Jordan Griffith

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

Secularisation is the decline of religion whereby religious beliefs, practices and institutions lose their
importance or influence. Secularisation is often measured on church attendance, from 1950 – 1996
people describing themselves as of no religious affiliation rose from 23% to 43%, this figure may not
be accurate however as the question is vague and people are more likely to answer yes. Bryan
Wilson found that only 6.3% of the adult population attended church in 2005, and it is projected that
this is to fall to 4.3% by 2015. While a decline in church attendance may signify the wane of church
influence, it could also mean that people now worship privately, or seek moral guidance elsewhere.
Religion has been replaced in many areas of society, most notably in explaining the world, whereas
before a natural disaster may have been explain as God’s punishment of the world, society now
looks scientific explanations. This demonstrates the way in which religious institutions are losing
their influence on society and is the central theme to the secularisation theory.

Steve Bruce argues that religion has become separated from modern society, the declining influence
of religion in the arts; like popular music, literature or film is also important, as younger generations
may be affected, even weddings which are traditionally religious have been affected, as in 2005 only
a third were church weddings. Religion also becomes to look outdated as it criticises increasingly
secular themes, for example the churches complaints about on Harry Potter account of witchcraft.
The catholic churches continued opposition to contraception despite the level of HIV in many
countries may also lead to people questioning the authority of the church, among many other
examples. The emergence of the New Age religions is also significant because many of these don’t
require church attendance, yet are still serious religions which have dedicated members. Also New
Age religions may present a modern approach to religion which encompasses contemporary society.

Secularisation has also occurred within the church, the acceptance of homosexuality and ordaining
of women into higher positions, this is a modernisation of the church. However it is also arguable
that religious decline has not occurred as much as some have portrayed it, this specifically refers to
the supposed ‘golden age’ of religion which may not ever been, also the diversification of religion
may represent a strengthening of religion as it becomes more varied and appealable to different
people, several religions have also have growing numbers in Britain such as Islam which benefits
from a high conversion level. The audience for programs such as ‘Songs of praise’ and several
religious related that channels also show that people may simply be worshipping from home. Many
evangelical churches still hols stable or even growing attendances.

While there is secularisation in Britain, it may be overestimated and research could be too narrow to
accurately access the level of religious devotion, traditional worship may be in decline but more
modern approaches to religion are flourishing.