Religious–Secular Polarization Compared

Abstract

For many decades now, there has been a general decline of traditional indicators of religiosity in both Quebec and British Columbia. New generations are being born and raised in much more secular social contexts than in years past. However, this general trend of decline masks many differences between the two Canadian provinces, and does not imply a complete disappearance of religion from society. Certain groups of believers have been able to maintain their numbers and levels of practice. Since the 2000s, these two worlds of the secular and the religious seem to have been confronting one another more and more, evident in public debates and individual representations. The emerging framework of religious polarization offers conceptual tools to better grasp this dynamic in advanced Modernity. By analyzing recent statistical data on individual religious practices, we examine the extent to which this cleavage between the religious and non-religious is developing among younger generations in two distinct religious and social contexts: those of Quebec and British Columbia.