3. Secularisation

What are some facts about secularisation?

• In 2021 for the first time ever less than half of the population considered themself as a Christian (46.2%)

• Increases in religious diversity (Hindu and Muslim people)

• No religion was the 2nd most common response in the 2021 census

What are the reasons religious institutions are giving for secularisation?

• The state performs many of the functions the Church used to perform hence there is no need for the Church. While there are faith schools, these are state funded and so need to conform to the state’s regulations.

• Also, where there’s a legal requirement for schools to provide a daily act of collective worship of a “broadly Christian character” over half the secondary schools in Wales failed to comply

• Falling numbers of Catholic priests (fell by 1/3 between 1965 and 2011) and the clergy are an ageing population

How did Weber explain secularisation?

• Refers to rationalisation which is where rational/scientific ways of thinking come to replace religious ways.

• He said that before the Protestant Reformation the world was magical and spiritual and humans could influence the world through prayer

• However, the Protestant Reformation brought disenchantment where events are seen through a scientific viewpoint instead of magical

• He called this the Enlightenment era where the religious worldview was undermined by rational thought.

What is Bruce’s technological worldview explanation for secularisation?

• He adds to Weber’s work saying that the technological worldview has greatly reduced the scope for religious explanations of events

• He suggests that now we look for scientific or rational explanations to things and only really turn to religion when science can’t help

• Eg: if someone has an illness with no cure

What does Parsons say about secularisation?

• Secularisation occurred due to structural differentiation and disengagement

• Due to industrialisation, the process of structural differentiation occurred which is where separate institutions develop and carry out functions which were previously performed by one institution.

• He uses the example of religion and the state. As the Church lost its influence on education, social welfare and law disengagement began where people thought religion was out of touch and cannot relate to the teachings anymore

Explain Bruce’s idea on privatisation?

• As religion has become disengaged from wider society and lost most of its functions it has become privatised and confined to the private sphere of the family and home.

• While religion holds some power on education, it must conform to the requirements of the state, and religion as largely personal choice

What did Bruce argue for secularisation about industrialisation?

• He said industrialisation broke up the small close-knit rural communities and gave way to urban loose-knit communities with diverse beliefs

• Social and geographical mobility brought many different people together

• He said plausibility of religion was undermined by alternatives which caused the absence of a practicing religious community for people to join, leading to secularisation.

Evaluate Bruce’s ideas about industrialisation and diversity with religion?

• Aldridge argues religious communities don’t have to be in a particular area.

• Some religious communities are “imagined communities” who interact through the use of global media

• Pentecostal groups often flourish in urban areas.

Explain Berger’s explanation of secularisation?

• Secularisation was caused by religious diversity

• In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church held a monopoly on truth. Everyone lived under a single sacred canopy and shared the same beliefs giving Catholicism greater plausibility because no one could question the truth

• He argued the Protestant Reformation caused a variety of different organisations to grow with different versions of the truth meaning the Church no longer had a monopoly on the truth.

• This caused a “crisis of credibility” undermining religion’s "plausibility structure” so people’s beliefs became relative rather than absolute.

What two examples did Bruce use against secularisation theory? Why does it also not disprove secularisation?

• Cultural defence - religion providing a focal point for defence for an ethnic minority against racism for example.

• Cultural transition - religion providing support for ethnic minorities migrating to a different country

• However, it doesn’t disprove secularisation because religion only survives where it is a focus for a group identity, eg: religion declined in Poland after the fall of communism and there is evidence that once migrants are integrated into society religion loses importance.

Evaluate Berger’s theories on religious diversity and secularisation?

• Berger now changed his views and says diversity and choice actually stimulate interest in religion. Eg: growth of evangelicalism in the USA

• Beckford argues while religious diversity may lead to some questioning their views, this isn’t inevitable as opposing views can strengthen a religious group’s commitment to a belief.

What did Wilson find about secularisation in America?

• In 1962 45% of Americans attended Church on Sundays however this was more an expression of the American way of life than religious beliefs

• He argues America is a secular society because religion there has become superficial

How did Bruce use declining Church attendance to support his idea about secularisation in America?

• He found that attendance to Church in America was being exaggerated by a lot. This may be because it is seen as socially desirable to go to Church

• A study of attendance in 1972 in San Francisco found that opinion polls exaggerated attendance by 47% but in 1996 they exaggerating attendance by 101%

How did Bruce use secularisation from within to support his idea about secularisation in America?

• He argues American religion has remained popular by becoming less religious

• The purpose of religion there changed from seeking salvation to seeking personal improvement

• This can be seen in Churchgoers day-to-day lives as they are much less strict in their adherence to traditional religious morality

How did Bruce use religious diversity to support his idea about secularisation in America?

• He argues Americans are becoming less insistent in their views and are more willing to accept that different people hold different views. He calls this practical relativism

• Shown in Lynd and Lynd’s study where in 1924 94% of young people believes Christianity was the one true religion whereas in 1977 only 41% agreed

• This causes the erosion of absolutism

Evaluate all secularisation theory?

• Religion isn’t declining but changing form

• Secularisation theory is one-sided and ignores the revivals of other religions

• Evidence of falling Church attendance but it ignores people who believe but don’t go to Church

• Secularisation isn’t global. Studies only really focus on Western secularisation