Beliefs In Society

Question 1

What is a belief system?

Answer 1

Any set of ideas and beliefs that people use to make sense of the world around them

Question 2

How did people use to understand the world?

Answer 2

Traditionally, people made sense of the world through supernatural explanations

Question 3

How do people make sense of the world in more recent years?

Answer 3

It is more common to understand the world based on scientific evidence.
However some people do put their faith in both religious and non-religious ideologies

Question 4

What did Karl Popper differentiate?

Answer 4

Differentiated science from religion on the basis that religion was a closed belief system while science was an open belief system.

Question 5

What makes religion a closed belief system according to Popper?

Answer 5

Religion claimed a monopoly on the truth accepting no criticism or opportunity for development

Question 6

Why did Popper believe science was an open belief system?

Answer 6

It constantly opened itself up to criticism and testing and constantly sought to discover new knowledge

Question 7

What is ideology?

Answer 7

Ideology doesn’t have a single, clear definition and is used in a variety of ways. It’s most common use is to describe a broad, cohesive set of political ideas and beliefs (e.g liberalism, socialism, conservatism etc)

Question 8

What is the Marxist concept of ideology?

Answer 8

Word to describe a set of ideas and beliefs that are dominant in society and are used to justify the power and privilege of the ruling class - negative concept of ideology: ideology is used to obscure the truth, give people a false picture of how the world works in order to control and manipulate them

Question 9

Who is the Marxist view of ideology shared with?

Answer 9

Shared by many feminists who argue that it is patriarchal ideology that maintains the dominant role of men in society.

Question 10

According to radical feminists, how does ideology maintain the dominant role of men in society?

Answer 10

By convincing women that patriarchy is natural, normal, or even desirable

Question 11

What do Marxists argue about the proletariat?

Answer 11

If the proletariat really understood the exploitative nature of capitalist society and their place within it, there would be revolution.

Question 12

What prevents revolution?

Answer 12

Ideology - a set of ideas that creates an illusion - it convinced the workers that capitalism is fair, that they are not being exploited by the system and those who are wealthy have worked hard and deserve their success

Question 13

How is ideology reinforced according the Marxists? (Althusser)

Answer 13

Marxists argue ideology is reinforced by a wide range of institutions in society (what Althusser called IDEOLOGICAL STATE APPARATUS)

Question 14

Evaluation of the Marxist view of ideology?

Answer 14

• Karl Popper argued the Marxist view of ideology is impossible so study scientifically, because it’s effects are impossible to falsify.
• some neo-Marxists suggest the idea that the working class don’t know their own mind and have been indoctrinated by bourgeois ideology is patronising and disempowering. Many feminists take a similar view regarding the idea that women have been brainwashed by patriarchal ideology and therefore don’t know what they want.
• the suggestion in traditional Marxist approaches is that there’s just 1 ideology in society, but some neo-Marxists argue that this is just the dominant one. There are other competing sets of ideas in society.

Question 15

Is religion an ideology?

Answer 15

Religion is also a set of ideas and beliefs about the world - Yes

Question 16

How do Marxists view religion?

Answer 16

See religion as being one important part of bourgeois ideology

Question 17

How does religion act in theocratic states like Iran or Saudi Arabia?

Answer 17

Religion acts precisely like an ideology

Question 18

What are the 3 main approaches to defining religion?

Answer 18

1. Substantive
2. Functional
3. Social constructionist

Question 19

What did Max Weber (1905) do?

Answer 19

Weber used a substantive definition of religion, seeing it as a belief in a supernatural power that is unable to be scientifically explained - whether a belief can be considered religious or not depends on the substance of what is believed.

Question 20

Functional definition of religion?

Answer 20

Defines religion by the social or psychological functions it persons for individuals in society. In this definition, a belief or organisation could provide certain functions e.g to encouraging social cohesion without necessarily including supernatural beliefs.

THIS DEFINITION USED BY FUNCTIONALISTS SUCH AS DURKHEIM OR PARSONS

Question 21

Where does a social constructionist definition of religion come from?

Answer 21

Comes from interpretivist sociologists

Question 22

What do interpretivist sociologists argue about religion?

Answer 22

There are so many different types of religion that it is impossible to come up with a single, undisputed definition.

Question 23

what is science?

Answer 23

There is no universally agreed definition of science. I’m sociology, it is generally understood to be value-free, objective, unbiased and rigorous, based on empirical evidence and facts, tested by experiments, rather than being based on faith - something based on knowledge rather than belief.

Question 24

What are the differences between science and religion?

Answer 24

• science is an open belief system, religion is a closed belief system
• science is subject to falsification and testing, religion is accepted on blind faith
• science is independent of state/government, religion is often closely linked to the state

Question 25

What does Thomas Kuhn point out?

Answer 25

Science operates within a paradigm

Question 26

What does it mean if science operates within a paradigm?

Answer 26

There is a set of assumptions about the world which new scientific theories and discoveries have to fit into

Question 27

What happens when scientists propose theories that don’t fit into the existing paradigm?

Answer 27

It’s not accepted unless there’s sufficient evidence for a paradigm shift.

EXAMPLE - any new scientific discoveries need to fit into a paradigm that accepts that theories such as evolution or gravity are true

Question 28

What idea does religion reject?

Answer 28

Rejects the existence of fossils as it undermines the creation story in the Bible

Question 29

What does some theories being rejected as unscientific mean?

Answer 29

Maybe science is not such an open belief system as is suggest

Question 30

Evidence that religion isn’t as closed as it’s presented?

Answer 30

Some religious organisations have changed their position in certain issues (e.g allowing women to become priests, changing attitudes towards sexual orientation etc)

Question 31

How may science be argued as not being objective?

Answer 31

Not only is science conducted within a paradigm that is very resistant to challenge, it’s also dependent on funding from various sources meaning research is often conducted with a view to reach a particular outcome that will assist the sale of a particular product
EXAMPLE - scientists funded by oil companies have often been those to reach a conclusion questioning the extent of man-made climate change

Question 32

Evidence that religion isn’t as closely linked to the state as presented to be?

Answer 32

Although in the UK there’s still an official state role for the Church of England, for the most part religion in western liberal democracies is no longer as closely linked with the government

Question 33

Evidence that science is less independent on the government than presented?

Answer 33

There are often government scientists and scientific advice e.g on health issues, which is often pushed quite forcefully by the state and through the law

Question 34

What are belief systems essentially the product of?

Answer 34

The product of socialisation - a set of norms and values that are widely shared.
This is particularly the case with the Marxist concept of ideology. Various institutions, including religious organisations, transmit the bourgeoisie ideology, and this then becomes an accepted common sense among people.
Functionalists describe a similar process only seeing the outcome as a widely beneficial shared set of norms and values.

Question 35

What are functionalist views on the role of religion?

Answer 35

Functionalists argue that religion is a conservative force and that this is a positive function for society and for individuals. They believe religion helps to create social order and maintains the value consensus.

