Desecularization

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Importance of religion by country in a 2008-2009 poll by Gallup. Countries by importance of religion.png
Importance of religion by country in a 2008-2009 poll by Gallup.

In sociology, desecularization (also spelled desecularisation) is a resurgence or growth of religion after a period of secularization. The theory of desecularization is a reaction to the theory known as the secularization thesis, which posits a gradual decline in the importance of religion and in religious belief itself, as a universal feature of modern society. [1] The term desecularization was coined by Peter L. Berger, a former proponent of the secularization thesis, in his 1999 book The Desecularization of the World. [2]

Contents

Demonstration during the Iranian Revolution. The banner reads: We want an Islamic government, led by Imam Khomeini. Islamic Government (17 Shahrivar).jpg
Demonstration during the Iranian Revolution. The banner reads: We want an Islamic government, led by Imam Khomeini.

Proponents of the theory of desecularization point to examples such as the Islamic revival since the 1970s, in particular the Iranian Revolution, the resurgence of religion in Russia and China, where governments have practiced state atheism, and the growing Christian population in the Global South. [2] Berger also cited the rise of evangelical Christianity in the United States and elsewhere, rising religiosity in Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism, and the prevalence of religious conflict as evidence of the continued relevance of religion in the modern world. He claimed that the world today "is as furiously religious as it ever was". [3]

Desecularization refers primarily to instances of resurgence in a single country or region, rather than a global trend. [2] Berger has recognized that his original description of desecularization was overly broad. [4] Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart argue that it is both true that (1) "virtually all advanced industrial societies" have become more secular in recent decades, but also that (2) people with religious beliefs represent a growing share of the world population, due to higher fertility rates in poorer, more religious countries, and among religious believers. [1] Vyacheslav Karpov states that secularization and desecularization are not mutually exclusive, but rather involve an interplay between the two phenomena. [2]

Secularization theories

Max Weber Max Weber 1894.jpg
Max Weber

Many scholars of the 19th century posited that the world was undergoing a process of secularization. Individuals such as Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and Sigmund Freud believed that this trend would continue until religion became essentially insignificant in the public sphere. [5] At the least it was believed that religion would become "privatized." [6] The secularization thesis was underscored by rationalism, an argument born from the Age of Enlightenment. [7]

Demand-side and supply-side theories

According to Norris and Inglehart, the traditional view of 19th century secularization can be divided into two perspectives: demand-side theories and supply-side theories. They take the view that "although the original theory of secularization was flawed in certain regards, it was correct in the demand-side perspective". [1]

Demand-side theories assert that secularization occurs "bottom up," such that as a whole, the general population will become increasingly rational independent of any influence from the secular government or religious leadership body. [1]

Examples of demand-side theories can be found in the accounts given by Weber and Durkheim. Whilst Weber rarely used the term "secularization," he is generally given credit for alluding to the idea that religion was gradually losing its prominence in society. [8] According to Weber, the world was initially seen as unified, with religion, politics and economics all existing on the same social plane. Thus the term "religion" was not necessary nor was it widely used because religion was included in all aspects of life. [9] According to Weber, when different aspects of society such as politics and economics were severed from religion, the demise of religion in the public sphere became inevitable.

Supply-side theories of secularization argue that the demand for religion exerted by the general population remains constant. This means that any change in the religious landscape occurs as a result of the manipulation of the "supply market" by religious leaders. [1] The construction therefore views the phenomenon as 'top down' development. Steve Bruce argues that the "supply" of religion is greatest when there is a "free" and "competitive" market for "providers" of religion, as in most Western nations, as opposed to states where one religion predominates. [10]

Diversity

Secularization is itself is complex and not unidirectional since there are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism, irreligion, nor are they automatically antithetical to religion. [11] Global studies show that many people who do not identify with a religion, still hold religious beliefs and participate in religious practices, thus complicating the situation. [12] [13]

Desecularization theories

Terminology and definition

Peter L. Berger Peter Ludwig Berger.jpg
Peter L. Berger

The term desecularization appears in the title of Peter L. Berger's seminal 1999 book The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics. According to Vyacheslav Karpov, the term has received little analysis in the field of sociology, [14] however this section will refer to at least one significant development in the term's definition since its first use.

