Critically examine the relationship between different social groups and their religious beliefs and practice (33 marks)

Shown in recent statistics, is that younger people, who are over 15 (as children under this age are usually forced by parents), do not participate in religious activity as much as the older generation – excluding the over 65s group, this is usually because they cannot get to church easily due to ill-health and disabilities. Brierley supports the idea of an older generation by showing that the average age of church goers in 1979 was 37 which increased to 49 in 2005, clearly showing a trend towards an older congregation. Heelas also found that those involved with the New-Age Movements were mainly middle-aged or older; again supporting the recent trend.

In Chapter 1, Bibby claims there are two reasons for the decline of weekly churchgoers. The first reason was because of a shift in immigration patterns, and secondly was the change of mindset of religion led by the baby boomer generation (p. 14). In the immigration patterns area, Bibby explains that Protestant religion has been losing its so-called immigration pipeline (immigrants from other countries whom are Protestant coming over), therefore number of newcomers has declined. In reference to the baby boomer generation, described in Chapter 2, Bibby explains it simply: “by the 1970s the number of active members who were dying out numbered the people who were taking their places” (p.15). As pipeline was going down, birth rates were too, and then with rise of baby boomers stakes were even higher for decline in religion. Baby boomers in the 60s brought with it four cultural trends: From Dominance to Diversity, From Obligation to Gratification, deference to discernment, and from homes to careers (p. 18-28). All four of these trends helped to significantly reshape religion. The aftermath on a positive note,

Other critics of the secularisation thesis are Postmodernists, who argue that religious beliefs have not declined, they have simply changed to adapt to modern society. Davie sees religion as taking a privatised form, and although churchgoing has declined, it does not reflect the religious beliefs, as she believes we now have people believing without belonging, where people hold religious beliefs but do not attend church. Davie believes that believing without belonging is a result of change in commitment regarding religion as attendance is now a matter of choice, rather than compulsory, people are adapting religion to suit them, Davie notes that there has been a shift towards vicarious religion, in which people practise religion from a second hand glance, and despite low levels of attendance, many people still use the church for religious rituals such as weddings and baptisms. Therefore these theories suggest that Britain isn’t becoming a secular society, religion is

There are many changes in the patterns of religious adherence in Australia since 1945 to the present day. The major trends of religious changes are the decreases number of Christian adherence which is shown in the census data that 96% (in 2001) to 61% (in 2011). This rapidly decreases are most evident in the Anglican Church, the Presbyterian Church and the Uniting Church. However, Christianity is still the most popular religion in Australia. Other significant changes in Christianity since 1945 to the present day is that population of Catholic people increased from 20.9% in 1947 to 25.8 % in 2011. The increasing of Catholic’ population indicated to the highly increasing of the Catholics private schools. About 70% of school students are in government schools, about 20%

The studies of religious plurality are unsystematic, weak because it has no theoretical guidance. The former methods implemented were descriptive ethnography or a history examination of places like Latin America or Kenya. This method gives one insight on an area but is problematic, scholars learn little about the impact of religious diversity on the social systems. A change in methodology which involves data gathering, theory building, and hypothesis can lead to findings on the social impacts of religion plurality.

Often young adults seemed more interested in becoming involved in some type of hands-on experience to help others, than they had been with the idea of going to a church. As an another way of reaching out to and also creating more of a sense of community, it might have been possible to organize opportunities for younger members of the community to help the older “remnant” with tasks they may not have been able to take care of themselves such as yard work or other simple home maintenance issues. Cartwright claimed that necessarily, she did not think to get more people to join the church as a primary goal, because in general, millennials were skeptical of institutions and viewed the church as archaic. Preaching about God’s love would not have had much effect on those who did not attend the church but lived out that love in the community by providing needed services and caring for the members of the community which was a way of recognizing the purpose of the church.

What does religion really mean to the Millennial Generation? I grew up in a family of Lutherans, and went to church on a daily basis, until I got confirmed. I am a spiritual person who believes in god, but the church is not what it used to be. In the two viewpoints that I read, one of the authors believes that Millennials are less likely to join traditional catholic or protestant religious institutions. The other believes that Millennials are embracing old religious ways to find inspiration.

