...------------------------------------------------- Religion in a Global Context For secularisation theory, modernisation undermines religion. The importance of science and technology in economic development, and the rational worldview on which they depend, are seen as destroying belief in the supernatural. On the other hand, religion may contribute to development, as Weber argued in the case of the protestant ethic (AO2 – Gordon Marshall and Peter Berger). More recently, sociologists have examined what role religion may play in development in today’s globalising world. Religion and Development Meera Nanda - God and Globalisation in India Globalisation has brought rising prosperity to India’s new middle class. Nanda’s book ‘God and Globalisation’ examines the role of Hinduism, the religion of 85% of the population, in legitimating both the rise of a new Hindu ‘ultra-nationalism’ and the prosperity of the Indian middle class. Hindusim and Consumerism Globalisation has created a huge and prosperous, scientifically educated, urban middle class in India, working in IT, Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology sectors closely tied into the global economy. According to Inglehart and Norris, these are precisely the people whom secularisation theory predicts will be the first to abandon religion in favour of a Secular View (AO2). Yet as Nanda Observes, a vast majority of this class continue to believe in the supernatural. A survey by the ‘Centre for the Study of developing Societies...
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...Rima Begum ‘How far do you agree that Hero is presented as an ideal women in act one and act two?’ Hero is presented as an ideal women in act one and act two through the way other characters describe her, what Hero says and what she doesn’t say. However Beatrice’s non-conformity leads to ambiguity when trying to categorise her as an ideal women. The way other characters describe Hero presents clearly as her being an ideal women. “Is she not a modest young lady?” This quotation reveals one reason why Claudio admires hero as he claims that she is a modest young lady. He admires her for the respect and value she gives to others and in a sense it tells the audience that she is from a respected background. “That she is worthy, I know” This quotation has connotations or worth and value, ideally it is showing that Hero is following the rules and duties of the conventional women as other characters such as Don Pedro recognises them and through his statement it portrays her that way. Through what Hero says presents clearly as her being a ideal women. At the start of act two, Beatrice referred to Don John as being so sour and tartly looking that it gave her heartburn. Whereas Hero sympathises towards him and claims that; “He is of a very melancholy disposition” This quotation tells the audience that she is considering the sad position that Don John is in, even knowing that he is illegitimate. This also relates back to act one when Hero corrected Beatrice when she...
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...Assess the nature and extent of secularisation in society today. (33 marks) In today’s society there are sociological arguments that say society is becoming more and more secular. A secular society is where religious beliefs and values have lost influence and importance in society. Some seem to think that this has happened in Britain. There is much evidence for this for example statistics show that there has been a decline in the proportion of the population going to church. There has also been an increase in the average age of churchgoers, fewer church weddings and baptisms, a decline in the numbers holding traditional Christian beliefs and greater religious diversity. Wilson has argued that Western societies had been undergoing a long term process of secularisation. Sociologists put forward different explanations of these trends and have reached different conclusions. A common theme that is put forward to explain the recent patterns that secularisation is taking place is modernisation. Weber comes up with the theory of rationalisation and the fact that rational ways of thinking and acting have come to replace religious ones. He argues that the protestant reformation started the process of rationalisation of life whereby rational scientific outlook found in modern society has undermined religious worldview. He says that this has contributed to the decrease in influence if religious beliefs in society today. He also argues that disenchantment of religion has taken place with...
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...religion (secularisation). For instance, in the nineteenth century it was widely believed that industrialisation and the growth of scientific knowledge would lead to secularisation. This is because, with science many questions can be finally answered, instead of society using religion as an answer for the unknown. For now it is important to look at the definition of secularisation itself. According to the sociologist Bryan Wilson he defines secularisation as the process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose social significance, in other words there is a decline in religion. Statistical evidence is one of the best ways to investigate if secularisation is actually occurring and church attendance is one of the most valid arguments in the secularisation debate. The decrease of religious significance can be supported by the number of people attending the catholic church. For instance, in 1980 the catholic church reported a total of 2,064,000 attendees. Using the same statistics 25 years later in 2005 it was reported the new number of attendees was at 1,048,900. This is a total decrease of approximately 1,015,100 people! Further support can be given by Bruce. Bruce’s study found participation and occurrence in religious ceremonies has decreased substantially. For instance, in the 1920s and 1930s, about 90% of children were baptised, however, current figures suggest it is only around 35%. That is a 55% decrease! Although this evidence supports secularisation, it...