Question 36

What do Durkheim, Parsons and Bellah argue?

Answer 36

Argue that religion performs important functions for society

Question 37

What does Malinowski argue?

Answer 37

Argues that it performs an important function for the individual

Question 38

What do all functionalists agree about?

Answer 38

All agree that religion promotes stability and helps to preserve the status quo and prevent the upheaval and rapid social change

Question 39

What did Durkheim conduct a study of?

Answer 39

Conducted a study of the Arunta, an Australian Aboriginal tribe’s religious beliefs in order to establish the function of the beliefs and ceremonies and what is really signified. He argued that society divided into objects and activities into the sacred and the profane.
The programs were everyday experiences with a clear function, while the sacred had a greater, collective significance.
From his detailed study of ‘primitive religion’ he identified 4 key fictions of religion in society

Question 40

What were the 4 key functions of religion in society that Durkheim identified?

Answer 40

1. Discipline
2. Cohesion
3. Vitalising
4. Euphoric

Question 41

Discipline meaning?

Answer 41

Religious rituals impose self-discipline, which encourages individual to behave sociably and not simply pursue their own selfish course of action, which would be anti-social and destabilising

Question 42

Cohesion meaning?

Answer 42

The key function is social cohesion: worship brought the community together. Through worship people reaffirm and reinforce the bonds that keep them together

Question 43

Vitalising meaning?

Answer 43

Durkheim also argued that religious belief maintained traditions, ensuring that the values that are passed down from generation to generation are kept vital and at the heart of the society

Question 44

Euphoric definition?

Answer 44

If members of society were ever to become frustrated or lose their faith, the religion serves to remind them of their place in something much bigger. Again, it prevents individuals from becoming anti-social

Question 45

What did Durkheim conclude?

Answer 45

Concluded that when society came together to worship collectively, what they were really worshipping was society itself. Durkheim recognised that society was becoming less religious and more secular, but he argued that there was still secular function for religious belief

Question 46

What did Bellah (1967) argue about some modern secular states?

Answer 46

Argued that in some modern secular states, people worshipped society in a clear way without supernatural element of traditional religions.

Question 47

What was Bellahs example of people worshipping society in a clear way in secular modern states?

Answer 47

His example is Americanism
America’s religious symbols are the flag, national anthem, famous historical figures etc
While this might not fit everyone’s definition of religion, it performs the same functions that Durkheim identified and promotes social cohesion, order, stability, and prevents radical change, again acting as a conservative force.
People can all unite around ideas of the death of royal family members (e.g Princess Diana) or the idea of ‘god bless America’ without necessarily all worshipping the same god, or practising the same religion.

Question 48

What did Parsons argue about religion and socialisation?

Answer 48

Argued that religions quite directly socialised people into shared values, which were often stated quite directly by the religion, such as the 10 Commandments in Judaism and Christianity.
He further argued that religion answers the ultimate questions e.g why do good people suffer or die young - religions can offer answers in terms of tests of faith and rewards in the afterlife - gives meaning to what might otherwise seem a meaningless existence

Question 49

What did Malinowski (1954) study?

Answer 49

Studied the religious practice of the Trobriand islanders. He noted that when the islanders were wishing on inshore, safe waters they did not practice religious ceremonies but they did when finishing on more dangerous waters. He concluded that religion had a psychological function: it helped individuals to deal with an anxious and stressful situation. These sort of unpredictable events can cause instability and disruption in society, so by performing this psychological function, religion also helped preserve the stability of society.
In this way religion performs psychological functions for the individual

Question 50

Evaluation of functionalist views on the role of religion?

Answer 50

• Worsley (1956) has criticised Durkheim’ saying of the Arunta suggesting that he misunderstood certain aspects of the religion, particularly the idea of the separation between the sacred and profane and the significance of totems
• Functionalist theories are outdated and arguably tell us little about religion today. They envisage a society with a single unifying religion that brought people together? Whereas in most developed, western societies today there is no consensus about religion. Even in countries where there is a state religion and significant levels of religiosity, religion is often a major factor in conflict, such as in serval Middle Eastern countries.
• Malinowski’s study was unusual for a functionalist in that it was a participant observation. This was high in validity and very detailed, conducted over 4 years. However, from positivist perspective, it was unreliable and the conclusions couldn’t be generalised to other tribes or societies.
• some would argue describing ‘Americanism’ as a religion stretches the definition of religion too far. It is clear that patriotism or nationalism does functions as a form of belief system or ideology and that it may well carry out some of the functions that Durkheim, Parsons or Malinowski ascribe to religion. However, is that enough for something to be considered religious, or does it not require some sort of supernatural element to it?

Question 51

How to Marxists describe the role of religions?

Answer 51

Marx described religion as the opiate of the masses.

Question 52

What did Marx mean by the saying ‘opiate of masses’?

Answer 52

Religion acted like a drug, cushioning the workers from the true misery of being exploited in capitalist society.

Question 53

What did Marx believe about proletariat?

Answer 53

Proletariat should rise up against the bourgeoisie in a revolution. Religion was one of the ways in which the bourgeoisie maintained control: part of the ideology.

Question 54

What did Lenin refer to religion as?

Answer 54

Spiritual gin

Question 55

What did Lenin argue?

Answer 55

He argued that the ruling class used religion cynically to create a mystical fog which obscured reality for the working class - very similar to the idea of it being an opiate.

Question 56

What does Louie Althusser argue that religion is a part of?

Answer 56

Argues religion is a part of the ideological state apparatus. Along with education and the media, it transmits the dominant ideology and maintains false class consciousness

Question 57

Not all Marxists have the same perspective. What does Engels suggest?

Answer 57

Suggested that religion had a dual character, performing this conservative function but also having the potential to drive social change.

Question 58

Evaluation of Marxists views on the role of religion?

Answer 58

• Marxist and functionalist views are in one resort very similar. They observe religion as preforming a similar function, but one sees it as a positive thing and the other as a negative thing - means some of the criticisms of functionalist view are equally applicable to Marxist view: where religious practice is a minority pursuit (western democracies) religion doesn’t have the power to act as an opium of the masses or as a spiritual gin. Sports or celebrity gossip is more likely to preform that role today.
• many of the teachings of various religions appear to contradict the values of capitalism - they can contradict the idea that wealth is admirable and earned and the rich are people to feel deference towards. Other religions have similar teachings, criticising the greedy and praising the lowly. Whole a rejection of materialism might have the impact that traditional Marxists suggest it could also encourage people to see the ruling class and capitalists as ungodly. This is why neo-Marxists consider the possibility that religion could have a dual character and could act as a conservative force or catalyst for change

Question 59

Feminist views on the role of religion?

Answer 59

Most feminists argue along similar lines to functionalists and Marxists that religion acts as a conservative force, maintaining the status quo. For feminists, the status quo is a patriarchal society.

