secularisation has increased with those with no religion from 31% to 52% over the last 25 years
Berger
access to religious beliefs has led to people questioning traditional teachings+
rise of different denomination of protestantism broke the monopoly of spirituality of the Catholic Church
Stark and Bainbridge
Religion meets the needs of the individual through compensators increases in religions that offer more compensators and as new religions emerge, people reaffirm their beliefs through new organisations.
Stark and Bainbridge on religion
suggested that secularisation is a European phenomena and that religious belief is stronger in the rest of the world.
religion continues to have an importance in people's lives due to the functions it preforms for people
religion acts as a compensator as religion offers the reward of an afterlife in exchange for life's sacrifices
Religious market theory
competition brings more choice and innovation
secularisation in Europe more likely to occur in one-religion states
USA and other areas of world have more choice in terms of beliefs
Evaluation of Religious market theory
High levels of attendance in the US but still long-term decline
Census Data 2011
59.5% of UK population identified as Christian- decline from 72% in 2001
increases in other religions such as islam with 4.4%
Existential security theory
Norris and inglehart used survey data to measure the extent of secularisation on a global scale, saw that secularisation wasn't caused by post-industrial society. Bourgeoisie- less religious, Proletariat- more religious
Agrarian societies
role of the state of providing healthcare and education is limited leading to conflict, poor infrastructure and healthcare means that people turn to religion to get the security the state didn't provide
Norris and inglehart conclusions
secularisation is not a global phenomena but linked to economic development which is caused by declining church attendance
A03- failing to objectively measure what existential crisis is
Gendered secularisation
Rationalisation has led to secularisation, women are isolated from rationalisation and therefore are less likely to experience the effects of secularisation
Davie on secularisation
Religion is now a consumer choice not a forced act
Difficult to measure religion in terms of church attendance as people still believe without attending
People move towards religion in times of need or celebration
Evaluations of Davie
people identified being Christian as an identity not a belief
Bruce's secularisation paradigm (2011)
Social changes that came from the Protestant reformation
Growth of individualism
Protestantworkethic
Development of rationality
Growth of individualism
Loss of collectivism as people turned from Catholicism to protestantism
Resulted in schisms and formed into sects- turning religion into a voluntary ideal
PWE
Led to the growth of industrial capitalism
Religious diversity has led religion to become privatised and commodified
Rationality
development of scientific thinking and growth of technology which makes people question religious doctrines
Evaluations of secularisation
confined to western societies even though globalisation occurs