new forms of religion

davie

  • late modern society has had a major change

  • away from obligation of religion into a consumption or choice - religion is no longer inherited or imposed but rather a personal choice

  • believing without belonging

  • spiritual health service

  • neither believing nor belonging

  • spiritual shopping

  • postmodern religion

believing without belonging

  • privatised form as people still hold religious beliefs but do not go to church or organisations

spiritual health service

  • vicarious religion - religion practised by an active minority on behalf of the great majority who experience religion secondhand

  • davie argues that it is like the NHS - there for everyone to use whenever they need to

  • using the churches for rites of passage such as baptisms, weddings and funerals

  • public mourning - eg princess diana in 1997

  • vicarious religion is the tip of the iceberg - believing but not belonging and under the surface is the wider commitment

  • multiple modernities

neither believing nor belonging

  • people are not willing to go to church and this reflects the declining strength of their beliefs and so their involvement diminishes

  • 2011 Census - 63% of people identify as Christian - supports believing but not belonging - eg white english ethnic group rather than the belief

spiritual shopping

  • hervieu-leger - personal choice and the decline of obligation

  • cultural amnesia or a loss of collective memory - taught religion in the extended family

  • largely lost religion that used to be handed down from generation to generation

  • parents decide what to believe

  • social equality to impose religion on people from above a fixed religious identity through socialisation

  • individual consumerism has replaced collective tradition - people have a choice as consumers of religion - you become spiritual shoppers

  • religion has become. personal spiritual journey that we choose what we want to explore and what groups to join

  • pilgrims - self discovery, personal improvement eg new age spirituality by joining groups or through individual therapy

  • converts - strong sense of belonging based on shared ethnic backgrounds, sense of community

  • collective identity

  • values of equality and human rights stems from religion

postmodern religion

  • lyon

  • traditional religion is giving

  • globalisation and the increase of media

globalisation, the media and religion

  • growing interconnectedness

  • disembedded religious ideas

  • electronic church and televangelism allows believers to express fail without physically attending church

  • religion becomes de-institutionalised - detached from its place in religious institutions

online religion and religion online

  • online is a form of top down communication to address members and converts

  • cyber religion

  • virtual worship or meditation

self religions and new age

  • new age reject obligation

  • emphasises personal development, autonomy and inner self

  • individualism

  • self spirituality or self religions

weakness

  • Scale: The growth of New Age religions would have to be on a much larger scale to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional religions.

  • Socialisation: A belief system can only survive if it is passed down to the next generation. Yet in the Kendal study, only a minority of New Agers children shared their parents beliefs.

  • Weak commitment: Serious commitment to New Age beliefs is rare.