In that book, Berger argued that secularization theory has been "falsified", [15] though in a 2015 article said that it "was not completely mistaken". [4] He acknowledges that his original use of the term, referring merely to "the continuing strong presence of religion in the modern world", was "a bit sloppy". [4] Karpov has since developed the definition of the term, which Berger subsequently affirmed. Karpov defines the term as referring to a phenomenon that is counter-secularization and thus is reactionary to a prior period of secularism. [16] He states that desecularization can be defined as "the growth of religion's societal influence," but only if it develops in response to "previously secularizing trends." [14] Therefore, Karpov's development of the term essentially limited the definition to instances where religion was actively re-established as opposed to simply a state of continuity. [4]

Methodological concerns

Some scholars raise the issue of evidence. Karpov for example, mounts a discussion on the different analytics that can be used in providing evidence for desecularizing trends. [17] He divides these analytics into two different types of evidence, (1) societal-level data or "macro-data" and (2) non-societal data, named in Karpov's article as "mega data." Macro-data deals with evidence obtained from individual societal "units." These units cannot exclusively be referred to as countries or nation-states because sometimes they can represent smaller sections, i.e. racial groups. Other data ("mega-data") is less objective according to Karpov, because it often refers to trends in more abstract terms such as in "modern society" or civilization generally. [17] Essentially, mega-data attempts to identify patterns on a more cosmic or global scale, whereas macro data can be very specific to nations, cities and racial groups such as church attendance and census results.

Because the term "desecularization" has been used to describe a global trend, [3] the question raised by Karpov is whether macro-data analytics can be considered as valid when they indicate specific trends in "societal units," rather than global trends. [17] There are two primary critiques of macro analytics: (1) that it leads to "methodological nationalism," causing a fixation on nation-states rather than broader civilization. [18] The next argument is that of (2) temporal limitation – the concern that because our current concept of "society" is relatively recent, a focus on societal-level analytics (macro data) restricts sociological analysis to modernity and no other time period. According to Karpov this poses an issue when considering religions with ancient historical trajectories. [17]

Karpov also cites several implications that result from using "mega" analytics, overall suggesting that it can allow for an understanding of desecularization that is rooted both in its historical trajectory, and its presence in modernity. [17] He concludes that whilst "macro" data can limit the analysis of desecularization, it can be compounded and used in conjunction with "mega" analytics to give sociologists a clear overall picture of a religious trend.

Examples

Changes in religious share of world population

The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary estimated that the number of atheists and agnostics increased from just 3.26 million worldwide in 1900, to 783 million in 2000 and 906 million in 2025, but predicted it would decline slightly to 867 million by 2050, while the number of religious believers would increase from 7.3 billion to 8.8 billion. [19] Sociologist Phil Zuckerman's studies on atheism have indicated that the atheist share of global population may be in decline, but that it is hard to predict future trends due rapid secularisation in rich countries existing alongside higher birth rates in religious countries. [20]

In their 2015 study The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, Pew Research Center predicted that the religiously unaffiliated (atheists, agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion) could decrease from 16.4% of the world population in 2010, to 13.2% by 2050, despite increasing in Europe and North America. [21] The study explicitly made no attempt to account for how religious identification may be affected by changes in a country's economic development, political governance, urbanization or education. Its projections are based on demographic trends, such as birth rate and life expectancy, and the existing levels of religious switching at that time. [22]

As part of this forecast, Pew predicted that the religiously unaffiliated in Latin America would increase by just 1 percentage point, to 8.7% by 2050. [21] In contrast, according to Latinobarómetro, the share of irreligious people in Latin America had increased from 4% in 1996 to 16% by 2020. [23] The study also predicted that between 2010 and 2050, the irreligious share in the Middle East and North Africa would remain under 1%, and in Europe would only increase from 18.8% to 23.3%. [21]

Eric Kaufmann, whose academic specialization is how demography affects irreligion/religion/politics, wrote in 2012:

In my book, Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century, I argue that 97% of the world's population growth is taking place in the developing world, where 95% of people are religious. On the other hand, the secular West and East Asia have very low fertility and rapidly aging populations. The demographic disparity between the religious, growing global South and the aging, secular global North will peak around 2050. In the coming decades, the developed world's demand for workers to pay its pensions and work in its service sector will soar alongside the booming supply of young people in the third world. Ergo, we can expect significant immigration to the secular West which will import religious revival on the back of ethnic change. In addition, those with religious beliefs tend to have higher birth rates than the secular population, with fundamentalists having far larger families. The epicentre of these trends will be in immigration gateway cities like New York (a third white), Amsterdam (half Dutch), Los Angeles (28% white), and London, 45% white British. [24]

