The reconfiguration of the American
public and political arenas in the late seventies--a shift that
brought conservative Protestants back into national politics and
promoted the consolidation of the American Roman Catholic Church
as a public source of the middle-ground on social and moral issues--provoked
predictions and accounts from scholars on both sides of the Atlantic.
Thus, Steve Bruce predicted the fall of the New Christian Right
as a significant political force and Jose Casanova argued that American
fundamentalists were impeded by the rules of discourse of the public
and political arenas of modern democratic societies. Yet, political
scientists and sociologists inform us that conservative Christian
forces have been institutionalized in politics at national, state
and local levels in America.
What accounts for misunderstandings
of the religion/polity nexus in the technologically advanced democracies
of the West? My argument is that an appropriate comparative framework
eliminates misinterpretations and explains failed predictions. An
appropriate framework takes into account the relations between regime
(state), religion (church), the organization of electoral and political
systems (the body politic), the media and the religious demography
of a country. Drawing upon David Martin's work and some recent work
of James Beckford and Grace Davie and some of my own work as well,
a 'new paradigm' is proposed for the analysis of the religion-politics
link in post-industrial democracies. It is used to explain differences
between the USA, Canada, and England in the relation between religion,
post-materialist values and the expression of the embodied self
in the differing public and political arenas of the countries.
ULF SJODIN
The paranormal and religiosity
in Sweden
The paper will describe the extent of beliefs in the
paranormal amongcontemporary Swedes, especially youth, and also touch
upon whether there has been an increase or not. The focus, however,
will be to question the claim that these beliefs form the new kind
of spirituality in Sweden.Presentation of empirical findings will
make it likely that this is not the fact. Rather, the quest for meaning
finds solutions in old values expressed in vague and blurred beliefs.
Finally, the paper will discuss the present and the future situation
for the religiosity among secularized Swedes.
GREG SMITH
Sociological
readings (of the future) of religious diversity in inner city London
: social cohesion, ideology, rational choice in the supermarket, or
the complex ecology of faith
Sociology has tried to interpret religion
in three main ways following Durkheim, Weber and Marx. More recently
rational choice theory has introduced ideas taken from market economics
and claimed to be a 'new paradigm' in the study of religion. It would
appear that each of these approaches could give us valuable insights
about the contemporary religious diversity of metropolitan cities,
but the fluidity and complexity of the religious life of places like
the East End of London is difficult to squeeze into the mould of any
single theory. In the light of data from this context this paper explores
whether it is possible to gain more insight by approaching religion
in the glocal city as an organic or ecological system, in which relationships
and communication between actors allow meaningful structures (and
structures of meaning) to emerge at the edge of apparent chaos. My
prediction, or prophecy, is that the future will be increasingly diverse
and fascinating, yet inherently unpredictable.
WAYNE SPENCER
Are the stars going out? The
future of astrology as religion in the west
The signs for astrology are not auspicious.
Astrology permeates popular culture and it is widely believed. However,
astrology is trivialised in the meida and few believers take it seriously.
In addition, astrological propositions have been widely tested scientifically
but have not been confirmed. One reaction by astrologers has been
to redefine astrological discourse so that it does not involve determinate
references to objective states and events (thereby advancing an existing
trend within 20C astrology). A second and related reaction has been
to challenge the authority of science. However, there is little evidence
that the central roles of scientific knowledge and rationalism in
the structuring and conduct of major institutions and practices are
being significantly undermined. In the next century, therefore, therefore,
astrology will not transform society in any substantive way. However,
serious astrology will doubtless survive as a tool employed in the
private spiritual explorations of individuals whose religious needs
do not involve clear propositions, collective practices or extensive
theology; it will also feature as a part of broader yet still privatised
New Age ensembles. Furthermore, personal experience and media coverage
will continue to help foster weak but widespread public suspicion
that there is something in astrology.
BILL SWATOS
Icelandic
normalcy: revisiting an elemental religio-cultural life form
In
this paper, I will revisit my work from the past fifteen years on
the Icelandic religion-culture-society nexus and suggest that an
understanding of this life-world can contribute significantly to
interpreting continued outfolding of religio-social and religio-cultural
relations that characterizes our time. Iceland, much more than the
Australian aborigines, provides a paradigm setting for examining
the dynamics that may be said to constitute the (post) modern religious
situation. Using examples from Icelandic history and the contemporary
situation, I will suggest what developments we can reasonably anticipate
in the coming decades.
