seclurisation

• Problems with measuring seclurisation - definitions

  there is very little consensus on what is meant by the term religion and being religious
• Problems with measuring seclurisation- validity

  -results are open to interpretation - low participation doesn't mean low belief

  -martin - Victorian society required church attendance for respectability
• Problems with measuring seclurisation- repressentiveness

  unlikely to be able to be generalised to the rest of the population
• Views on secularisation- Woodhead and Heelas

  Disappearance thesis- modernity has bought on the death of religion. Religion has lost significance for both the individual and society and this decline with continue till religion disappears

  Differentiation thesis - religion is in social decline but not individual decline. Religion no longer plays a an important role in society but individual belief in still strong
• causes of secularisation- old fashioned

  the rituals and traditions of the main religions are seen as out of touch with the modern world
• causes of secularisation- loss of status

  religious leaders have lost status in society particularly in the wake of sex abuse scandals.
• Causes of secularisation- loss of functions

  many of the functions that were traditionally carried out by the church such as welfare, health care and education have been taken over by the welfare state.
• Causes - challenges from sects and cults etc

  traditional religions are seen as old fashioned in that people are looking for teachings that fit more with the modern thinking
• Causes- changing leisure patterns

  fragmented and consumer based lifestyles have meant that Sunday's are no longer a day of rest/religion
• Causes- growth of science

  Comte and Weber- rationalisation of the modern world by sciences displacing the religious understanding of the world
• Causes- decline of metanarratives

  people are abandoning what were once taken for granted beliefs and facts and are shopping around for belief systems that match their own values.
• Causes- religious pluralism

  due to globalisation countries like the UK have become multi-faith meaning that no one religion commands the respect of the whole nation