Social and Cultural Diversity

• Wilson: in pre-industrial societies, shared values were expressed through collective religious rituals that integrated individuals and regulated their behaviour. When religion lost its basis in stable local communities - it lost its vitality and hold over individuals
• Bruce: industrialisation undermines the consensus of religious beliefs that hold rural communities together. Rural communities give way to urban communities with diverse beliefs and values
• Bruce: the plausibility of beliefs is undermined by alternatives. Also undermined by individualism because the plausibility of religion relies on the existence of a practising community of believers.