Assess the Arguments and Evidence Put Forward for the View That Britian Is Becoming a More Secular Society

Assess the arguments and evidence for the view that Britain is becoming more secular

Secularisation is one of the most, if not the most, complex of all sociological concepts. Comte, Marx Durkheim and Weber each argued that the decline of religion was an inevitable part of the process of modernisation. However, in many societies in the world today, religious institutions are still extremely powerful and buoyant and boast considerable numbers of followers. Could Britain be considered to be one of these deeply religious society’s, or even the most secular of them all? This all depends on how we as sociologists define the key concepts of religion and secularisation. For the purpose of the essay I have chosen to follow Wilson’s definition of secularisation. He provides the classic definition: ‘the process whereby religious thinking practice and institutions lose social significance.’ However, already this definition brings to light certain problems already such as what exactly is religious thinking? And what is significance and how is it measured? Although it can be said that religious significance is a subjective matter that can’t be measured in such an easy way.

To understand if secularisation is actually occurring, we as sociologists must understand the term religion. If we choose to follow the substantive definition, the idea that religion is the belief on a God or the supernatural, it is likely to be said that Britain is highly secular. The alternative definition is functional. This defines religion in terms of the social or psychological functions it preforms. By using this view the expected conclusion would be that Britain isn’t secular, but it becoming more and more religious due to the rise of alternative ‘religions’ such as New Age Movements and New Religious Movements. Each definition produces different conclusions on whether or not Britain is becoming secular or not and will be discussed throughout the essay.

The first way of measuring religious...