Assess The View Of Secularisation
Assess the views that secularisation has been a feature only of Modern European societies (33 marks).
Secularisation refers to the decline in religious beliefs, practices, power and commitment. Depending on the definition of religion, it can be argued that Modern European societies have undergone a secularisation process. It is difficult to examine to a certain extent how religious people were before and how religious they are in today’s society. The view that secularisation has been a feature of only Modern European societies are arguable as there are many different types and definitions of religion, and also it does not take into account secularisation on a more global scale.
The British Social Attitudes Survey in 1991 …show more content…
One of these was the showing the decline in church attendance. Wilson found that in 1962, 45% of Americans attended church on Sundays. However, he argued that churchgoing in America was more an expression of the ‘American way of life’ than of deeply held religious beliefs. Kirk Hadaway was working with a team of researchers employed by major churches in 1993; found that this figure did not match the churches’ own attendance statistics. If 40% of Americans were going to church, which was figure found by an opinion survey, the churches would be full - but they were not. This shows that in America, religion was part of daily life but not in the same way of that of ‘religious people’ in Modern Europe. Therefore in America, church attendance was instead part of a daily routine. This meant that when trying to analyse the secularisation of the country, church attendance could not be a way of showing the religiosity of America. Bruce concludes by saying that a stable rate of self-reported church attendance of about 40% has masked a decline in attendance across the United States. The widening gap may be due to the fact that it is still seen as socially desirable or normative to go to church, so people will have stopped going but said that they do attend in a survey. The statistics found from both sociologists individual research and self-reported opinion polls show vaguely how secularisation …show more content…
In her view, religion is not declining but simply taking a different, more privatised form. For example, people no longer go to church because they feel they have to or because it is ‘respectable’ to do so. Although churchgoing has declined, this is simply because attendance is now a matter of personal choice rather than the obligation it used to be. As a result, we now have believing without belonging – where people hold religious beliefs but don’t go to church. Thus, the decline of traditional religion is matched by the growth of a new form of religion. Danielle Hervieu-Leger continues the theme of personal choice and believing without belonging. She agrees that there has been a dramatic decline in institutional religion within Europe, with fewer people attending church in most countries. This is partly because of what she calls cultural amnesia. Nowadays, we have largely lost the religion that used to be handed down from generation to generation, because few parents no longer teach their children their beliefs or religion. Instead, parents today let their children decide for themselves as individuals what they want to believe. As a result, young people no longer inherit a fixed religious identity and they are ignorant of traditional religion. However, individual consumerism has replaced collective tradition. People today now feel they have a choice as consumers of religion; therefore they have
Secularisation refers to the decline in religious beliefs, practices, power and commitment. Depending on the definition of religion, it can be argued that Modern European societies have undergone a secularisation process. It is difficult to examine to a certain extent how religious people were before and how religious they are in today’s society. The view that secularisation has been a feature of only Modern European societies are arguable as there are many different types and definitions of religion, and also it does not take into account secularisation on a more global scale.
The British Social Attitudes Survey in 1991 …show more content…
One of these was the showing the decline in church attendance. Wilson found that in 1962, 45% of Americans attended church on Sundays. However, he argued that churchgoing in America was more an expression of the ‘American way of life’ than of deeply held religious beliefs. Kirk Hadaway was working with a team of researchers employed by major churches in 1993; found that this figure did not match the churches’ own attendance statistics. If 40% of Americans were going to church, which was figure found by an opinion survey, the churches would be full - but they were not. This shows that in America, religion was part of daily life but not in the same way of that of ‘religious people’ in Modern Europe. Therefore in America, church attendance was instead part of a daily routine. This meant that when trying to analyse the secularisation of the country, church attendance could not be a way of showing the religiosity of America. Bruce concludes by saying that a stable rate of self-reported church attendance of about 40% has masked a decline in attendance across the United States. The widening gap may be due to the fact that it is still seen as socially desirable or normative to go to church, so people will have stopped going but said that they do attend in a survey. The statistics found from both sociologists individual research and self-reported opinion polls show vaguely how secularisation …show more content…
In her view, religion is not declining but simply taking a different, more privatised form. For example, people no longer go to church because they feel they have to or because it is ‘respectable’ to do so. Although churchgoing has declined, this is simply because attendance is now a matter of personal choice rather than the obligation it used to be. As a result, we now have believing without belonging – where people hold religious beliefs but don’t go to church. Thus, the decline of traditional religion is matched by the growth of a new form of religion. Danielle Hervieu-Leger continues the theme of personal choice and believing without belonging. She agrees that there has been a dramatic decline in institutional religion within Europe, with fewer people attending church in most countries. This is partly because of what she calls cultural amnesia. Nowadays, we have largely lost the religion that used to be handed down from generation to generation, because few parents no longer teach their children their beliefs or religion. Instead, parents today let their children decide for themselves as individuals what they want to believe. As a result, young people no longer inherit a fixed religious identity and they are ignorant of traditional religion. However, individual consumerism has replaced collective tradition. People today now feel they have a choice as consumers of religion; therefore they have