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1
Q

Why do some sociologists reject the secularisation thesis that religion is undergoing an inevitable decline in modern Western society?

A

Instead they argue that, while some aspects of traditional religion are in decline, new forms are emerging, often as a result of changes in wider society such as greater individualism, choice and consumerism

2
Q

What does Davie argue about changes in religion?

A

In today’s late modern society, we are seeing major change in religion away from obligation and towards consumption/choice

3
Q

What does it mean to move from obligation to consumption?

A

In the past, churches such as the Church of England and the Catholic Church could ‘oblige people to go to church, to believe certain things and to behave in certain ways’. This is no longer the case: religion is no longer inherited or imposed, but a matter of personal choice. Eg in England and France, infant baptism was once seen as obligatory rite of passage, but now only a minority of babies are baptised-by contrast there has been an increase of adults making an individual choice to be baptised

4
Q

What is believing without belonging?

A

Davie argues religion is not declining but taking a different, more privatised form. People are increasingly reluctant to belong to organisations, whether these are churches, political parties or trade unions. But despite this, people still hold religious beliefs-a situation Davie calls believing without belonging

5
Q

What is ‘vicarious religion’?

A

Davie notes a trend towards vicarious religion meaning religion practiced by an active minority (professional clergy and regular churchgoers) on behalf of great majority, who experience religion at second hand. This is typical of Britain and Northern Europe where, despite low levels of attendance, many people still identify with the churches

6
Q

What does Davie argue about the major national churches in Europe?

A

They are seen as public utilities, or a sort of ‘Spiritual Health Service’ that, like the NHS, is there for everyone to use whenever they need to. This includes using the churches for rites of passage such as baptisms, weddings and funerals, as well as for major occasions, like the public mournings over the death of Princess Diana in 1997 or tragedies such as the massacre of 93 people in Norway by the neo-Nazi Anders Breivik in 2011

7
Q

What does Davie compare vicarious religion to?

A

She compares it to the tip of the iceberg and sees it as evidence of believing without belonging. Beneath the surface of what appears to be only a small commitment (very few attend church regularly) lies a much wider commitment. Most people may not normally go to church or pray, but they remain attached to the church as an institution that provides ritual and support when needed and they continue to share at some level its beliefs

8
Q

What does Davie say about secularisation theory?

A

Secularisation theory assumes that modernisation affects every society in the same way, causing the decline of religion. However she questions this assumption. Instead of a single version of modern society, she argues there are multiple modernities. Eg Britain and America are both modern societies, but with very different patterns of religion, especially in relation to church attendance-high in America, low in Britain, but accompanied by believing without belonging

9
Q

What do Voas and Crockett argue about Davie’s views?

A

Voas and Crockett do not accept Davie’s claim that there is more believing than belonging. Evidence from 5,750 respondents shows that both church attendance and belief in God are declining together. If Davie were right, we would expect to see higher levels of belief

10
Q

What does Bruce argue about neither believing nor belonging?

A

Adds that if people are not willing to invest time in going to church, this just reflects the declining strength of their beliefs. When people no longer believe, they no longer wish to belong, and so their involvement in religion diminishes

11
Q

What do census results show about religion?

A

72% of people identified themselves as Christian, which supports the ‘believing without belonging’ view

12
Q

What does Day argue about the census results?

A

Found that very few of the ‘Christians’ she interviewed mentioned God or Christianity. Their reason for describing themselves as Christian was not religious, but simply a way of saying they belonged to a ‘White English’ ethnic group. As Day puts it, they ‘believe in belonging’. Describing themselves as ‘Christian’ was actually a non-religious marker of their ethnic or national identity

13
Q

What does Hervieu-léger talk about?

A

Continues the theme of personal choice and the decline of obligation. She agrees there has been a dramatic decline in institutional religion in Europe, with fewer and fewer people attending church in most countries. This is partly because of what she calls cultural amnesia

14
Q

What is cultural amnesia?

A

A loss of collective memory. For centuries, children used to be taught religion in the extended family and parish church. Nowadays, however, we have largely lost the religion that used to be handed down from generation to generation, because few parents now teach their children about religion. Instead parents today let children decide for themselves what to believe

15
Q

What has happened at the same time as cultural amnesia?

A

At the same time, the trend towards greater social equality has undermined the traditional power of the Church to impose religion on people from above. As a result, young people no longer have a fixed religious identity imposed on them through socialisation and they are ignorant of traditional religion

16
Q

What is spiritual shopping?

