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Religion, Renewal & Choice - Coggle Diagram
Religion, Renewal & Choice
New Forms of Religion
Consumption of Religion
Davie argues that in modern society, religion is less of an obligation and more of a choice. This is shown by the fact that infant baptism was once obligatory, but now minimal children are baptised
Religion is taking a more privatised form where they are reluctant to belong to organisations but still hold beliefs - believing without belonging.
'Vicarious Religion' - religion practiced by an active minority on the behalf of the majority. Churches are used as public utilities to be used when needed.
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Bruce says if people are not willing to invest time into going to church, this reflects the declining strength of their beliefs
Despite a Census saying that 72% of people identify as Christian, Day found that very few mentioned God, and their reason for describing themselves as Christian was not religious but to belong to a 'White English' ethnic group - a belief in belonging.
Spiritual Revolution
Where traditional Christianity is giving way to holistic spirituality that emphasise personal development and subjective experience. Heelas and Woodhead investigated whether religion has declined by distinguishing two groups in Kendal:
- The congregational domain of traditional Christianity
- The holistic milieu of spirituality
They found that weekly 7.9% attended church and 1.6% took part in activities associated with the holistic milieu.
Postmodern Religion
Lyon argues that traditional religion is giving way to a variety of new religious forms. He sees postmodern society having a number of features that are changing the nature of religion.
- Globalisation has led to increased movements of ideas and beliefs across national boundaries
- The media has disembedded religious ideas from physical church and spread them
- Religion has become de-institutionalised and detached from its place in religious institutions, becoming a cultural resource that individuals can adapt for their own purpose
Helland distinguishes between two types of internet activity:
- Religion Online - where a religious organisation uses the internet to address members - an electronic version of the traditional church hierarchy
- Online Religion - 'cyber-religion' - allows individuals to visit virtual meditation spaces and explore spiritual interests
Religion has relocated to the sphere of consumption. People make conscious choices about which aspects of religion they find useful. This causes a loss in faith of 'meta-narratives' (worldviews that claim to have absolute truth).
Argues that we are in a period of time of re-enchantment, with the growth of unconventional beliefs and practices.
Spiritual Shopping
Hervieu-Leger agrees there has been a decline in institutional religion in Europe, partly because of what she calls cultural amnesia - parents no longer pass down beliefs and teach their children about a religion and let them decide for themselves, they have no fixed religious identity imposed on them.
Individual consumerism has replaced collective tradition - religion has individualised with people becoming spiritual shoppers where we choose which elements we wish to enjoy. Hervieu-Leger says that there are two religious types emerging:
- Pilgrims - those who follow a individual path for self discovery
- Converts - who join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging
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Religious Market Theory
Stark and Bainbridge argue that there was no golden age of religion and propose the religious market theory. This assumes that people are naturally religious and that it is human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs.
Compensators:
When real rewards are unavailable, religion compromises by promising supernatural ones (immortality is unobtainable, but religion promises life after death.) They say that there is a cycle of religious decline, revival and renewal with a perpetual cycle throughout history. Churches operate like companies selling goods in a market that leads to the improvements in the quality of religious 'goods' on offer.
Believed that religion thrives in the US because there has never been a religious monopoly there. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the separation of church and state, encouraging the growth of a healthy religious market. In Europe, most countries have been dominated by an official state church that had a monopoly, competition has been held back and lack of choice led to decline.
Argued that the main factor influencing religious participation is not demand (as secularisation theory suggests) but supply. Participation increases when there is a supply of groups to choose from.
Hadden and Shupe argue that the growth of televangelism in America shows that the level of religious participation is supply-led. Commercial funding began that opened up competition.
Criticisms
Bruce rejects the view that diversity and competition increase demand for religion. Statistics show that diversity has been accompanied by a decline in Europe & America
Bruce argues that Stark and Bainbridge misrepresent secularisation theory - it doesn't claim that there is a golden age of religion rather that it has been in a long term decline; nor that it is universal but just applies to Europe and America
Norris and Inglehart show that high levels of religious participation exist in countries where the Catholic Church has a near monopoly, such as Ireland. Countries with religious pluralism, like Holland, often have low levels of participation, contrasting Stark and Bainbridge's theory
Beckford criticises religious market theory as it assumes people are naturally religious and fails to explain why they make the choices that they do.
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