United States

The United States was long seen as an exception to the secularization thesis as it applied to the developed world. [2] [ failed verification ] However, according to Gallup, church membership has fallen to 47% by 2020. [25] According to Gallup, belief in God decreased from 98% in 1967, to 81% in 2022, when using binary wording. For those aged 18-29, it was 68%. [26] However, Pew uses more diverse wording in their question on God and in 2021 a Pew Research Center Survey found that 91% of Americans believe in God or a higher power. [27] In 2024, the 69% of the "nones" demographic (those without a religion) still believe in God or a higher power. [28]

Roger Finke and Rodney Stark state that church adherence in the U.S. increased from 1776 to 2000, from an estimated 17% to 62% of the population. [29] Finke and Stark argue that the religious landscape in the 20th and 21st centuries only appear to be fading in significance because traditional routes of religious worship are being replaced by new wave religiosity. [29] They claim that populations in the modern world are moving away from traditional or established denominations such as Catholicism and participating in religious affairs in a more individualized sense. [29] For example, they argue that the colonial period was not as religious as once thought, using church membership as an indicator of religiosity. Instead they suggest that the onset of globalization and religious pluralism is responsible for a higher proportion of church involvement when compared with the monolithic, traditional histories of the mainstream churches. [30]

Russia

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia

Christopher Marsh explains the secularization in Russia before the collapse of the Soviet Union, stating that the regime was underscored by "scientific atheism," which was ultimately manifested in the persecution of religious clergy in Russia throughout the duration of the regime. [31] This secularization was indicated in the surveys conducted between 1981 and 1990, that showed a sharp decline in religious and supernatural beliefs, particularly in young people. [32] In Lambert's study, 12 variables were used in the survey to denote religiosity, which included propensity to pray, belief in an afterlife, etc. Furthermore, in a study conducted by Evans and Northmore-Ball, 80 percent of individuals claimed to be Russian Orthodox in 2007, with only half of the population doing the same in 1993, immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union. [33] Both Berger and Karpov use this evidence to bolster their accounts of desecularization in the present. [17] [4]

A large number of missionaries presently operating in Russia are from Protestant denominations. [34] According to a survey conducted at the end of 2013, 2% of surveyed Russians identify as Protestants or another branch of Christianity. [35]

Although a large proportion of Russians identify as Orthodox Christians, less than 10 per cent attend religious services [36]

Muslim world

Polling by Arab Barometer indicated that the share of people in the Arab world who said they were "not religious" increased from 8% in 2013 to 13% in 2019. The largest increases were in Tunisia and Libya, and the irreligious share decreased in Yemen. [37] [38] The countries with the highest non-religious shares were, in descending order: Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt and Sudan — six out of seven being in North Africa — followed by lower shares in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Iraq and Yemen. [37] Between 2012 and 2022, Arab Barometer also recorded an increase in the share who believe that religious clerics should influence government decisions. The highest figures were in Iraq (54%) and Jordan (49%), and lower in Lebanon (22%) and Egypt (20%). [39]

Western Europe

Evangelical Free Church Jever, district of Friesland, Lower Saxony, Germany Evangelische Freie Gemeinde Jever.JPG
Evangelical Free Church Jever, district of Friesland, Lower Saxony, Germany

Most European countries have experienced a decline in church membership and church attendance. [40] [41]

Analysis of the results from the 2015 British Social Attitudes Survey suggests that the proportion of British people leaving the religion of their upbringing was between 37% and 44% for different denominations of Christianity, 14% for Jews, 10% for Muslims and Sikhs, and 6% for Hindus. [42] [43]

In 2014 Deutsche Welle reported that evangelical Christianity had doubled in Germany in the last 10 years. [44] In 2022, Christian News Europe said that 200,000 people belonged to Pentecostal churches in Germany, including 64,807 members, up from 37,000 in 2002. 61% of these church communities are of German origin, and 39% of other languages and origins. [45]

As of 2016, Muslims were 4.9% of the population of Europe (defined as the European Union and Switzerland, at the time including the UK). The largest Muslim communities were in France (8.8% of the population) and Germany (6.1%). [46]

Latin America

According to Latinobarómetro, the share of irreligious people in Latin America quadrupled between 1996 and 2020, from 4% to 16%. However, the number of evangelical Christians increased at the same time, from 3.5% to 19%. The share of Catholics decreased from 80% to 56%. [23]

East Asia

A Hong Kong Methodist church. HK ChineseMethodistChurch.JPG
A Hong Kong Methodist church.

