THEORIES OF SECURLISATION

Question 1

Discuss weber and bruce rationalisation thesis

Answer 1

-decline of religious beliefs is correlated with the emergence of more rational belief systems such as science and economics.
-interested in protestant reformation from the 16th century led to a move away from religion
-more people breaking away from the Catholic Church and promoting Calvin society gradually lost touch with its christian roots
-catholics promoted an enchanted worldview, prayer and spirituality should be peoples main focus
-protestantism promoted vocation and hard work, efforts of protestant workers over the years has led to advancements in technology eg- changes to the economic system
-people moved away from from religious explanations to more rational and scientific explanations
-people became disenchanted- stopped believing in magic and miracles and instead focused on rationality
BRUCE
-developed a technological world view:replaced supernatural and religious explanations with rational and logical ones
EG-in the past bad weather conditions would of been a message from god
-science is not intended to be deliberate challenge to religion but does lead to religious decline because it helps fill gaps in our knowledge that religion cannot explain

Question 2

evaluation of rationalism thesis

Answer 2

not everyone is rational, many people still have beliefs in irrational things

Question 3

Structural differentiation

Answer 3

• refers to a process in which a society advances and becomes more complex, institutions (religion) begin to lose their functions in society
• in the past religion performed many functions EG-provision of care (girls educated by nuns) and general socialisation (church was a big source of guidance for people)
• today functions of religion has declined and only used for personal or privatised reasons
• religion has become disengaged:lost influence and significance
• in the uk religion is regarded as having a separate role from the state

Question 4

Evaluation of structural differential

Answer 4

-with less functions, religion is now more specialised and and can focus on providing religious teachings

Question 5

discuss how societalisation has led to securlisation

Answer 5

-refers to some areas becoming more socially and culturally diverse, religion begins to lose its significance
Two major changes:
1)growth of industrialisation
2)led to expansion of urbanisation:huge, sprawling towns and cities packed of epode from different backrounds
-such communities were more loose-knit, with less of a focus on a shared religious belief system or a church at the hub of the community
-communties demonstrate a diversity of roles, lifestyles and beliefs
-diverse range of people with differing degrees of religiosity leads to weakening of religion overall
-if there is a community in which people all have different interpretations of the world around them this leads to people questioning its plausibility
-however in urban communities with multiple faiths which aren’t compatible people will begin to question their beliefs and lose faith in them

Question 6

evaluation of socialisation

Answer 6

-religion can be a source of identity on a worldwide scale eg-hindism

Question 7

religious pluralism

Answer 7

-refers to rise in religious diversity
two reasons for religious pluralism:
1)people no longer fee restrained or controlled by the region’s into which they were born into
2)now a religious supermarket of religions competing for spiritual shoppers or customers and offering a range choice of religions.All claim they have the right answer so undermines religions
-in the past people in Europe were held together under a sacred canopy of the Catholic Church:church had a monopoly over what to believe in and people accepted this
-overtime people have broken away from the Catholic Church creating their own smaller christian communities which practised their own relgious beliefs
-these sects overtime have grown with more followers and influence
-as more people move to Britain they have brought relgious values with them so growth in minority faiths
-overall weakens plausability->too many options to choose from so don’t know who to trust
-religion has become relative:region is true for some people but not for others

Question 8

evaluation of religious pluralism

Answer 8

-religious pluarism isn’t a sign religion is declining but that society is changing