Religion, renewal and choice

new forms of religion

obligation to consumption

Davie

in todays late modern society there is a shift from obligation to choice in religion

In the past people had an obligation to participate which isnt seen so much in todays society

believing without belonging

Davie

religion is not declining but simply taking a more privatised form

people are more reluctant to join organisations but still hold the beliefs

vicarious religion: the spiritual health service

Davie

vicarious religion is religion practiced by a minority on behalf of the great majority

despite low levels of attendance people still identify with churches

In europe major national churches are seen as public utilities for everyone to use whenever

neither believing nor belonging

Voas and Crockett

do not accept davies view that there is more believing than belonging

5750 respondents show both church attendance and belief in god are declining

Day

very few of the Christians she interviewed mentioned God or Christianity their reason for describing themselves as such is because it was another way pf saying white english ethnic group

spiritual shopping

Hervieu-leger

decline of obligation due to 'cultural amnesia' where religion is not so much handed down through generations and kids are left to decide themselves

religion has not dissappeared and instead individual consumerism has replaced collective tradtion

religious types he found to have emerged

Pilgrims

converts

those who follow an individual path of self-discovery

join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging

as a result religion is no longer the sense of collective identity it once was

Post-modern religion

Lyon

traditional religion is giving way to a variety of new religious forms

features that affect post modern society

globalisation

increased importance of the media and communications

growth of consumers

globalisation, the media and religion

religious ideas have become disembedded as in the media lifts them out of physical churches

eg electronic church

as a result religion becomes de-institutionalised

online religion and religion online

the internet creates a range of opporunities

Helland

religion online- top-down communication where religious organisations use the internet to address members

online religion- no existence outside the internet

Hoover et al

shows that for most users, this is just a way to supplement their church-bases activities rather than a substitute

religious consumerism

we can now pick-and-mix religion

Lyon

religion has reallocated to the sphere of consumption

this has resulted in religious consumers who make conscious choices about which elements of religion they find useful

Berger

people now have access to a wider array of options, this weakens traditional religions that claim a monopoly of truth

self-religions and the new age

Lyon

New age spirituality rejects the obedience and objections of external authority

this is caused by individualism, the notion that everyone is free to decide what is true for them

re-enchantment of the world

Lyon

argues we are in a period of re-enchantment where there is a growth of unconventional beliefs

although traditional forms of religion are declining

there is a growing vitality towards non-traditional religion in the west

a spiritual revolution

increase in spirituality has lead to growth in spiritual market

Heelas and Woodhead

distinguish between two groups

congregational domain of traditional evangelical christians

holistic milieu of new age spirituality

in a typical week 7.9% of the population attended church and 1.6% took part in holistic milieu

however within the traditional domain traditional churches were loosing support

explantations

massive subjective turn is todays culture where people explore themselves rather than obeying an authority

traditional religions are too demanding

evangelical churches are more successful than traditional churches

weakness of the new age

challenges to the claim that religion is not declining but simply changing form

Bruce

scale

new age would need to be on a huge scale to fill the gap of the decline in religion

socialisation of the next generation

a belief system must be passed down to survive

In Kendal only 32% of parents who were involved in new age said their kids were interested

weak committment

although many people dabble in meditation consistent practice is rare

structural weakness

lacks external power that cant force committment

cannot achieve consensus of beliefs because people are free to choose

religious market theory

Stark and Bainbridge

see secularisation theory as Eurocentric and only focuses on decline is Europe whilst it is vivacious in America and elsewhere

argue there was no golden age of religion in the past and proposes religious market theory

people are naturally religious and religion meets human needs but it is human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs

compensators

religion is attractive because it provides promising supernatural rewards when real ones are unobtainable

eg life after death

cycle of renewal

there is a perpetual cycle through history of religions declining and others growing and attracting new members

secularisation theory is one-sided as it displays the decline but not the growth

religious competition

churches operate like companies selling goods

America v Europe

religion thrives in the US because there has never been a religious monopoly

most european countries have been dominated by an official state church

supply not demand

the main factor influecning levels of religious participation is not demand but supply

participation increases whe there is an ample supply

Supply led religion

Finke

lifting the restrictions off of Asian immigration into America in the 60's allowed Asian religions such as Hare Krishna to set up permanently in the US

Bruce

rejects that diversity and competition has increased demand for religion

Stark and Bainbridge misinterpret secularisation theory as it never claims there was a golden age of religion only that is is in decline

Norris and Inglehart

high levels of religious participation in Catholic countries exist where the church has a monopoly

An alternative view: secularisation and security

existential security theory

Norris and Inglehart

the reason for variations in religiosity between societies is down to different degrees o existential security

religion meets a need for people and therefore societies where people already feel secure have a low demand for religion

Poor societies

where people face life-threatening risks have high levels of insecurity and high levels of religiosity

rich societies

high standard of living means low risk and so low religiosity

They do however note that the global population growth undermines the trend towards secularisation as poor countries have higher levels of growth and so more religiosity worldwide

Europe V America

in western europe trend is toward secularisation

reduction of poverty protects those at the bottom from insecurity

America is more religious as it has a deep divide between the rich and the poor which creates alot of insecurity

state welfare and religiosity

Gill and Lundegaarde

found the more a country spends on welfare the lower level of religiosity

past religion used to provide for the poorer countries and still does

extended welfare in the west means this is no longer neccessary

evaluation

Vasquez critisises Norris and Inglehart

only use quantitative data about income levels and dont examine peoples own definitions of existential insecurity

ignores the positive reasons for religiosity and the appeal of some religions to the rich