HBC251 TMA01 Secularization and Religious Trends in Contemporary Societies | Essay Jan 2025, Singapore

Assignment:

A 2022 Gallup survey in the United States of America highlighted that the percentage of people who believed in God had dropped to 81%, from 98% in the 1950s. This was corroborated by similar statistics from multiple news outlets and researchers. For instance, the same Gallup survey highlighted that the number of Americans who believed in God is even lower than the global figure, at 68%, while a 2021 Gallup survey saw American’s membership in a church, synagogue or mosque slip to 47%, down from 70% in 1999.

While Latin America has traditionally seen higher levels of religiosity than its North American counterparts, figures are similarly changing – devout nations such as Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil have seen increases in rates of secularisation from less than 2% in 1996 to 15%, 14% and 12% respectively. Europe has even been described as post-Christian, where many young adults reportedly have no religious faith – the figure is as high as 66% in the Czech Republic.

Indicators of religiosity such as belief, behaviour, belonging, baptism, church membership, frequency of prayers, among others are seen to be at historic lows in Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Belgium and some Nordic states. Rates of secularisation and religiosity have generally been more difficult to measure in diverse East Asia and the Pacific, especially using Western measures. That said, statistics show the number of Japanese adults holding religious beliefs dipped from 71% in 1947 to 23% in 2005, while the number of South Koreans who believed in the supernatural powers of ancestors has also tumbled to 18% from a much higher figure of 45% in 1940.

Adapted From:

• Jones, J.M. (2021). US Church membership falls below majority for first time. Gallup. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx
• The Economist. (2022). Latin America is becoming more secular. The Economist. Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2022/04/16/latin-america-is-becoming-more-secular
• Evans, J (2017). Unlike their Central and Eastern European neighbours, most Czechs don’t believe in God. Pew Research Centre. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/06/19/unlike-their-central-and-eastern-european-neighbors-most-czechs-dont-believe-in-god/
• Bruce, S. (2013). Secularization. Oxford University Press.
• Zuckerman, P. (2020). Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment. New York University Press.
• Reader, I. (2012). Secularisation, R.I.P.? Nonsense! The ‘Rush Hour Away from the Gods’ and the Decline of Religion in Contemporary Japan. Journal of Religion in Japan 1(1): 7–36
• Kasselstrand, I., Zuckerman, P., & Cragun, R. (2023). Beyond Doubt: The Secularization of Society. New York University Press.

Assignment Questions

1. Sketch the concept of secularisation in contemporary society.
2. Explain in detail why trends of declining religiosity, atheism, growth of secularisation, civil religion and decline in folk religious practices, among others, are prominent in societies and among people the world over.
3. Identify cases where religion remains resilient or is resurgent and examine what factors may have contributed to its resilience and/or resurgence.
4. Conclude your argument by briefly distinguishing between trends of declining religion and resilient religion and demonstrate with justification, which trend you think societies are headed towards today and in the near future.

Note: In your arguments, apply course concepts and include empirical examples where relevant.

Additional Guidance/Instructions

• The answer should be in the format of a well-structured essay.
• The word allowance for the answer is 1,800 words.
• This essay is about your ability to demonstrate that you have understood the complexity of the issue and have a good grasp of different sides of the arguments around the issue. From a social science perspective, there is no single correct or wrong answer, only better or worse answers. Weaker answers tend to fall back on preconceived and personal opinions and fail to engage with the course materials and literature. Better answers define the concepts used and reflect on their underlying assumptions, take an argumentative position that is coherent and consistently followed, and support their arguments with reference to course materials and the relevant academic literature.
• In your references you must use both course material (Study Guide, assigned readings, lecture notes) and at least FIVE other academic resources from your own research. Avoid over-relying on your sources by merely summarising or paraphrasing them; instead, use them as sources of data or ideas to support your own interpretations and analyses.
• Ensure that you acknowledge all the sources through proper in-text citations and a list of references/bibliography at the end of your discussion.
• Academic sources such as journals should include working hyperlinks and/or DOI (digital object identifier) numbers.
• There should be robust in-text citations; paraphrasing material from resources still requires in-text citations to acknowledge the source it was paraphrased from.

Resources for Writing

• Purdue Online Writing Lab
• APA Style Guide
• See “Examples of Responsible Uses of Generative AI Tools” in Academic Integrity

Plagiarism & Generative AI

Copying text from a reference source (without putting it in quotation marks, or paraphrasing it) is considered plagiarism. Attribute all sources properly and consistently, including any AI-generated text (see example below).