JAMES
SWEENEY
Prophets
& parables. A future for Religious Orders
The
lack of vocations in the West, mirroring the general drop-off in
Church adherence, continues to diminish religious orders, pushing
some to the verge of extinction. Individual orders are certain to
die, but what of the future of the institution of religious life
as such?
The
theory has long been current that religious life is going through
a transition at the level of its basic form, akin to the 12th
century shift from stable monasticism to mendicant friars, or the
16th century innovation
of active-apostolic religious life. Such a metamorphosis - if in
fact it is happening - is an alarming prospect to some, and tight
controls are in place.
We
are invited to say what has been the effect of modernisation and
forecast what follows for the future. While the institutional
modernisation of religious life since Vatican II is easily described,
the time of troubles which followed fast on its heels has provoked
bitter disputes about its significance. Did renewal allow in the
'poison' of modernity? Or, was it a laudable exercise unfortunately
blown off course by the onward march of a modernity too powerful
to resist? Neither evaluation is much comfort to a thesis of metamorphosis.
In
my previous work I have taken the line that, while renewal has at
times been flawed, ambivalent and reactive, its more fundamental
significance was in bringing to birth genuinely new religious impulses,
in particular the preferential option for the poor, in the light
of which it is possible to discern some lines of a new form of religious
life for the future. This is a difficult thesis to maintain in the
face of massive institutional dislocations, all the more so when
lack of progress in implementing a new model is reported.
Doggedly,
however, I maintain my position! If for no other reason than this,
that the future of religious life cannot now be assured by mere
adherence to its past tradition. One way or another the fires of
charisma have to be rekindled; a new religious impulse is an indispensable
condition of revitalisation. And yet, charisma is not the whole
story.
My
sketch of the future derives from an analysis of three points of
tension: the competing claims (radical and conservative) of charisma;
individualism versus
community; and the emerging role of the laity. I draw on Jesus's
technique of parable telling - homely tales with a wicked punch
- for an image of Orders' life-style and mission in a future beyond
their now fading institutional power.
JENNY
TAYLOR
After secularism: Goverance
and the inner cities
Secularization is a theory that depends
largely on church attendance statistics for its provenance. That
these decline steadily is still read as conclusive evidence that
the accompanying circumstances of modernization both mitigate against
'religious practise' and marginalise and privatize religious belief,
in a vicious spiral of inevitable demise. This paper seeks to examine
in the British political context the phenomenon identified by José
Casanova in his important case studies of Spain, Poland, Brazil
and the US: whether certain of the attributes of secularization
inevitably imply the existence of another or others. From a study
by means of primary sources of a phenomenon previously unexamined
in relation to secularization theory - namely, the Inner Cities
Religious Council, a small branch of a UK government directorate,
I conclude that secularization theory as it applies to the British
situation needs to be rethought. I further argue in the light of
my findings, contrary to Casanova, that the process of functional
differentiation and emancipation of the secular from the religious
sphere can no longer be taken to be the core
and central thesis of the theory of secularization (1991: 19).
The paper predicts a re-alignment of religion and politics in the
21st century with a re-emergence of emphasis on religious particulars
in a multi-faith context.
OLIVIER
TSCHANNEN
To
follow.
DAWID VENTUR
The
political-economy of racially-mixed congregations in South Africa,
1665-1998
The
most remarkable aspect about racially-mixed local congregations
in South Africa is not that they do not exist, but that some exist
at all - and in some cities continued to exist through the dark
history of apartheid. Such congregations have a long historical
precedent in an ideal expressed by most denominations from the early
colonial periods. My purpose in this paper is to sketch a preliminary
socio-historical overview by noting the factors which contributed
to the formation of racially-mixed congregations, and to the subsequent
deviation by denominations towards segregation. These constraining
factors are related to the specific colonial, post-colonial, apartheid
and post-apartheid periods. In this way the manner in which such
congregations converged or deviated from the dominant racial and
political attitudes of their times become visible. The question
how such patterns relate to the effects of incorporation into the
modern world system, while not the primary focus of the study, is
touched on in closing.
DAVID VOAS
The
secular transition: a borrowed model of religious change
The
'demographic transition', the shift in birth and death rates that
accompanies modernisation, has clearly occurred but is hotly debated.