Question 60

How did Simone De Beauvoir view religion?

Answer 60

Saw it as exploiting and oppressing women. She argued that religious faiths encouraged women to be meek, put up with inequality, exploitation and suffering and doing so will bring rewards in the afterlife

Question 61

In what ways can religion promote patriarchy?

Answer 61

• through religious scripture/teachings
• through religious ceremonies and practices
• through the structure and power-relations of religious organisations

Question 62

Examples of patriarchy in scripture and teachings?

Answer 62

• in several religions, women are presented as temptresses who distract men from the serious business of worship. In the bible, it is the first woman, Eve, who disobeys god and then goes in to tempt Adam and bring about his downfall too

• in many religious teachings across a wide range of religions, women are given the role of nurturing, caring and giving birth. While these roles are presented positively and as essential, they reinforce the gender norms in society and the patriarchal power structures. If women choose not to conform to gender stereotypes, they are not only deviating from gender norms but deviation from God’s will too.

• religious texts are full of male gods

Question 63

Example of patriarchy in ceremonies and practices?

Answer 63

• in several religious organisations men and women worship separately
• in many religions both menstruation and pregnancy are treated as impure or ungodly e.g in Islam, women who are menstruating aren’t allowed to tough the Koran

Question 64

Example of patriarchy in religious organisations?

Answer 64

• there is a traditional gender division of Labour in many religious organisations with an expectation that women will serve tea and cakes after the service
• although some religious organisations do have women in senior positions, they are certainly the exception rather than the rule, and in most cases this is the result of relatively recent reforms.

Question 65

Evaluation of feminist views on the role of religion?

Answer 65

• not all feminists agree that religion is essentially patriarchal, arguing that many early religions featured prominent goddesses and other female figures. Instead they argue that patriarchal societies have changed religions in order to ensure they reflect and reinforce patriarchal values.
Armstrong (1993) argued it was the development on monotheistic religions which imbued religion with a patriarchal and sexiest core - various goddesses were replaced with male prophets.
• Linda Woodhead argues that religion is not necessarily sexiest or patriarchal and writes of a ‘religious feminism’. She argues that many Muslim women choose to wear a veil and see it is a positive and liberating choice.
• others have suggested that religion is becoming increasingly female-dominated, particularly in western democracies. Attendance at religious services is much more common among women.

Question 66

Evaluation of the view that religion acts a conservative force?

Answer 66

• overall, religion can only act as a conservative force if most people in society believe in it, and indeed if most people in society believe the same things. Secularisation and diversity in contemporary society significantly undermines this role for religion, whether you see it in a positive light (functionalists) or negative force (Marxists & Feminists). Religion can only engender a collective conscience or a false consciousness through widespread faith. As such, many argue that the idea that religion acts as a conservative force is an outdated one.
• religious beliefs are not always in step with the dominant ideas prevalent in society. As such, if people are persuaded to share those religious beliefs, they come to hold an alternative view and therefore might be at the forefront of demanding social change.

Question 67

What happens through religion?

Answer 67

Through religion, people learn the norms and values of society. This can be viewed as positively (functionalists) as ensuring a value consensus in maintained. Alternatively, it can be viewed negatively, as transmitting the values of a powerful group in society in order for them to maintain power and control.

Question 68

What does religion need to be for it to act as a conservative force?

Answer 68

Religion must be powerful. Sociologists argue that in modern western democracies religion has largely lost that power. Marxists and feminists see it as a role that maintains the power of powerful groups and helps to subjugate those who are not powerful. They would argue that society remains stratified, that social differentiation is secured, through religion acting as in ideological weapon.

Question 69

What was Webers focus of his study ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism?

Answer 69

Focus of this study was that religion was an engine of social change. He identified features of the Calvinist Protestant religion which he argued had the unintended consequence of playing a major role in kick-starting capitalism.

Question 70

What was Calvinism?

Answer 70

A Protestant religious movement from the 16th Century

Question 71

What are the 2 features of Calvinism that Weber considered to be especially influential in the development of capitalism?

Answer 71

Ascetism
Predestination

Question 72

What is Ascetism?

Answer 72

A philosophy of self-denial: the idea that Christians should lead an austere life, without luxuries.

Question 73

What is predestination?

Answer 73

The idea that it has already been decided who will go to heaven and who will go to hell and there’s nothing you can do about this during your time on earth.
Good deeds, repentance etc won’t save you

Question 74

What is the problem with the belief in predestination?

Answer 74

It fails to perform many functions that sociologists like Parsons or Malinowski suggested religion should perform, because it offers little comfort. It contributed to a sense of anxiety, sometimes described as salvation panic

Question 75

What would Calvinists look for from god?

Answer 75

Would look for signs from God that they were among those who were going to heaven. They increasingly came to see success as a sign, and therefore threw themselves into their work.

Question 76

How did Calvinism help capitalism?

Answer 76

Because of Ascetism and the idea that people should make themselves useful, it was business at which Calvinists might be successful, and when they were successful, instead of spending the money on luxury items, they reinvested the money into their businesses. Making money and reinvesting it in order to make money was the origin of the values and spirit of capitalism

Question 77

Evaluation of Weber?

Answer 77

• even Weber himself acknowledged that Calvinism was not the only factor responsible for the development of capitalism. He believed it to be a significant factor, but acknowledged that there would have been others
• Weber has been accused of holding a ‘debate with the ghost of Marx’. While Marx saw capitalism as the product of material relationships and religion as something which reflected those material interests, Weber sought to turn it on its head, by suggesting that economic change could be driven by religious beliefs and values.
• Weber’s conclusions have received some criticism. Eisenstadt (1968) argues that capitalism did occur in places where there was no Calvinism.
• others have pointed out that there were places were Calvinism was very strong where there was very little development of capitalism and indeed hostility to commerce.
• some have questioned Weber’s understanding of Calvinism and other religions and therefore his explanation is incorrect on a theological level

Weber was an interactionist

Question 78

Neo-Marxist views on religion and social change?

Answer 78

Religion had a dual character and could act as a conservative force but it was also possible for it to challenge the status quo and encourage social change

Question 79

Which religion is an example of dual character?

Answer 79

Hinduism - kept the maintenance of the caste system (social classes) but also inspired huge social change in the Indian nationalist movement & particularly the principles of non-violence and self-renunciation

Question 80

What did Bloch (1954) write about and argue?

Answer 80

Wrote about The Principle of Hope and argued that religion did offer people the idea of a better sort of society. Although he thought that religious faith was misplaced, he did see in it a hope for a better sort of society and a belief that people should be able to have dignity and live a good life

Question 81

What did Gramsci write about?

