Simon Tuck University of Wales Trinity St.

David Secularisation Theory An Argument Lacking in Faith

Academics and social commentators alike have held that religion has been in decline since the 17th century. Secularisation theory supports the view that intellectual advancement, modern thought and the advancement of technology has largely resulted in the retreat of the authority and relevance of religion in the modern world. Essentially this can be seen as the disenchantment of religion in an age of rationalism and scientific advancement, the undermining of its basic reliance on spiritual, superstitious and paranormal ideas. This view was supported by Marx, Durkheim and Weber, three of the most prominent sociologists, who all perceived that religion was illusion, its diversity in different cultures and faiths, proving its illusory nature and its irrelevance to modern society, which would seek science to explain the world.1 Similarly Bruce concluded that the major British denominations would cease to exist by 2030 without a major reversal in trends.2 Whilst on reflection of the academic arguments, it is apparent that particularly during the latter half of the 20th century, evidence has accumulated that on analysis suggests that a general decline in the popularity of state and community religion has taken place. It would be unwise to assume that this is suggestive of a loss or decline of religious faith without a hard look at the changes in western social demographics during the 20th century as well as a consideration of the global picture. Secularisation as a theory should follow a linear curve, as modernism and social/technological progress curves ever upwards, one should expect to see a similar but decreasing linear trend in religious belief and popularity.3 This is akin to the law of supply and demand i.e. when demand for a product in this case religion falls, then
1 2

Anthony Giddens, Sociology (Polity Press, Cambridge, 2009), p. 695 Steve Bruce, Christianity in Britain R.I.P. Sociology of Religion, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Summer, 2001), p. 191. 3 Rodney Stark, Secularisation R.I.P. Sociology of Religion 60:3 p. 251

Simon Tuck University of Wales Trinity St. David Secularisation Theory An Argument Lacking in Faith

supply will tail off sharply. Available statistics however show a more confusing picture. Whilst it is unarguable that in the west, the major faiths no longer hold sway over peoples lives as they once did, as Swatos and Christiano note, the separation of church and state along with a change in social attitude has lead inevitably to the disassociation of schools, hospitals and other facilities from the influence or ownership of a given religion. This in turn has lead to loss of profit or financial support to that particular denomination, although it can not be argued as a decline in religious belief itself indeed this has opened up a free market of sorts for other religious faiths to compete within.4 Similarly, Rigney, Machalek and Goodman show statistics in the United States detailing declines (and revivals) in church attendance, contributions, membership etc in various states of flux between 1880 and 1972. Whilst generally pointing to a decline as time progressed,5 the social factors behind downward variations cannot necessarily be assigned to the death of religion, the period in question saw two major global conflicts the cold war and the advent of the 1960s and the rise of the counterculture. This last, the rise of the counterculture is of particular note. Where 20th century conflicts could be linked to a decline in religious attendance due to a large portion of the population being engaged in theatres of operation, the counterculture saw the rise of New Religious Movements (NRMs), which as Puttick notes, tend to flourish during periods of great change, distress and disillusionment.6 The 1960s was indeed a period of great unrest and arguably great spiritual awakening and exploration with an emphasis on eastern religions in preference to the more staid western Christian traditions.

William H. Swatos et al., The Course of a Concept Sociology of Religion , Vol. 60, No. 3 (Autumn 1999), p. 214 5 Daniel Rugney et al., Is Secularisation a Discontinuous Process? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 17, No. 4 (dec., 1978), p. 383 6 12. Elizabeth Puttick, The Human Potential Movement, in Beyond New Age, ed. Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman (Edinburgh University Press, 2000), pp. 201-214.