Pew Research Center estimate that despite China's official policy of state atheism, the number of Chinese Christians has significantly increased, from 4 million before 1949 to 67 million in 2010. [47] However, recent evidence suggests that growth in Christianity has ceased [48]

Christianity grew in South Korea, from 2.0% in 1945[ failed verification ] to 29.3% in 2010. [47] Gallup put the share of Christians in Korea declining to 23% in 2021, with the irreligious rising to 60%. [49]


Zeng discusses the increasingly religious paradigm within civil service entrance examinations - tests which are intended to sort applicants for civil service and "justify social hierarchy," as well as academic examinations for school and university. [50] [50] Zeng also found that in two separate non-academic shrines in Japan, more than half of the emas were directed toward such exams.

Responses to the desecularization thesis

The conflicting secularization and desecularization theses and their application to modernity have occasioned much debate. Some 20th and 21st century scholars have argued that the Secularization Thesis is not nullified and that the term 'desecularization' can only be applied in isolated, societal circumstances. Bryan R. Wilson has suggested that commercialism continues to undermine religion in relation to religious bodies such as the Church, and non-religious bodies such as the family unit and economic institutions. [51]

Critics of the contemporary theory of desecularization such as Wilson still concede that religiosity is not trending towards extinction because of continued religious piety across the globe. However, they do argue that its relationship with political and economic institutions is indeed declining because of the increased pressure from the scientific and technological spheres. [52] They argue that this proposition is both plausible in modernity and compatible with 19th century conceptions of Secularization that foreshadowed religion's "privatization," if not extinction. [6] Hence, critics of desecularization suggest that whilst it can account for some instances of continued and revised religiosity, it does not adequately describe the relationship between religion and privatized inquisitions and governments. [53]

Worship service in Center of Fait Emanuel of Assemblies of God in Cancun, Mexico. Prayers with the hands up and speaking in tongues. Centro de Fe Emanuel, culto.jpg
Worship service in Center of Fait Emanuel of Assemblies of God in Cancun, Mexico. Prayers with the hands up and speaking in tongues.

Mouzelis suggests that this case is "strong," however it only refers to "inter-institutional" secularization (i.e. the relationship between religion and other institutions). [54] He offers the opinion that the argument against desecularization becomes weakened when one considers "developments within the religious sphere proper," or what he calls "intra-institutional" secularization. [54] Similarly, Martin uses evidence of increased Pentecostalism in both developed and non-developed countries (particularly the U.S.) to bolster the argument for desecularization. [55] Bruce offers a rebuttal to this point, claiming that the United States is simply slower to become secular due to certain structural predispositions, namely the steady rate of migration. [56]

Bruce also suggests that the dramatic changes to religiosity in the modern world such as increased liberalism, represent evidence of its decline. According to Bruce, this trajectory could have begun with the transition from medieval Catholicism to the Protestant reformation under Martin Luther. [57] Mouzelis describes this as a potentially weak argument in that most proponents of desecularization would simply view events such as the Reformation as a religious development or the birth of a new type of Christianity, which could have the potential to further globalize its consumption. [54]

Among these dramatic changes in religion, according to Bruce, is the deterioration of supernatural elements of religiosity, leaving behind a belief system that its more morally grounded a development which represents a "retardation" of religion. [57] Again, Mouzelis takes a more objective stance, suggesting that this development can be seen as both evidence for and against desecularization because such movements can still capitulate the globalization of certain faiths. [54]

Overall, critics of desecularization tend to argue that whilst religious enthusiasm is not necessarily in decline, the significance of religion in the public sphere, and as a limb of political and economic institutions, is indeed continually diminished by modernity. This can be described as the "privatization" of religion. However, desecularization proponents tend to suggest that these aforementioned changes represent religious developments rather than religious declines, and therefore cannot be used as evidence of general secularizing trend.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened to a similar position seeking to remove or to minimize the role of religion in any public sphere. Secularism may encapsulate anti-clericalism, atheism, naturalism, non-sectarianism, neutrality on topics of religion, or antireligion. As a philosophy, secularism seeks to interpret life based on principles derived solely from the material world, without recourse to religion. It shifts the focus from religion towards "temporal" and material concerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociology of religion</span>

Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods and of qualitative approaches.

Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, rationalism, secularism, and non-religious spirituality. These perspectives can vary, with individuals who identify as irreligious holding diverse beliefs about religion and its role in their lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secularization</span> Societal transition away from religion

In sociology, secularization 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, 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.

Secularity, also the secular or secularness, is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian history into the modern era. In the Middle Ages, there were even secular clergy. Furthermore, secular and religious entities were not separated in the medieval period, but coexisted and interacted naturally. The word secular has a meaning very similar to profane as used in a religious context.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter L. Berger</span> American sociologist (1929–2017)

Peter Ludwig Berger was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian. Berger became known for his work in the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of religion, study of modernization, and contributions to sociological theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religiosity</span> Degree of religious commitment or involvement

The Oxford English Dictionary defines religiosity as: "Religiousness; religious feeling or belief. [...] Affected or excessive religiousness". Different scholars have seen this concept as broadly about religious orientations and degrees of involvement or commitment. The contrast between "religious" and "religiose" and the concept of "strengthening" faith suggest differences in the intensity of religiosity.

The study of religiosity and intelligence explores the link between religiosity and intelligence or educational level. Religiosity and intelligence are both complex topics that include diverse variables, and the interactions among those variables are not always well understood. For instance, intelligence is often defined differently by different researchers; also, all scores from intelligence tests are only estimates of intelligence, because one cannot achieve concrete measurements of intelligence due to the concept’s abstract nature. Religiosity is also complex, in that it involves wide variations of interactions of religious beliefs, practices, behaviors, and affiliations, across a diverse array of cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religion in Europe</span>

Religion has been a major influence on the societies, cultures, traditions, philosophies, artistic expressions and laws within present-day Europe. The largest religion in Europe is Christianity. However, irreligion and practical secularisation are also prominent in some countries. In Southeastern Europe, three countries have Muslim majorities, with Christianity being the second-largest religion in those countries.

Accurate demographics of atheism are difficult to obtain since conceptions of atheism vary considerably across different cultures and languages, ranging from an active concept to being unimportant or not developed. Also in some countries and regions atheism carries a strong stigma, making it harder to count atheists in these countries. In global studies, the number of people without a religion is usually higher than the number of people without a belief in a deity and the number of people who agree with statements on lacking a belief in a deity is usually higher than the number of people who self-identify as "atheists".

Growth of religion involves the spread of individual religions and the increase in the numbers of religious adherents around the world. In sociology, desecularization is the proliferation or growth of religion, most commonly after a period of previous secularization. Statistics commonly measure the absolute number of adherents, the percentage of the absolute growth per-year, and the growth of converts in the world.

In the United States, between 6% and 11% of the population demonstrated nonreligious attitudes and naturalistic worldviews, namely atheists or agnostics. 24% of people who do not believe in God or a universal spirit call themselves atheists. Other given answers are: "Nothing in particular", "Agnostics", "Christians", "Jewish", "Buddhists", "Other religions" and "Don't know/Refused". Atheists are between 4% and 7% of American adults. Agnostics make up between 4 and 5% of the adult population.

Postsecularism refers to a range of theories regarding the persistence or resurgence of religious beliefs or practices in the present. The "post-" may refer to after the end of secularism or after the beginning of secularism.

Postchristianity is the situation in which Christianity is no longer the dominant civil religion of a society but has gradually assumed values, culture, and worldviews that are not necessarily Christian. Post-Christian tends to refer to the loss of Christianity's monopoly in historically Christian societies to atheism or secularism. It does not include formerly Christian societies that now mostly follow other religions like Islam, such as parts of the Balkans and the Middle East.