A

While traditional institutional religion has declined, religion itself has not disappeared. Instead, individual consumerism has replaced collective tradition. People today now feel they have a choice as consumers of religion-they have become spiritual shoppers. Religion is now individualised-we now develop our own ‘do-it-yourself’ beliefs that give meanings to our lives and fit in with out interests and aspirations

17
Q

How is spiritual shopping evidence of how religion has changed?

A

Religion has become a personal spiritual journey in which we choose the elements we want to explore and the groups we wish to join. As a result, Hervieu-Léger argues two new religious types are emerging-pilgrims and converts

18
Q

What are pilgrims?

A

They are like the holistic milieu in the Kendal Project. They follow an individual path in a search for self-discovery, eg exploring New Age spirituality by joining groups, or through individual ‘therapy’. The demand is created by today’s emphasis on personal development

19
Q

What are converts?

A

They join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging, usually based on shared ethnic background r religious doctrine. Such groups re-create a sense of community in a society that has lost many of its religious traditions. As in the Kendal Project, these include evangelical movements and also the churches of ethnic minorities

20
Q

What happens as a result of the trends associated with spiritual shopping?

A

As a result, religion no longer acts as the source of collective identity that it once did. However, Hervieu-Léger notes that religion does continue to have some influence on society’s values. Eg the values of equality and human rights have their roots in religion, she argues. Such values can be a source of shared cultural identity and social solidarity, even for those who are not actively involved in religion

21
Q

What can Hervieu-Léger’s views be related to?

A

The idea of late modernity. This is the notion that in recent decades some of the trends within modern society have begun to accelerate, such as the decline of tradition and increasing individualism. This explains the weakening of traditional institutions such as the church, as well as the growing importance of individual choice in matters of religion

22
Q

What does Lyon believe about Davie’s views?

A

Agrees with Davie that believing without belonging is increasingly popular. He argues that traditional religion is giving way to a variety of new religious forms tat demonstrate its continuing vigour

23
Q

What type of sociologist is Lyon?

A

A postmodernist. He explains changes in religion in terms of a shift in recent decades from modern to postmodern society. In Lyon’s view, postmodern society has a number of features that are changing the nature of religion. These include globalisation, the increased importance of the media and communications, and the growth of consumerism

24
Q

What is globalisation?

A

It refers to the growing interconnectedness of societies, which as led to greatly increased movements of ideas and beliefs across national boundaries

25
Q

What is globalisation a result of?

A

It is due to the central role played in postmodern society by the media and information technology, which saturate us with images and messages from around the globe, compressing time and space to give us instantaneous access to the ideas and beliefs of previously remote places and religions

26
Q

What has happened to religious ideas due to globalisation?

A

They have become ‘disembedded’-the media lift them out of physical churches and move them to a different place and time. For example, the ‘electronic church’ and televangelism disembed religion from real, local churches and relocate it on the internet, allowing believers to express their faith without physically attending church-an example of how the boundaries between different areas of social life become blurred in postmodern society

27
Q

What has happened as a result of religious ideas becoming disembedded?

A

Religion become de-institutionalised. It becomes detached from its place in religious institutions, floating in cyber-space. Removed from their original location in the church, religious ideas become a cultural resource that individuals can adapt for their own purposes

28
Q

What does Helland talk about?

A

The internet creates a range of opportunities for religious organisations and individuals to exploit. Helland distinguishes between two kinds of internet activity, which he calls religion online and online religion

29
Q

What is religion online?

A

A form of top-down communication where a religious organisation uses the internet to address members and potential converts. There is no feedback or dialogue between the parties. This is an electronic version of the traditional, hierarchical communication of churches to their members, communicating only the officially approved ideas

30
Q

What is online religion?

A

A form of ‘cyber-religion’ that may have no existence outside the internet. It is a ‘many-to-many’ form of communication that allows individuals to create non-hierarchical relationships and a sense of community where they can visit virtual worship or meditation spaces, explore shared interests and provide mutual support. Eg the Pagans studied by Cowan gained a sense of self-worth from feeling they belonged to a global network

31
Q

What does Hoover et al believe?

A

While postmodernists may see online religion as a radical new alternative that may be replacing religion, evidence from Hoover et al shows that for most users, it is just a supplement to their church-based activities rather than a substitute for them

32
Q

What is a main feature of postmodern society?

A

The growth of consumerism, and especially the idea that we now construct our identities through what we choose to consume

33
Q

What does Hervieu-Léger argue about religion and consumerism in postmodernity?