Both the phenomenon itself and the theories advanced to explain
it show remarkable similarities to secularisation and its attendant
disputes. This parallel is important for two reasons. Firstly the
resources committed to the study of modernity and population change
have been vastly greater than those devoted to secularisation, and
hence the theoretical discussion in that field is more advanced,
if perhaps no closer to resolution. Secondly the demographic transition
started much earlier, and has gone much further, than its secular
counterpart, and thus the analogy offers a basis for something more
like prediction than prophecy.
Falling birth rates oblige us to
recognise that modernisation can produce changes that are historically
unprecedented but essentially inescapable. Issues in the sociology
of religion illuminated by the study of fertility decline include
American vs. European exceptionalism, economic vs. cultural explanations,
social mechanisms of change, and the timing and speed of transition.
Religion has joined fertility in the realm of conscious choice,
with similar consequences. Church-going, like large families, will
become increasingly unusual.
JOHN WALLISS
When
prophecy fails: The Brahma Kumaris and the pursuit of themillennium(s)
In this paper I intend to discuss
role of prophecy in relation to the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual
University, a millenarian New Religious Movement of Indian origin.
Originally a reclusive, world-rejecting organization, over the last
30 years the Brahma Kumaris have begun a campaign of active proselytizing
and international growth. Thus, whilst still retaining its original
millenarianism, currently within the West the organization promotes
itself as part of the New Age movement and emphasizes ideas around
the issues of self-development, empowerment and personal success.
As a result, the Brahma Kumaris currently promote two antithetical
orientations towards the future. On the one hand the organization
hold to a belief in a preordained apocalypse which will be followed
by the emergence of an earthly paradise populated by the 'chosen
few' while on the other a view of the future influenced by the notion
of self-development as open to individual choice and action is presented.
Drawing on Ph.D. fieldwork, this paper will attempt to address two
key issues stemming from this; firstly, what are the institutional
and personal strategies employed by the University and its members
to negotiate this ambivalence and, secondly, what are the possible
future scenarios for the University's development - world-rejection,
affirmation or a complex interaction of the two.
BRYAN WILSON
Prediction & prophecy
in the future of religion
This
brief paper examines inherent differences between prophecies and
predictions, and in passing points to errors that have been made
by sociologists when they have strayed into the realm of prophecy.
The concepts intersect when sociologists seek, legitimately, to
explain, and hence perhaps to predict, the circumstances in which
prophets are likely to arise. In some societies, and in some periods,
social scientists may identify institutionalized prophecy - prophetism.
Abandoning the endeavour to prophesy,
the paper turns to the possibility of predicting the future of religion
by assessing its viability in the light of changing social structure
and culture. It is suggested that, in a world increasingly regarded
as "man-made", and in which local community, and the sense of community,
have undergone further decline, conditions favour continuation of
the secularization process. If machine technology has promoted secularization
in the 20th Century,
then, it is argued, the electronics revolution and information technology
appear likely to sustain that process in the 21st.
Secularization is taken to be the
decline in the significance of religion in the operation of the
social system, rather than decline in church attendance. The secularization
thesis does not predict the total disappearance of religious belief
and practice, but notes that religion revivalism appears to grow
less effective in impeding the structural process of secularization.
Although the churches continue to control sizeable plant and resources,
church attendance is likely to decline further, causing churches
to become more akin to sects. In contrast, while sects themselves
may have inherited survival strategies, they might be threatened
by aspects of globalization, and by the growing gap in the cultural
experience of successive generations.
MATTHEW WOOD
Capital possession: spirits
and society in 21st
century Britain
The main changes within Twentieth
Century sociology of religion often have come from developments
in academic approaches, rather than external pressures of changes
in religions. Methods, such as participant observation, and theories,
such as postmodernism, have been instrumental to discoveries and
revaluations. Sometimes, this has led to original areas of study,
reflected in the appellations 'new religious movements' and 'new
age movement', and appreciations of religion in radically different
societies, as in Wilson's study of Millennialism and Martin's study
of charismatic Christianity. These are of particular interest to
this paper, an overview of spirit possession in advanced industrialised
societies.
