Topic 4 - Religion , Renewal And Choice Flashcards

Question

Bruce weaknesses of the new age - Socialisation of the next generation ?

Answer 1

-Socialisation of the next generation -For a belief system to survive , it must be passed down to the next generation -However , in Kendal only 32% of parents who were involved in the New age said their children shared their spiritual interests . -Yet to maintain the same number of believers in the next generation , a typical couple with 2 children would have to socialise both of them into new age views -Women in the holistic milieu are more likely to be childless and in 3 quarters of marriages the husband doesn’t share wife’s religious belief so further reduces the likelihood of transmitting beliefs to children.

Answer 2

-Weak Commitment -Glendinnig and Bruce found that although many people dabbled in meditation , alternative medicine , astrology , horoscopes and so on , serious committment to New age beliefs and practices was very rare -Evan among those who described themselves as spiritual , very few said that such practices were important in their lives

Answer 3

-Structural Weaknesses -New age spirituality is itself a cause of secularisation because of its subjective , individualistic nature - it is based on the idea that there is no higher authority than the self -This means that , unlike traditional religion , the New age ; -Lacks an external power (such as the church hierarchy) to extract commitment from New age participants against their wishes -cannot achieve consensus about its beliefs because everyone is free to believe whatever they wish , so it lacks cohesion as a movement -Cannot evangelise (persuade others of the truth) because it believes that enlightenment comes from within not from someone else These characteristics make the New age structurally weak and unlikely to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional religions

Answer 4

The religious market theory is also called the rational choice theory

Answer 5

Stark and Bainbridge

Answer 6

Stark and Bainbridge are very critical of the secularization theory , which they see as Eurocentric - it focuses on the decline of religion in Europe and fails to explain its continuing vitality in America and elsewhere -In their view it also puts forward a distorted view of the past and future . Stark and Bainbridge argue that there was no golden age of religion in the past , as they claim the secularization theory implies , nor is it realistic to predict a future end point of religion when everyone will be an atheist

Answer 7

-People are naturally religious and religion meets human needs - Therefore the overall demand for religion remains constant , even though the demand for particular types of religion may vary -It is Human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs -When people make choices ,they weigh up the costs and benefits of the different options available

Answer 8

-Stark and Bainbridge argue that religion is attractive because it provides us with compensators . When real rewards are scarce or unobtainable ,religion compensates by promising supernatural ones -For example ,immortality is unobtainable but religion compensates by promising life after death

Answer 9

As an alternative to the secularization theory ,which sees a one way process of continuous decline , Stark and Bainbridge put forward the concept of the cycle of renewal. they describe a cycle throughout history , with some religions declining and others growing and attracting new members -Secularization theory is one sided as ignores the growth of new religions ,this doesn't

Answer 10

The religious market theory takes an opposite view . They argue that religious competition leads to improvements in the quality of the religious goods on offer -The churches that their products more "attractive " will succeed in attracting more "customers" -Meanwhile churches that aren't responsive to the needs of their members will decline

Answer 11

A religious monopoly - One church with no Competition

Answer 12

Stark and Bainbridge argue that religion thrives in the USA because there has never been a religious monopoly as there has always been a wide range of denominations to chose from. This has encouraged the growth of a healthy religious market where religions decline or grow according to consumer demand

Answer 13

Most European countries have been dominated by an official state church which had a religious monopoly , such as the Church of England . Competition has been held back and the lack of choice has led to decline

Answer 14

Stark and Bainbridge believe the main factor influencing the level of religious participation is not the demand for religion , as the secularization theory suggests but the supply . Participation increases when there is a good selection of religions to chose from but religion declines when the supply is restricted They also believe secularization isn't universal as the secularization theory suggests as compares the USA and Europe.

Answer 15

-Bruce rejects the view that diversity and competition increase the demand for religion. Statistics show that diversity has been accompanied by religious decline in both Europe and America -Bruce argues that Stark and Bainbridge misrepresent the secularisation theory. The theory doesn’t claim there was a past golden age of religion or that every one will become atheists. It simply claims that religion is in a long term decline , nor does it claim secularisation is universal - just that it applies to Europe and America

Answer 16

-Norris and Ingelhart show that high levels of religious participation exist in Catholic countries where the church has a near monopoly .By contrast , countries with religious pluralism often have low levels of participation which contradicts Stark and Bainbridge’s theory

Answer 17

-Beckford criticise the religious market theory as un-sociological , because it assumes people are naturally religious and fails to explain why they make the choices they do

Answer 18

-Norris and Ingelhart believe that the reasons for variations in religiosity between societies is not due to different degrees of religious choice but degrees of existential security

Answer 19

By existential security they mean the feeling that survival is secure enough that it can be taken for granted Religion meets a need for security and therefore societies where people already feel secure have a low demand for religion

Answer 20

-Poor societies - where people face life threatening risks , they have high levels of insecurity and therefore high levels of religiosity -Rich societies - where people have a high standard of living and are at less risk , have a greater sense of security and thus lower levels of religiosity

Answer 21

-Gill and Lundegaarde found that the more a country spends on welfare , the lower levels of religious participation . Thus European countries which spend more than the USA are also more secular than the USA

Answer 22

-Vasquez accepts that they offer a valuable explanation that explains religious participation not only in Europe and USA but also globally. -He makes 2 criticisms ; -They only use Quantitive data about income levels , they don’t examine peoples own definitions of existential security . Vasquez argues that qualitative research is also needed -Norris and Ingelhart only see religion as a negative response to deprivation . They ignore the positive reasons people have for religious participation and the appeal that some types of religion have for the wealthy