Theory Of Secularization

A theory of secularization is principally concerned with analysing the extent to which the role of religion is losing prominence, authority and/or utility in the modern world. As Christiano and Swatos explain, “the principal thrust in secularization theory has…been a claim that, in the face of scientific rationality, religion's influence on all aspects of life… is in dramatic decline.” Dating back to Weber, this claim was supported by evidence suggesting that religious epistemologies were losing credibility and being replaced by a secular epistemology; one that provided knowledge based on human reason, ingenuity and technology. Since then, there has been widespread debate regarding the ability of secularization theory to account for the variety

Research studies show that America is still vividly religious despite being one of the most modernized societies in the world. Likewise, if secularization is a product of modernization then one would expect secular organizations to have increased and religious organizations to have decreased. But exactly the opposite has been occurring in America: secular organizations are declining and religious organizations have remained relatively stable; even increasing in certain states. Similarly, Japanese society has modernized to a large extent following WW2 yet there remains a significant religious and traditional character in Japanese civil society and politics. In fact, the most prolific religious growth in Japan’s history happened at the same time it was most engaged in modernizing (post-WW2). This is a serious refutation of the connection between modernization and

In contrast, they represent societies which do not construct the Eurocentric tension between modernity and religion; and therefore do not conform to unidimensional secularization. Indeed, this fact fits well with the rational choice theorists who have used the comparative data to argue that secularization is actually a myth. Accordingly, differences in the prominence of religious influence are not the result of geographically specific secularization processes but are instead the result of each region’s “religious market”. For the rational choice theorists, the dearth of religious vitality in Europe is an effect of the insufficient supply of religious products. It is not an effect of decreased demand for religion (as secularization theorists would suggest). However, and despite the debatable ad hoc premise of this argument (i.e. defining religious demand as a constant), this approach is further limited by the fact that it still treats secularization as a unidimensional