Topic 5 Secularisation Debate Flashcards
Define Secularisation
-Decline in religion
-Process whereby religious beliefs lose social significance
What are the possible ways to measure secularisation?
-Popularity - Religious Participation
-Plausibility - Religious Belief
-Power -Disengagement
Evidence for secularisation to be happening (Popularity)
-church attendance
1851 census showed 40% of the population attended
2005 it dropped 6.3%
religion has symbolic meaning
attendance for ceremonies such as baptism have fallen
2005 church marriages dropped down 33%
A03 for Popularity
religion is a private experience and cannot be scientifically measured
Evidence for secularisation Happening (Plausibility)
-over 60 years more people claim they have -religious beliefs than actually going to church
church attendance and religious beliefs are declining
-100 national surverys shows decline in belief and traditional teachings
A03 for Plausibility
Christocentric - Those decended from white christians are less religious compared to EMs that remain in strong belief
Evidence why secularisation is happening (power)
-Wilson argues church is no long involved in important areas such as politics
-politicians dont need the approval of religious leaders
-Bruce argues churches have reduced status
A03 Power
-Religion is still a major provider of education
- Increase in Faith schools
Explanations FOR why secularisation happened
- Rationalisation
-Structural Differentiation - social and cultural diversity
- religious Diversity
Define Rationalisation
Process where logical ways of thinking have replaced religious ones
What was the protestant Reformation
Religious worldview has been replaced with the modern scientific view
Which sociologist found Disenchantment
Weber
Define disenchantment
Magical element of religion disappeared and people have stopped believing in magical figures like angels
Which sociologist stated science and technology have replaced religious explanations for why things happen?
Bruce
A03 for Rationalisation
Religious explanations are used in places where science is less developed
Which sociologist found Structural Differentiation
Parsons
Define Structural Differentiation
Process of specialisation that occurs with the development of industrial society
According to Parsons what does structural differentiation lead to…
Disengagement of religion from society
example: Church has lost the influence it once has on education
Bruce Agrees that religion has become _____ from wider society and has lost its ______ functions
Religion has become separated from wider society and has lost many of its former functions
What functions does religion continue to perform
Education or social welfare
Social and cultural Diversity
Diversity of cultures and lifestyles undermines religion
Who argues that In pre-industrialised society, local communities shared religious rituals and shared their values
Wilson
What did Wilson argue in Social and cultural diversity
In a pre industrialised society, local communities shared their values and religious rituals
Industrialisation destroyed these communities and destroyed the base of religion
What does Bruce see Industrialisation is doing?
(Social and cultural Diversity)
Industrialisation is creating large urban areas with diverse beliefs and lifestyles
what is the rise of individualism leading to?
A decline in community based religious beliefs and practise
Explainations AGAINST secularisation
-Cultural defence and Transition
-Fundementalism
- Religious Market Theory
- Existential Security Theory
Define Cultural Defence
Religion helps some ethnic minority groups preserve a unique sense of cultural identity in the face of an unwelcoming and hostile mainstream culture
Define Cultural Transition
Religion provides support and a sense of community for ethnic groups such as migrants to a different country and culture
Who identified the two counter trends that go against the secularisation theory
Bruce
What are the two counter trends that go against the secularisation theory
Cultural Defence
Cultural Transition
A03 for cultural Defence and transition
Bruce argues that religion survives because its a focus for group identity
What did almond et al identify about the growth of fundamentalism
Found that conservative religious groups have grown massively in the recent years
How does Fundamentalism go against the ideas of secularisation
Increase in numbers of people who are traditionally religious showing that religion is not declining
A03 for fundamentalism
Bruce Questions the significance of the growth of the New Christian Right
Who argued against the idea that secularisation is ethnocentric
Stark and Bainbridge
What is the Religious Market Theory
Religion meets the universal needs and religion remains constant as there are different types
of religions
According to Stark and Bainbridge what do churches Operate like
Operate like companies selling goods in a market
what is spiritual shopping
religion is individualised
consumerism replaced collective tradition
choice as consumerism of religion
Cultural amnesia
parents are no longer teaching their children about religion
