Ethnicity and Youth

Ethnicity and Youth

In 2001, 72% of the population claimed they were Christian, only 4% attended church.

Elderly (60+): are likely to be more religious.

Voas and Crockett: Argue that this is due to two reasons:
1. The ageing effect — getting older and need comfort knowing they're close to death.
2. The generational effect – more religious because growing up they lived in poverty.

Middle Aged (30-45): Likely to join NAMs as they are more spiritual and want to create their own identity.

Heelas: Argues that they don't want the congregational domain.

Young:

Brierly: Argues that the young find church boring and have no demand for religions.

Greely: Argues that the middle age teach children the right norms and values.

Mayo: Argues that the young are interested in religion as they are still searching for the answers to the bigger picture.

Peter Berger: Argues that religion is seen as a 'sacred canopy', it gives people answers to life’s questions and protects them from uncertainty.

Grace Davie: 'Vicarious religion'. She looked at religious involvement in Sweden, they have the lowest church attendance on record. She found that although they don't go to church, they voluntarily pay extra taxes in order to maintain the church and pay for a professional clergy that pray on their behalf. She argues that they don't have enough time so they have someone else do it for them. People can stay at home without feeling guilty. When there are 'interruptions to normality' people know that the church will always be there. She argues that people 'believe without belonging'.

Abby Day: 'Believe in belonging'. Argues that people who affiliate with Christianity aren't actually religious and only want to affiliate with the Christian majority. In her unstructured interviews she found that few people actually believed in a God. They only define themselves as such out of fear of being marginalised in an 'us and them' society. They don't want to be affiliated with ethnic others, young others or bad mothers.
Three types of Christians:
1. Natal Christians: Raised as Christian so affiliates with the religion.
2. Ethnic Christians: Assimilate into British culture as an ethnic minority and adopt the norms of the majority.
3. Aspirational Christians: Say they're religious to look moral.

O'Beirne: Found that the White British population viewed religion as being least important to their identity. Islamic ranked it second, after family. African Caribbean ranked it third, after culture and family. 

Max Weber: Explains why ethnic minorities are more religious than the White British.  Argues that ethnic minorities are more likely to be marginalised. Before coming to the UK many lived in poverty which shows they are more likely to be religious.

Durkheim: Argues that when people come into a new society the want a collective conscience, a sense of belonging.

Bird: Argues that ethnic minorities are more religious due to a cultural defence. In the 1950's the British African Caribbean population were mainly Christian that tried to assimilate into British society and were blocked from joining the Catholic church. Therefore they joined the Pentecostal church, a denomination which promoted a cultural defence. It helped them to overcome racism and provided the Protestant work ethic.

Modood: Argues that the Islamic community are the most religious in UK society because they are more dedicated. Children are expected to follow the family religion and it diffuses into everyday life compared to the Pentecostal church. Mass immigration in the 50s meant they were far more religious and it gave them comfort against racism. The second generation wouldn't need religion as much. The third generation had a lack of religious identity and the fourth generation had no real need for religion as life is easier.

Judith Butler: Argues that religion isn't a cultural defence but rather a form of cultural transmission. Islamic women in today’s society want to combine traditional Islam with British society, known as cultural hybredity, creating a traditional heritage with Western society. Therefore there is less need for religion so they can experiment with both identities.Some argue that the Islamic youth are becoming radicalised.

Archer: Argues that this is over-exaggerated, Islam is a religion about peace, the media are manipulating extreme situations to make Islam look evil.

Choudhury: Argues that the message of Islam is misinterpreted, a lot of Preachers are teaching the wrong message. Most terrorists are uneducated on their religion as they are being misled.

Aktar: Argues that the Western media creates terrorism, by labelling people as terrorists they ultimately become their label. An example of this is the 'war on terror' that was created after 9/11.

Hopkins and Kahani-Hopkins: Argue that some middle class people are becoming radicalised as they were blocked from employment. The lack of opportunities in Western society for them makes them angry. As a result they become attracted to these radical movements.