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Beliefs in Society > The Secularisation Thesis > Flashcards

The Secularisation Thesis Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

what is the secularisation thesis?

A

the idea that religious beliefs are becoming less plausible and less appealing so religion is declining in importance

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2
Q

what is Wilson’s definition of secularisation?

A

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

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3
Q

what is an exclusivist definition of religion?

A

sees it as involving belief in the supernatural

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4
Q

what is an inclusivist definition of religion? and what does this definition mean for religion?

A

sees it as including a wide range of beliefs and activities to which people give sacred qualities. such a definition means religion is unlikely to decline

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5
Q

what does Aldridge say about inclusivist definitions of religion?

A

such all embracing evidence for the continued existence of religion is not telling us anything it is ‘a mere trick of definition.’

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6
Q

why is it difficult for secularisation supporters to show that society was more religious in the past?

A
  • historical records about the strength of religion are sparse
  • data collection wasn’t reliable
  • there were no opinion polls
    most people 150 years ago couldn’t read or write so records that exist are about a small privileged section of society and tell us little about the religiousness of ordinary people
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7
Q

the first census in …… found that …..% of people in england and wales attended church

A

1851

40%

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8
Q

who said that in victorian britain church attendance was a socially necessary part of middle class respectability

A

Martin

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9
Q

what does Davie say about believing without belonging?

A

that religion can be private and people increasingly believe without belonging meaning religious people aren’t included in statistics

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10
Q

the ….. census asked ‘what is your religion?’ …% answered with a religion.
what is the assumption this question makes?

A

2011
68%
that people should have a religion

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11
Q

a YouGov study in …… asked ‘are you religious?’ and only …..% said yes
what is this question open to?

A

2011
29%
the possibility that people may not have one

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12
Q

why are statistics on religion difficult to interpret? 4 reasons

A
  • what counts as practicing may vary for different groups
  • information about small groups often unavailable and some may exaggerate to increase image of importance
  • lots of practice isn’t recorded e.g. christian housechurch movement
  • different denominations use different criteria for membership so apparently similar figures may be recording different things e.g. the church of england record who is baptised, whether they attend etc while Jehovah’s witnesses only record the people who show the high commitment demanded
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13
Q

what could be causes of secularisation? 6 reasons

A
  • declining attraction
  • many functions religion used to carry out have been taken over by the welfare state
  • traditional religions have faced challenges to teachings and growth of science
  • changing leisure patterns
  • decline in trust of metanarratives
  • religious pluralism means religion can no longer command respect from the whole of society
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14
Q

who argued that the growth of scientific explanations for why things happen has undermined religious belief?

A

Bruce

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15
Q

the …. census found …. people in england and wales had no religion

A

2011

1/4

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16
Q

who suggests religious beliefs are now a last resort concerned with areas of life which science cannot control?
give a quote

A

bruce

‘when we have tried every cure for cancer, some of us pray.’

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17
Q

what does Bruce argue about Davie’s idea of believing without belonging?

A

that it is a halfway house

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18
Q

churches used to disapprove of divorce, cohabitation etc but are now forced to accept it and water down beliefs what does this show?

A

a decline in strength of religion in society and influence on people’s actions

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19
Q

what does Berger argue is a cause of secularisation?

A

the trend towards religious diversity. society is no longer unified under a single sacred canopy so beliefs can be questioned while in the past the churches version of the truth remained unchallenged

20
Q

who argues metanarratives have lost their power to influence how people think, interpret and explain the world so people are less willing to be told be religious authorities what to believe

A

Lyotard

21
Q

what does Bruce point out about NAM involvement?

A

that it is shallow and barely goes beyond reading a few books and they are usually more secular therapies

22
Q

who says that although many still claim to believe in a spirit or life force this is actually an indicator of growing secularisation not continuing religiosity, what does it represent?

A

a halfway house, where people are moving away from religious beliefs but afraid to say that they are non believers

23
Q

what did Dawkins find about those who identified with Christianity?

