Assess the view that Britain is a secular society? Secularisation refers to the decline in the importance of religion on society, Bryan Wilson argues that Western societies have been undergoing a long-term process of secularisation. There are many different theories for the view that Britain is a secular society but also does it just represent Christianity or does it refer to all faiths in Britain. In the last 50-60 years Britain has become a multi faith country, with Religions such as Islam and Judaism. Religions such as Islam are on the increase unlike Christianity which is declining at a rapid rate.
Discuss how far sociologist would agree that the nuclear family is no longer the norm in modern day Britain. A nuclear family is one of many family types in modern day society, there are many different variations. Some sociologists say that nuclear families is and should remain the norm, whilst others believe that society is now too diverse to simply have only one family type. In this essay I will explore whether the nuclear family is no longer the norm in Britain and what thee different reasons are. A reason in particular that nuclear families are no longer the norm is that, divorce rate has increased.
Assess the view that secularisation has been a feature of only modern European societies (33 Marks) Secularisation can be defined as ‘the process whereby religious beliefs, practices and institutions lose social significance’. Secularisation is a feature of modern European societies, such as Britain. Weber has identified that church attendance on Sundays has dropped from 10%-15% to 6% in 2005, church weddings and baptisms as well as Sunday school attendance have also declined. Wilson has highlighted that a feature of modern European societies is the drop in church attendance on Sundays. Most recent research conducted shows that attendance is projected to drop from 6.3% to 4.7% by 2015.
Between 1945 and 1997, electoral turnout was between 71% and 83%. However, every election from 2001 has seen the lowest turnout since 1945, with a record low being 59% in 2001. The decline in electoral turnout certainly suggests a decline in interest and participation in politics. Voter apathy is on the rise – in 2001, ITV reported that 70% of viewers showed little or no interest in the publication of election results – while party identification figures are falling. The percentage of people with ‘very strong’ identification with either of the two main parties was a low 13% in 2001.
“Balfour’s leadership was responsible for the decline in the popularity of the conservative party in the years 1902 – 1906.” How far do you agree? In the year 1902 to 1906, the Conservative party began to lose popularity, causing the Liberal party to beat them in the next general election. There are many reasons as to why the Conservatives began to lose support. Some of the reasons are because of A. J. Balfour, whereas others were not his fault. Balfour’s position as Conservative prime minister after Salisbury’s death in 1902 did not help the Conservative cause.
Also, many experts say that it fell because of the lack of heart the people had to the Empire, the rise of Christianity, it was too immense to govern and protect, the decline of the economy and jobs, the army being made up of mostly foreigners, and outside invaders. Thus, one can say that the Empire collapsed more internally than externally. The first reason why the Western Roman Empire fell was because the people that lived in it had a lack of heart in the Empire. People didn’t believe the Empire was worth saving anymore. As Strayer, Gatzke, and Harbison state in their textbook The Course of Civilization states “The basic trouble was that very few inhabitants of the empire believed that the old civilization was worth saving… the overwhelming majority of the population had been systematically excluded from political responsibilities.
Religion at one time was very touchy subject in many cultures around the globe, as the world progressed more people became open to religion. Theses effects have lead to a society overflowing with religious moderates. Religious moderates are people who aren't fundamentalists and don't interpret their religious scripture in a literal context. They have tolerance for other religions and beliefs and believe that no faith should be forced upon you. Sam Harris discusses religious moderates and their dogmatic views in his article “The First Ten Pages.” Harris argues that they are the “instability” in our society because moderates believe in something without having factual evidence to prove it.
Together these factors create a significant decrease in the percentage of self-describing Anglicans in Australia. This trend of decrease is made evident through the increasing trends of no religion, from 10% in 1971 to nearly 20% in 2006 and other religions, from 1% in years prior to 1971 to approximately 5% in 2006, thereby creating a reasonable impact on these religious affiliations. 2. The post-World War II era showed a steady growth in the number of adherents in religious traditions other than Christianity. This is contributed to mainly by the migration of Jews into Australia from Europe in an attempt to flee the Nazi regime.
The article “No Babies” by Russell Shorto discusses how the population in Europe is drastically decreasing because the low birth rate and higher death rate. He discusses how the birth to death rate is very unbalanced as well, which is a result of the declining population. European culture is feared be lost due to the fact that the majority of the European population is mainly made up of older generations and few younger. In the article Population “7 Billion”, Robert Kunzig discusses how the population worldwide is increasing drastically. He discusses that although the population is growing, our planet may not have all the resources it needs to accommodate the growing population.
Secularisation means the decline of the importance / influence of religion in society. Due to science becoming more influential in a modern society, religion is no longer necessarily seen as such an important contributor. As marriage is a religious concept, it might also now be seen as somewhat less significant in society and many might not perceive it to be as valuable or important as it once was. Divorce could be the result of this as the decline of the value of marriage might lead people to believe it is not long term. A third reason for changes in the divorce rate is the changes in women’s expectations surrounding marriage.