Compensators - Stark and Bainbridge, religion is attractive because it provides us with compensators. when real rewards are scarce or unobtainable , religion compensates by promising supernatural ones.The cycle of renewal As an alternative to secularisation theory, which sees a one-way process of continuous decline, Stark and Bainbridge put forward the concept of a cycle or religious decline, revival and renewal. they describe a perpetual cycle throughout history, with some religions declining and other growing. Religious competition Churches operate like companies selling goods in a market. where secularisation theory sees competition between different religious organisations as undermining religion, religious market theory theorists take the opposite view. they argue that competition leads to the improvement in religion.