Sociology

The Six versions of secularisation are:

• 1. Decline of religion - where religious symbols, doctrines and institutions lose their social significance.
• 2. Conformity with the world - where religious movements become orientated to the goals of 'this world' rather than the 'next'.
• 3. Disengagement - where the church loses functions to other institutions, and becomes less significant in moral and political terms.
• 4. Transposition of religious beliefs and institutions - where what were previously regarded as grounded in divine power become seen as 'human creations'.
• 5. Desacralisation of the world - scientific and rational explanations take precedence over religious faith.
• 6. From sacred to secular society - religion moves from its central position and takes its place in a 'market' of other possible philosophies.