A Secular Age

Chapter 12 argues that elite pluralization eventually extended throughout society, altering religion’s role in social life. Conventional secularization theory typically explains the decline of religion through differentiation, where religious functions become secularized into separate spheres like education and healthcare. This theory oversimplifies the situation, as there have been periods, particularly in 19th-century France, England, and the US, where religious practice increased. The resurgence of religious movements, such as Evangelicalism in England and Catholic missions in France, aimed to counter the fractured metaphysical culture of the elites.

The United States differs from other Western societies due to its high levels of religious adherence despite modern secular trends. This challenges the notion that secularization inevitably leads to a decline in religious belief, arguing that the relationship between modernity and religion is more nuanced. An “unthought” ideology drove secularization—a set of unconscious assumptions that religion must decline because it is false or irrelevant in modern society.

The chapter introduces the concept of the Age of Mobilization, a period where the decline of traditional religious forms led not to a simple diminishment of belief but to the emergence of new forms of spiritual life and organization. This era marked the

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