Item A11: Sociologists disagree about the extent of secularisation in the modern
world. For example, some suggest that the development of Science and Technology
has the plate displace religious fat as a means of interpreting the world.
Postmodernists point to the decline of meta narratives, which mean people are
abandoning once taken-for-granted belief systems, like religion. Other sociologists
suggest religion is not declining but simply changing and appearing in new forms.
Applying material from item A11, analyse two ways in which religion, rather than
declining, is changing and appearing in new forms.
One way in which religion is declining, changing and appearing in new forms is through the
increase in religious consumerism. Lyon argues that individuals are now choosing religious
beliefs and practises that meet their own needs. They subscribe to the pick and mix culture
(consumer culture) by making conscious choices about what elements of religion they find
useful. This has caused the changing of religion as they no longer subscribe to one religious
institution and combine elements of different religion, due to the increase in diversity and
individual choice in society. For example, one would follow main beliefs from new age
religions, like astrology and crystals, but also follow Christian traditions of Christmas. This
however has not caused the decline in religion as individual consumerism has only replaced
the collective tradition to a monotheistic belief. Postmodernists, as seen in item a, believe
that ‘religion is not declining but is simply changing and appearing in new forms”. The only
effect of religious consumerism is that there is a loss of faith in metanarratives – religion as
big studies – as religious claims about the monopoly of truth are weakened. The exposure of
different religions, as a market place through globalisation, has meant that individuals are
now sceptical about the true meaning of life on earth, so they lose their authority. However,
Bruce (2001) counteracts the postmodernist view of religion, as metanarratives have not
lost their influence. This is evident by the increased popularity of Christianity and Islam,
suggesting the consumerism culture is a short-term change and metanarratives have not
lost their influence. Therefore, one way in which religion is changing and appearing in new
forms is through the loss of belief in metanarratives and the increase popularity of
consumer culture.
A second way in which religion is changing and appearing in new forms is through spiritual
shoppers, as proposed by Hervieu- Leger. Leger argues that religion has lost its influence on
a postmodernist society, categorised by manufacturing goods, as a cultural amnesia has
dispersed. Cultural amnesia is the loss of a collective memory or belief in religion as a result
of secularisation. The reasons for this have been the increase in secularisation, where
children are given more freedom about what religion they believe in and are no longer led
by their parents. This has in turn caused such young people to abandon the systematic
worship of one religion, meaning their religious identity is no longer fixed and inherited but
is an individualistic spiritual journey. As the decline of traditional metanarrative religion has
occurred, individual consumerism has increased. As previously mentioned, individuals now
subscribe to a consumer culture where they pick and mix different aspects of religion that
they see fit. This has led to individuals identifying as spiritual shoppers who believe in a
combination of different beliefs. Within spiritual shoppers, two new forms of religion are
increasing – Pilgrims and Converts. Pilgrims follow individual ideologies, where they search
for spiritual self-discovery, whilst converts are individuals who subscribe to traditional
