ABSTRACT

From the perspective of religion, the single most important feature of the modern world is its secularity. Sociologists of contemporary affairs regularly refer to ‘this secular age’; ‘secular society’ and ‘the process of secularisation’, and the Christian clergy and Jewish rabbinate (as the religious professionals of the dominant religious traditions of advanced Western countries) frequently acknowledge the prevailing secularity which has depleted their congregations and diminished their social influence. The term ‘secularisation’ is, however, unspecific, and the very width of its application has given rise to controversy and uncertainty. It may allude to religious practice (which, in such matters as congregational attendance, is perhaps the most easily available and apparently objective indicator). It may refer to religious institutions and the changes that have occurred in the internal character of their ideology, ritual and organisation. It may allude to the place of religion within the social system taken as a whole. There are other possible applications. The evidence with respect to the relative vigour of religion is various and not necessarily all one way, and whilst most commentators allude to secularisation as a readily assumed matter of fact of contemporary Western society, some apparently contrary indicators can be invoked and need to be taken into account.