Une déculturation annoncée. De la marginalisation de l'Eglise catholique en Belgique

The last European Values Study (EVS 2009) confirms the results of the three preceding EVS concerning the crumbling of links with the Church, the net fall in religious practices, in orthodoxy of beliefs and acceptance of ecclesiastic precepts in ethical matters. The Study also shows that the fall in these indicators is accentuated among younger people, of whom almost 70% are without any link to the Church since at least a generation. This EVS shows among other things, that confidence in the Church is diminishing strongly and that the replies it gives to spiritual, moral, familial and social problems are judged by a majority of people to be inadequate. Even if the catholic "pillar" still seems to manifest itself in certain cultural specificities, most of its institutions have distanced themselves from the Church. If one adds to these observations the fact that, among the qualities to be developed among children, religious education comes in last place, it seems that progressively instituted catholic religion is moving away from the culture which is that of modern society.status: publishe

België en zijn goden

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China challenges secularization theory

The author proposes a reflection on challenges that the three anthropological articles in this issue present for secularization theory. The first two discuss "performances" of religion in two different Chinese cultural periods: welfare services offered by recognized religious associations in the People's Republic of China and the judicial rituals in colonial settings. The author suggests similarities with such "performances" in western culture. The second part of the article discusses some issues raised by Szonyi in his comparison of recent social research literature on Chinese religion and sociological literature on secularization: a critique of the concept of "modernity" in relation to secularization; a reflection on the possibility of establishing a secularization theory with universal validity; how to integrate rational choice theory and secularization theory; the validity of secularization in view of individual religious sensitivity; and secularization as an ideology and a discussion of the so-called "privatization of religion" in secularized settings.status: publishe

Introduction [The Social Scientific Study of Exorcism in Christianity]

This chapter introduces this edited book as a study of exorcism within a social-scientific perspective in Western societies. Applying the sociological work of de Certeau, and the anthropological perspective of Malinowski, this chapter presents a collection of research papers which reexamines the relationship among magic, religion, and science within the context of secularization thesis. Modern practices of exorcism are considered within the Christian and global contexts with the focus on both early and late phases of modernity. The case studies presented in this volume touch on various geographical areas in Europe, North and South America, and Australia, and cover numerous Christian groups and denominations. We also emphasize the idea that exorcism is not an exclusively Christian practice and that it can be found as part of other religions, such as Buddhism, Islam, or Judaism. The study of modern practices of exorcism in non-Christian contexts is warranted to tackle understanding of this growing phenomenon around the world and to consider exorcism no longer as an atavistic ritual in conflict with science and modernity. A practical reason – a need to provide guidance and support for these victims or patients, through medicine, spiritual care, and community assistance – fosters this research project