Religious disengagement is where the church has withdrawn from society and its influence on the institutions that make up society has been reduced. Therefore this is seen as secularization. Martin (1969) supports the theory of religious disengagement through the decline of power, wealth, influence and prestige of the church. Compared to its role in medieval Europe, the church in cotemporary Western society has undergone a process of disengagement. In the middle ages, there was a union of church and state. Today, apart from the right of bishops to sit in the British House of Lords, the church is hardly represented in government. Steve Bruce (1995) argues that state churches have lost their power as they have become more distant from the British state. This distancing has given them the freedom to be more critical of governments. However, the government takes little or no expressed by church leaders. Moreover, the church has lost much of its education and welfare functions, and is now based on individualism and spiritualism; the church often only appears in the media as the result of scandals or an offence committed by church leaders and the number of empty churches suggests a decline in attendance. In spite of this, Parsons argued that the church has lost some of its functions as a result of industrialization, not directly as a result of disengagement. The church can still influence politics and carries out some educational and welfare tasks. Bellah argues that the decline in religious attendance may not be due to secularization, but as a result of religion becoming based on a more individual form. Casanova (1994) believes that disengagement has not taken place, but differentiation has- explaining why secularization has occurred. He claims that during the entire decade of the 1980s it was hard to find any serious political conflict anywhere in the world that did not show behind it the not- so hidden hand of religion. For example, the conflicts between Jews and Muslim Arabs in the Middle East.
An alternative to the view that disengagement, equals secularization is provided by Talcott Parsons. Parsons agreed that the church as an institution has lost many of its former functions. He argued that the evolution of society involves a process of structural differentiation: various parts of the social system become specialized and so perform fewer functions. However, the differentiation of the units of the social system does not necessarily lessen their importance; religious beliefs still give meaning and significance. Bruce (1995) discusses essentially the same process as Parsons, although in Bruce’s case he terms it social differentiation. In the fourteenth century the church tried to assert control over activities like money lending, defining them as sinful. Social differentiation means that the church now has less opportunity to involve itself in non- religious spheres. Modern Capitalism has also grown, and the church has found it impossible to establish control over economic sphere. Modern societies have become increasingly egalitarian. People no longer have fixed roles which are ascribed at birth. People frequently mix with strangers without knowing their status. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for people to see themselves as subject to the power of an omnipotent God. Nevertheless, Parsons argued that religious beliefs still give meaning and significance to life. Churches are still the fount of religious ethics and values. Furthermore, in contemporary society, people have turned in different directions. The numbers of NAMs and NRMs have increased due to decline in religion, because people have wanted and needed something else to turn to, when they may have turned to the church in the past.
Bruce (1995, 2002) uses the term societalization (first used by Wilson) to refer to a process in which social life becomes fragmented and ceases to be locally based as a consequence of general modernization. Close- knit communities are in decline- replaced by large impersonal bureaucracies. Essentially this leads to social interaction being on a holistic scale rather than at a community level. This consequently undermines religion in three ways: first, without a strong sense of coomunity, churches can no longer serve as the focal point for communities. Secondly, people’s greater involvement with broader society in which they live leads them to look far more widely for services. Lastly, social fragmentation leads to uncertainty and questioning of religion, leading to more choice. Bruce gave the example of harvest festivals in his village in 1898 and 1998. It used to be that many farmers bought produce and celebrated, whereas in 1998 “a very small number of people in my village (only one of them a farmer) celebrated the harvest.” Bruce provides the argument of a supermarket culture of spiritual shopping to explain this change. Further, few people turn up to weddings or funerals as very few know the betrothed or deceased. However, Bruce may exaggerate the extent of both the social change and the consequence upon religion as an institution. Some argue that Bruce has not reviewed the evidence enough. Additionally, some argue that we simply cannot be sure we are moving from a religious age.
Religious Pluralism is about diversity in types of religious organizations and beliefs in society. As a result the established, national church loses its influence in integrating people into shared values. Bruce (1992) argues that religious pluralism results from a variety of sources, all of which have “undermined the communal base to religious orthodoxy”. For example, England expanded to incorporate Scotland and Ireland which had different religious traditions. Industrialization reduced the contact between social classes and helped create new, predominantly working-class versions of Christianity, such as Methodism. Recent immigration also contributes to pluralism. Wilson and Bruce use pluralism as supporting evidence for secularization, because it gives people choice and may cause individuals to question truth claims. Bruce believes religion remains strong because of its social importance rather than because the members of the group have deep religious convictions as individuals. Bruce claims that religion tends to serve one of two main purposes for ethnic groups: cultural defence or cultural transition. Religion takes on the role of cultural defence when two communities are in conflict and they are of different religions, the religious identity of each can call forth a new loyalty as religious identity becomes a way of asserting ethnic pride. Cultural transition occurs when religion is use das a resource for dealing with situations where people have to change their identity to some extent. For example, Asian and Afro- Caribbean migrants to Britain and their descendants can use mosques, temples and churches as centres for their communities, and their religion as a way of coping. However, Bruce believes that religion loses this role when a group becomes increasingly integrated into the host community. He concludes “Cultural defence and cultural transition may keep religion relevant but they will not create a religious society out of a secular one.”
Wilson believes that sects now have very little significance in society, as they are the last new development in religion and now religious beliefs and values have very little significance in society. He thinks that religion no longer acts as a unifying force in society. On the contrary, Greely (1972) believes that the growth of NRMs represents a process of resacrilisation, since the 1980s the sacred is becoming important again. Stark and Bainbridge (1985) also deny that secularisation has taken place. They see religion as meeting the needs of the individual. They argue that religion will remain as long as the needs of the individual are present. Glock and Bellah (1976) argue that pluralism is evidence of religion being transformed. It shows a trend towards individuation- people being free to sample different belief systems to find their own religious meaning. Barker called this ‘sheila-ism’.