Answer 81

Wrote about the way in which bourgeoisie maintained power in capitalist society’s. He argued that through culture, the bourgeoisie was able to maintain hegemony: a dominant set of ideas that come to be seen as common sense.
He agreed that religion played a part in that and contributed to the hegemonic control of the ruling class however didn’t think this was the only role religion could play. Religion could be useful for building a counter-hegemony, led by organic intellectuals & popularise ideas that ran counter to those of the ruling class and helping build rebellion and protest

Question 82

Examples of religious leaders acting like Gramsci’s organic intellectuals and using ideas in religion to campaign for significant change?

Answer 82

• the role of Martin Luther king in the US civil right movement
• Liberation theology in Latin America

Question 83

How did Otto Maduro view liberation theology?

Answer 83

As an example of how religious organisations could provide guidance to the working class and the oppressed as they struggle with the ruling class

Question 84

Rather than being a conservative force, what did the Catholic Church locally perform?

Answer 84

Locally performed a revolutionary role in countries like El Salvador in the fight against their military dictatorships.
A key example is Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador. Initially Romero was concerned about priests in his diocese working alongside the poor, helping them to organise groups and participating in political campaigns. However, he became increasingly angered by the oppressive nature in El Salvador and the brutal repression of the poor. As archbishop, Romero used his platform to speak out against the government, denouncing state killings. He also set up various schemes to assist the victims and their families

Question 85

What is Romero a clear example of?

Answer 85

Religious figures and religious organisations not working hand-in-hand with the state and ruling class as a conservative force

Question 86

Evaluation of neo-Marxist views on religion & social change?

Answer 86

• some question how central religion was to the Civil Rights Movement. Although king was a clergyman, the movement was multi-faith and broadly secular
• even though neo-Marxist views are arguably outdated in that they see religion as being socially very significant, whether it be a conservative force or an engine of social change. Those sociologists that argue there has been a rapid process of secularisation would question whether religion today plays an especially significant role in either way, conservative or reformist.

Question 87

What’s an example of religion being a force for social change?

Answer 87

Islamic revolution 1979 in Iran

Question 88

What happened during the Islamic revolution 1979?

Answer 88

Iran became very westernised and a largely secular, liberal society. However, it was run by a very wealthy elite which got rich on oil profits while most lived in poverty. Much of the resentment against the Shahs regime was expressed in terms of anti-western sentiment and fuelled and increase in religion fundamentalism. It was this movement that led to the revolution of 1979 and while it was removing a regime that was widely resented across Iran, many would see the social change as being regressive rather than progressive. The revolutionary change was seen as conservative.

Question 89

What does Bruce write about religion?

Answer 89

Religion is able to be an engine of both progressive and regressive social change. US civil rights = progressive change but New Christian Right in the US = regressive change

Question 90

What’s another example of regressive social change?

Answer 90

The role of terrorist groups such as ISIS

Question 91

Evaluation of the view that religion leads to social change?

Answer 91

• issues with the extent to which religion was really the engine or the catalyst of the change. In societies, where religion is central to social life it is always likely to play some part in social change, but does it CAUSE it? Some argue it was political activism and legal and constitutional developments that brought civil rights reform to the USA rather than the religious beliefs of the campaigners.
• for religion to be effective as a conservative force or an engine of social change, it must be a significant force in society. Secularisation theory suggests that this is not the case in contemporary society.

Question 92

How does religion link to power?

Answer 92

Whether religion is engaged in conserving the status quo or driving social change has much to do with who holds the power in society.

Question 93

Traditionally, most people with a religious belief belonged to…?

Answer 93

Some manner of religious organisation

Question 94

What are denominations?

Answer 94

The different branches of the Christian church

Question 95

The first sociological typology of churches came from who?

Answer 95

Max Weber

Question 96

What did Max Weber differentiate between?

Answer 96

Churches and sects
Identified churches as large organisations and sects as small ones and noting various social differences between the 2

Question 97

What are churches according to Troeltsch (1912)?

Answer 97

• they claim a monopoly over the truth - claim that their position is true and that the views of religious groups are false
• they are closely connected to the state.
• they have a developed, hierarchical structure. There will be clear lines of seniority in the clergy and hold a number of rules and regulations. Churches tend to make relatively few demands on their members. In this way active membership can generally fit around a normal, working life, making it accessible to people from a range of social backgrounds
• churches are mainstream, conservative organisations that seek to defend the status quo. They seek to be open and universal but are attractive to those on high incomes (ruling class) who have interest in preserving society as it is and resisting social change
• people are often born into a church, rather than choosing it. Indeed, they are likely to be included in the church before they are old enough to understand it’s teachings.

Question 98

What are sects according to Troeltsch (1912)?

Answer 98

Troeltsch characterised sects as organisations that broke away from a church because they were dissatisfied with its teachings or practices. This would be a small-scale schism with the sect formed by dissatisfied members of a congregation rather than a split towards the top of the hierarchy

SECTS:
•. Claim a monopoly over the truth and are often hostile to other religious organisations
• don’t have a complex hierarchy, instead usually being led by a charismatic leader
• they are small
• they demand total commitment from members, and therefore aren’t accessible without significant sacrifices
• they are usually hostile to the state and to mainstream society (Wallis called this world-rejecting)
• often made up of marginalised, deprived groups such as those on low incomes or from minority-ethnic groups
• tend to grow quickly but can also decline very quickly & death if charismatic leader can lead to end of sect

Question 99

What are dominations according to Niebuhr (1929)?

Answer 99

The halfway house between sect and church is described as a domination.
• they aren’t closely connected to the state and will comment and campaign on social issues
• their membership is larger than a sect but smaller than an established church
• they have some hierarchy but less than an established church
• they often do not claim a monopoly of the truth, being quite accepting of other denominations, churches and religions

Question 100

Example of a sect?

Answer 100

Shincheonji (New Heaven New Earth)

Question 101

Evaluation of sociological definitions and explanations on religious organisations?

Answer 101

• it’s often the case with typologies that reality never quite fits with the theory. Many religious organisations have some elements of more than one type. Also, organisations change over time or between different places. I’m countries where the Roman Catholic Church is the dominant or established religion it fits the church typology quite neatly, whereas in somewhere like the UK it might have more of the characteristics of a denomination. In some countries, like iraq or Sweden, the Catholic Church is very small
• Steve Bruce (1995) questions whether Troeltsch’s typology did church still applies to contemporary society. He points out that in modern societies we now have religious pluralism meaning it’s much harder for churches to claim a monopoly over the truth. He points to how the Church of England is not always a conservative force anymore, often taking critical positions about government policies and campaigning for change. Others have pointed out that religion pluralism has led to a decline in churches but a growth in other forms of religious organisation
• Roland Robertson pointed out increasing disagreements between established churches and governments, partly as a result of secularisation in society and governments being less concerned about the attitudes of churches and also as a consequence of globalisation
• in modern western societies, it is less usual for most people in a society to belong to a church. For example, in the UK, the Church of England has fewer than 1 mil active members

Question 102

What did Brian Wilson argue?

