Topic 4 Religion, Renewal and Choice

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  • Created by: Abbie
  • Created on: 30-05-13 14:10
What did Grace Davie mean by 'belief without belonging'
Religion is not declining but simply becoming more privatised. where people hold religious beliefs but no longer attend church
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what did Davie mean by 'vicarious religion'
where a small number of proffesional clergy practice religion on behalf of a much larger group who experience it second hand
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who criticises davies and why?
Voas and Crockett - evidence from surveys show both church attendance and belief in god are declining. if davie were right we'd expect to see higher levels of belief
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who else criticises davies and why?
Bruce - if people are not willing to invest time in going to church, this reflects the declinging strength of their beliefs
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Who came up with the idea of spiritual shopping?
Hervieu-Leger
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What did they mean by 'spiritual shopping'
people now feel they have a choice as consumers of religion. Religion is now individualised - we now develop our own 'do it yourself' beliefs that give meaning to our lives and fit in with out aspirations
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What is a pilgrim?
they follow an individual path in a search for self discovery e.g. exploring new age spirituality by joining groups. the demand is created by today's empasis on personal development
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What is a convert?
They join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging, usually based on shared ethnic background. They recreate a sense of community in a society that has lost its religious traditions.
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Who came up with the idea 'Jesus in disneyland'
Lyon
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What did they mean by 'Jesus in Disneyland'
Traditional religion is giving way to new religious forms that demonstrate its continuing vigour
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In Lyons view, postmodern society has a number of features that are changing the nature of religion; what are they?
Globalisation, increased importance of the media and communications and the growth of consumerism.
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what is meant by 'globalisation'
The growing interconectedness of societies which has lead to greatly increased movements of ideas and beliefs across national boundaries.
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how has religion relocated to the sphere of consumerism
while people have ceased to belong to religious organisations they have not abandoned religion. instead they have become religious consumers making choices about which elements of religion they find useful
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Who talked about Re-enchantment and what does this mean
Lyon - the last 3 decades are a period of re-enchantment, with the growth of unconventional beliefs, practices and spirituality. Although traditional religion has declined, Lyon points to the growing non-traditional religion and its resurgence.
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Critisisms of Lyon
Bruce argues that consumerist religion is weak religion. it has little effect on the lives of its adherents. he sees its rise as evidence of secularisation not of the continuing vitality of religion
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Who are the main advocates or Religious Market Theory
Stark and Bainbridge
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What do they mean by secularisation theory being 'Eurocentric'
it focuses on the decline of religion in Europe and fails to explain its continuing vitality in America and elsewhere.
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What two assumptions is religious market theory based upon
1. People are naturally religious, and religion meets human needs. Therefore, demand for religion remains constant, even though demand for particular types of religion may vary. 2. It is human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs.
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according to stark and bainbridge why is religion attractive to us
it provides us with compensator's - when real rewards are scarce or unobtainable religion compensated by promising supernatural ones.
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How are churches compared to markets in stark and bainbridge's theory
Churches operate like companies selling goods in a market. They argue competition leads to improvements in quality of religious 'goods' on offer. The churches that make the product attractive will succeed in attracting more 'customers'
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why do stark and bainbridge believe religion is thriving in the USA
there has never been a religious monopoly there. The constitution guarentees freedom of religion and seperation of church and state. this has encouraged the growth of a healthy religious market where religions grow or decline according to demand.
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Why is the situation in Europe different (Not thriving with religion)
Most European countries have been dominated by and official state church which has a religious monopoly such as C of E. Competition has been held back and the lack of choice has lead to decline.
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What is an example of a supply-led religion
'televangelism' shows the level of religious participation is supply-led. As a comercial enterprise, telavangalism responded to consumer demand by preaching a 'prosperity gospel'
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Critisisms of Religious Market Theory
Bruce rejects view that diversity increases demand for religion. statistics show diversity has been acompanied by religious decline.
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What do Noris and Inglehart argue?
the reason for variations in religosity between societies is not different degrees of religious choice but different degrees of Existential Security Theory.
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What is Existential Security Theory
Poorer societies tend to be more religious as they gain their sense of security through religion. Whereas rich societies already have this sense of security through money and therefore do not feel the need to be religious.
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Why do Noris and Inglehart believe America to be more religious than Europe?
America is the most unequal of the rich societies, with an ineadequate welfare safety net. this creates high levels of poverty and insecurity resulting in greater need for religion.
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Why do Noris and Inglehart see Europe as less religious
These are among the most equal and secure in the world, well developed welfare state offering health care and pension. reducing poverty and protects those at the bottom form insecurity.
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Evaluation of Existential Security Theory
They use quantatative data - vasquez argues qualative is also needed. They ignore positive reasons people have for religious participation.
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what did Davie mean by 'vicarious religion'

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where a small number of proffesional clergy practice religion on behalf of a much larger group who experience it second hand

Card 3

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who criticises davies and why?

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Card 4

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who else criticises davies and why?

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Card 5

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Who came up with the idea of spiritual shopping?

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