fun

?
  • Created by: Iveta
  • Created on: 11-03-14 08:45

Age and Religion: Older People

There is evidence to show that older people are more religious than younger people i.e. 55% of 60 year olds and over compared to only 10% of 15-25 year olds have claimed that they belong in a religious organisation

Voas and Crockett list a number of reasons why older people are MORE RELIGIOUS

  • Their health declines so they feel the need to attend church to get closer to God
  • They want to learn more about what happens in their after-life
  • They have grown up in a society where religion was viewed as important so they still hold strong religious beliefs
  • They feel that they need to be religious to set a good example for their grandchildren and children

AO2: However, Davie claimed that they could just be 'belonging but NOT believing'. i.e. they attend church to build friendship netwroks, belong to a community and avoid feeling lonely rather than attend to be religious

1 of 3

Young People

Young People LESS RELIGIOUS.....

  • Postmodernist Hervieu-Leger claims this is because young people are experiencing 'culture-amnesia' where they have not been socialised into religious morality so they believe less in religion
  • Weber claims that young people have been RATIONALISED and they have turned to SCIENCE instead i.e. they are skeptical of the existance of God
  • Decline of Sunday Schools; a century ago over 90% of children attended but today only 1 in 25 attend, Bruce predicts that by 2018, there will be no more sunday schools left
  • Bruce lists a number of PRACTICAL and PRAGMATIC reasons as to why they are less religious i.e. LEISURE is more important
  • Church is seen as boring, old-fashion, full of elderly people and out of touch with their own beliefs
2 of 3

AO2 -young people can be religious...

However, there is evidence to show that young people can be religious

  • Davie claims that they 'believe but not belong'
  • ETHNIC young are religious i.e. young Africans attend Pentecostal Churches regularly
    Samad found that young Muslims are religious and see religioum as important to their identity 
  • CLASS: Middle class young people tend to join the New Age because they can afford the services on offer such as yoga, aromatherapy, crystal healing, they are different and more appealing than formal churches
  • Spiritually shopping/ picking and mixing: young people are not secualarised, they just chose to follow religioun in a DIFFERENT FORM 

i.e. World-Rejecting movements: Wilson claimed that young people attend who have been experiencing 'status-frustration' and want to avoid feeling unattached

World-accomodating movements: young have joined to offer them skills to self-improve

3 of 3

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Fun resources:

See all Fun resources »