Simon Tuck University of Wales Trinity St. David Secularisation Theory An Argument Lacking in Faith

If secularisation theory seeks to find the causal relationship between modernisation and the diminishing role of public religion, then the mechanisms behind secularisation must be considered and debated. Religious attendance (church going) itself cannot be taken as the act of faith or belief in a given religion. In this sense secularisation does not prove that the world is becoming less religious. Bruce argues that attendance in the Anglican church dropped below 1 million in 1997 in juxtaposition to the actual growth in population7 Largely the decline in religious attendance can be linked to the decline of communities which has been largely prevalent since the 1950s and 60s. The church was seen as the heart of the community and as a place of meeting and kinship as well as worship. Putnam refers to this as Social Capital or more accurately the shrinking of. This does not allude to a decline in personal faith, but more highlights and reflects the combined effects of the fragmentation of the community created by rationalisation, differentiation and societalisation. Simply put the isolation of the individual through the pressures of modern work life balance, the loss or degeneration of the family unit, materialism, the cultural and political upheaval of recent decades, and the blurring of traditional gender roles to name but a few factors.8 Similarly in Europe during the 20th century whilst also succumbing generally to similar cultural changes causally linked to modernism as both the United States and Great Britain, it also suffered from secularism as state policy. Large portions of its populations in eastern Soviet controlled areas between 1917 and 1991, as well as central and western populations under Nazi and Fascist control between the mid 1930s to the mid 1940s. Both opposing ideologies agreed on one point - Religion was seen as a danger to the absolute power of the state. This was particularly prevalent in the Soviet
7 8

Bruce, Christianity p. 195 Robert D. Putnam, Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Dec., 1995), pp. 664 - 683

Simon Tuck University of Wales Trinity St. David Secularisation Theory An Argument Lacking in Faith east,9 whereas the Nazis although against the power of the Catholic church initially sought the ideological reform of the church before finally settling on severe restriction, ostensibly driving religion underground.10

Secularisation theory shows evidence of a decline in religion as a social function within communities as a result of modernisation, political ideology and social change, but does not necessarily prove that the world is turning away from religious faith. The peoples of Soviet controlled Russia or Nazi Germany did not necessarily lose their individual faith, just because the state closed churches. In conclusion, secularisation theory may very well statistically suggest that traditional attendance to mainstream religious bodies may be in periodic states of decline and revival in the west, it is not necessarily an omen to the end of faith, nor is it specifically suggestive that religion no longer plays an important part in the lives of peoples from around the globe large parts of the Islamic world for instance are dominated by fundamentalist religious states. South America is largely a continent of devout Catholicism. Generally it is a tool dealing with mainstream religious trends in western society, or as Bruces industrial democracies (those areas of the world predominantly Christian in denomination),11 it does not account for changes in belief (NRMs), the turning of groups to more spiritual faiths in western culture and does not convincingly show that The world has become less religious.

Bibliography:
9

Stark, Secularisation p. 249 Radomir V. Luza, Nazi Control of the Austrian Catholic Church 1939 1941 The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 63, No. 4, (Oct., 1977), pp. 537-541. 11 Steve Bruce, The New Age and Secularisation, in Beyond the New Age, ed. Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman (Edinburgh University Press, 2000), p. 220
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Simon Tuck University of Wales Trinity St. David Secularisation Theory An Argument Lacking in Faith Giddens, Anthony, Sociology, Polity Press, Cambridge, 2009. Bruce, Steve. Christianity in Britain R.I.P. Sociology f Religion, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Summer 2001). Stark, Rodney. Secularisation R.I.P. Sociology of Religion, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Autumn 1999). Swatos, William H., Kevin J. Christiano. The Course of a Concept Sociology of Religion, Vol. 60, No. 3 (Autumn 1999). Rigney, Daniel., Richard Machalek, Jerry D. Goodman. Is Secularisation a Discontinuous Process? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Dec 1978). Puttick, Elizabeth. The Human Potential Movement In Beyond New Age, Exploring Alternative Spirituality, edited by Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman, pp. 201-214, Edinburgh University Press, 2000. Putnam, Robert D. Tuning In, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Dec., 1995). Luza, Radomir V. Nazi Control of the Austrian Catholic Church 1939 1941 The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 63, No. 4, (Oct., 1977) Bruce, Steve The New Age and Secularisation, In Beyond the New Age, edited by Steven Sutcliffe and Marion Bowman, pp. 220-236, Edinburgh University Press, 2000.