Secularisation in 🇺🇸

Wilson (1962) — % of 🇺🇸 attending ⛪️ on Sunday

45%

Wilson (1962) — 🇺🇸 and religion

• Going to ⛪️ = more of an expression of 🇺🇸 way of life than religious beliefs

  • 🇺🇸 = secular as religion = superficial

Bruce (2002; 2011) — 3 factors in 🇺🇸 secularisation

1. Decreasing ⛪️ attendance

2. Secularisation from w/in

3. Trend towards religious diversity and relativism

Decreasing ⛪️ attendance

• Stable at 40% of pop since 1940

Hadaway (1993) — ⛪️ stats vs other stats

• 40% attendance = full ⛪️

• BUT

• ⛪️ ≠ full

Hadaway et al. (1993) — % disparity between interview claims of attendance and headcounts in Ohio ⛪️

83% (interview claims > > > headcounts)

‘Attendance gap’

• Opinion polls of attendance ←→ ⛪️ own estimates of attendance

1972 — attendance gap

47%

1996 — attendance gap

101%

2 reasons self-reported attendance has marked a decline in actual attendance

1. Social desireability

2. Norms

Role of religion in 🇺🇸 — secularisation from w/in

• Religion has become psychologised

  • Turned into form of therapy to fit in w/secular society

Change in purpose of religion in 🇺🇸

• Seeking salvation in heaven → seeking personal improvement

Religious diversity — ⛪️goers

• Less dogmatic

• Trend towards practical relativism

  • Involves acceptace of view that others are entitled to their own beliefs

Lynd and Lynd (1929) — % that agreed that ✝ is the one true religion and all people should be converted to it in 1924

94%

Lynd and Lynd (1929) — % that agreed that ✝ is the one true religion and all people should be converted to it in 1977

41%

Erosion of absolutism

• Diversity of views undermines our own assumption that our own views are completely true