Secularisation Theory
Modern Society Will Continue to Reject Religion

“...the ongoing, growing, and powerful movement called secularism, a way of understanding and living that is indifferent to religion -- in fact, not even concerned enough to pay it any attention, much less oppose it.”

National Council of Churches, Handbook of Denominations. [Quotes page]

Contents:

1. Secularisation Theory

2. Dawkins, Dennett & Harris

3. Critics of Secularisation Theory

Secularisation Theory

Secularisation theory explains that as modern society advances it will become increasingly secular, and religion will become increasingly hollow. Since the rise of science in the 17th Century, sociological commentators have realised that religion may be in a permanent decline, and some have proposed the science and intelligence, both rooted in the Enlightenment, are anathema to religious faith. Karl Marx (1818-1883), Durkheim (1857-1917), Max Weber (1864-1920), the founders of sociology, and William James (lectures from 1901-1902) are four eminent men who all noted this decline. Statistics of religion in Britain show examples of what this long-term decline looks like.

“The three 'classical' sociological theorists, Marx, Durkheim and Weber [all] thought that the significance of religion would decrease in modern times. Each believed that religion is in a fundamental sense an illusion. The advocates of different faiths may be wholly persuaded of the validity of the beliefs they hold and the rituals in which they participate, yet the very diversity of religions and their obvious connections to different types of society, the three thinkers held, make these claims inherently implausible.”

"Sociology" by Anthony Giddens, p441

“There is a notion in the air about us that religion is probably only an anachronism, a case of "survival," an atavistic relapse into a mode of thought which humanity in its more enlightened examples has outgrown; and this notion our religious anthropologists at present do little to counteract. This view is so widespread at the present day that I must consider it with some explicitness before I pass to my own conclusions.”

"The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James [Book Review], p468-469

Moojan Momen (1999) says there are five ways of looking at secularisation:

1. "Decline of popular involvement in institutionalized religion. This can be seen in the decline in church attendance, with fewer marriages, baptisms and funerals being performed under religious auspuces."

2. "The loss of prestige of religious institutions and symbols" and the decline in influence of religious organisations.

3. "The separation of society from the religious world, so that religion becomes purely personal matter."

4. The loss of the idea of the sacred. "As science increases our understanding of humanity and of the world, the area of 'mystery' and the supernatural decrease."

5. "Religious groups themselves become increasingly concerned with the things of this world rather than the spiritual world."

Point one is comprehensively illustrated on my page on statistics of religion in Britain. Point five is clearly illustrated by the reaction of modern religionists to secular advance: fundamentalists are much more engaged in the processes of politics than any other religious group in the West. Momen also notes that in Europe, secularisation came to the fore in the nineteenth century:

“Secularization has gradually permeated the Christian world. It led to the situation in which, by the nineteenth century, Christianity had ceased to have much real influence on the social and political life of Europe. The form was maintained, in that political leaders usually made a great show attending religious ceremonies and were often personally pious. Religion no longer had a role, however, in the shaping of political and social policy. Other considerations and other secular ideologies had taken over. Following the loss of social and political influence, religion became increasingly irrelevant to the lives of ordinary people also.”

"The Phenomenon Of Religion" by M. Momen [Book Review], p480

Dawkins, Dennett & Harris

Prof. Richard Dawkins is the foremost public proponent and theorist of evolutionary biology, who has also blasted into the realm of philosophy and theology with his immensely well-researched book on god-belief, "The God Delusion". Other books by equally forceful atheists hit the presses recently (2006), and the Skeptical Inquirer ran a special edition focusing on the battles between science and religion:

“Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion was a high-toned but forthright skewering of the validity of the very idea of god, any god. It was a best seller. Sam Haris's Letter to a Christian Nation, a followup to his The End of Faith, shared time on the best seller lists with Dawkins' book. Daniel Dennett (Breaking the Spell), Frederick Crews (Follies of the Wise), Lee M. Silver (Challenging Nature: The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontier of Life), and the late Carl Sagan (The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, edited by his widow Ann Druyan) all published books that thoughtfully advanced the perspective of science and reason in regard to religion and much else. [...]

Wired magazine featured "The New Atheism (No Haven, No Hell, Just Science)" in a cover article focusing on Dawkins, Dennett and Harris. Time published a "God vs. Science" cover article featuring a private debate about religion between the atheist Dawkins and the believer Francis Collins."”

Kendrick Frazier, Skeptical Inquirer (2007)₅

Critics of Secularisation Theory

Steve Bruce (p56-58) looks at the major comments made by those who do not believe that increasing secularisation is causing a decline in religious belief. "Despite the fuss made by a few sociologists keen to challenge the secularisation thesis, that consensus is very clear: our medieval past was considerably more religious than our modern present.". He looks at the assertion that although modern Church membership is plummeting "religious belief" is still just as strong and refutes it by showing the relevant stats, sociology and history.

The "trend is clear. Those marks of an enduring interest in religion that persist outside the churches are themselves becoming weaker and more rare. If one wants to call those residues 'implicit religion', then one has to recognize that the implicit is decaying in the same way as the explicit. It is not a compensating alternative"

He continues: "Secondly, it should be no surprise that, though there are more avowed atheists than there were twenty years ago, they remain rare. Self-conscious atheism and agnosticism are features of religious cultures and were at their height in the Victorian era. They are postures adopted in a world where people are keenly interested in religion"

Some also say that secularisation is limited to highly Protestant countries where individual choices came to be viewed as more important than communal worship. But Brian Wilson points out that although, "it is perhaps no accident that the world's first secular societies as generally recognized, should be societies in the Christian Protestant tradition, but it is increasingly clear that in societies outside that tradition, of which perhaps Japan is the outstanding example [...] similar processes of secularization are in progress." [Wilson 1966, p14].

The Dalai Lama

“DALAI LAMA SAYS SECULARISM IS THE TRUE ROUTE TO HAPPINESS
The Dalai Lama has come out in defence of secularism. Speaking in Tokyo, the Tibetan spiritual figurehead said: "Secularism does not mean rejection of all religions. It means respect for all religions and human beings including non-believers. I am talking to you not as a Tibetan or a Buddhist but as a human being having a friendly discussion and sharing my experiences on the benefits of cultivating basic human values."

In a lecture on "A Good Heart - The key to Health and Happiness" the Dalai Lama emphasises that cultivating secular ethics - which he said has nothing to do with religion - benefits all human beings. He said strengthening inner values of warm-heartedness and compassion benefits both believers and non-believers in leading a happy and meaningful life. He said, "Love and compassion attracts, hatred and anger repels. [...] Peace does not mean absence of conflicts. Differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; through humane ways," the Dalai Lama said amidst a thunderous applause.

Terry Sanderson, vice president of the National Secular Society, said: "It is not often that we can raise a cheer for a religious leader, but the Dalai Lama is sensible to say that a universal ethic is better than one based on religion. Secularism asks us to keep our religion to ourselves, which enables us as human beings to share what unites us rather than what divides us."”

National Secular Society newsletter, 2006 Nov 17