Secularisation, (a)theism and religious pluralism in in contemporary western societies

Religious phenomena occupy a central place in the lives of believers, in group dynamics, in cohesion of local communities and in the global ordering of national and transnational societies. Focusing on the ideological dimension of religiosity, this article aims to contribute to a broader understanding of secularization, its social boundaries and individual consequences in contemporary Western societies. It revisits the Weber thesis of secularization and its effects on the religious significance, on the religious statutes/roles and the extent to which people live their religiosity. It discusses the religion privatization and its consolidation in a religion more transferred to the privacy of each person. The decline occurred at the global and totalizing effect of religion level assists to the search of new spiritual forms/directions. The secularization is turned into post-secularization, right time for the reformulation of sociological theories of religion. The contemporary world is plural and secular, where beliefs are developed outside of institutional environments, associated to a more pragmatic religious attitude. Looking glass of contemporary Western societies, the situation in Portugal approximates to a pluralist position in religious matters. The relationship between the Christian laity and the Church has changed, moving from an obligation faith to a conviction faith.