A

60% had not read the bible

24
Q

in 2007, …% of the population attended religious services on most sundays while in …., …% of the population did

A

2%
1851
40%

25
Q

How many marriages now contain a religious ceremony?

A

1/3

26
Q

who found that believing and belonging is falling at a similar rate they found that the majority of people who are ……… do not consider themselves religious or have any belief in god

A

voas and crockett

unchurched

27
Q

any growth of sects, cults and NAM’s is insignificant to the membership loss of the major denominations so this is not a sign of ….

A

a spiritual revolution as heelas suggested

28
Q

Bruce argues the influence of sects, cults and NAM’s is marginal so cannot be seen as taking the place of established religions in society and are not a sigh of….

A

Heelas’ spiritual revolution

29
Q

who regards sects as the last outposts of religion in society and what does this show about religion?

A

Wilson

that religion can only survive in isolation from the secular influences of society

30
Q

Who points out in the middle ages the church was the dominant social institution of Europe and exercised power in terms of the secular areas of life like law making and education, religion therefore…….

A

Bruce
affected many areas of life and was a major influence on how people saw the world
while today religious institutions have become increasingly marginalised and no longer directly involved in important areas of social life so has lost significance and influence

31
Q

what is evidence that people can live their life untouched by religious institutions?

A
  • less influence on social policy
  • rites of passage can be performed without religious ceremony
  • church buildings are crumbling, used to be kept elaborate and in past society even the poor donated
  • sunday schools nearly non-existent` (only 1/25 go while half a century ago all children went)
32
Q

explain martin’s theory of how religious institutions have disengaged from society and use parsons ideas

A

they have withdrawn from many areas of life which Parsons saw as a proccess of structural differentiation which is the way new, more specialised institutions take over functions once performed by a single institution. e.g. the welfare state now provides free education and the NHS care for the sick reducing the significance of religion in peoples lives.

33
Q

who said that even when people hold beliefs the fact that they know others hold different ones so the plausibility of their own religion is questioned

A

Bruce

34
Q

what does aldridge say about religious diversity?

A

‘the very fact of religious diversity introduces doubt.’

35
Q

how can ecumenicalism be a sign of religious weakness?

A

once powerful and independent institutions are now forced to compromise with each other to save themselves

36
Q

what is ‘secularisation from within’ and who came up with it? why did he say that religious participation remains high in the USA?

A

Herberg
the watering down of beliefs to fit into secular society
e.g. most churches now accept cohabitation - they are so weak they can no longer set trends but have to follow them
USA attendance remains high because traditional doctrines have been played down religious participation remains high as it has become almost a part of secular life

37
Q

who used the term disneyisation and explain it?

A

Bryman

where religion is simplified and trivialised to create a neutral product.

38
Q

Give Lyon’s example of disneyisation and how disneyisation works

A

Harvest day crusade at disneyland enabling religion to interact with the artificial world making religion seem less serious. religion is now a product to consume and disneyisation increases its appeal in the spiritual supermarket

39
Q

the Eurobarameter found that while only ….% of people believed in a God, a further … believed in a spirit or life force so up to ….% of people still have elements of religiosity in their thinking

A

37%
33&
70%

40
Q

What is Heelas’ spiritual revolution?

A

while there may be secularisation in relation to traditional religions there is a process of resacralisation as people reorient themselves to a more individualistic spirituality

41
Q

what christian denominations are growing?

A

Pentecostalism and evangelical

42
Q

2009 citizenship survey shows that ..% of muslims practice their religion

A

79%

43
Q

who argued that declining church attendance doesn’t necessarily mean declining religiousity but a search for a more personal religion
what did davie call this?

A

Bellah

belief without belonging

44
Q

what may NRM’s be a response to?

A

spirituality that people feel is lacking in traditional religions

45
Q

despite overall decline in attendance people still use rites of passage religious ceremonies
….% of funerals involve a religious ceremony of some kind

A

90%

46
Q

in some countries religion is growing, what do Norris and Inglehart point out?

A

the world has more people in it with traditional religious beliefs than ever before due to high birthrates in Chad and Rwanda where religious belief is high

Beliefs in Society (9 decks)

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