You hear a lot about the "secularisation" of western society nowadays: about how the church (or mosque, or temple, etc.) no longer plays as central a role as it used to, and about the rise in atheism and agnosticism. My question is - is this really happening? What statistics are there to support this allegation? If it is happening, does it vary from country-to-country and ethnicity-to-ethnicity?
You only have to browse through questions in many different sections here in Y:A, and in other fora elsewhere on the net to see a lot, even a disporoportionate amount of issues regarding religious issues: evolution vs creationism is an obvious example, but so is debate of the Archbishop of Canterbury's statements, and the allegations of rising Islamic fundamentalism. Are these debates truly reflective of the opinions and moods of modern society, or is it just a side-effect of the openness of the internet for such issues to be aired?
bestonnet_002008-02-12T09:55:46Z
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Yes it is.
Western Europe has a lot of atheists and all the other western countries are losing religion (with the US a few decades behind but still making progress).
Also consider that about a third of children leave the religion they are raised in with most of them just becoming non-religious and amongst fundamentalist sects about half of their children end up leaving with many becoming non-religious. This then carries on into the next generation resulting in even more atheists (and religion is as others have mentioned becoming more and more an "old-peoples' thing").
The Fundamentalists are increasing in number but they have had a very small increase compared to non-belief and they are mostly just taking members away from the more moderate branches of their own religion (not from those raised without religion).
The only religion that as a whole is growing is Islam which is doing so through a higher birth rate which is not sustainable (i.e. the growth will stop and Islam will follow the other religions into oblivion, Islam has not been doing very well with conversions).
Most of the groups that appear to be growing quickly (such as Buddhists) are actually losing members at about the same rate they pick them up.
From a sociological perspective I am pretty sure that the popularity of religion in the UK is declining and has been in all likelihood since the enlightenment. Only one UK census checked for religion [2001], it found that 3/4people reported being religious, 72% Christian, 3% Islam.
The social changes this country has seen in the last 60 years or so, with development of the welfare state, education system and social reform has changed the way in which we are socialised. Pre 1944 families tended to be extended and travel was rare and so the care for others came from the community. Responsibility to teach children skills they needed for life lay on the family, and no doubt the church was a significant part of this socialisation process and a focus of community life.
Contrast this with today’s society where families are nuclear, care of extended relatives is done by the state, education is catered by the state where we are taught to be 'life long learners', in effect every 20 years or so our knowledge becomes obsolete. People travel more than ever before. A place for the community to meet and learn and 2000 year old wisdom is made redundant.
The fact these changes have occurred 'quickly' suggests that social change is dependent on the socio-political climate of the country. It may seem like a reformational steamroller towards secularism but let us not forget America was born secular in spirit as well as practice and now appears a bastion of Christian intolerance. It could be that the reason churches are empty is nothing to do with a loss of faith, but more to do with church life being pushed out of our culture. Were society to shift back people may return to their church.
As for world wide change, that will depend on whether other countries copy our method of 'modernisation' in an attempt to make themselves more prosperous. The lure towards westernism must be very great indeed and bound to cause tension in non-secular countries, the fallout of which has likely caused the east/west tensions we are experiencing.
As for evolution vs. creationism and similar debates; it may be the case that the above hostility spills over onto any forum where people are able to vent frustration of the conflict between church and state.
I choose the word conflict with its full meaning, while it is possible to have a church and state fulfilling the same roles in society, as we do, they are currently in competition for the same ground and in the UK at least the state is winning. Globally, perhaps we are feeling the backlash with the 'rise' of fundamentalism. ~ I would be interested to see whether there has been a rise or if it is media hype.
One solution that is foreseeable would be for the church to adopt a meaningful role in society, out with state jurisdiction, but I imagine most religions are rigid in hanging onto their old roles and talk of 'modernising' the church will cause schisms, all the while losing popularity. Another avenue for religion is to shape itself into our lifestyles (prayer text spam?), but this still does not address its crippled function in society.
PS I bet the Archbishop of Canterbury was shocked at the response to his statement; I wonder if he is not used to people paying attention to the voice of the church in the UK, this event shows people are listening when it is relevant!
Yes, I do believe that western society is much more secularized now than ever before. I do believe it is happening and that it varies from country to country. I'm sure there are statistics for this. Search the internet.
There are many ever-increasing issues with religion in churches, because in their own way, they are becoming secular themselves. I think it is fair to say that they are reflective of society's opinions, since modern society is made up of people with opinions.
A side-effect? Please... until we all start communicating with each other and agreeing on common grounds, there will be no meeting of the minds and secularism will continue. We must unite as people with one cause...to bring peace to this earth.
I guess the following extract from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism sums up your question on "secularism". It's nothing to do with the internet. It has been there for so long, and it is here to stay. Only benevolent or depotic dictatorship can steer away secularism off any state to be replaced with religious jurisprudence...
"Secularism is a movement towards the separation of religion and government (often termed the separation of church and state). This can refer to reducing ties between a government and a state religion, replacing laws based on scripture (such as the Ten Commandments, The Old Testament/New Testament and Shariah law) with civil laws, and eliminating discrimination on the basis of religion. This is said to add to democracy by protecting the rights of religious minorities.
Motto of the French republic on the tympanum of a church. Due in part to the belief in the separation of church and state, secularists tend to prefer that politicians make decisions for secular rather than religious reasons. In this respect, policy decisions pertaining to topics like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, same-sex marriage, and sex education are prominently focused upon by American secularist organizations like, the Center for Inquiry."
For details of organisations/movements on secularism goto: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularism#Secularist_organizations
I'm not sure about numbers, but I believe we are becoming more polarized. The Christians and Muslims, and to a lesser extent the Jews, are working hard at pulling themselves away from the freethinkers. The freethinkers (atheist and agnostic, skeptic and non-theists) in turn are more vocal -- and more in print -- about their conviction that religion and belief in god is anti-intellectual, anti-science and anti-progress.
In the short term, this may cause the theists of all types to become more vocal, more demanding, more political. But in the long run, progress is inevitable, and religion will become an old-people's thing, then peter out.