Secularisation

• what is secularisation?

  it’s a process, whereby religious, thinking, religious practices and religious institutions lose their social significance
• Statistics of secularisation ?

  • Steady decline in the population of the population, going to the church or belonging to the church 10 to 15% attended church in the mid 60s, only 5% attending church in 2015
  • There has been less baptisms and church weddings in 2012 30% of weddings wearing churches compared to 60% in 1971
• What is the secularisation thesis?


  A theory that claims that sacularisation is taking place. It argues that Modernity is bringing about the death of religion. Religious significance for the society and individuals is declining and will continue to do so until religion disappears.
• The two sociologist that talk about the decline in the number of clergy?

  • Woodhead to put it bluntly there are no longer enough troops left to keep the show on the road
  • Bruce predicted, that the Methodist Church will finish by 2030, and the Church of England will be a small voluntary organisation with a large amount of heritage property
• Criticisms of statistics on secularisation?

  • It is an exaggeration to see the 19th century as the golden age of religion in Britain. Many people were opposed to the church even then So that hasn’t been such a massive change in peoples attitudes methods of measuring secularisation May have problems.
  • reliability as religious organisations may over or Underestimate attendance. It may also lack validity as many questions in a survey on religious focus on Christianity beliefs such as heaven and hell. Hinduism and Buddhists would reply no does that mean they are atheist
• Rationalisation- Weber?


  • He argues that rationalisation the process by which rational ways of thinking and acting replaced religious ones. This caused secularisation.
  • the catholic worldview dominated Europe until the 16th century. This worldview the world as enchanted Garden of the natural beings However, protestant reformation started the process of rationalisation, using newly discovered scientific principles. People are able to understand how the world works. Therefore people developed rational understanding of the world, no longer the need for religious and religion declined
• strength of Weber?


  • Similarly Bruce argued that the development of Technological worldview has replaced religious explanations e.g we now know that flooding in Pakistan is not a punishment for God, but the effect of global warming.
  • therefore, scientific knowledge results in people taking religious, less seriously the spruce reinforces Weber’s argument

  Highlights the influence and effect of scientific development on the extent of religion
• What are the weaknesses of Weber?

  There are still religious people in the most advanced rationalised 21st-century

  Fundamentalism is on the increase
• Another explanation of secularisation is Parsons structural differentiation?

  Parsons argue that religion has lost many of its functions. It used to perform, which has contributed to its loss of influence and subsequently increased in secularism. It is the worlds religion has gone through the process of structural differentiation, a process of specification and loss of function. E.G religion has lost its influence over education, welfare and the law These have now been taken over by the state
• another explanation of secularisation is social and cultural diversity ?


  The growth of social and cultural diversity has undermined the authority of Religious institutions and the credibility of religious beliefs. In a multicultural/multi Faith society, people cannot avoid knowing that many around them hold very different beliefs. This knowledge of other other beliefs undermines their own religion.
• how religious diversity causes secularisation? - Berger


  however, religious diversity means that no single religion can claim the monopoly of the truth. Society is therefore no longer unified and the singular secular sacred canopy provided by one religion instead there is plurality of life world. this undermines religion and leads to secularisation
• Weaknesses of burger?


  • it could be argued that really just diversity, rather than discouraging religion in the fact, it increases religion by offering choice of beliefs to people
  • But later changed his view and now argues that diversity and choice actually stimulates interest and anticipation in religion, so this shows great weakness to his idea as even he has criticised and adapted it
• Weakness of Burger?


  Beckford Agrees that the idea of religious diversity will lead some to question or even abandoned their religious beliefs but this is not inevitable. Opposing views can help the effect of strengthening our religious groups commitment to its existing beliefs rather than undermining them.
• What does Wilson say about social and cultural diversity?

  • decline of community is a result from moving from a industrial society to an industrial one and a contribution to secularisation. He argues that when religion lost its hold over society it became a more individualistic society.
  • social and geographical mobility caused by industrialisation has brought people from different backgrounds together
  • diversity of occupations, culture and lifestyle undermines religion
• Declining church attendance in America

  • opinion pose found that a stable 40% of people attended churches regularly in 1940 however Hadaway study church attendance in Ohio and found that claims of church attendance were 83% higher than the actual research estimated
• Bruce and religious diversity in America

  • He identifies a trend towards practical relativism among American churches in how everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
  • in 1924 94% of churchgoers believed Christianity was the one true religion in 1977 only 41% agreed