A

Argues that the growth of consumerism is also true of religion, where we act as ‘spiritual shoppers’, choosing religious beliefs and practices to meet our individual needs, from the bast range available in the religious marketplace. We no longer have to sign up for any specific religious tradition; instead we can pick and mix elements of different faiths to suit our tastes and make them part of our identity-until something more fashionable or attractive comes along

34
Q

What is Lyon’s view of religious consumerism?

A

Religion has relocated to the sphere of consumption. While people may have ceased to belong to religious organisations, they may have not abandoned religion. Instead they have become ‘religious consumers’ making conscious choices about which elements of religion they find useful, as shown by Ammerman’s study

35
Q

What happened in Ammerman’s study?

A

The American Christian fundamentalists in her study made use of a number of churches without giving strong loyalty to any of them. One family attended services at a Methodist church and bereavement counselling at a Baptist church, while taking their children to another church for day care

36
Q

What is one effect of variety in choice of religious products?

A

One effect of this is a loss of faith in ‘meta-narratives’. These are theories or worldviews that claim to have the absolute, authoritative truth. These include the traditional religions

37
Q

Why does faith in ‘meta-narratives decrease due to religious choice?

A

People now have access to wide range of different contradictory religious beliefs. As Berger notes, this weakens traditional religions that claim a monopoly of the truth and that try to oblige people to believe them. This is because exposure to many competing versions of the truth make people sceptical that any of them is really or wholly true. Thus previously dominant religious institutions such as traditional mainstream churches lose their authority and decline

38
Q

What do postmodernists, such as Lyon, argue about the decline of traditional churches?

A

The decline of traditional churches does not spell the end of religion. In their place, he argues, many new religious movements are now springing up that the religious consumer can ‘sample and from which he or she can construct their own personal belief system. In this view, religion and spirituality are not disappearing: they are simply evolving, taking on new forms that fir the consumerist nature of postmodern society

39
Q

What are many of the new forms of religion or spirituality that Lyon refers to?

A

New age beliefs and practices. New Age spirituality rejects the idea of obligation and obedience to external authority found in traditional religions. Instead it emphasises the idea of life as a journey of discovery, personal development, autonomy and connecting with one’s ‘inner self’. The key idea linking all these features is individualism

40
Q

What is individualism?

A

The notion that every individual is free to decide what is true for him or her, for example by engaging in spiritual shopping, picking and mixing ideas found online and so on. For this reason, New Age beliefs and practices have been called ‘self-spirituality’ or ‘self-religion’

41
Q

Why does Lyon criticise secularisation theory?

A

For assuming that religion is declining and being replaced by a rational scientific worldview. Contrary to Weber’s prediction of increasing rationalisation and disenchantment of the world, Lyon argues that we are now in a period of re-enchantment, with the growth of unconventional beliefs, practices and spirituality

42
Q

How does Lyon support his claim of re-enchantment?

A

Although traditional forms of religion have declined, especially in Europe, Lyon points to the growing vitality of non-traditional religion in the West and its resurgence elsewhere in the world

43
Q

What is spiritual revolution?

A

Some sociologists argue a ‘spiritual revolution’ is taking place today, in which traditional Christianity is giving way to ‘holistic spirituality’ or New Age spiritual beliefs and practices that emphasise personal development and subjective experience

44
Q

How can increased interest in spirituality be seen?

A

In the growth of a ‘spiritual market’, with an explosion in the number of books about self-help and spirituality, and the many practitioners who offer consultations, courses and ‘therapies’, ranging from meditation to crystal healing

45
Q

What are the key differences between religion and spirituality?

A

Life as duty vs life as discovery, self-sacrifice vs personal development, deference vs autonomy, conformity with external authority vs connecting with inner self, family life=traditional values and discipline vs family life=emotional bonds and self-expression, employment=service to an organisation vs employment=professional growth, future of religion=out of step and losing ground vs future of spirituality=growing and gaining ground

46
Q

What is the Kendal Project?

A

In their study of Kendal, Heelas and Woodhead investigated whether traditional religion has declined and, if so, how far the growth of spirituality is compensating for this. They distinguish between two groups-the congregational domain and the holistic milieu

47
Q

What is the congregational domain?

A

The congregational domain of traditional and evangelical Christianity

48
Q

What is the holistic milieu?

A

The holistic milieu of spirituality and the New Age

49
Q

What did Heelas and Woodhead find about the holistic milieu?

