religion Pm & glob (b4)
Cards (32)
- Globalisation, the media and religion- Religious ideas have become disembedded & shared globally.-> For example, electronic church, Christian radio, apps for prayer->> This means that in a globalised world, religion has become more accessible, and religion becomes de-institutionalised
- DAVIE - believing without belonging- argues against sec-> religion is not declining just taking a diff, more privatised form-> ppl are increasingly reluctant to belong to orgs but still hold religious beliefs->> BELIEVING WITHOUT BELONGING
- DAVIE - vicarious religion- minority of ppl who practice religion on behalf of masses (eg priests)-> DAVIE argues that in europe, major national churches = public utilities (spiritual health service)-> everyone can use when need to-> eg weddings, baptisms or the mourning of large scale loss eg public mourning of princess Diana death
- VOAS & CROCKETT- do not accept Davies claim that there is more believing than belonging-> evidence from around 5k respondents show that both church attendance and belief in god are declining together
- BRUCE (church and belief)- adds to VOAS & CROCKETT and claims that if ppl are not willing to invest time into going to church, this reflects declining belief
- DAY- found that v few of Christian's she interviews mentioned god or Christianity-> reason for desc as a Christian was not religion but simple a way of saying they belonged to a white English ethnic group->>>> links to nationalism
- HERVIEU-LEGER- spiritual shopping-> agrees that there has been a decline in institutional religion in Europe-> we have largely lost the religion that used to be handed down gen to gen-> instead parents today let children choose what is best for them->> greater choice - freedom = undermined church- does not mean that religion has disappeared, just means that Individual consumerism has replaced collective tradition->> spiritual shoppers - > religion = individualised and no longer acts as source of collective identity however still has some influence on socs values eg human rights
- What two groups does HERVIEU-LEGER say are emerging as a result of religion as a spiritual journey?1) PILGRIMS: those in the holistic milieu in the Kendal project-> follow individual path in search for self discovery eg exploring new age spirituality etc2) CONVERTS: join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging usually based on shared ethnic bg or a religious doctrine -> such groups recreate a sense of community in a society that has lost many of its religious traditions
- LYON- Jesus in Disneyland-> religion undergoing process of 'disneyfication' - a process of mass marketing that uses global media-> now a religious marketplace-> eg Christian talk shows / podcasts / festivals etc->>> ppl make conscious choices abt what is right for them
- AMMERMAN- study showed that ppl made use of a number of diff churches without giving any strong loyalty to any of them-> eg one fam attended methodist church for counselling and a baptist church for childcare
- HELLAND- distinguishes between 2 kinds of religious internet activity:1) RELIGION ONLINE:-> form of top-down communication where a religious org uses the internet to address members & potential converts-> no feedback/ dialogue btwn parties-> reflects the trad, hierarchical structures of churches -> members2) ONLINE RELIGION:-> form of cyber religion that may have no existence outside the internet-> forms of communication that allow individuals to create non hierarchical rships & a sense of community where they can visit virtual worship/ explore shared spiritual interests together
- HOOVER- eval helland-> for most users, online religion is simply a supplement for trad religious activity, not a substitute
- LYON & trad churches- argues that their decline does not = the end of religion-> many new religious movements are now springing up that the religious consumer can sample and from which they construct their own belief system
- LYON & new age beliefswhat does this mean for sec theories?- claims that from religious consumerism, we have new age spirituality-> rejects the idea of obligation and obedience to authority found in trad religions-> instead emphasises idea of life as a journey of discovery- THUS, crit sec theories and claims that we are now in a period of re-enchantment with the growth of unconventional religions
- a spiritual rev- some sociologists argue that a spiritual revolution is taking place-> trad religions are being replaced by 'HOLISTIC SPIRITUALITY' or NEW AGE SPIRITUAL BELIEFS which emphasise personal development & subjective experience->> can be seen in growth of spiritual market w/ explosion of self help books, crystal healing, spirituality etc
- HEELAS & WOODHEAD- kendal project-> wanted to see whether trad religion has declined and if so how far spirituality is compensating for this; distinguished between two groups1) the congregational domain of traditional and evangelical Christianity2) the holistic milieu of spirituality & the new age->> in 2000: 7.9% of pop attended church & 1.6% took part in activities of the holistic milieu->> congregational domain losing support though, while evangelical churches weren't->> fewer were involved in the HM BUT it was growing - H&W identify why:1) new age growing bc of turn in culture; a shift away from the idea of doing ur duty &obeying external authority to explore ur inner self2) As a result, traditional religions, which demand duty and obedience, are declining.3) Evangelical churches are more successful than the traditional churches. both demand discipline and duty, but evangelicals also emphasise the importance of spiritual healing and personal growth->> in the spiritual marketplace, therefore, the winners are those who appeal to personal experience as the only genuine source of meaning & fulfilment
