Topic 4: Religion, renewal and choice Flashcards
Bibby
25% of Canadians attend church regularly but 80% said they hold religious beliefs, identified positively with religious traditions and turned to religion in rites of passage.
Voas and Crockett
Criticism or believing without belonging- British Social Attitudes surveys from 1983 to 2000 shows that both church attendance and belief in God are declining.
Bruce
If people are not willing to invest time in going to church this reflects the declining strength of their beliefs. When people no longer believe, they no longer belong and so their religious involvement diminishes.
Consumerist religion described by Lyon is weak religion- it has little effects on the lives of its adherents. It’s rise therefore is evidence of secularisation.
Diversity does not increase demand for religion- has led to decline in Europe and America.
Hervieu-Léger
Cultural amnesia- parents no longer teach their children about religion- allowing the, to decide what to believe themselves. Social equality has undermined power of the Church to impose religion on people from above. Young people no longer inherit a fixed religious identity and are ignorant of traditional religion.
Spiritual shopping- individualism has replaced tradition- we now have choice as consumers of religion. There are two new religious types emerging:
Pilgrims- follow an individual path in a search for self discovery- exploring New Age spirituality or individual ‘therapy’. Demand is created by emphasis on personal development.
Converts- join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging. These re-create a sense of community in a society that hat has lost many of its religious traditions.
Religion no longer acts as a source of collective identity, but it still has some influence in society’s values which can be a source of shared cultural identity and solidarity. She explains this through the idea of late modernity.
Davie
Believing without belonging: people hold beliefs without going to church as they no longer feel they have to as it is ‘respectable’ to do so. Church attendance only declined Bruce’s edit is now a matter of choice rather than an obligation. Religion is not declining but taking a new more privatised form.
Vicarious religion- a small number of professional clergy practice religion on behalf of a much larger group of people, who experience it second hand. Many still use the church for rites of passage. Beneath what appears to be a small commitment is a much wider commitment. People go to churches at times of national or personal tragedy.
Secularisation theory assumes that modernisation effects every society in the same way- but there are really multiple modernities.
Lyon
Postmodern society has a number of features that have are changing the nature of religion:
The relocation of religion: globalisation means beliefs have become disembedded from their contexts. Lyon describes a Harvest Day Crusade in Disneyland showing how boundaries have become blurred. Religion thus becomes de-institutionalised; becoming a cultural resource that individuals can adapt for their own purposes.
Religious consumerism: religion has relocated to the sphere of consumption- people make conscious choices about which aspects of religion they find useful. There is therefore a loss of faith in meta-narratives.
Re-enchantment of the world: last three decades has been a period of re-enchantment not disenchantment, with the growth of unconventional beliefs.
Stark and Bainbridge
Secularisation theory is Eurocentric and gives a distorted view of the past and future.
Religious market theory:
Makes two assumptions- that people are naturally religious as religion meets human need so de,and remains constant and that it is human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs.
Religion is attractive because it provides compensators. There is a cycle of religious decline, revival and renewal. Secularisation theory ignores the growth of new religions. Churches operate like companies seeking goods to a market. Competition leads to the improvement of the goods on offer- those that do not respond will decline.
America vs. Europe: religious monopoly on Europe leads to decline- USA does not have this so religions goes and decline according to consumer demand
Hadden and Shupe
Growth of televangelism in America shows that the level of religious participation is supply-led. Commercial funding opened up competition in which evangelical churches thrived.
Finke
Lifting of restrictions on Asian immigration into America in the 1960s allowed Asian religions such as Hare Krishna to set up permanently in the USA, becoming another option that proved popular in the religious market place
Norris and Inglehart
Contradict Stark and Bainbridge- countries with a monopoly like Ireland and Venezuela have a high level of parity action, countries with pluralism like Holland and Australia have low levels.
Existential security theory- there is a demand for religion where survival cannot be taken for granted (so in poor societies). Demand is greatest from low-income groups. While rich counties are becoming more secular, the majority of the world are becoming more religious. America is the most unequal of rich societies and so is also the most religious.
Gill and Lundegaarde
The more a country spends of welfare the lower the level of religious participation. In the past religion provided welfare and this has contributed to its decline. However it will not decline completely as welfare cannot answer ultimate questions.
Vásquez
Norris and Inglehart only use quantitative date about income levels- qualitative information on exist mental security is also needed.
They only see religion as a negative response to deprivation- ignoring positive reasons for participation and appeal that some types may have for the wealthy.
