised in the home and family. Religious beliefs are now largely a matter of personal choice, while traditional rituals and symbols have lost meaning.
Even when religion is involved in education or welfare, it must conform to secular controls.
Church and state are usually separate in modern society, so the church loses political power.

Question 14

3. Social and cultural diversity

Answer 14

Wilson argues that in preindustrial society, local communities shared religious rituals that expressed their shared values, but industrialisation destroys these stable local communities and so destroys religion’s base.
Bruce sees industrialisation creating large, impersonal, loose-knit urban centres with diverse beliefs, values and lifestyles. This diversity undermines the believability of religion. The rise of individualism leads to a decline in community based religious belief and practice.

Question 15

4. Religious diversity

Answer 15

Berger argues that another cause of secularisation is the trend towards religious diversity.
In the middle Ages, the Catholic Church held an absolute monopoly and had no challengers. Since the 16th century Protestant Reformation, the number and variety of religious organisations has grown, each with a different version of the truth. Berger argues that this religious diversity undermines religion’s plausibility structure. Alternative versions of religion enable people to question all of them and this erodes the absolute certainties of traditional religion.
Bruce sees the trend towards religious diversity as the most important cause of secularisation, because it is difficult to live in a world containing a large number of incompatible beliefs without concluding that none of the is wholly true

Question 16

5. Cultural defence and cultural transition

Answer 16

Bruce identifies two counter trends that seem to contradict the secularisation theory:

1. Cultural defence- Religion provides a focus for the defence of national or ethnic group identity and solidarity in a struggle against an external force.
2. Cultural transition- Religion provides a sense of community for ethnic groups living in a different country and culture

Question 17

The Spiritual Revolution

Answer 17

Some sociologists argue that ‘a spiritual revolution’ is taking place, with traditional Christianity giving way to a new Age spirituality that emphasises personal development and experience.
The spiritual market is growing, e.g. the huge number of books about self help and spirituality and the many ‘therapies’, from meditation to spiritual healing.

Question 18

Heelas and Woodhead studied Kendal to investigate whether traditional religion has declined and how far the growth of spirituality is compensating for this.

Answer 18

They distinguish between:

1. The congregational domain of traditional and evangelical Christian Churches.
2. The holistic milieu of spirituality and the New Age.

Question 19

What did Heelas and Woodhead find from their study?

Answer 19

In a typical week in 2000, 7.9% of the population attended Church (the congregational domain) and 1.6% took art in spiritual activities (the holistic milieu)
Within the congregational domain, the traditional churches were losing support, while evangelical churches were holding their own. Although fewer people were involved in the holistic milieu it was growing.

Question 20

Heelas and Woodhead explain these trends as follows:

Answer 20

1. New Age spirituality has grown because of a massive ‘subjective turn ‘ in today’s culture- a shift towards exploring your inner self by following a spiritual path.
2. As a result, traditional religions, which demand duty and obedience, are declining.
3. Evangelical churches are more successful than the traditional churches because they emphasise the subjective aspects: spiritual healing and growth through the personal experience of being ‘born again’
4. In the spiritual marketplace, therefore, the winners are those who appeal to personal experience as the only genuine source of meaning and fulfilment, rather than the received teachings and commandments of traditional religion.

Question 21

SECULARISATION IN THE USA

Answer 21

In 1962, Wilson found that 45% of Americans attended church on Sundays, but this was more an expression of the ‘American way of life’ than of religious beliefs. For Wilson, America is a secular society, because religion there has become superficial.

Question 22

1. DECLINING CHURCH ATTENDANCE IN USA

Answer 22

Opinion polls asking people about church attendance suggest it has been stable at about 40% of the population since 1940. However, this figure may well be an exaggeration.
For example, Hadaway et al found that in one country in Ohio, the attendance level claimed in opinion polls was 83% higher than researchers actually counted going into church.
Evidence suggests that this tendency to exaggerate churchgoing is a recent development.

Question 23

2. SECULARISATION FROM WITHIN- IN USA

Answer 23

Bruce argues that in America, the emphasis is on traditional Christian beliefs and glorifying God has declined. Instead, religion has become psychologised- a form of therapy.
American religion has remained popular by becoming less religious- it has become secularised from within. Its purpose has changed from seeking salvation in heaven to seeking personal improvement in this world.

Question 24

3. RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND RELATIVISM

Answer 24

Bruce identifies practical relativism among American Christians- i.e. accepting that others are entitled to hold beliefs different to one’s own.
Lynd and Lyn found in 1924 that 94% of churchgoing young people agreed with the statement ‘Christianity is the one true religion’. By 1977, only 41% agreed.
Absolutism has been eroded- we now live in a society where many people hold views that are completely different to ours, undermining our assumption that our own views are absolutely true.