Postmodernism

• Lyotard- monopoly on the truth

  -religion provides a metanarrative which trues to hold a monopoly on the truth

  -However, such claims are no longer acceptable in the postmodern world because there's no such thing as the absolute truth
• Lyon - spiritual shoppers

  -emergence of the spiritual marketplace which has developed as a result of religious leaders turning to the media to publicise their beliefs

  -so people will try out different religions in order to find when that matches their own personal belief systems
• Growth of New Age movements

  -traditional religions have been replaced by New Ages movements

  -that focus on spirituality and self improvement rather than devotion to a God
• Lyon- disembedding

  -religion is no longer embedded in postmodern society

  -traditional beliefs aren't embedded in their original contexts

  -This allows people to pick and mix lots belief systems and take what they like and reject what they don't
• Hervieu-Leger - inability to change

  -religions inability to change has led to its demise in society

  -there are so many alternative views to compete with its teaching it has led to scrutiny of the beliefs of the mainstream religions
• Pick and mix culture

  -postmodernity has enabled to individual to become a spiritual shopper

  -so, the individual is able to actively select and choose religions based on their own personal views
• Evaluation-

  Bruce- exaggerate the extent of the decline in traditional religions. NAM's are short lived and can't compare with established world religions

  -Disembedded has been overexaggerated. E.g. for many Muslims the Mosque is still a big part of their belief system