Answer 102

Argued that many religious and spiritual organisations operating in contemporary society don’t fit into any of the categories. This has led to the development of typologies of cults and other New Religious Movements

Question 103

What does Roy Wallis say about sects and cults?

Answer 103

Cults differ from sects in that they are individualised, loosely-organised, tolerant and make very few demands on their adherents. For Wallis, cults don’t claim to have found the truth, nor do they condemn those who are not part of their group

Question 104

What are new religious movements according to Wallis?

Answer 104

• world affirming new religious movements
• world accommodating new religious movements
• world rejecting new religious movements

Question 105

What are world affirming NRM?

Answer 105

World affirming NRM - or cults- seek to offer their members spiritual enrichment. They often don’t include belief in a god and generally make few demands on their members. Instead they offer personal fulfilment, meditation and ways to turn individuals into better people. However, some world-affirming cults are more organised and have greater demands on their members, such as Scientology

Question 106

What are World Accommodating NRM?

Answer 106

World-accommodating NRM separate life into spiritual and worldly spheres, focusing on the spiritual. They neither affirm nor reject the world, but they do adapt in order to ensure they can peacefully live within it.

Question 107

What are World rejecting NRM?

Answer 107

A world rejecting NRM is one that sees the world as inherently evil or corrupt. They think that the way society is currently organised is against the will of god and needs to radically change. E.g millenarianism is a belief system whereby adherents are waiting for a moment of radical change

Question 108

What are new religious movements according to Stark and Bainbridge?

Answer 108

• Audience cult
• Client cult
• Cult movement

Question 109

What Is audience cult?

Answer 109

Stark and Bainbridge look at religions and spiritual movements as if they were business organisations, referring to participants/adherents/congregants as customers or clients.
An audience cult is one where the participant is a passive consumer. People might attend lectures, read books or buy DVDs to hear a particular message or consume a particular set of ideas. There’s no necessary ongoing relationship or expectations.

Question 110

What is a Client Cult?

Answer 110

A client cult is one where the cult has a relationship with its adherents akin to a doctor/patient relationship. The cult is a service provider and the clients enter into a prolonged relationship as they might do with a therapist. It’s not like a sect or church however, as they will choose when, how often and for how long they wish to receive these services

Question 111

What is a cult movement?

Answer 111

A cult movement is one which doesn’t simply provide one service, but looks to fulfil all the spiritual needs of their costumers. This relationship then becomes more like a traditional church, demonstration or sect, with the clients being more like members of a congregation. They are more likely to identify themselves as a member of the group and as a believer. Within this typology there is still a wide range of organisations with some expecting more commitment than others.

Question 112

Who conducted the Kendall Project?

Answer 112

Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead

Question 113

What was the name of the book Heelas and Woodhead published to explain their findings?

Answer 113

The Spiritual Revolution: why religion is giving way to spirituality (2005)

Question 114

What did Heelas and Woodhead meaning by ‘the congregational domain’?

Answer 114

The church and chapel type religiosity in the town: who attended religious ceremonies, how often and where?

Question 115

What did church census show about Kendall and religion?

Answer 115

7.9% of the towns population attended one of its 22 churches on one Sunday in November

Question 116

What did Heelas and Woodhead do in their study?

Answer 116

Interviewed members who attended the church about the meaning of church to them, and the researcher attended the church services. They also gave out distributed questionnaires in the churches (not a representative sample)

Question 117

What was the ‘holistic milieu’ in the Kendal project?

Answer 117

Mapping all non-congregational activity in the town that might reasonably said to have a spiritual dimension.

Question 118

What was the street survey in the Kendal project?

Answer 118

Survey to try and capture data about the majority of Kendal’s residents who were neither members of the congregational domain nor the holistic milieu. Only a small minority of people surveyed expressed having no religious or spiritual belief at all

Question 119

What did Heelas and Woodhead conclude?

Answer 119

Concluded that non-congregational spiritual activities were increasing rapidly while traditional congregational activity was declining. They found that the holistic milieu was particularly popular with middle-aged women.

Question 120

Evaluation of the Kendal project?

Answer 120

• there were reasons given for choosing Kendal, but it is arguably not typical of religiosity in the UK. Particularly, it is a predominantly white British population and so the greater religiosity of minority-ethnic groups isn’t reflected. Nor is the growth in non-Christian religions in the UK, such as Islam.
• Kendal is quite a middle class town. Whether the trends recorded in Kendal would be present in less prosperous, multicultural small towns let alone in city centres is highly questionable.
• defining the holistic milieu was highly problematic

Question 121

What did John Drane 1999) suggest? (Postmodernist)

Answer 121

Suggests that new age movements have grown as a result of an apparent failure of science as a belief system. He argues that while the enlightenment and rationalisation led to people dismissing traditional religions, they increasingly found that science didn’t prove the answers they needed either. There was a sense that science, reason and development would solve the worlds problems, but in fact create more problems. Drane then argues that people are turning away from science and looking within themselves and turning to spirituality

Question 122

Evaluation of sociological definitions and explanations of religious organisations? - NRM

Answer 122

• as with the typologies for churches, denominations and sects, real organisations tend to be harder to pin down in reality than in theory. Most organisations have features of several of the types, or move between them
• some question to what extent some of these organisations should be considered religious at all. Some of the holistic, spiritual and new age movements are ideas that people dip into or try out without any real organised belief or commitment. People might read their horoscopes every week but more for entertainment than through faith that they contain any truth
• Bruce (1995) dismisses the idea that new age belief is a feature of postmodernism, instead characterising is a product of modernism: an extreme individualism that is not really religion at all.

Question 123

How can data about religion be collected?

Answer 123

Through:
• the census
• church census
• surveys
• data held by religious organisations themselves

Question 124

What is the problem with census measuring religiosity?

Answer 124

While the census asks people to note their religion, it is likely the ‘head of the house’ might note the religion of all members (this may be inaccurate)

People might not take the census remotely seriously e.g 2001, 390,000 Britons declared themselves as Jedi Knights, making it the 4th largest ‘religion’ in the UK

Question 125

What is the problem with Church Census?

Answer 125

A church census looks at who is attending church (or other religious institutions) on a given date. This doesn’t necessarily give a complete picture as the census date might artificially inflate attendance; not all religious organisations are likely to be included; people may have religious faith but not attended or attend for reasons other than religious faith

Question 126

What is the problem with religiosity and religious belief?

Answer 126

They aren’t the same thing and therefore involve different measure

Question 127

Religious belief definition?

Answer 127

Whether people believe in a religion; hold a religious faith

Question 128

Religiosity definition?

Answer 128

The extent to which they participate in religious activities

You can hold religious belief while displaying little or no religiosity

Question 129

What happens in many western democracies regarding the % of people that claim to belong to a particular religion?

Answer 129

In many western democracies, including the UK, the % of people claiming to belong to a particular religion is much higher than the number who regularly practice their faith

Question 130

What are religious organisations likely to do with statistics?