Largely marginalised by the sociology
of religion, spirit possession has, nevertheless, been shown to
be central to the resurgent religions of charismatic Christianity
and networks of spiritualities involving channelling. It is argued
that because possession provides a social power oriented response
to adverse social conditions, its study is of great importance for
understanding the impact of modern capitalism. In such a context,
secularisation clearly does not mean the disintegration of religious
behaviour, but points to continued ambiguities within societies.
Prediction is difficult, because reactions to the entrenchment of
global capitalism may vary, but two scenarios are presented which
take account of comparative study into the vicissitudes of religion.
LINDA
WOODHEAD
Why the death of liberal
Christianity may have been exaggerated
Dean
Kelley's Why the Conservative
Churches are Growing crystallised a shift in opinion: that
conservative Christianity was growing at the expense of liberal
Christianity. Belief in the steady and inexorable decline of liberal
Christianity subsequently became an almost unquestioned nostrum
in the study of contemporary religion.
Concentrating on the Anglophone world,
this paper suggests Kelley's thesis may have led sociologists to
overlook some important aspects of the religious landscape of the
twentieth century. Against the decline of mainline liberal denominations
must be set equally striking evidence of the widespread liberalisation
of both Roman Catholic and evangelical Christianity.
The paper goes on to consider the
force of the argument that such liberalisation should be understood
as a step on the path to secularisation (pace
James Davison Hunter and Steve Bruce). It does so by analysing some
of the processes which seem to be involved in recent liberalisation
including:
The growth of 'relational' religion
The domesticization of religion
The growth of small groups
The flight from deference and authority
The turn to 'life'
Such analysis leads to the conclusion
that we may be witnessing a transformation of Christianity rather
than inexorable demise.
JUSTIN
WOODMAN
Lovecrafting
the Art of Magick: secularism, modernity, and emergent
Stellar Spiritualities within contemporary occult discourses
This paper outlines the emergence
of a set of contemporary magico-mythic tropes based on the work
of cultural icon and science-fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. An
historical and theoretical analysis of contemporary Western magickal
groups working within the Lovecraftian mythological paradigm will
be complemented with data drawn from recent anthropological fieldwork
conducted amongst the occult community in London.
Lovecraftian exegeses of magickal
discourses attempt a meaningful transformation of the ontological
uncertainty posited by quantum mechanics and chaos theory; whilst
embedded in modern secular discourses, these contemporary scientific
theories appear to contest the teleological certainties characteristic
of modernity. As a consequence, 'Lovecraftian' magicians have generated
a new existential modality through a fusion of scientific theory,
traditional hermetic spirituality, and postmodern thought - a project
emergent from, yet resisting, modernity's secular decentring of
human meaning.
Elements of extraterrestrialism expressed
within Lovecraft's mythology will be situated within what has been
called the 'stellar current' of magickal theory (influenced by the
work of the occultist Aleister Crowley), positing a belief in humanity's
eventual spiritual evolution leading to post-human metamorphosis
and (in contrast to earth-based neo-pagan religions) subsequent
extraterrestial modes of being. This involves a co-option of ufological
beliefs - the cultural popularity of which will, I predict, result
in the increased centrality of Lovecraftian mythologies within Euro-American
magickal subcultures in the twenty-first century.
ANDREW YIP
The
Self as the basis of religious faith: spirituality of gay, lesbian,
and bisexual Christians
This
paper aims to highlight some qualitative and quanitative data drawn
from a national survey of 565 gay, lesbian, and bisexual Christians
in the UK. The survey explores a host of issues in relation to spirituality
and sexuality. Specifically, the following themes are highlighted:
(a) religiosity vs. spirituality. The former denotes church attendance
and uncritical observance of Church teachings. The latter indicates
a self-based exploration of life's meaning, inextricably related
to lived experiences. An overwhelming majority of the respondents
regard the latter as more crucial to their Christian faith; (b)
the basis of Christian faith. Personal experience is ranked highest
as the most important foundation of their Christian faith; followed
by human reason, the Bible, and finally Church authority.
On the whole, these themes lend credence
to the argument that, in late modern society, the organisation of
religious faith and spiritual identity are characterised by privatisation
(e.g. Luckmann; Roof ). The self, not authority structures, emerges
as the primary determining factor in shaping the expression of the
individual's spirituality, whose authenticity rests on personal
experience. In the case of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Christians,
their personal experiences of possessing 'problematic' sexualities
significantly inform the construction and expression of their Christian
identities.
