Religion, renewal and choice
- Created by: ceecw12
- Created on: 09-06-18 10:47
New forms of religion:
- Religions no longer imposed but more a matter of choice
- Isn't declining BUT takin a different privatised form - some increasingly reluctant to belong to organisations - still hold beliefs
'VICARIOUS RELIGION' - practised by an active minority on behalf of great majoirty who experience religion second hand
DAVIE = churches are like the NHS - everyone use whenever
'MULTIPLE MODERNITIES' - secularisation theory assumes modernisation affects every society in the same way, cause decline of religion instead of a single version of modern society
- VOAS AND CROCKETT - 5750 respondents shows both church attendance and belief in God are declining together - would expect higher levels of beliefs
- BRUCE - aren't willing to invest time to go to church - reflects the declining strengths of beliefs
- Not religious - way of saying they belonged to a 'White English' ethnic group
Spiritual shopping:
- CULTURAL AMNESIA = loss of collective memory - children used to be taught relgiion in extended family and parish church - fewer are now
HERVIEU-LEGER = undermined traditional power of church to impose religion on people from above - no longer fixed religious identity imposed through socialisation
- Religion = individualised - develop 'do-it-yourself' belief that give meaning to lives/fit with interests/aspirations
- PILGRIMS = follow indivivudal path in search for self-discovery e.g. exploring new age spirituality by joining groups/ 'therapy' - demand created by personal develpment
- CONVERTS = join religious groups that offer strong sense of belonging based on shared background/religious doctrine - recreate sense of community that has loss traditions
- Equality values/human rights have roots in religion - shared cultural identity/social solidarity
- Notion accelerated - explains weakening traditionsl institutions as well as growing importance of individual choice in matters of religion
Postmodern religion:
Globalisation - increased importance of media/communications; growth of consumerism
Media lift ideas out of physical churches and move them to different place/time
- De-institutionalised - detached from its place un religious institutions, floating in cyberspace
- Religion online - top-down communication - address members/potential converts online - no feedback/dialogue - electronic hierarchy
- ONLINE RELIGION = 'cyber-religion' = non-hierarchal relationships/sense of community
LYON = people cease to belong to religious organisations they haven't abandoned religion - 'religious consumers'
- Exposure to many competing versions of truth makes sceptical that any of them is really/wholly true
- REJECTS ideas of obligation/obedience to external authority - life journey of discovery personal development 'inner self'
- Notion that every individual is free to decide what's true for them
- Period of re-enchantment with growth of unconventional beliefs, practices adn spirituality
A spiritual revolution?
- Traditional christianity is giving way to 'holistic spirituality'/ NA spiritual beliefs/practices that emphasise personal development/subjective experience
- Life as discovery; personal development; autonomy
- Congregational domain - traditional and Evangelical Christianity
- Holistic milieu - spirituality and the NA
- Kendal Study - NA spirituality grown - subjectove turn in today's culture - shift away from idea of doing your dutty/obeying external authoirty; traditional religions declining as a result; evangelical churches are more successful than tradition
Weakness of the New Age:
- Problem of Scale - individualised religion would have to be much larger scale to fill gap left by the decline of traditional institutionalised religions
- Socialisation of the next generation - 32% parents involved in NA said children shared same beliefs; women in holistic milieu more likely ot be childless - 3/4 husbands don't share same beliefs
- Weak commitment - serious commitment = very rare - 'spiritual' - very few said practices were important
- Structural weakness - lacks external power to extract commitment - can't achieve consensus about beliefs - lacks cohesion as movement
Religious market theory:
- STARK AND BAINBRIDGE = focus on decline of religion in Europe - fails to explain its continuin vitality in USA and elsewhere
- People naturally religious and religion meets human needs; human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs
- Perpetual cycle throughout history with some declining/others growing an attracting new members = cycle of renewal
- Companies selling goods - leads to improvements in quality of religious 'goods' on offer - churhces make it more attractive to gain more 'customers'
America vs Europe
- Religious monopoly leads to decline (without competition) - church has no incentive to provide people with what they want
- Religion thrives in the USA - no religious monopoly - constitution guarantees freedom
- Most European countries dominated by an official state church whihc had a religious monopoly
- Participation increases when supply of religious groups is ample but declines when supply is restricted
Criticisms:
- BRUCE - rejects view that diversity and competition increase demand for religion - statistics show diverity has been accompanied by religious decline
- STARK AND BAINBRIDGE misrepresent secularisation theory - doesn't claim past 'golden age'/everyone will become a theists - calims religion in long-term decline
- NORRIS AND INGLEHART - high levels of participation exist in Catholic countries (church has never monopoly) - countries pluralism often have lower levels of participation - contradicts STARK AND BAINBRIDGE
- BECKFORD - unsociological - assumes people are 'naturally' religious and fails to explain why they make choices they do
An alternative view: secularisation and security:
- Religious market theory applies only to USA and fails to explain variations in religiosity between different societies
- 'Existential society' - feeling that survival is secure enough that it can be taken for granted
- POOR SOCIETIES =H+ insecurities and levels of religiousity
- RICH SOCIETIES = H+ security and L- religiousity
- Richer societies have lower levels of population growth - more secular - Poorer societies have higher rates and more religious
- NORRIS AND INGLEHART - America more religious than Europe - most unequal of rich societies with inadequate welfare safety-nat and individualistic 'dog eat dog' values
- GILL AND LUNDEGAARD - country spend more on welfare have lower levels religious paticipation
Criticisms:
- Only use quantitative data about income levels - don't examine people's own definitions - qualitative data needed
- Religion = negative response to deprivation - ignores positive response people have for religious participation the appeal that some type of religion have for the wealthy
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