Answer 130

Likely to inflate their memberships in order to retain the impression that they are significant social institutions

Question 131

What was the traditional view about social class and belief?

Answer 131

Religiosity was strong among the working class, tying into Weber’s idea of a theodicy of disprivileged and also the traditional Marxist view that the purpose of religion was to act as an opiate or spiritual gin for the masses.

Question 132

What do Marxists argue about social class and belief?

Answer 132

Argue that religion performs different functions for different classes, for the ruling class it legitimates their position and their success, and for the working class it offers hope for reward in the afterlife.

Question 133

What is there evidence to suggest about social class and belief in contemporary society?

Answer 133

Religiosity is higher in middle class.
A survey from 2015 suggested that 62% of church goers are middle class

Question 134

What’s an explanation for religiosity being higher in middle class?

Answer 134

Religion offers opportunities for social networking which the middle class make use of, rather than that there is necessarily a greater amount of religious faith among the middle class

Question 135

What religion is associated with middle class?

Answer 135

The Anglican Church - seen as the religion for the ruling class

Question 136

What religion is more associated with the working class?

Answer 136

Roman Catholic Church and Methodist church - mostly due to geographical areas where the faith is well established

Question 137

What social class do new age movements and cults appeal to?

Answer 137

Appeal to the middle class - might be due to sense of spiritual deprivation.

Bruce (1995) argued that spiritual needs seem more important to those who have few material needs (working class) however others have pointed out that middle class individuals can still feel relatively deprived and therefore seek answers for why they are not as successful as some of their peers

Question 138

Working class reasons for religiosity? Most likely religious activity?

Answer 138

Reasons:
• theodicy of disprivilege - religion offers compensators such as rewards in the afterlife
• financial/social support and welfare
• sense of belonging and community

Activity:
• denominations
• sects

Question 139

Middle class reasons for religiosity? Most likely religious activity?

Answer 139

Reasons:
• spiritual deprivation/relative deprivation
• social networking
• tradition and social desirability

Activity:
• cults and new age movements
• traditional churches

Question 140

What gender are more likely to attend church?

Answer 140

Women are significantly more likely to attend church than men and are also more likely to self-report being religious - church census 2005 showed 57% women and 43% men

Question 141

What are the reasons for more women attending church?

Answer 141

Traditional view is that women’s expressive role is a good match with religious faith. Raising a child in their religion and taking them to church was seen as part of that role. Also women’s proximity to childbirth, child rearing, caring for the sick and caring for the elderly gives them reason to pray and seek spiritual support and guidance. Furthermore, women having been marginalised in domestic roles have them more time to devote to religion whereas men had little time away from work and therefore were more likely to spend it on leisure persuits rather than going to church

Question 142

Further reasons why more women attend church than men?

Answer 142

• women live longer than men - older people are significantly more religious than young adults and there are simply more older women
• men and women are socialised differently and women are socialised to be more compliant and passive. Religion expects compliance, conformity etc. men are socialised to be more dominant and therefore, while they take leadership positions in church, they are less happy to simply accept what they are told from the pulpit

Question 143

What does feminist Simone De Beauvoir argue about women and religion?

Answer 143

Argue women are sold a false ideology by religious teachings which encourages them to believe that they will get their reward in heaven and should therefore be committed and devoted to their faith

Question 144

What are women more likely to get involved in compared to men? What did Glock and Stark say about this?

Answer 144

More likely to get involved in religious sects.
Glock and Stark (1965) put this down to women experiencing more deprivation than men, because of patriarchy. As such, this is a similar explanation for why working class and minority-ethnic groups are more likely to join sects as well

Question 145

What does Linda Woodhead note about women?

Answer 145

More recently, women are more likely to get involved in cults and new age movements than men are. Men have drifted away from the main established religions at a faster rate than women, but they tend not to have replaced this with alternative spiritual beliefs, whereas women are attracted to what Woodhead and Heelas called the holistic milieu. This is particularly so for middle class women. It might be that women who have lost faith in traditional religions turn to such belief systems for the same reasons women have traditionally been more religious. May also be because women do not see such practices as religious at all, but instead in terms of therapy, weight loss and exercise and are more attracted to such activities than men are

Question 146

What do Miller and Hoffman suggest?

Answer 146

Suggest that attitudes to risk between genders is a key factor. Their research suggests that men are more willing to take risks than women and higher levels of religiosity are evident among the risk averse. They argue this is because lack of religion is Risky- risks not going to heaven

Question 147

What did Woodhead (2005) suggest?

Answer 147

Suggested that churches have become feminised. She argues that secularisation has had a bigger impact on men than women. This is echoed by Bruce - he suggests that as religion becomes more a private matter than a public one, it appeals more to women, particularly women who preform a domestic role and look after children

Question 148

Evaluation of the view that women are more religious than men?

Answer 148

• the data that these conclusions are based on can be questioned. Women would appear to attend church more than men, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are more likely to believe in their chosen faith. Women may attend church for other reasons (friendship etc) and men who don’t attend church may still have a religious faith
• there might be other reasons why women are more likely to respond to surveys that they have a religious belief. Perhaps because of the historic association between faith and women, they see it as a socially desirable and therefore answer surveys accordingly. Young men may have the oooo sue response and worry that religious faith is not socially desirable or might be seen as ‘uncool’
• some sects are very male dominated and can have quite extreme and conservative views about the role of women in society. As such, one might expect fewer women to be attracted to such sects.

Question 149

What did the 2011 UK census show about age and religion?

Answer 149

• 22% of those who identify as Christian were over 65, compared to only 3.9 Muslims
• 88% of Muslims were under 50
• those who said they had no religious belief tended to be young with over 1/3 being under 25

Question 150

What did Brierley (2005) find?

Answer 150

The average age of church goers increased from 37 to 49 between 1979 and 2005

Question 151

Why are older people more religious?

Answer 151

• more aware of their own mortality, wanting to book a place in the afterlife
• religious practice was more common when they were young and they were socialised to be religious in a way younger people aren’t
• religious organisations offer a social life and support network for people who have become more isolated and disengaged from wider society

Question 152

Why are younger people often less religious?

Answer 152

• religious institutions are unattractive and boring
• greater competition - both in terms of a spiritual supermarket and in terms of other pursuits and other secular sources of inspiration e.g sport, celebrities - Lynch (2008)
• Bruce points to the decline in religious education. There’s been a huge decline in Sunday schools from a situation when over half the children in the UK attended one.

Question 153

What did Brierley (2005) find about age groups in church?

Answer 153

Found that the age group with the lowest church attendance was 15-19.

Question 154

Why is the peak in attendance of churches not the very oldest age group?

Answer 154

The oldest believers struggle to attend ceremonies because of health or mobility issues or lack of transport

Question 155

What are the age groups outside traditional churches?

