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Religion, renewal and choice
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Religion, renewal and choiceReligion, renewal and choice
- - correct answer-Critics have challenged secularisation theory's claim that religion is
declining:
• They question whether religion is in fact declining rather than simply changing.
• They reject the view that increased diversity and choice undermines religion's plausibility
and claim that it encourages greater involvement in religion.
• They argue that religion is not declining on a global scale, but only in Europe.
Two main alternatives to secularisation theory:
• Theories of late modernity and postmodernity; - these argue that religion is not declining
but merely changing as society develops.
• Religious market theory; - the view that secularisation is only one stage of a constant cycle
of secularisation, revival and renewal.
New forms of religion - correct answer-Some sociologists reject the secularisation thesis that
religion is undergoing an inevitable decline in modern Western society. Instead they argue
that, while some aspects of traditional religion are in decline, new forms are emerging, often
as a result of changes in wider society such as greater individualism, choice and
consumerism.
New forms of religion
- From obligation to consumption - correct answer-Davie (2013) argues that in today's late
modern society, we are seeing a major change in religion, away from obligation and towards
consumption or choice. In the past, churches such as the Church of England and the
Catholic Church could 'oblige people to go to church, to believe certain things and to behave
in certain ways.'
This is no longer the case: religion is no longer inherited or imposed, but a matter of
personal choice. As Davie puts it,
I go to church because I want to. I will continue my attachment so long as it provides what I
want, but I have no obligation either to attend in the first place or to continue if I don't want
to.
For example, in England and France, infant baptism was once seen as an obligatory rite of
passage, but now only a minority of babies are baptised. By contrast, there has been an
increase in the number of adults making an individual choice to be baptised.
New forms of religion
- From obligation to consumption :
Believing without belonging - correct answer-Davie argues that religion is not declining but
simply taking a different, more privatised form. People are increasingly reluctant to belong to
organisations, whether these are churches, political parties or trade unions. But despite this,
people still hold religious beliefs - a situation that Davie calls believing without belonging.
New forms of religion
- From obligation to consumption :
, Vicarious religion: the Spiritual Health Service - correct answer-Davie also notes a trend
towards 'vicarious religion'. By this, she means religion practised by an active minority (the
professional clergy and regular churchgoers) on behalf of the great majority, who thus
experience religion at second hand. This pattern is typical of Britain and Northern Europe
where, despite low levels of attendance, many people still identify with the churches.
Davie argues that in Europe, the major national churches are seen as public utilities, or a
sort of 'Spiritual Health Service' that, like the NHS, is there for everyone to use whenever
they need to. This includes using the churches for rites of passage such as baptisms,
weddings and funerals, as well as for major national occasions, like the public mourning over
the death of Princess Diana in 1997 or tragedies such as the massacre of 93 people in
Norway by the neo-Nazi Anders Breivik in 2011. Davie compares vicarious religion to the tip
of an iceberg and sees it as evidence of believing without belonging. Beneath the surface of
what appears to be only a small commitment (very few attend church regularly) lies a much
wider commitment. Most people may not normally go to church or pray, but they remain
attached to the church as an institution that provides ritual and support when needed and
they continue to share at some level its beliefs.
According to Davie, secularisation theory assumes that modernisation affects every society
in the same way, causing the decline of religion. Davie questions this assumption. Instead of
a single version of modern society, she argues there are multiple modernities. For example,
Britain and America are both modern societies, but with very different patterns of religion,
especially in relation to church attendance high in America, low in Britain, accompanied by
believing without belonging.
New forms of religion
- From obligation to consumption :
Neither believing nor belonging - correct answer-Voas and Crockett (2005) do not accept
Davie's claim that there is more believing than belonging. Evidence from 5,750 respondents
shows that both church attendance and belief in God are declining together. If Davie were
right, we would expect to see higher levels of belief.
Bruce (2011) adds that if people are not willing to invest time in going to church, this just
reflects the declining strength of their beliefs. When people no longer believe, they no longer
wish to belong, and so their involvement in religion diminishes.
Census results show that 72% of people identified themselves as Christian, which supports
the 'believing without belonging' view. However, Day (2007) found that very few of the
'Christians' she interviewed mentioned God or Christianity. Their reason for describing
themselves as Christian was not religious, but simply a way of saying they belonged to a
'White English' ethnic group. As Day puts it, they 'believe in belonging'. Describing
themselves as 'Christian' was actually a non-religious marker of their ethnic or national
identity.
New forms of religion
- Spiritual shopping - correct answer-Hervieu-Léger (2000; 2006) continues the theme of
personal choice and the decline of obligation. She agrees that there has been a dramatic
decline in institutional religion in Europe, with fewer and fewer people attending church in
most countries. This is partly because of what she calls cultural amnesia, or a loss of
collective memory. For centuries, children used to be taught religion in the extended family
and parish church. Nowadays, however, we have largely lost the religion that used to be
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