Children's Web magazine...
Entertaining , Educational, Fun,Informative and MORE

Nadege Preston

Nadege Preston

Email: nadege.preston@hotmail.com

Total Article : 82

About Me:Hi I’m Nadege and I study French at the University of Leeds, and I have just completed my third year abroad in Montpellier studying literature and enjoying the sunshine! I love art; painting and being creative, as well as photography and baking. Travelling is my favourite hobby at the moment; experiencing the French language and culture. I hope you enjoy reading some of my articles!

View More

Is Britain is becoming a more secular society? (Part 3)

Is Britain is becoming a more secular society? (Part 3)

   However, it can be argued that NAMs and NRMs are religious means of practice and thinking. This means that the growths of these movements are not causing Britain to becoming secular as people believe in these cults or sects and they provide a source of meaning and purpose for individuals, acting like a religion. This is supported by the 2005 Eurobarameter survey which found that 38% of people in Britain believe in a God and 40% believe in some sort of ‘spirit of life force’. Consequently, 78% of the people in Britain have some elements of religiosity in their thinking. This 78% includes people who believe in NAMs and NRMs, which is linked with the process of resacrilization. As a result, it can be argued that religious beliefs are being renewed and continued in postmodern society and secularisation is not occurring.

 

   Grace Davie also supports the fact that Britain is not becoming secular because she states that you can believe in a religion, without having to belong to it. This means that an individual can believe in a God without practicing the religion. People live chaotic lives in postmodern society and therefore may not have the time to attend practices. However, church attendance for example may not reflect how many people actually believe in God. Davie goes against what Wilson argues and she states that though religious institutions may have lost importance as people to not attend them, it does not mean that secularisation is taking place as people may still believe in the religion.

 

   Thomas Luckman’s argument is similar to Davie’s as he states that although many people do not attend church, they still pray in the private sphere. He describes this as ‘the invisible religion’ because religions are becoming invisible and so it is a matter of choice as to whether an individual believes/practices religion in their lives. Luckman also argues that there are other ways that people may act religious. Civil religion can occur at places such as the Olympics where people are brought together and share the same beliefs. Consequently, religion can be practiced in places other than religious institutions and therefore if this is taken into account, secularisation is not taking place.

 

      When comparing arguments of whether Britain is becoming a more secular society, Stark and Bainbridge help explain this. They accept that some secularisation has taken place, but they also state that the growth of sects and cults have caused a religious revival.

 

   To conclude these articles about secularisation, it is evident that only traditional Trinitarian churches are declining. Other religions are growing, due to our multi-cultural society. But, in Britain the main religion is Christianity and this is declining which has caused secularisation. Additionally, the growth of New Religious Movements have meant that if people consider them to be a religion, Britain is not becoming a more secular society as religion has been revived. However, if people consider New Religious Movements to be non-religious, Britain is becoming a more secular society as people believe in other elements, other than a God. 

 

IMAGE URL

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Church_of_the_Good_Shepherd_Hartford_CT.JPG

0 Comment:

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Thank you for your comment. Once admin approves your comment it will then be listed on the website

FaceBook Page

Place your ads

kings news advertisement