Answer 155

Very mixed
Sects often appeal to young adults as they offer companionship and community, a sense of belonging
New age movements and cults often Middle Aged, middle class women

Question 156

Evaluation of patterns in age and belief?

Answer 156

• the census data on ‘no religion’ and Christianity is likely to understate the scale of this issue. A small but significant group of young people completing the census opted for various ‘comedy’ religions rather than state that they had no religion. Furthermore, a number of people identified as Christian without really having much, if any, religious belief and without practising the faith
• the data for Muslims is questionable, religious faith and observance tends to be seen as very important in Muslim families and there may be assumptions about the religious belief of family members that would be entered into the census form without necessarily reflecting people’s private beliefs.

Question 157

What’s the connection between ethnicity and belief?

Answer 157

Almost all minority ethnic groups in the UK are more religious and show higher levels on religious our then the white British majority - found by Tariq Modood at al (1997) in the results of a social survey confided in mind 1990s

Question 158

What’s the relation between Muslims and age?

Answer 158

Evidence to suggest that young Muslims in the UK had a greater knowledge of their religion than their parents did

Question 159

What did Modood find about declining religiosity?

Answer 159

Did find some evidence Of declining religiosity among some Asian men

Question 160

What are the reasons for the greater religiosity among minority-ethnic groups?

Answer 160

• Bruce writes about cultural transition. This is the idea that minority-ethnic groups could use religion and religious institutions to assist the process of immigration. When people came to a new country, with very different belief systems and unfamiliar traditions, building religious communities helped to support them and to reduce the shock of the transition from one way of life to another.
• Bruce suggest an alternative - cultural defence. This is where immigrant communities or other minorities use religion to defend themselves from the hostility of the majority population. It’s not a case of bringing something from a country or origin in order to ease transition, but instead building a safe community away from racism.
• Johal (1998) has suggested that religious identity is increasingly important in a multi-cultural and multi-faith society. This ties in with Modood’s findings about British Muslims and is supported by Grace Davie (1994) who suggests that religious identity provides a sense of belonging and cultural identity.

Question 161

John bird suggested 5 reasons for religious identity being increasingly important in a multi-cultural and multi-faith society. What are they?

Answer 161

1. greater levels of religiosity Ik countries of origin. New immigrants to the UK often come from countries which are less secular than the UK and bring their religious faith with them. Similarly, with more established minority-ethnic communities, people often maintain connections with their country of origin, perhaps through family, and keeping hold of their religious faith can be a key part of that connection and association
2. Membership of a religious group providing a sense of community and identity
3. Maintaining cultural identity and tradition
4. Religious socialisation: children come under pressure to maintain the religious traditions of their parents
5. A way to deal with oppression (cultural defence)

Question 162

George Chryssides suggests that new immigrants can choose:

Answer 162

• Apostasy - abandoning their beliefs in order to try and fit into a hostile environment
• accommodation - adapting their beliefs to make them more in tune with the values of the new environment
• renewed vigour - increased religiosity and observance in response to a hostile environment

Question 163

Evaluation of the view that minority ethnic groups are more religious than the white majority in the UK

Answer 163

• statistical data on this is convincing, but all such data must be questioned. They represent a social construction rather than a social fact. Religiosity is seen as very important in some minority-ethnic groups and therefore lack of religious faith would be a highly deviant viewpoint to admit to. This might disguise levels of atheism. Similarly, religious organisations carry a greater social significance in some minority-ethnic communities, as a community hub and service provide, rather than purely as a place to pray
• Bruce’s explanations - cultural transition and cultural defence - suggest high levels of religiosity are not down to high levels of religious belief, but other social factors.
• areas which have seen high levels of polish immigration have seen an increase in the congregations in their Catholic Churches

Question 164

How did Brian Wilson describe secularisation?

Answer 164

Brian Wilson (1966) described secularisation as ‘the process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose their social significance’

Question 165

What is the quantitative data that suggests religious practice and institutions are losing their social significance in countries like the UK and USA?

Answer 165

English church census suggests that 50% of the adult population attended church in the 1850s, compared to just 7.5% in 2000

Question 166

What did Gill et al do?

Answer 166

Used surveys to show a significant decline in belief in god and the afterlife

Question 167

What process did Max Weber talk about?

Answer 167

Talked about the process of rationalisation and the disenchantment of the world. He writes about how, in the Middle Ages, the world was an enchanted garden populated with angels and demons, spirits and ghosts. He argued that the enlightenment period, with its great strides forward in science and philosophy, began the processes of rationalisation and disenchantment where people would increasingly seek for rational explanation for phenomena, rather than blame divine intervention.

Question 168

How did Weber view rationalisation and disenchantment?

Answer 168

In terms of changing religious beliefs and an increasing separation between religious belief and everyday existence: the idea of a non-interventionist god who was on the outside, looking in.

Question 169

What does Peter Berger write about?

Answer 169

How there’s no longer a shared sacred canopy. Because of pluralism - the existence of a wide range of ideas and belief systems - and rationalisation, people are no longer United by a shared set of beliefs, as they were in previous eras. Furthermore, the wide range of different stories that claim a monopoly on the truth undermines the plausibility of it all. They can’t all be there, so perhaps none of them are

Question 170

How did Steve Bruce further develop Webers concept of rationalisation?

Answer 170

Bruce argues that people have developed more rational ways of thinking and a technological worldview

Question 171

What did Parsons write about?

Answer 171

Structural differentiation. Increasingly other institutions have taken on many of the functions that religion use to preterm. The most obvious one is the state, which has taken over historical religious functions such as education and health but also increasingly provide funerals, marriage ceremonies etc. as a result of this, it inevitably loses its social significance and therefore is again part of the process of secularisation

Question 172

What is another concept of secularisation?

Answer 172

Secularisation from within where some religions have themselves become significantly more secular, perhaps to fit in with the modern world or to remain relevant. ( e.g views on women)

Question 173

Evaluation of the view that society is becoming for secular?

Answer 173

• there’s no reliable measurement of church attendance. Church census data and congregation counts only reveal how many attended on a particular day. If there were previous knowledge about the date, this could boost attendance in order to reflect well on the church. When data is provided by a religious organisation itself, it’s likely to present itself in a positive light. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that when people complete questionnaires asking about their church attendance, they overstate how often they attend.
• church attendance doesn’t necessarily correlate with religiosity, so a lot depends on how one chooses to define secularisation. After all, church attendance in the 1850s was not just about religious belief but also social interaction and social status.

Question 174

Grace davie evaluation that religion is becoming more secular?

Answer 174

sociologists like Grace Davie argue that, rather than religion declining it is instead changing. Davie argued that today people believe without belonging. The idea is that belief has become more privatised. There is evidence to suggest that people maintain religious belief but choose to keep their beliefs private, rather than join and participate in a traditional religious organisation
davie further suggested that people practice their religion vicariously. Professional religious figures (like priests) practice religion on behalf of believers who remain at home. People still turn to religion for baptism, weddings and funerals and for festivals like Christmas and Easter

Question 175

What idea did David Lyon have?

