Secularisation
Submitted by:
Submitted to:
Parneet Kaur Saroy
Dr. Anupam
B.A.LL.B (Hons.) 55/13 Se!"A
Acknowledgement
The success and fnal outcome o this project required required a lot o guidance and assistance rom many people and I am extremely ortunate to have got this all along the completion o my project work. Whatever I have done is only due to such guidance and assistance and I would not orget to thank them. I owe my proound gratitude to my project guide r.!nupam" r.!nupam" who took keen interest on our project work and guided us all along" till the completion o our project work #y providing all the necessary inormation or developing a good system. $arneet %aur Saroy.
Index
#ntrodu!tion: Secularization or secularisation is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward nonreligious (or irreligious) values and secular institutions. The secularization secularization thesis thesis refers to the belief that as societies progress, particularly through modernization and rationalization, religion loses its authority in all aspects of social life and governance. The term secularization is also used in the context of the lifting of the monastic restrictions from a member of the clergy. 1 Secularization refers to the historical process in which religion loses social and cultural significance. s a result of secularization the role of religion in modern societies becomes restricted. !n secularized societies faith lac"s cultural authority, and religious organizations have little social power.# Secularisation, according to $eter %erger, is the process by which sectors of society and culture are removed from the domination of religious institutions and symbols. & 'eber considered secularisation as the process of rationalisation. any sociologists maintain that 'estern societies are undergoing a process of secularization. This means that the influence of religion in all areas of social life is steadily diminishing. %ryan 'ilson, who supports this view, defines secularization as the process whereby religious thin"ing, practice and institutions lose social significance. *i"e all "ey concepts in sociology, the concept of secularization has been used in a variety of ways. +rom his review of studies on secularization, *arry Shiner states that the lac" of agreement on what secularization is and how to measure it stands out above everything else. ny research on secularization must begin with a definition of religion. !mmediately problems arise because of the absence of a generally accepted definition. iffering views of religion will result in differing views of secularization. -loc" and Star" argue that, $erhaps the most important attribute of those who perceive secularization to be going on is their commitment to a particular view of what religion means/. Thus one should should see the essential characteristics of religion as worship in a religious institution. s a result he may see a decline in church attendance as evidence of secularization or see as having nothing to do with attending a religious institution. 1. #. &. .
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!n an attempt to clarify the issue, studies of secularization will be classified in terms of some of the many ways in which the process has been conceptualized and measured. Parti!ipation:
Some researchers have seen religious institutions and activity associated with them as the "ey element in religious behaviour. 5hurch attendance and marriages performed in church are factors which form basis bas is of this view. Statistics on church attendance in @ngland and 'ales indicate a steady stea dy decline over the past century. There has also been a steady, s teady, though though less sharp, decrease in the number of baptisms, confirmations, church marriages and Sunday school attendances. The decline in church oriented religious religious activity has been paralleled by a decrease in the numbers of clergy. 7esearchers who see a decline in institutional religion as an indication of a more general decline of religion in society are influenced by the traditional view that a religious person goes to church. 4 avid artin argues that church attendance was more strongly motivated by non:religious factors such as middle class respectability. res pectability. Today, Today, church church attendance is no longer an indication of respectability for many members of the middle class. Thus, their absence from church may have nothing to do with a change in their religious belief. %ellah argues that there has been a move from collective worship to privatized worship and from clerical to individual interpretation f doctrine.3 Disen$a$ement and Di%%erentiation:
Some researchers have seen the truly religious society as one in which the church as an institution, is directly involved in every important area of social life. avid artin states that this view is concerned with the ecclesiastical institution, and specifically with any decline in its power, wealth, influence, range of control and prestige. 5ompared to its role in edieval @urope, the church in contemporary 'estern 'estern society has undergone process of disengagement. !n the iddle ges, ges, there was a union of church and state. @cclesiastical control of education and social welfare has been superseded by secular organizations. Talcott $arson agrees that the church as an institution has lost many of its former functions.
Supra , ;. !bid. Supra , ;3.
&e'i$ious P'ura'ism:
Some researchers imply that the truly religious society has one faith and one church. This picture is influenced by the situation in some small:scale, non:literate societies, such as the ustralian aborigines, where the community is a religious community. embers share a common faith and at certain times of the year, the entire community gathers to express this faith in religious rituals. !n terms of ur"heim/s view of religion, the community is the church. !n contemporary 'estern 'e stern societies, one church has been replaced by many. many. The multiplicity of denomination and sects have replaced the common faith and the established church. !n particular, it has been argued that a range of competing religious institutions institutions has reduced the power of religion in society. %ryan 'ilson argues that if there are a number of denominations in society, each with its own version of the truth, they can at best only reflect and legitimate the beliefs of a section of the population. !n this way, way, religious values now cease to be community community values. There has been a movement towards the unity of 5hristian churches and denominations "nown as the !umeni!a' moement. This may reverse the trend towards religious pluralism. 'ilson however, interprets the ecumenical movement as further evidence of secularization. rganizations amalgamate when they are wea" rather than when they are strong, since alliance means compromise and amendments of commitment/. &e'i$ion and So!iety" *enera'i+ation
The focus changes to a more general view of the role of religion in 'estern society. !t is concerned with the influence of religious beliefs and values on social norms and values, social action and consciousness. +our main views of the changing role of religion in society are classified under four headings of -eneralization, !ndividuation, transformation and desacrilization. #ndiiduation: 7obert.A. %ellah states that , The analysis of modern man as secular, materialistic, dehumanized and in the deepest sense areligious seems to me fundamentally misguided./ %ellah argues that sociologists who 8udge the significance of religion in terms of religious institutions are mista"en.
any researchers would argue that %ellah has stretched the concept of religion too far. !n addition, %ellah fails to provide detailed evidence to show that the search for ultimate meaning is widespread in contemporary 'estern society.
