Editing Secularization (section)

==Background==
Secularization is sometimes credited both to the cultural shifts in society following the emergence of [[rationality]] and the development of [[science]] as a substitute for [[superstition]]—[[Max Weber]] called this process the "disenchantment of the world"—and to the changes made by religious institutions to compensate. At the most basic stages, this begins with a slow transition from [[oral tradition]]s to a writing culture that diffuses knowledge. This first reduces the authority of clerics as the custodians of revealed knowledge. The shift of responsibility for [[education]] from the family and community to the [[Sovereign state|state]] has had two consequences:
* ''Collective conscience'' as defined by [[Émile Durkheim|Durkheim]] is diminished;
* Religion becomes a matter of individual choice rather than an observed social obligation.
A major issue in the study of secularization is the extent to which certain trends such as decreased attendance at places of worship indicate a decrease in religiosity or simply a privatization of religious belief, where religious beliefs no longer play a dominant role in public life or in other aspects of decision making.