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