Claims that the UK is now a secular society are wrong. Both religious activity and religious belief are flourishing. To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view?

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Claims that the UK is now a secular society are wrong. Both religious activity and religious belief are flourishing. To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view?

A hot sociological debate is that the UK has become a secular society. Sociologists have long been divided on this issue, contributing a variety of theories about secularisation.

One theory supporting the fact we the UK is becoming secular are that we know have a more technological view on things. We tend to look for more scientific or technological explanations for why things happen rather than religious or supernatural. This contradicts the claims that the UK isn’t becoming secular and instead is providing us with explanations of the UK becoming more secular.

Furthermore in support of the view that we are becoming secular is Heelas and Woodhead who conducted a study. Heelas and Woodhead found that the majority of people who did go to a church weren’t there for religious reasons but there instead to conduct in spiritual stuff. This further supports the evidence that the UK is becoming secular.

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An alternative theory put forward Davie suggests that we still like to practice religion; we just don’t see the need to belong to an institution. Davie puts forward the theory of “believing without belonging.” Davie says that even though people do not attend religious institutions it does not mean they are not religious. He also argues that young people tend to like to privatise their religion more rather than express it by going to an institution. However they will still attend important religious services such as birth, death and marriage.

Leger agrees with Davie in that we are still ...

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