Is our society secularizing?

Even though there is little consensus on how to measure secularization and how to define religion, our society is secularizing. According to the text, "Secularization is typically accompanied by a decrease in religious belief and involvement, and it results in a weakening of the social and political power of religious organizations." Three objectives can be used to evaluate secularization. 1) Membership levels in organizations. Almost all industrialized countries have seen a decline in religious membership. People are moving away from the well defined religious traditions and are making their spiritual practice more individualized and making life choices that are right for them. While one might identify with the religion of their parents, they are not "practicing" and not attending services on a regular basis. 2) Religious leaders have lost much of their social and political influence. This is seen in the financial insecurity faced by many religious organizations. They are no longer supported financially as they have been in the past. Also, people are consciously choosing to "disobey" fundamental church teachings, such as Catholics choosing to use contraceptives even though the church has reaffirmed its ban on their use. Rapid social change and a tolerance for civil liberties, women's rights and alternative lifestyles has helped to weaken the influence of religious institutions and religious leaders. 3) The importance of religion in ones daily life - religiosity. The holding of religious ideals is weaker and no longer strongly influences family and personal life. One may only turn to religion when their belief system breaks down. With intermarriage between faiths, people choose to accept and incorporate parts of different religions into their lives and question the value of hanging on to 'well defined religious traditions.' Religion has become much more private and a matter of individual choice rather than an observed obligation. Even in places that have seen a rise in religious nationalism ("the linking of deep religious convictions with beliefs about a people's social and political destiny") and that claim to oppose secularization and "Western influence" do not "simply revive ancient religious beliefs." Instead, according to the text, "they partly 'invent" the past, drawing on different traditions and reinterpreting events to serve their current beliefs and interests." All these factors have contributed to a decrease in "traditional" religious beliefs and involvement leading our society to be more secularizing.