WikipediaExtracts:Secularization

Go to full Wikipedia article on: Secularization

Extracted from Wikipedia --

In sociology, secularization (British English: secularisation) is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatically antithetical to religion. Secularization has different connotations such as implying differentiation of secular from religious domains, the marginalization of religion in those domains, or it may also entail the transformation of religion as a result of its recharacterization (e.g. as a private concern, or as a non-political matter or issue).

The secularization thesis expresses the idea that through the lens of the European enlightenment modernization, rationalization, combined with the ascent of science and technology, religious authority diminishes in all aspects of social life and governance. Pew Research Center notes that economic development is positively correlated with less religiousness. According to Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart, "virtually all advanced industrial societies" have become more secular in recent decades.

The secularization thesis was challenged in 1999 by Peter L. Berger, who coined the term desecularization to refer to a resurgence of religion after a period of secularization, with examples such as the Islamic revival since the 1970s, in particular the Iranian Revolution, and the resurgence of religion in post-Soviet Russia. Some researchers have said that people with religious beliefs may be increasing as a share of world population, due to higher fertility rates in poorer, more religious countries, but Pew Research Center estimates that between 2010 and 2020, the religiously unaffiliated share of world population increased from 23.3% to 24.2%.

There is no particular monolithic direction or trend for secularization since, even in Europe, the trends in religious history and demographical religious measures (e.g. belief, belonging, etc) are mixed and make the region an exception compared to other parts of the world. There are many debates about the boundaries of both religion and secular and some have suggested "post-secular" models since there are areas of growth of religious infleunce which challenge the underlying assumptions on conventional views on secularism. Global studies show that many people who do not identify with a religion still hold religious beliefs and participate in religious practices. The secular vs religion dichotomy is false and neither concept is mutually exclusive. Both "religion" and "secular" are Western terms and concepts that are not universal across cultures, languages, or time.