Secularisation

    Cards (12)

    • Rationalism - Weber
      • rational thinking replaces spiritual
      • began after the protestant reformation - the sacred canopy / shared sacred world view was undermined by the introduction of Protestant
      • The protestant ethic effect increased rationality which ultimately led to its decline.
      • Disenchantment - rational thinking displaces the magical.
    • Technological view - Bruce
      • Disenchantment
      • Technology has replaced religious explanations
      • When serious or life changing events occur we look for scientific and technological explanations.
    • Structural Differentiation - Parsons
      • Specialisation occurred following industrialisation
      • Religion has been disconnected from wider society
      • Disengagement - religion is disconnected from wider society.
    • Religious Diversity - Berger
      • The ‘sacred canopy’ has been undermined by many different faiths.
      • Creates ‘crisis of credibility’ undermining the plausibility structure.
    • Crockett -
      • a decline in the proportion of the population going to church
      • An increase in the average age of churchgoers
      • Fewer baptism and church weddings
      • A decline in the numbers holding traditional Christian beliefs
      • Greater religious diversity, including more non- Christian religions.
    • Wilson -
      Church Attendance
      • only 6.3% of the adult population attended church on Sundays in2005
      • Sunday school attendance has declined further and only a small proportion of children now attend.
      • Baptisms of children fell to 55%
      Religious Beliefs Today
      • people claim they hold christian beliefs than actually belong or go to church
      • religious belief is declining in line with the decline in church attendance and membership.
      Religious Institutions Today
      • not only religious belief and attendance so has the influence
      • churches no longer have as much influence than the 19th century.
    • Wilson -
      • argues that preindustrial communities shared values expressed through collective religious rituals that integrated individuals and regulated their behaviour
      Bruce -
      • sees industrialisation as undermining the consensus of religious beliefs that hold small rural communities together.
      • Diversity of occupations, cultures and lifestyles undermines religion.
      • The absence of a practicing religious community that functions on a day to day basis - religious belief and practice tends to decline.
    • Bruce - Cultural defence and Transition
      Cultural Defence
      • Religion provides a focal point for the defence of national, ethic, local or group identity in a struggle against an external force such as hostile foreign power.
      Cultural Transition
      • Where religion provide support and a sense of community for ethnic groups such as migrants to a different country or culture.
    • Beckford -
      • the idea that religious diversity will lead some to question or even abandon their religious beliefs is not inevitable
      • opposing views which question faith can have the effect of strengthening a religious groups commitment to its existing beliefs rather than undermining them.
    • Postmoderninm (Davie , Lyon and Harvieur - Leger)
      • religion has not declined it has simple changed and is now more diverse allowing individuals freedom and choice in how they express religion.
      • religion is a source of identity in an increasingly postmodern and global world.
    • Martin -
      • questioning if Britain was that religious in the first place.
      • question if individuals just attend church for socia standing, rather than religious belief.
      • the debate is ‘Eurocentric’ as Protestant countries attendance rates vary widely.
    • Heelas and Woodhead -
      • ’a spiritual revolution’
      • increase interest in spirituality can be seen in the growth of a ‘spiritual market’.
      • investigate whether traditional religion has declined and if so how far the growth of spirituality is compensation for this. Distinguish between 2 groups:
      • The congregational domain: of traditional and evangelical Christianity
      • The Holistic milieu of spirituality and the new age