According to Will Herberg (1960), the main evidence for secularisation in the USA is not to be found in a decline in participation in religion, but in a decline in the religiosity of churches and denominations themselves. Secularization of institutions is when a church compromises its beliefs and is no longer so critical of society, becoming more accommodating. Major denominations have moved away from traditional doctrine and concern with the supernatural; they have compromised their religious beliefs to fit in with the wider society. Because of this, they have become more like the secular society in which they are set. Bruce (1988) believes that British mainstream churches have abandoned, or at least watered down, a number of their religious convictions. These include beliefs in the virgin birth, Christ’s resurrection, heaven and hell etc. Bruce also points out that most British Christian churches have ceased to claim a monopoly on religious truth. New Right Christian beliefs are also gradually being less dogmatic. Hunter conducted a study in which 77% of young evangelical Americans thought playing cards was morally wrong in 1951- by 1982 none thought so. However, other sociologists have strongly challenged these views. Roof and Mckinney note the growth of conservative Protestant religions, which seem to combine a serious commitment to religious teachings, a strong element of theological doctrine and a refusal to compromise religious beliefs. As such, they seem to directly contradict Herberg’s claims about secularization within religious institutions. W hats further, Dawkins quotes a figure of 45% of Americans believing that the universe is less than 10,000 years old.
Desacrilisation is when the sacred has little or no place in contemporary society. Weber’s interpretation of modern society provides one of the earliest statements of the desacrilisation thesis. He claimed that modern society is “characterized by rationalization and intellectualisation and, above all, by the ‘disenchantment of the world’”. The world is no longer charged with mystery and magic; the supernatural has been banished from society. Rational action rejects the guidelines provided by emotion, by tradition or by religion. It is based on the cold deliberate reason of the intellect which demands that the rationale for action can only be based on proven results. Wilson argued that the following factors encouraged the development of rational thinking and a rational worldview: Ascetic Protestanism, which “created an ethic which was pragmatic, rational, controlled and anti-emotional”. The rational organisation of society- firms, public service, educational institutions etc. A greater knowledge of the social and physical world, which results from the development of the physical, biological and social sciences. Wilson maintained that this knowledge was based on reason rather than faith. And lastly, development of rational ideologies to solve social problems, effectively replacing religion. Ideologies such as communism and trade unions offer practical solutions to problems. In addition, Berger argues that people look upon their life without a religious perspective. This removes mystery, magic and authority of religion. Nevertheless, the emergence of NAMs and evangelical revivals in the USA and elsewhere suggest that desacrilisation is not necessarily taking place.
Post modernism is the idea that we live in a diverse society where people have the choice to construst their own identity. Bird argues that post modernism challenges secularization by asking two key questions. To what extent is religion post modern? And to what extent is religion a response to post- modernity? Religion is post modern because fundamental characteristics of post- modernity are found in NRMS and NAMs. Relgion is hybrid (eclectic pick and mix), there is choice and consumerism and the use of technology to communicate with a dispersed population is beyond the nation state. This could be regarded as a virtual religion. Religion is a response to post modernity because challenge to objective knowledge undermines the idea of one set of moral guidelines what create value consensus. This along with the global nature of society, creates individual choices an uncertainty, NRMs may offer a solution to this uncertainty. This logic has also been used to explain the rise of Functionalism in the twentieth century. Fundamentalism reaffirms the “essential truths’ of a faith (Davie 1995). It generally emerges out of traditional cultures, threats (internal or external) may be addressed by a specific leader, authority is often seen in the form of a sacred text or book, and an “us and them” mentality sets in. Fundamentalism comes about as a response to an uncertainty born of social change. It could be seen as a reaction to people becoming disappointed when promises for modernisation are unfulfilled. This effectively challenges the secularisation thesis, as people are turning to the security of traditional religious values. For example, Islamic Fundamentalism where the aim is to organise government and society so that Islamic teachings become dominant in all spheres and Christian Fundamentalism where the Bible is taken as infallible. The fact that religion has become more have become more diverse and based on choice seems to suggest that religion is still important in society.
Furthermore, The Kendel Project supports the post modernity thesis. In this study, which took place between 2000 and 2001, a “body count” of attendees at religious ceremonies were carried out, along with a number of interviews, a street survey and ethnography. Heelas et al. found that while attendance at churches were declining, more people were becoming involved in spiritually inclined groups and alternative therapies connected to the New Age. Out of the 2, 207 people in the town only 7.9% of the population now attends church, down from 11% 20 years ago. Although holistic practices are still comparatively small (less than 2% of the population nationally participate) it is the phenomenal rate of growth not just among the young but also the middle- aged that is threatening to overshadow the church. According to the Kendel Project then, secularization is only taking place in the narrow sense of a decline in traditional religion. From a broader perspective, beliefs are shifting away from traditional religion towards more individualist, spiritually inclined beliefs. Grace Davie states “ It is clear that a manifest reduction in the “hard” indicators, of religious life has not, in the short term at least had similar effect on rather less rigorous dimensions of religiousness… believing without belonging is a pervasive dimension of modern European societies.”
In conclusion, it could be argued that we have shifted to a period of “New Voluntarism.” Due to the significance of religion in the US a new paradigm (general way of seeing the world) in the sociology of religion has started to emerge. The secularisation thesis is “ethnocentric, empirically unsafe, and intellectually bankrupt”. There is a lot more focus on the individual, this is where the idea of “Shiela-ism” takes centre stage. “People have choices: they can reject their old allegiances outright, convert to a new identity or return assertively to the faith of their parents. Religious affiliation is typically chosen rather than ascribed for all time at birth.”