,rans%ormation: 'eber believed that ascetic $rotestantism contained the seeds of its own destruction. !t encouraged involvement and success in this world. !ts strict disciplines provided a rational outloo" on life. >nce its teachings were incorporated into a rational capitalist system, religious direction and validation were rapidly eroded. Two factors were instrumental in transforming ascetic $rotestantism into secular guides to action. The first is the secularizing influence of wealth/. 'ealth provides its own rewards and satis factions. s a result material goods have gained an increasing and finally an inexorable power over the lives of men as at no previous period of history. The The spirit of religious r eligious asceticism/ is no longer necessary because victorious capitalism, since it rests on mechanical foundations, needs its support no longer.= Desa!ri'i+ation: number of sociologists have argued that the sacred has little or no place in contemporary 'estern 'estern society, that society has undergone a process of desacrilization. This means that supernatural forces are no longer seen as man/s consciousness has become secularized.
ax 'eber claimed that industrial society is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the C disenchantment of the worldD. The world is no longer charged with mystery and magic0 the supernatural has been banished from society. societ y. The meanings and motives which direct action are now rational. ccording to 'ilson, religious thin"ing is perhaps the area which evidences most conspicuous change. en act less and less in response to religious motivation0 they assess the world in empirical and rational terms.
=.supra ,=&. 9.supra ,=4.
Se!u'ari+ation in #ndia: %ritish rule brought with it a process of secularization of !ndian social life and culture, a tendency that gradually became stronger with the development of communications, growth of towns and cities, increased spatial mobility, and the spread of education. The two world wars, and the, ahatma -andhi/s civil disobedience campaigns, both of which socially and politically mobilized the masses, also contributed to increased secularization. nd with with independence there began a deepening as well as a broadening of the secularization process as witnessed in such measures as the declaration of !ndia as a secular state, the 5onstitutional recognition of the eBuality of all citizens before the law, the introduction of universal adult suffrage, and the underta"ing underta"ing of a program of planned planned development. The term CsecularizationD implies that what was previously regarded as religious is now ceasing to be such, and it also implies a process of differentiation which results in the various aspects of society, economic, political, legal and moral, becoming increasingly discrete in relation to each other. The distinction between 5hurch and State, and the !ndian concept of a secular state, both assume the existence of such differentiation. nother essential element in secularization is rationalism, a Ccomprehensive expression applied to various theoretical and practical tendencies which aim to interpret the universe purely in terms of thought, or which aim to regulate individual and social life in accordance with the principles of reason and to eliminate as far as possible or to relegate to the bac"ground everything irrationalD. 7ationalism involves the replacement of traditional beliefs and ideas by modern "nowledge. 12 The concepts of pollution and purity which are central as well as pervasive in rient *ongman $rivate *td., 1#3. 11. !d, 1#;.
The notion of pollution and purity has wea"ened and become less pervasive in the last few decades as a result of the various forces. ?rban life sets up its own pressures, and a man/s daily routine, his place of residence, the times of his meals, are influenced by his 8ob than by caste and religion. s a result of the spread of education among all sections of the society, traditional ideas of purity are giving way to the rules of hygiene. nother area which has been affected by the secularization process is life:cycle ritual. 5eremonies such as name:giving, the first tonsure and annual ritual of changing the sacred thread are beginning to be dropped. +or girls, the attainment of puberty is no longer mar"ed by the elaborate ritual that characterized it a few decades ago. The shaving of a %rahmin widow/s head, as part of the funeral rite for her dead husband has also largely disappeared, and among the educated, widow marriage is no longer strongly disapproved. 1# nother evidence of increased secularization is the enormous importance assumed by the institutions of dowry in the last few decades. owry is paid not only among %rahmins , but also among a number of high:caste groups all over !ndia. The huge sums demanded as owry $rohibition ct. 1& @ducation changed the outloo" of girls and gave them new ideas and aspirations. !t certainly made them less particular about pollution rules and rituals, though as long as they lived with their affines they could not completely ignore them. 1 The orthodox elements in
1#. supra 12, 1&#. 1&. !d, 1&&. 1.!d, 1&. 14. !d, 1&9. 13. !bid.
The changes have occurred in the !ndian village community have resulted in its more effective integration with the wider economic, political, educational and religious systems. The vast improvement in rural communications that has ta"en place in the last few decades, especially since 'orld 'ar !!,1; the introduction of universal adult franchise and self government at various levels from the national to the village, the abolition of ?ntouchability, the increased popularity of education among rural fol", and the 5ommunity evelopment $rogram:all these are changing the aspirations and attitudes of villagers.1=
The !ndian family system, li"e caste, is resilient, and has shown great adaptability to modern forces. The -overnment too, is playing an important role in modernizing society through legislation and other means. !t is doing this in spite of the fact that the 5onstitution declares !ndia to be a secular state. 5hanges have also been introduced in
!n a word,
1;. Supra 12, 1#. 1=. !bid. 19. Supra 12, 1. #2. !d, 141.
-on!'usion:
