Postmodernism & religion

Davie - Spiritual Health Service

• People value and use the church for rites of passage like funerals and weddings

• E.g. In times of tragedy e.g. watching services surrounding Death of Queen/princess Diana

Davie - Believing without belonging

• People are still religious, but don’t attend and practice religion vicariously instead now. Attendance at church is a personal choice

• Yet people are still religious or at least support religion, they just don’t go to church - vicarious religion

• An active minority practice religion on behalf of the greater majority. The majority experience religion second-hand e.g. watching religious services online, electronic church etc. 

Hervieu-Leger - Spiritual Shopping

• Younger people no longer inherit a fixed identity

• Consumerism → people today now feel they have a choice and become consumers of religion

• People have become ‘spiritual shoppers’ and religion is now individualised. DIY beliefs that give meaning to our lives and fit with our own interests and aspirations. You choose elements you want to explore and join group you want to join. 

• Now less collective identity, as individuals now choose whatever elements they choose to consume from the ‘spiritual marketplace's

• Does acknowledge that traditional religion does influence our values still

• E.g. Go to church at Christmas and Easter, also practice Yoga (roots in Hinduism) and meditation (roots in Buddhism)

Stark & Bainbridge - Religious Market Theory

• Lots of different religious/spiritual practices to choose from, leads to competition between different religions leading to improvements in the quality of religious ‘goods’ on offer

• Religious practices that make products the most attractive will succeed in attracting ‘customers’ like a market

• This competition forces them to be more energetic, responsive and appealing, leading to higher overall levels of religious participation in a society

• Demand for religion increases when different sorts to choose from

• A religious monopoly leads to decline, they stop trying so hard to attract customers as there is no competition

Lyon - Jesus in Disneyland

• People are still religious, it has just become disembedded - taken out of its original physical location/context. i.e. church attendance has declined, but people are still believing/religious

• ‘De-institutionalised religion's → religion taken out of traditional institution i.e. the church

• Globalisation: Growth of communications online, the media and consumerism

• Instant access to religion → online (disembedded from usual context of a church)

• Jesus in Disneyland  → Religious harvest festival hel in Disneyland instead of a church, Christian singers on stage at Disneyland during religious festivals

Lyon

• There are so many meta-narratives in postmodern society → people exposed to competing versions of the truth, so much so that they become sceptical that any of them are true

• This has led to re-enchantment, a growth of unconventional beliefs, practices and spiritual shopping

• People become sceptical that any of the meta-narratives are true. Re-enchantment is where new, unconventional beliefs and practices emerge

Norris & Inglehart - Existential Security Theory

• Religiosity is not a result of religious choice, but of Existential security. Existential = your existence/life/survival

• The more secure you feel in your existence (how safe you feel, how much your life is at-risk), the less religious you are likely to be

• E.g. war torn countries, illness, political instability, natural disasters, high poverty, inequality → if you are at risk of these, you are more likely to be religious (more need to seek religion for comfort, peace and explanation)