Religion, renewal and choice

• Davie said that religion is not declining but is taking a more privatised form
• Bruce agues that if people are not willing to go to church it reflects declining strengths of their beliefs
• Religious market theory- Stark and Bainbridge say people are naturally religious and religion meets human needs, so demand remains as religion offers compensators to unobtainable rewards
• Bruce says statistics show diversity has been accompanied by religious decline in Europe and the USA
• Hervieu-Leger argues that religion continues through individual consumerism. People have become spiritual shoppers where we choose the elements of religion that interest us
• Lyon argues that postmodern society has several features that are changing the nature of religion such as globalisation (Relocation of religion) and consumerism
• Gill said the more a country spends on welfare, the lower its religious participation
• Davie put forward vicarious religion where a small number of professional clergy practice religion on behalf of a larger population, who experience it second hand (evidence for believing without belonging)
• Norris and Inglehart put forward the existential security theory which argues that religion meets a need for security. So in rich places where there is security, religion is lower.
• Stark and Bainbridge argue that the USA is more religious than the EU due to its healthy market where there is choice