Older generations in the United States often characterize Millennials as less religious and have a more pessimistic view on churches or religious organizations. Michael Lipka, a senior editor focusing on religion at Pew Research Center, stated generation Y are “less religious than older generations” (Lipka). Christmas, which is looked at by older generations as a religious holiday, is looked at from a cultural holiday upon Millennials. Millennials also tend to have a more independent attitude directed towards religious organizations. Unlike older generations, Millennials do not think that a good kid is an obedient kid. Millennials are less confident in religious organizations than other generations (Hout).

An examination of data from the 1980s and 1990s from the General Social Survey; concluding that at the end of the twentieth century American religion reflected major social-economic differences between denominations; arguing those distinctions were modeled by if necessary, theology, liturgy style, and race; groups with a hierarchical church organization and their styles of worship are formal then they tend to rank higher in the socio-economic groups and the groups they have the emotional styles of worship, theologically conservative and sectarianism, with congregational polity, and more informal services had the propensity to rank lower on the socio-economic scale. Points out that it has been noted that there is a connection in the styles of

Religion has been a major component of sociological thought from the classical theorists to post-modern sociologists. How society functions and is held together and what connections are fostered by religion has been studied using a scientific outlook on how to accurately interpret and gain an understanding how religion fits in with the social world. The sociology of religion largely differs from theology in assuming indifference to the supernatural, theorists tend to accept socio-cultural reification of religious practice (Wikipedia1 2017). I will be trying to make a connection between Darwin’s use of natural sciences to influence a new way to interpreted social dynamics and how these influences have changed the way sociologist in a postmodern

As I looked around the room after prayers, I noticed that the majority of the other attendees were individuals in their 40s and a handful of individuals were in their late 20s. I also noticed that there was an imbalance between males and females, the former outweighing the latter. Prior to attending the church, I must admit I

The problem under examination is the decline in church attendance in America, and the impact of that decline on our society. The purpose of the research was to ascertain the factors that contribute to the decline in church attendance. The research methodology that was used was the qualitative method. Empirical data from the scholarly research was closely examined and analyzed to determine the five main reasons for this decline. They are as follows: 1) Secularization of Society 2) Inability of the Organization to Adapt to ever-changing times 3) Failure to retain youth beyond Post High School years 4) Disenfranchised members 5) Lack of Zeal.

With religion being an important structure in many people’s lives, it is important to understand what it is. According to Authors Hood, Hill and Spilka (2009), “Few human concerns are taken more seriously than religion” (p. 2). In fact research from Gallup and Lindsay (1999) and Poloma and Gallup (1991) show that, “[a]bout 97% of U.S. residents believe in God, and that about 90% pray” (as cited in Hood, Hill and Spilka, 2009, p. 2). All of this shows that religion is quite important to the majority of the population. It is even a large part of our culture with many every day events, such as births and marriages, having religious rituals associated with them (Hill, Hood, and Spikla, 2009, p.1). Because of the importance religion has in society, and even on an individual level it is of upmost importance to understand religion. To comprehend religion,

The purpose of this report is to note the religiousness of the planet Earth. In order to do so, I will use three criteria to contextualize and help enlighten members of our planet those of the human race found on planet Earth. This report will contain three examples relating to three criteria to help give some definition and detail to these particular ways of measuring this phenomenon. I will conclude this report by summarizing my experiences dealing with the religious qualities of those of the human race found on the planet Earth.

In Dr. Andrew Fabich video “Feeling Good” he recognizes a common issue that many churches across the nation are facing is that the elderly are passing away without any teenagers coming to the church. This is causing the church attendance to seemingly drop because no teenagers are present to replace the loss of elderly members due to death. Teenagers are also continuing to leave the church which contributes to the decline in membership. Why are teenagers leaving the church? And why are teenagers not joining the church? I contribute this to the fact that many teenagers in church today do not have a clear belief system and do not fully understand their own faith or religious traditions. Many young adults and teenagers today have been taught how to be religious but without any commitment to the actual faith. This results in a convoluted version of Christianity, which is actually far from Christianity. This convoluted religion, believed by many teenagers to be Christianity, can actually be simplified to five main ideas and has been termed Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. Another growing religious category is the group know as the ‘’Nones’’. The Nones are unaffiliated with any particular religion and are pretty much just undecided on what they believe. They do not hold to a set belief system and claim to have no religion. Teenagers and young adults have been impacted by today’s society where the goal in life is to feel good and be do what you desire. This has led to the increased