Topic 6 - Religion, Renewal, and Choice Flashcards
1
Q
2 alternatives to secularisation theory
A
1) Theories of late modernity and postmodernity - Religion is not declining but changing as socity develops
2) Religious market theory - Secularisation is only one stage of a constant cycle of secularisation, revival, renewal
2
Q
From obligation to consumption
A
- DAVIE argues that in today’s late modern society religion has shifted away from obligation to consumption and choice
- In the past the Church has the power to “oblige” people to attend Church and behave/think in certain ways
- Religion no longer has the power as it is no longer inherited/imposed, a matter of choice
3
Q
Believing without belonging
A
- DAVIE claims that religion is not declining but rather it is taking a different form within society, it is becoming more privatised
- People are reluctant to belong to organisations generally, including the Church, still hold religious beliefs “believing without belonging”
4
Q
Vicarious religion: The spiritual health service
A
- DAVIE = secularisation is not effecting society as much as individuals believe it is
- “Vicarious Religion”, whereby professional clergymen such as priests practive religion on behalf of individuak agents
- In the UK and Nothern Europe = church attendance is low yet people still identify with churches
- Europe: churches seen as “Spiritual Health Service” like the NHS that is there for everyone when they need it (including rites of passage)
5
Q
DAVIE Analysis
A
- Challenges secularisation theory for assuming modernism affects society in the same way, she argues there are multiple modernites
6
Q
Neither believing or belonging
A
- VOAS AND CROCKETT claim that evidence shows both Church attendance and belief in God are declining
- BRUCE argues if they are not willing to invest time in going to Church then this just reflects the decline in beliefs
- DAY found that 72% of people identified in the Census as Christian, yet when interviewed she found very few mentioned God or Christianity instead associating with being Christian was a way to belong to a “White ethnic” group - a non-religious marker of national/ethnic identity
7
Q
Spiritual shopping
A
- LEGER agrees with DAVIE that belief in terms of attending the institution is significantly in decline
- Church attendance used to be a form of a collective consciousness as it provided individuals in society ith a similar set of beliefs (DURKHEIM), and that all individuals were socialised with religion in primary socialisation
- HERVIEU LEGER now claims that this collective identity is being lost = Cultural amnesia
8
Q
A03 Spiritual shopping
A
- BELLAH Civil religion
9
Q
Shopping for belief systems
A
- Get what we need out of religion, and there is no singular ‘traditional’ way to believe, we look at the purpose that religion provides us with
- HERVIEU LEGER argues two new religious types emerge:
a) Pilgrims: follow an individual path in terms of spirituality and religion, e.g., NAM
b) Converts: agents join religion for a sense of belonging, e.g., cultural transition - turn to religion due to unfamiliarity of the country they are in
10
Q
Postmodern religion
A
- LYON religion changed during modernity/postmodernity
- LYON: religion has become institutionalised in 3 ways
1) Globalisation
2) The growth of media and communication
3) The growth of consumerism
11
Q
1) Globalisation
A
- Growing interconnectedness of societies = increase in movements of ideas and beliefs
- Central role of media and information technology = gives access to beliefs of previously remotes place and religions
- Religious ideas = disembedded and lifted out of physical churches e.g., electronic church
- Religion = deinstitutionalised (detached from religious institutions)
12
Q
2) The growth of media and communication
A
HELLAND:
- Religion online: top-down communication (religions use internet to address followers/attract coverts) with no dialogue between parties (electronic version)
- Online religion: cyber religion that may not exist outside of the internet (create non-hierarchal relationships/sense of community and visit virtual worship/meditation spaces)
13
Q
A03 2) The growth of media and communication
A
- HOOVER rather than being a radical alternative to religion people use online religion to supplement church-based activities
14
Q
3) The growth of consumerism
A
- Identities constructed through what we consume
- LYON individuals ‘Pick and Mix’ elements of different faiths to suit their own needs (own requirements)
- LYON religion is now very individual = individualised religion
- LYON religion = sphere of consumerism, conscious decisions about what part of religion we follow
- AMMERMAN one family attended church on a Sunday at a Methodist church, bereavement counselling at a Baptist church, and day care at another church.
15
Q
The New Age
A
- LYON NAMs emerging
- Rejects obligation/obedience = less formal committment than traditional religion = this worldly benefits
16
Q
Re-enchantment of the World
A
- LYON growing vitality of non-traditional religion
- LYON critical of secularisation
17
Q
Has a spiritual revolution taken place?
A
- HEELAS and WOODHEAD (Kendal study):
Looked at 2 groups: - The congregational domain: traditional and evangelical Christianity
- The holistic milieu: spirituality and new age
Found: - 7.9% of the population attended church in a typical week
- 1.6% took part in activities of the holistic milieu
- Congregational domain = traditional churches were losing support while evangelical were holding their own
- Whilst fewer were involved in the holistic milieu = steadily growing in numbers
3 reasons for this:
1) Change in todays culture
2) Traditional religions demand duty
3) Evangelical churches are more successful
18
Q
A03 The New Age
A
- Problem of scale: NAMs have to be on a much larger scale to compensate the loss of traditional religion
- Socialisation of the next generation: must be passed down to next generation
- Weak commitment
- Structural weakness
19
Q
Society becoming less religious
A
- STARK and BAINBRIDGE = secularisation becoming eurocentric (other countries not suffering from a decline, e.g., USA)
20
Q
Religious market theory
A
- People are naturally religious and religion meets human needs (ultimate questions YINGER)
21
Q
What does religious market theory show us
A
- Religion = compensator
Cycle of:
a) Religious decline
b) Revival
c) Renewal - S&B turn to religion as a matter of choice and changes accoridng to need
22
Q
Supply led religion
A
- S&B choice to become religious influenced by the country we live in
- The decline of religion is not a universal trend but varies from country to country
23
Q
Supply led religion, e.g.,
A
- HADDEN and SHUPE a growth in televangalism in the US has allowed evangelicalism to thrive
- Use post-modern technologies such as electronic church which encourages other organisations to compete for memebers
24
Q
A03 Religious market theory
A
- BRUCE supply and competition lead to demand (evidence shows that religion is declining in both Europe and America)
- BRUCE = STARK AND BAINBRIDGE misrepresent secularisation theory (does not claim a ‘golden age’ of religion or that it will end but that religion is in a long term decline)
- BECKFORD = unsociological because it fails to answer the questions as to why we choose to follow a religion (emphasises how religious diversity encourages more religion)
25
Q
Existential security theory
A
- NORRIS and INGLEHART reject religious market theory and believe it only applies to America (small amount of evidence suggesting supply leads to demand in other countries)
- Existential Security Theory disregards the fact that religion is about competition and the more options we have the more religious we become
26
Q
Existential security theory (poor societies)
A
- People living in povert face risk, e.g., famine, disease
- Low levels of existential security = sacred canopy
A03 links to LENIN spiritual gin
27
Q
Existential security theory (rich societies)
A
- Less risk to higher levels of existential security = turn to religion (NRM/NAM to deal with pressures of consumerist world)
- Demand for religion is not constnat but varies between societies
- A03 Global population undermines secularisation
28
Q
Welfare and existential security
A
- NORRIS and INGLEHART counties that spend less on welfare systems more likely to have lower levels of existential security = turn to religion
- America generally more religious than the UK
29
Q
the state welfare and religiousity
A
- GILL and LUNDEGAARDE argue the more a contry spend on welfare the less religous they are
- YINGER people still turn to religion for security to answer ultimate questions
30
Q
A03 Existential security theory
A
- VASQUES accepts N and I offer a good explanation but…
- They only use quantitative data about income levels
- Only focus on the negative response
