Religion and New Age Movements - 968 Words

Using material from item A and elsewhere, assess the view that most people today see spirituality and religious belief as purely private and personal matters. In society today religion can be seen in two different ways, as a private and personal matter or something to share with your community. Some sociologists would argue that religion and spirituality is a private matter because of televangelism, which is where people watch their religions services on television or go on online churches in the comfort and privacy of their own home when we have free time but other sociologists argue that this does not mean that religion and spirituality is a private matter, but that we have to use televangelism due to the fact we live in a postmodern†¦show more content†¦This gives us greater choice between what we believe in and what we don’t. There are many methodological problems with measuring whether religion has become privatized, on of these problems is that ‘ how do you measure how many religious organisations there are?’ this is a problem because it is near impossible to count every single religious organisation in the world because of the amount of cults and sects that exist that not everybody may know about. Sociologists argue that there has been a decrease on the number of religious organisations, and therefore religious belief is decreasing, but they do not take into account that it may not be religious belief that is declining, but that lack of funding has meant that the religious beliefs could not remain forcing people into practise privately, Also, how do you define what a religious organisation is. Another problem with measuring whether religion has become privatised is that you can’t know what people are thinking, just because they don’t visit a religious organisation, it doesnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t necessarily mean that they are not religious, they may just not have the time to visit the organisation so instead use things like televangelism to practise at home. Also, just because people don’t attend religious organisations often, Stark and Bainbridge believe that the decline in traditional religions has created a demand for newer religions, this includes new ageShow MoreRelatedNeo-Paganism Versus New Age Spirituality Essay942 Words   |  4 PagesNeo-Paganism and New Age Spirituality have very different rules factors. Neo-Paganism, as defined by the Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, is an umbrella term for several spiritual movements that attempt to restore the â€Å"authentic pantheons and rituals† of the ancient polytheistic religions of Europe and the Middle East.(Neo-Paganism) These forms of â€Å"nature-oriented spirituality† are typically pre-Christian and primarily originate in Europe. (Fisher 478) ReligiousTollerance.org sheds some light on how peopleRead More The New Age Movement Essay1129 Words   |  5 Pages The New Age Movement Although the New Age movement is not technically a religion , eight to nine percent of people that do not believe in organized religion find the New Age as their replacement. The New Age movement is very difficult to describe although not impossible. It is a complex sociological phenomenon that can be perceived in many ways. Basically, what another person sees, the other may not. The New Age movement is best understood as a network of networks. 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Compared to men, women are more likely to express a greater interest in religion, to have stronger personal faith and belief in live after death, and have a stronger personal religious commitment. Also to involve themselves more in religious rituals and worship e.g. they are more likely to attend religious services and they participate more in religious life generally. Bruce also found that women join or involve themselves with new religious movements and new age movements. ReligionRead MoreAustralia s Present Religious Tradition1349 Words   |  6 Pagesthe huge base for Christianity to rise to the top religion in Australia before they began to let more immigrants enter. In the 1947 census, 88% of the population (not including Aboriginals because they were not considered in the census) stated they were Christian. The remaining 12% was mostly people who didn’t respond to the question. Today not much has changed the percentage of Christians has slightly decreased because of a rise in new religions. In the census of 2011 it is seen that out of 21.5Read MoreCult Is A Cult Or Cult?904 Words   |  4 PagesWhen you think of a Religion most would never think of it as a Cult but, I ask the question â€Å"Could a religion actually be considered a cult?† A few religions that we have studied in class have actually been considered a cult at one point in history, either many years ago, or very recent. What intrigues me about this is: the definition and characteristics of a cult or religion, what groups/religions have been considered to be a cult, and why do we think that a cult is not considered a religious groupRead MoreThe Enlightenment By Thomas Paine And John Locke1709 Words   |  7 PagesLaura Bluhm History 172 Michael Tafel March 15 2017 Final Paper: The Enlightenment The eighteenth century embraced the beginning of an opinionated movement for new thinking about once unquestioned truths and actions. This movement, known as the enlightenment was more than a period of advanced ideas, as this unfamiliar way of thinking also lead to a change in the way that people began to operate within society. The ambition was lead by the attempt to break free from the past, overturning oldRead MoreThe American Renaissance Essay1648 Words   |  7 Pagesthe period in 1835-1880 in which United States literature came of age as an expression of a national spirit. 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