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...Assess the view that secularisation has been a feature only in modern European societies-33 marks The idea of secularisation implies that there has been disenchantment in social life, that sacred ideas are no longer of any relevance to people and practical matters are emptied of any spiritual significance. Secularisation according to Wilson is the process whereby ‘religious thinking, practice and institutions social significance,’ that people are more interested in leisurely pursuits and that society and religion has become more pluralistic as a result of globalisation. Exclusivists think that secularisation is definitely happening whilst inclusivists argue that it is not happening, rather that society is experiencing resacralisation, that there are other religions such as NRMS and New Age Spirituality which are equally valid. Woodhead and Heelas suggest that there are two versions of secularisation. Firstly the disappearance thesis states that modernity is bringing about the death of religion. This thesis tends to use Church statistics as evidence. Crockett found that in 1851 40% Church attendance and in 2007 2% attended. In 2002 2/3 attended a religious service such as weddings no more than once a year. However there are problems concerning the use of Church statistics, regarding their reliability and validity. Statistics tell us very little about the social meaning of religion as Davie suggests many people can believe without belonging. Bellah also notes that religion is...
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...Assess the view that secularisation has been a feature of modern European societies. Proposed by Wilson, Secularisation is where religion loses significance. It has been argued that this has happened recently largely in Europe, where many of the white population in particular, move away from religious beliefs and more towards arguments such as science. However, many argue this isn’t happening, or that it isn’t exclusive to Europe. In addition, it is a highly contested concept, where there are deep methodological and theoretical debates over what it is, how to measure it or if it is occurring. It is often contested there was a golden age of faith, and those who suggest secularization is occurring need to prove society was more religious. The idea of this golden age is based on the belief that everyone previously went to church, but there lies problems in examining the past. Historical data records are sparse and there were no opinion polls or interviewers to carry our surveys to explore this, and therefore this argument lacks validity, reliability and representativeness. The idea of Golden age is far-fetched, however, as it was found by the first Census of religion in 1851 on England and wales that 40% of the population attended church. This suggests that there is no secularization, as European countries such as England weren’t largely religious then and there are not so now, so secularization hasn’t taken place. Secondly, Christianity still remains strong in the UK. Pentecostal...
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...Assess the view that secularisation has been a feature only of modern European societies. Secularisation, as stated by Wilson, is the process whereby religious beliefs, institutions and practices have lost their social influence. Max Weber concluded that society is undergoing a process of modernisation – a transition from religious tradition to rational and scientific ways of thinking – and rationalisation – the process by which rational ways of thinking have gradually replaced the religious teachings and understandings of the world. This secularisation is said to have started by Marten Luther when he challenged the principles and ideas of the Roman Catholic Church. This religion was the main religion especially within the UK that most of the population believed to be true. Luther undermined the popular religious view by writing 93 reasons challenging the churches beliefs and this initiated the processes of modernisation and rationalisation. Luther had started the end of the rule of the church within the UK by causing a Protestant revolution and disenchantment. Weber talks about disenchantment as a way of escaping the beliefs of the church, this caused the thought that the world operates according to its own laws of nature based on science and reason instead of religion and superstition and that God is transcendent. There is strong evidence to suggest that secularisation is very high within European societies, especially the UK as we can see from church attendance statistics...
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...Assess the view that secularisation has been a feature of modern European societies. Proposed by Wilson, Secularisation is where religion loses significance. It has been argued that this has happened recently largely in Europe, where many of the white population in particular, move away from religious beliefs and more towards arguments such as science. However, many argue this isn’t happening, or that it isn’t exclusive to Europe. In addition, it is a highly contested concept, where there are deep methodological and theoretical debates over what it is, how to measure it or if it is occurring. It is often contested there was a golden age of faith, and those who suggest secularization is occurring need to prove society was more religious. The idea of this golden age is based on the belief that everyone previously went to church, but there lies problems in examining the past. Historical data records are sparse and there were no opinion polls or interviewers to carry our surveys to explore this, and therefore this argument lacks validity, reliability and representativeness. The idea of Golden age is far-fetched, however, as it was found by the first Census of religion in 1851 on England and wales that 40% of the population attended church. This suggests that there is no secularization, as European countries such as England weren’t largely religious then and there are not so now, so secularization hasn’t taken place. Secondly, Christianity still remains strong in the UK...
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...The secularization is a process which describes the loss of importance of the widespread religious lifestyle and the sacred behaviours in front of a scientific point of view on the reality and a non-religious set of values. Indeed philosophical and scientific methods allowed not to consider a concept or a statement as sacred and immutable but they sharpened the social changes. This process has started in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment with the scientific discoveries of physicians and chemicals and with the development of social sciences and humanist philosophy. Secularization spread in the second half of the twentieth century; in particular it had a strong incentive after the second World War because of the industrialization process and the economic globalization. I strongly believe that even if Secularization started in Europe, it does not concern just the western world; for instance in some other societies (non-western countries) the role of the sacred has been replaced with technologies, modern education, scientific medicine and modern political and judicial systems. In addition to this the globalization is also a great communications medium between different societies which diffuses non-religious systems of knowledge, common values and datum points. In my opinion people should be Eurocentric for thinking that secularization concern just Europe; the distinction between the sacred and the profane is not only a prerogative of the Christianity, I think it is a system...
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...Assess the view that secularisation has been a feature only of modern European societies (33 marks) There is no agreed definition of the word secularisation- depending on how you define it will determine whether or not it is happening/exists. Some will argue that; secularisation is happening, it never happened, it did happen, or it’s a western issue. The exclusivist definition sees religion as involving beliefs in some supernatural, supra-human being or forces of some kind, which would indicate that secularisation is apparent in modern society as church attendance has declined in the UK from 11.1% of the population in the 1980s, to 6.6% in 2005. The inclusivist definition takes a less traditional approach, and includes beliefs and activities that most wouldn’t define as religious e.g. New Age Movements that look at spiritual therapies; this suggests secularisation isn’t happening and that religion is never likely to decline as alternative activities replace traditional roles of religion. If secularisation is defined as the exclusivist definition, then the UK can be classes as experiencing secularisation. Different sociologists have different theories contributing to our understanding of secularisation, for example Webers rationalisation theory. However, opponents of the secularisation debate argue that secularisation is only apparent in modern European societies, as church attendance and religious participation is in the increase in countries like America. Firstly evidence...
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...attendance – however people have private practice (David Voas) Grace Davie • Religious education • Laws are based on 10 commandments • NRM’s – people believe but don’t necessarily go for formal worship. Wallis • Rise in world faiths – their attendance stats aren’t considered • Postmodernist – religion is changing – televangelism, spiritual shopping, jesus in Disneyland, supply led religion, civil religion eg USA • Methodological evaluation of church stats – are they valid indicator of secularisation? Belonging: (secularisation is happening) • Wilson – secularisation – religious beliefs, practices and institutions are declining • Brierly • Bruce • Attendance, membership, age, women, social class • Rationalisation • Disengagement • Technological worldview – Weber • Structural differentiation – parsons • Social and cultural diversity • Religious diversity • Criticisms of secularisation theory – Eurocentric and ethnocentric Conclusion – agree/disagree with the statement and summarise your argument why “Religious practice varies from place to place and time to time, but the need for religion remains constant.” To what extent do arguments and evidence support this view? Arguments 4: PERC • Functionalism –...
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...Secularisation is the idea that religion is going into decline – the process of becoming less religious in terms of sacred, faith and belief. Some sociologists believe that secularisation is occurring in one form or another and their aim is to explore and explain the process of secularisation, others are uncertain as to whether secularisation is happening, and the rest see a transformation to a different type of religious practise happening, like an evolution of religion, rather than a decline in it. Woodhead and Heelas have identified two views of the secularisation process – The disappearance thesis – where religion has gone into decline because of modernity, and been over taken by other parts of life such as the media. They’ve called this the death of religion, and believe it will continue to decline until it has fully disappeared. This opposes view that religion remains constant. The second thesis is the differentiation thesis – where they believe that religion isn’t going into decline fully because people are still religious but in different forms – public religion is less significant but it has transformed into a private expression of religion as it does no longer influence the major institutions in society, such as the family and education, so it is not so apparent in wider society but still important in peoples every day private lives. This supports the view that religion remains constant. It is also important to note that Bruce does not see that secularisation is a...
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..."The growth and influence of religious fundamentalism across the world challenges the claim that contemporary society has become secular". To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view of contemporary religious belief and practice? Fundamentalism- going back to old traditions, going back to basics Fundamentalism refers to a belief in a strict adherence to an established set of basic principles (usually religious in nature), sometimes as a reaction to perceived doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life. Secular- Denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis Contemporary- Belonging to or occurring in the present Contemporary society- Contemporary society, according to social and political scientists, is characterised by at least three fundamental directions: • increasing human interconnection through a network of relationships that is progressively covering the whole planet; • the pace and depth of the evolution of human ways of life determined by technological innovation represent an absolute novelty in human history; • the scale of anthropological and ecological transformation due to the interaction between evolutionary factors (social, cultural, economic, and technological) has no historical precedent. These directions are the result of a number of fundamental changes that are irreversibly transforming our daily lives, our way of thinking and perceiving the world and our way...
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...Assess the view that secularisation has been a feature only of modern European society. (33 marks) Secularisation is the transformation of a society from one where religious belief played an important part, to one where it has less and less influence. In the UK it is fair to say that there have been some major changes in the religious beliefs that people have. For example there has been a decline in the percentage of the population going to church and there are now fewer baptisms and church weddings. One reason for this could be that there is a might greater variety of new religions and new age movements that seem to appeal more to society today. Wilson argues that Western society has been going through a long process of secularisation and that since the 1960s the percentage of people going to church has fallen by around 30%. Statistics like this show that European society, in particular, is becoming a lot more secular. Rationalisation is one way that secularisation in Europe can be explained. This is when rational ways of thinking come to replace religious ones and many sociologists argue that this is what has happened in Western society. Weber argues that the process of rationalisation began in the Protestant Reformation which undermined the religious worldview and brought to light the rational scientific outlook. For Weber the medieval Catholic view that dominated Europe saw the world as being like an enchanted garden and God (as well as other spiritual beings) were seen...
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...Assess the view that religion is not in decline but simply changing as a result of changes in wider society (33 marks) Secularisation theorists argue that religion is in decline. However, others have argued that religion is not in decline, but it is in fact changing. They believe it is changing in accordance to the changes within society such as greater individualism, consumerism and privatisation, all which present a shift towards postmodern societies. Grace Davie argues that religion isn’t declining but is taking a much more privatised form. She argues that we now have people in society who ‘believe without belonging’, this means people hold religious beliefs but don’t necessarily go to church because they don’t feel they have to go to church in order to be seen as being a religious person. Therefore, the decline in traditional religion is matched by the growth of a new form of religion. Davie notes a trend towards vicarious religion, which is where a small number of professional clergy practice religion on behalf of a much larger group of people. This pattern is typical in Britain where church attendance is low, but people still use the church for rites of passage in order to ‘hatch, match and dispatch), this related to people using the Church for occasions such as Baptisms, weddings and funerals. She compares vicarious religion as the tip of an iceberg and sees it as evidence for believing without belonging. For example, people may not be able to attend church due to work...
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