Karel Dobbelaere was a Belgian educator and noted sociologist of religion. Dobbelaere was an Emeritus Professor of both the University of Antwerp and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Louvain) in Belgium. He was past-President and General Secretary of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irreligion in the Republic of Ireland</span>

Irreligion in Ireland pertains to the population of Ireland that are atheist, agnostic, or otherwise unaffiliated with any religion. The 2022 census recorded that 14% of the population was irreligious; the second largest category after Roman Catholicism. The population was traditionally devoutly Catholic throughout much of Ireland's modern history, with a peak of 94.9% identifying as Catholic in the 1961 census. This percentage has declined to 69% in the 2022 census, the lowest recorded. Conversely, those with no religion made up less than 0.1% of the population in 1961; the proportion grew slowly until the 1991 census where it began to rapidly increase to its current share of 14% of the population in 2022.

According to public opinion polls, irreligion in Uruguay ranges from 30 to 40 to over 47 percent of the population. Uruguay has been the least-religious country in South America due to nineteenth-century political events influenced by positivism, secularism, and other beliefs held by intellectual Europeans. The resistance of the indigenous population to evangelization, which prevented the establishment of religion during the colonial era, has also been influential. According to Nestor DaCosta (2003), irreligion has historically been a feature of Uruguayan identity.

Irreligion in Italy includes all citizens of Italy that are atheist, agnostic, or otherwise irreligious. Approximately 12% of Italians are irreligious, and no affiliation is the second most common religious demographic in Italy after Christianity. Freedom of religion in Italy was guaranteed by the Constitution of Italy following its enactment in 1948. Until then, the Catholic Church was the official state church of Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decline of Christianity in the Western world</span> Decline Christian affiliation within Western society

A decline of Christian affiliation in the Western world has been observed in the decades since the end of World War II. While most countries in the Western world were historically almost exclusively Christian, the post-World War II era has seen developed countries with modern, secular educational facilities shifting towards post-Christian, secular, globalized, multicultural and multifaith societies.