- BRUCE (weaknesses of the spiritual marketplace)- The problem of scale-> Even if New Age forms of individualised religion are springing up, would need to be on a much larger scale to fill gap left by decline of traditional institutionalised religions-> eg in Kendal in 1851, about 38% of the population attended church every Sunday. To match that today, there would need to be 14, 500 churchgoers, instead of the 3000 who actually attend church. The 270 people involved in the holistic milieu in the town come nowhere near making up the shortfall.-Socialisation of the next generation-> For a belief system to survive, must be passed down to the next gen->> However, in Kendal, only 32% of parents who were involved in the New Age said their children shared their spiritual interests-> also women in the holistic milieu are more likely to be childless & in at least 3/4 of marriages with a woman in the holistic milieu, the husband does not share his wife's beliefs - > further reducing the likelihood of transmitting them to their children-Weak commitment->Glendinning & Bruce (2006)found that although many people dabbled in meditation, alternative medicine, astrology, horoscopes and so on, serious commitment to New Age beliefs and practices was very rare.-Structural weakness-> New Age spirituality is itself a cause of secularisation because of its subjective, individualistic nature - it is based on the idea that there is no higher authority than the self. This means that, unlike traditional religion, the New Age movement:1) lacks external power to extract commitment from new age pp2) cannot achieve consensus abt its beliefs3) cannot evangelise bc believes that enlightenment comes from within not from someone new
- STARK AND BAINBRIDGE (RMT overview)- religious market theory-> argue that there never was a golden age of religion like sec theorists claim-> argue that sec theory is eurocentric & fails to explain religious vitality in america etc-> propose RMT which claims:-> ppl are naturally religious & religion meets human needs -> overall demand for religion remains constant even tho demand for diff religions may vary-> it is human nature to seek rewards & avoid cost
- STARK & BAINBRIDGE (compensators)- religion is attractive bc it provides us with compensators that only religion can provide-> (refs to when rewards are unobtainable so religion compensates by promising supernatural rewards)-> non religious ideologies eg communism do not provide credible compensators bc they do not promise supernatural rewards
- STARK & BAINBRIDGE (the cycle of renewal)- as an alt to sec they suggest the concept of a cycle of religious decline, revival & renewal-> describe a perpetual cycle throughout history w some religions declining and others growing and attracting new members-> eg when established churches decline, they leave a gap in the market for sects and cultrs
- STARK & BAINBRIDGE (religious composition)- churches operate like companies selling goods in a market-> where sec theory sees comp as undermining religion, religious market theorists take opp view-> comp -> improvement of quality of 'religious goods
- STARK & BAINBRIDGE (usa vs europe)- demand for religion increases when there is NOT a monopoly bc without comp, church has no incentive to provide ppl w what they want- S&B believe religion thrives in USA bc there is no religious monopoly -> health of religious marketplace- europe however is diff bc most european countries = dominated by official state church
- STARK & BAINBRIDGE (supply not demand)- conclude that main factor influencing religious pp is not the demand for religion, but the supply-> participation increases when there is an ample supply of religious groups to choose from
- HADDEM & SHUPE- growth of televangelism in usa shows that the level of religious participation is supply led-> when commercial funding of religious broadcasts began in 60s it opened competition in which evangelical churches thrived-> as a commercial enterprise, TV responded to consumer demand by preaching gospel
- FINKE- the lifting of restrictions on asian immigration into usa in 60s allowed asian religions such as hara krishna set up permanently in usa & asian faiths became another option that proved popular w consumers
- BRUCE (diversity eval)- rejects the view that diversity and competition increase demand for religion-> stats show that diversity is accompanied by decline
- BRUCE (s&b misrepresent?)- claim stark & bainbridge misrep secularisation in that the theory DOES NOT claim that there was a past 'golden age' of religion, or that everyone will become athetists-> sec theory simply states that its in decline
- NORRIS & INGLEHART ( s&b eval)- shows that high levels of religious participation exist in catholic countries where the church has a near monopoly eg ireland-> by contrast, countries w/ religious pluralism eg Australia often have low levels of pp
- BECKFORD- calls RMT unsociological - it assumes ppl are naturally religious and fails to explain why they make the choices they do
- NORRIS & INGELHART (existential....?)- existential security theory-> reason for variations in religiousity between societies is not diff degrees of religious choice but different degrees of security-> religion = needed for security -> socs w low levels of security = high demand for religion-> eg poor socs: famine etc -> high religiosity-HOWEVER, note that global population growth undermines this trend towards sec-> rich, secure, secular socs have low levels of population growth whereas poor have high->>>>> as a result, while rich countries = becoming more secular, majority of world = more religious
- GILL & LUNDEGAARDE- the more a country spends on welfare the lower the level of religious participation-> in the past RELIGION provided welfare for poorer countries, but now, in west, STATE provides ->> religious decline-> also claim that although states provide increasing provision, it will not mean the end of religion completely bc welfare cant answer ultimate questions (what is life blah blah)
- VASQUEZeval n&i-> only use quant data abt low income levels; dont examine ppls views of existential security-> only see religion as a /neg response to deprivation; ignore pos reasons ppl have for religious pp & the appeal religion has for the wealthy