secularisation

    Cards (6)

    • secularisation
      argument that religious beliefs are becoming less available and less appealing
      declining importance of religion in society and for individuals
    • Wilson's definition
      process whereby religious thinking,practice and institutions lose social significance
      Weber- secularisation is 'disenchantment of world'
      religious thinking - influence of religion on people's beliefs and values
      practice - things people do to carry out religious commitment
      institution- extent to which religious institutions have maintained their social influence in wider society
    • problems with Wilson's definition
      • practice doesn't always mean belief- 'bogus baptism'
      • belief is measured through questionnaires and surveys e.g Census - may lie/exaggerate- questionable validity
      • 'social influence' - cannot operationalise
      • religion defined using substantive/functional definition - people belonging to cults/NAMs - excluded
      • Davie- vicarious religion - minority practice religion on behalf of majority
      • do we need all 3? - belonging,practice and belief
      • Christocentric - not all religions in decline
      • differing commitment required between church,denominations/sects/NAMs
    • Glock and Stark: Golden Age of Faith
      secularisation requires decline in faith compared to past based on assumption of historic 'Golden Age of Faith'
      • Historical Records: quite sparse, not collected annually -affect reliability of argument and research.
      • Head counts - church attendance - motive behind this e.g bogus baptisms,civil religion
      • no opinion polls - gathered on religiosity from church attendance
      • 1851 Census (Crockett) - excluded if you're illiterate - only 40% said they were religious
      • 2011 Census - 68% said they had a religion vs YouGov 2011 survey - 29% said they were religious -
    • statistics
      • highest levels of religiosity found among those with non-Christian faiths
      • only 49% of people claim to ever pray
      • 37% of people in UK believed in God - Eurobarometer 2010 survey
      • 1988 - 14% said they were very non-religious compared to 33% in 2018
      • 2015 - Church attendance - 5% - Wilson
      • 2020 - 15% of weddings in a church compared to 60% in 1971.
      • 26 Bishops in HoL
    • Analysis
      • 26 Bishops in House of Lords
      • Laws in the UK reflect the values of CoE - divorce increasing,abortion,homosexuality
      • Abrahamic religions taught in many schools as part of Religious studies curriculum
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