References

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  3. 1 2 Berger, Peter (1999). The desecularization of the world : resurgent religion and world politics. Washington, D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy Center. p. 2. ISBN   978-0802846914. OCLC   41445734.
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  12. ↑ "Religiously Unaffiliated". The Global Religious Landscape. Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life. 18 December 2012.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Todd; Zurlo, Gina (2016). "Unaffiliated, Yet Religious: A Methodological and Demographic Analysis". In Cipriani, Roberto; Garelli, Franco (eds.). Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion: Volume 7: Sociology of Atheism. Leiden: Brill. pp. 56–60. ISBN   9789004317536.
  14. 1 2 Karpov, V. (2010-03-01). "Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework". Journal of Church and State. 52 (2): 232–270, 232. doi: 10.1093/jcs/csq058 . ISSN   0021-969X.
  15. ↑ Berger, Peter (1999). The Desecularization of the World. Washington, D. C.: The Ethics and Public Policy Centre. p. 4.
  16. ↑ Karpov, Vyacheslav (2010). "Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework". Journal of Church and State. 52 (2): 237. doi: 10.1093/jcs/csq058 . JSTOR   23921866.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Karpov, Vyacheslav (2010). "Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework". Journal of Church and State. 52 (2): 259–263. doi: 10.1093/jcs/csq058 . JSTOR   23921866.
  18. ↑ Beck, Ulrich (2000). What is Globalization. Malden: Polity Press. pp. 64–65.
  19. ↑ "Status of Global Christianity, 2025, in the Context of 1900–2050" (PDF). Center for the Study of Global Christianity, Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary. 2025. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  20. ↑ Zuckerman, Phil (2006). "3 - Atheism: Contemporary Numbers and Patterns". In Martin, Michael (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. pp. 59-61. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521842700.004. ISBN   9781139001182.
  21. 1 2 3 The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, Pew research
  22. ↑ "Appendix A: Methodology. The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050". Pew Research Center . 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2025-01-18.
  23. 1 2 "Latin America is becoming more secular". The Economist. ISSN   0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2022-04-15. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  24. ↑ London: A Rising Island of Religion in a Secular Sea by Eric Kaufmann, Huffington Post UK, 21/12/2012
  25. ↑ "U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time". Gallup, Inc. 2021-03-29. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  26. ↑ "Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New Low". Gallup, Inc . 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  27. ↑ Mitchell, Travis (23 November 2021). "Few Americans Blame God or Say Faith Has Been Shaken Amid Pandemic, Other Tragedies". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project.
  28. ↑ "Religious 'Nones' in America: Who They Are and What They Believe". Pew Research Center. 24 January 2024. No, not all "nones" are nonbelievers. They are far less likely than religiously affiliated Americans to say they believe in God "as described in the Bible," but most do believe in God or some other higher power. Just 29% reject the notion that there is any higher power or spiritual force in the universe.
  29. 1 2 3 Finke, Roger; Stark, Rodney (2005). The Churching of America. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. pp. 79–80.
  30. ↑ Beck, Ulrich (2000). What is Globalization?. Malden: Polity Press. pp. 64–65.
  31. ↑ Marsh, Christopher (2011). Religion and the state in Russia and China : suppression, survival, and revival. New York: Continuum. p. 175. ISBN   9781441102294. OCLC   641998840.
  32. ↑ Lambert, Yves (2006). "Trends in Religious Feeling in Europe and Russia". Revue Française de Sociologie. 47 (5): 99–129. doi: 10.3917/rfs.475.0099 .
  33. ↑ Evans, Geoffrey; Northmore-Ball, Ksenia (2012). "The Limits of Secularization? The Resurgence of Orthodoxy in Post-Soviet Russia". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 51 (4): 799. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2012.01684.x – via JSTOR.
  34. ↑ Fylypovych, Liudmyla O. (2016-11-08). "Freedom of Religion and Belief in a State Department Report". Religious Freedom. 2 (19): 25–28. doi: 10.32420/rs.2016.19.2.887 . ISSN   2663-0818.
  35. ↑ "Russia WIN/GIA" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  36. ↑ "Russians Return to Religion, But Not to Church". Pew. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  37. 1 2 "The Arab world in seven charts: Are Arabs turning their backs on religion?". BBC News. 2019-06-23. Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  38. ↑ "Arabs are losing faith in religious parties and leaders". The Economist. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  39. ↑ "A New Dawn for Political Islam? – Arab Barometer" . Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  40. ↑ Ronan McCrea (17 June 2013). "Ronan McCrea – Is migration making Europe more secular?". Aeon Magazine. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  41. ↑ Church attendance faces decline almost everywhere Archived 9 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 3 July 2011
  42. ↑ Sherwood, Harriet; correspondent, religion (2017-05-13). "Nearly 50% are of no religion – but has UK hit 'peak secular'?". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2017-08-31. Retrieved 2017-09-01.{{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  43. ↑ Bullivant, Steven (2017). "The "No Religion" Population of Britain: Recent Data from the British Social Attitudes Survey (2015) and the European Social Survey (2014)" (PDF). St Mary's University, Twickenham . Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  44. ↑ "Ghanaian pastor seeks to 're-Christianize' Germany | DW | 17.03.2014". DW.COM. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  45. ↑ Nijenhuis, Lennart (2022-08-16). "German Pentecostal churches grow rapidly". Christian News Europe. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  46. ↑ "5 facts about the Muslim population in Europe". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  47. 1 2 "Regional Distribution of Christians". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project. 2011-12-19. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  48. ↑ Evangelical Focus. "Has Christianity in China ceased to grow?". Evangelical Focus. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  49. ↑ 기자, 노충헌 (2021-06-30). ""종교 관심 없다" 무종교인 비율 갈수록 높아진다". 주간기독신문 (in Korean). Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  50. 1 2 Zeng, Kangmin (1996). "Prayer, Luck, and Spiritual Strength: The Desecularization of Entrance Examination". Comparative Education Review. 40: 264–279. doi:10.1086/447385. S2CID   145110072.
  51. ↑ Wilson, Bryan (2001). Fenn, Richard K. (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. Part 1.
  52. ↑ Mouzelis, Nicos (2012). "Modernity and the Secularization Debate". Sociology. 46 (2): 207–223. doi:10.1177/0038038511428756. S2CID   145460927.
  53. ↑ Mouzelis, Nicos (2012). "Modernity and the Secularization Debate". Sociology. 46 (2): 210. doi:10.1177/0038038511428756. S2CID   145460927.
  54. 1 2 3 4 Mouzelis, Nicos (2012). "Modernity and the Secularization Debate". Sociology. 46 (2): 211–213. doi:10.1177/0038038511428756. S2CID   145460927.
  55. ↑ Martin, D (2005). On Secularization: Towards a Revised General Theory. Aldershot: Ashgate. pp. 26–43.
  56. ↑ Bruce, Steve (2011). Secularization: In Defense of an Unfashionable Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 180–200.
  57. 1 2 Bruce, Steve (2011). Secularization: In Defense of an Unfashionable Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 49.
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