The Macro-Level: Societal Secularization. 89–97) sees secularization as becoming irreligious and claims that there are totally opposite developments (due to the presence of religious people in modern societies and the religious revivals all around the world) and that the theory of secularization should be seen as an outdated theory. A few days ago, Paul introduced us to secularization theory, and in particular to Charles Taylor’s book A Secular Age. Secularization stems above all from societal ratio-nalization. Secularization theory has for many years propounded and boosted the self-confidence of non-believers and left religious individuals feeling alienated and outdated. Before I was born, there was a consensus among sociologists that religion was declining. ; A (noun) secularist advocates for society to (verb) secularize by (verb) secularizing and to become more (adjective) secularized. How much does it cost to play a round of golf at Augusta National? Secularization theory was once the dominant sociological pattern of interpretation to describe and explain religious change in the modern period. . But in the time between then and now, we’ve seen what’s been referred to as the large-scale empirical falsification of the secularization hypothesis. One group of writers believes it is happening, while other writers consider it to be a myth and that the religion is merely changing. It looks like by 2030, it may be China. Expert Answer . Why secularization theory outdated? It assumes that as societies modernize and become more secular, religion will wither away as an archaic and useless branch of knowledge. The thing that’s really shocking to the secular system is that the proportion of people around the world who will say that they don’t affiliate with any particular religion is set to decline from 16% to 13%. Secularism or secularization theory is a belief system that rejects religion, or the belief that religion should not be part of the affairs of the state or part of public education. Social theorists such as Karl Marx (1818–1883), Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), Max Weber (1864–1920), and Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) postulated that the modernization of society would include a … However, in recent years, sociologists of religion have become increasingly sceptical about traditional secularisation theory. In the process, religious figureheads such as church leaders lose their authority and influence over society. Islam is set to grow quite dramatically from about 25% to 31% in that time and become a very close competitor with Christianity. To describe the core of secularization theory, the different exemplars will be discussed here according to the levels of analysis. Why secularization theory outdated? [1] He didn’t completely throw it overboard, but he tried to refine it, and his point was just what you said. Part of the answer is that people who believe in God seem to have more children than people who don’t. The classic figures of sociology drew on the assumptions of secularization theory to work out the defining features of modern societies and the conditions necessary for the emergence of the modern. … I’m pregnant at the moment with my third child which puts me on the exact average birth rate for Christians globally (2.7%). Secularization theory is a term that was used in the fifties and sixties by a number of social scientists and historians. This paper explains why this is so, and argues that Christians should not succumb to cultural pessimism. 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