A

In 2000, in a typical week, 7.9% of the population attended church and 1.6% took park in the activities of the holistic milieu

50
Q

What did Heelas and Woodhead find about the congregational domain?

A

Within the congregational domain, the traditional churches were losing support, while evangelical churches were holing their own and faring relatively well. Although fewer were involved in the holistic milieu, it was growing. Heelas and Woodhead offer an explanation for these trends

51
Q

What is the first part of Heelas and Woodhead’s explanation for the trends regarding the congregational domain and holistic milieu?

A

New Age spirituality has grown because of a massive subjective turn in today’s culture. This involves a shift away from the idea of doing your duty and obeying external authority, to exploring your inner self by following a spiritual path

52
Q

What is the second part of Heelas and Woodhead’s explanation for the trends regarding the congregational domain and holistic milieu?

A

As a result traditional religions, which demand duty and obedience are declining. As Heelas and Woodhead put it, ‘religion that tells you what to believe and how to behave is out of tune with a culture which believes it is up to us to seek out answers for ourselves’

53
Q

What is the third part of Heelas and Woodhead’s explanation for the trends regarding the congregational domain and holistic milieu?

A

Evangelical churches are more successful than the traditional churches. They both demand discipline and duty, but the evangelicals also emphasise the importance of spiritual healing and personal growth through the experience of being ‘born again’

54
Q

Based on Heelas and Woodhead’s explanation, what is the spiritual marketplace like?

A

In the spiritual marketplace, therefore, the winners are those who appeal to personal experience as the only genuine source of meaning and fulfilment, rather than the received teaching and commandments of traditional religion

55
Q

Who criticises the New Age?

A

Bruce, who criticises the problem of scale, socialisation of the next generation, weak commitment and structural weaknesses

56
Q

How is the problem of scale a weakness of the New Age?

A

Even if New Age forms of individualised religion are springing up, this would have to be on a much larger scale if it is to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional institutionalised religions. Eg in Kendal, in 1851 about 38% of the population attended church every Sunday. To match that today, there would need to be 14,500 churchgoers, instead of the 3,000 who actually attend church. The 270 people involved in the holistic milieu in the town centre come nowhere near making up the shortfall

57
Q

How is socialisation of the next generation a weakness of the new age?

A

For a belief system to survive it must be passed down to the Next Generation. However in Kendal only 32% of Parents who were involved in new age said their children shared their spiritual interests. To maintain the same number of believers in the next generation a couple with two children would have to socialise both of them into New Age views. However, women in the holistic milieu I’m more likely to be childless. In at least three quarters of marriages, with a woman in the holistic milieu, The husband does not share his wife’s beliefs reducing the likelihood of transmitting them to their children

58
Q

How is weak commitment a weakness of the new age?

A

Glendinning and Bruce found that although many people dabbled in medication, alternative medicine, astrology, horoscopes etc, serious commitment to new-age beliefs and practices was very rare. Even among those who describe themselves as ‘Spiritual’, very few said that such practices were important in their lives. Bruce notes that ‘most people in every demographic category show no interest in alternative spirituality’

59
Q

What are structural weaknesses of the new age?

A

New age spirituality is the cause of secularisation because it is subjective individualistic nature (it is based on the idea there is no higher authority than the self). Unlike traditional religion, New Age lack external power to extract commitment from participants against their wishes, cannot achieve consensus about beliefs as everyone is free to believe what they want to it lacks cohesion as a movement, and cannot evangelise as it believe enlightenment comes from within not from someone else. These make New Age structurally weak and unlikely to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional institutional religion

60
Q

Who are the main advocates of religious market theory?

A

Stark and Bainbridge, who are very critical of secularisation theory, as they see it as Eurocentric (it focuses in the decline of religion in Europe and fails to explain its continuing vitality in America and elsewhere. They also believe it puts forward a distorted view of the past and future, and argue there was no ‘golden age’ of religion in the past, nor is it realistic to predict a future end-point for religion when everyone will be an atheist

61
Q

What do Stark and Bainbridge propose instead of secularisation theory?

A

Religious market theory which is based in two assumptions. People are natural,y religious and religion meets human needs (therefore the overall demand for religion remains constant, even though the demand for particular types of religion may vary), and it is human nature to seek rewards and avoid costs (when people make choices, they weigh up the costs and benefits of the different options available)

62
Q

According to Stark and Bainbridge, why is religion attractive?

A

Because it provides us with compensators. When aids are scarce or unobtainable, religion compensates by promising supernatural ones

63
Q

What is an example of how religion can provide compensators?

A

Immortality is unobtainable, but religion compensates by promising life after death. Only religion can provide such compensators. Non-religious ideologies such as humanism and communism do not provide credible compensators because they do not promise supernatural rewards

64
Q

What is the cycle of renewal?

A

As an alternative to secularisation theory, which sees a one-way process of continuous decline, Stark and Bainbridge put. Forward the concept of a cycle of religious decline, revival and renewal. They describe a perpetual cycle throughout history, with some religions declining an others growing and attracting new members

65
Q

What is an example of the cycle of renewal?

A

When established churches decline, they leave a gap in the market for sects and cults to attract new followers. From this point of view, secularisation theory is one sided: it sees the decline, but ignores the growth of new religious and religious revivals

66
Q

What is religious competition?

A

According to Stark and Bainbridge, churches operate like companies selling goods in a market. Where secularisation theory sees competition between different religious organisations as undermining religion, religious market theorists take the opposite view. They are competition leads to improvements in quality of religious ‘goods’ on offer. Churches that name their product attractive will succeed in attracting more ‘customers’. Meanwhile churches that are not responsive to the needs of their members will decline

67
Q

When does demand for religion increase?

A

When there are different sorts to choose from, because consumers can find one that meets their needs. By contrast, when there is a religious monopoly (one church with no competition) it leads to decline. This is because without competition, a church has no incentive to provide people with what they want

68
Q

Why do Stark and Bainbridge believe religion thrives in the USA?

A

Because there has never been a religious monopoly there. The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the separation of church and state, and there has always been a great variety of denominations to choose from. This has encouraged the growth of a healthy religious market where religions grow or decline according to consumer demand

69
Q

What do Stark and Bainbridge say about religion in Europe compared to America?

A

The situation in Europe is entirely different. Most European countries have been dominated by a official state church which had a religious monopoly, such as the Church of England. Competition has been held back and the lack of choice has led to a decline

70
Q

What do Stark and Bainbridge conclude?

A

The main factor in influencing the level of religious participation is not the demand for religion, as secularisation theory suggests, but the supply. Participation increases when there is an ample supply of religious groups to choose from, but declines when supply is restricted. Also based on their comparison of America and Europe, Stark and Bainbridge argue that the decline of religion is not a universal trend happening in all societies as some versions of secularisation theory suggest

71
Q

What are examples of studies that support Stark and Bainbridge’s view of supply-led religion?

A

Hidden and Shute, Finke, evangelical mega churches, and Stark

72
Q

What do Hadden and Shupe argue?

A

That the growth of ‘televangelism’ in America shows that the level of religious participation is supply-led. When commercial funding of religious broadcasts began in the 1960s, it opened up competition in which evangelical churches thrived. As a commercial enterprise, televangelism responded to consumer demand by preaching a ‘prosperity gospel’

73
Q

What does Finke argue?

A

That the lifting of restrictions on Asian immigration into America in the 1960s allowed Asian religions such as Hare Krishna and Transcendental Meditation to set up permanently in the USA, and Asian faiths become another option that proved popular with consumers in the religious marketplace

74
Q

How is the growth of evangelical mega churches an example of supply-led religion?

A

Most are in the United States but they are also found in South Korea and elsewhere. With such large congregations, they have lavish resources and are able to offer a vast range of activities to meet the diverse needs of their members. Miller compared them with hyper markets

75
Q

What does Stark argue?

A

Japan is another society where a free market in religion has stimulated participation. Until 1945, Shintoism was the state religion and other religions were suppressed. However, after WW2, religion was de-regulated, creating a market in which new religions such as Soka Gakkai (type of Buddhism) have thrived. Japan’s experience contrasts with that of post-war Germany, where religion was closely regulated by the state and as a result declined

76
Q

What is a strength of religious market theory?

A

It is the approach adopted by most American sociologists of religion. It highlights the side of religion and consumer choice, and can be useful for understanding the growth of new religions

77
Q

What are the criticisms of religious market theory?

A

Bruce’s criticisms, Norris and Inglehart’s criticism, and Beckford’s criticism

78
Q

How does Bruce criticise religious market theory?

A

Rejects view that diversity and competition increase demand for religion. Statistics show diversity has been accompanied by religious decline in both England and America. Bruce also argues Stark and Bainbridge misrepresent secularisation theory. The theory does not claim there as a past ‘golden age’ of religion, or that everyone will,, become atheists. It simply claims religion is in long term decline. Nor does it claim secularisation is universal-just that it applies to Europe and America

79
Q

How do Norris and Inglehart criticise religious market theory?

A

Shoe that high levels of religious participation exist in catholic countries where the church has a near monopoly, such as Ireland and Venezuela. By contrast, countries with religious pluralism, such as Holland and Australia, often have low levels of participation. This contradicts Stark and Bainbridge’s theory

80
Q

How does Beckford criticise religious market theory?

A

Criticises it as unsociological because it assumes people are ‘naturally’ religious and fails to explain why they make the choices they do

81
Q

Why do Norris and Inglehart reject religious market theory?

A

On the grounds that it only applies to America and fails to explain the variations in religiosity between different societies. Eg international studies of religion have found no evidence of the link between religious choice and religious participation that Stark and Bainbridge claim exists

82
Q

What do Norris and Inglehart argue is the reason for variations in religiosity between societies?

A

They argue it is not different degrees of religious choice, but different degrees of existential security

83
Q

What is existential security?

A

The feeling that survival is secure enough that it can be taken for granted. Religion meets a need for security and therefore societies where people already feel secure have a low level of demand for religion

84
Q

How does existential security and religion apply to poor societies?

A

Poor societies where people face life-threatening risks such as famine, disease and environmental disasters, have high levels of insecurity and thus high levels of religiosity. Poor people who live in rich societies also face greater insecurity and therefore are more religious than rich people in those societies

85
Q

How does existential security and religion apply to rich societies?

A

Rick societies, where people have a high standard of living and are at less risk, have a greater sense of security and thus lower level s of religiosity

86
Q

How does existential security theory compare to religious market theory?

A

Demand for religion is not constant, as Stark and Bainbridge claim, but varies both within and between societies. Demand is greatest from low-income groups and societies, because they are less secure. This explains why poor developing countries remain religious, while prosperous Western countries have become more secular

87
Q

What do Norris and Inglehart note undermines secularisation?

A

They note that global population growth undermines the trend towards secularisation. Rich, secure, secular Western countries have low levels of population growth, whereas poor, insecure, religious countries have high rates. As a result, while rich counties are becoming more secular, the majority of the world is becoming more religious

88
Q

What is it religious trend in Western Europe?

A

In Western Europe the trend towards increasing secularisation. Norris and Inglehart argue that this is not surprising, because these societies are among the most equal and secure in the world, with well developed welfare states offering comprehensive health care, social services and pensions. This reduces poverty and protects those at the bottom from insecurity

89
Q

How does the rends of religion in America compare to the trends in Europe?

A

US remains much more religious. Norris and Inglehart argue this is because America is also the most unequal of the rich societies, with an inadequate welfare safety-net and individualistic ‘dog eat dog’ values. This creates high levels of poverty and insecurity, which creates a greater need for religion

90
Q

How is America’s religiosity explained by Norris and Inglehart?

A

Although America is more religious than Europe, this is explained by Norris and Inglehart’s general theory of religiosity as the result of insecurity. For example, they point out that although America is religious by standards of other rich nations, it is less religious than poor ones

91
Q

Who supports Norris and Inglehart’s argument?

A

Gill and Lundegaarde, who found that the more a country spends on welfare, the lower the level of religious participation, thus European countries which spend more than the USA, are also more secular than the USA

92
Q

What do Gill and Lundegaarde note?

A

Note that in the past religious used to provide welfare for the poor, and still does so in poorer countries. However from the 20th century, the state in the West began to provide welfare and this contributed to religion’s to religions decline. Nevertheless, they do not expect religion to disappear completely, because although welfare provision meets need for security, it does not answer ‘ultimate questions’ about meaning of life, unlike religion, thus although availability of welfare reduce need for religion, it doesn’t eliminate the need completely

93
Q

How does Vásquez evaluate secularisation and security?

A

Accepts that Norris and Inglehart offer a valuable explanation of different levels of religious participation not only in Europe and the USA, but globally, however he makes two criticisms

94
Q

What is Vásquez’s first criticism of Norris and Inglehart?

A

They use only quantitative data about income levels; they don’t examine people’s own definitions of ‘existential security’. Vásquez argues that qualitative research is also needed

95
Q

What is Vásquez’s second criticism of Norris and Inglehart?

A

They only see religion as a negative response to deprivation. They ignore the positive reasons people have for religious participation and the appeal that some types of religion have for the wealthy

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