Answer 175

David Lyon added to this with the idea that people could ‘pick and mix’ religious beliefs as if they were purchasing consumer commodities. Such an approach to religion takes place outside churches, mosques or temples.

Question 176

What does Bruce believe about the idea of pick and mixing religion?

Answer 176

Bruce counter-argued that pick and mix is a very weak form of belief and that most people today neither believe nor belong.

Question 177

What does Berger argue?

Answer 177

Argued that there has been significant desecularisation of the world and that western academies did not predict this because they were blinded by their own atheism. Berger believes the world has become more religious in recent years
Berger argues that secularisation theory is Eurocentric and the nature of contemporary religion, globally, is pluralism rather than secularism. There is penalty of evidence that religious belief is growing rather than contracting. The percentage of people in the world who are religious is increasing

Question 178

What do Stark and Bainbridge (1996) argue?

Answer 178

Agree with Berger that secularisation theory is Eurocentric and they put this down to ‘religion market theory’ or ‘rational choice theory’. They argue that there was no ‘golden age’ of religion and that religiosity remains largely constant, because people are naturally religious and it meets various humans needs. They further argue that religious organisations act like businesses, selling a product. Where there is competition then the churches will try make themselves attractive. They argue as churches decline, new products come onto the market (sects, cults) which eventually leads to diversity and a religious ‘revival’. They use this argument to explain why religion has remained strong in the USA. No one church has ever been dominant there, there’s always been lovely completion.

Question 179

Criticism of Stark and Bainbridge?

Answer 179

Doesn’t explain why religion has remained very strong in societies with one dominant faith such as in the Middle East

Question 180

What do Norris and Inglehart (2011) propose?

Answer 180

Propose an alternative explanation called Existential security theory which suggests that religion remains a key part of societies where there is a lack of economic security. This explains why developing countries have retained high levels of religiosity - religions fills in the void as a compensator

Question 181

What is a key feature in contemporary society according to postmodernists?

Answer 181

The process of globalisation: how society has become more interconnected across the world, economically, culturally and politically

Question 182

What did Peter Beyer (1994) identify were the 3 key impacts of globalisation on religion?

Answer 182

1. Particularism
2. Universalism
3. Marginalisation

Question 183

Particularism meaning?

Answer 183

Religion has increasingly been used as an avenue for anti-globalisation activity. While one feature of globalisation is a sort of cultural homogenisation (the creation of a single, global popular culture) religion is often seen as the opposite of that: a symbol of how people are culturally different from one another, rather than the same.

Question 184

What has particularism contributed to?

Answer 184

A rise in fundamentalism and is a feature of political conflict in many areas of the world

Question 185

Universalism meaning?

Answer 185

While small fundamentalist groups might emphasise their difference from other people, the major religions have increasingly focused on eBay unites them. Far from the feared clash of civilisations, religious leaders emphasise shared values and common concerns

Question 186

Marginalisation meaning?

Answer 186

Beyer also notes that religion is increasingly marginalised in contemporary society, playing lass part in public life, although this may well be Eurocentric view and may be caused by other social changes rather than globalisation

Question 187

What’s another way globalisation has had an impact on religion?

Answer 187

Through the way religions have made use of global communications. Religious groups are able to take advantage of modern technology to recruit new members, spread the word and keep in contact with other members of the religion.

Question 188

What is religious identity much less attached to in the modern day?

Answer 188

Much less attached to national identity than it once was. Most of the main world religions are international in character and while some countries still have clear state religions, it is certainly less a feature of a national identity in the West than it use to be.

Question 189

What county is an exception?

Answer 189

India. Meera Nanda (2008) argues that Hinduism is closely related to Indian nationalism. In a survey, 93% of Indians considered their culture ‘superior to others’ and increasingly Indian national identity and Hinduism are seen as effectively the same thing.
Hinduism has become what Bellah called a civil religion. Through the worship of Hindu gods, Indians are worshipping India itself.

Question 190

What do some sociologist argue about globalisation?

Answer 190

Suggest that globalisation has led to the rapid spread of some religious organisations

Question 191

What does David Martin (2002) point out?

Answer 191

Points out the growth of Pentecostalism ( a Christian denomination). Martin contrasts Pentecostalism with Catholicism. Martin argues that various features of Pentecostalism endear it to people in poorer parts of the world in an era of globalisation. First, people choose to join the church rather than being born into it. Second, it’s viewed as being of the side of the poor. Third, it’s not associated with state or government whereas the Catholic Church is often closely connected to the state. Finally, it is less hierarchical than the Catholic Church

Question 192

What does Martin do in contrast to Giddens (1991)?

Answer 192

Martin presents one way in which religious institutions themselves have responded to globalisation whereas giddens presents another which is becoming more apparent in contemporary society

Question 193

What idea does Giddens put forward?

Answer 193

Fundamentalism

Question 194

How did Almond (2003) define fundamentalism?

Answer 194

A ‘pattern of religious militancy’ led by ‘self-styled true believers’ and identified their cause as being directly opposite to secularisation

Question 195

What does Giddens (late modernist) argue about globalisation and fundamentalists?

Answer 195

Argues that globalisation has caused significant levels of insecurity for people and that fundamentalist religion offers very simple answers. In a world of confusion and uncertainty, faith with very clear rules and absolute truths have proved very attractive

Question 196

What is fundamentalist religion?

Answer 196

Fundamentalist religion is where religious texts are taken entirely literally (such as he did creation story in bible) and provide a strict set of rules which people should live by. Because views clash with norm in society, fundamentalist religion often highly political (far right)

Question 197

Issues with fundamentalism?

Answer 197

It is a conservative force yet proposes significant social change. Fundamentalists want to change contemporary liberal, pluralistic society into a conservative and traditional society

Question 198

What is fundamentalism a cause of?

Answer 198

As well as potentially causing social change, it is a significant cause of conflict, both with other religions and with other followers of the same religion who don’t support the fundamentalist interpretation

Question 199

Evaluation of the view that globalisation has led to fundamentalism?

Answer 199

• some sociologists point out that fundamentalist religion is nothing new, it is just more noticeable we a result of globalisation and in contrast to the largely secular liberal beliefs in Western Europe today
• while certain countries have witnessed desecularisation where fundamentalist movements have replaced more secular norms, there are many other places which have seen largely fundamentalist religion in place for many years. Furthermore, what is not considered fundamentalist Christianity, for example, would’ve historically been seen as quite mainstream Christian views
• Karen Armstrong (2000) rejects the idea and points out that fundamentalist movements are not throwbacks to medieval religion but thoroughly contemporary. Medieval religion was very mysterious whereas fundamentalist movements make use of technology and the methods of modern social movements to achieve their goals
• if growth of fundamentalism is a reaction to globalisation, it’s also a reaction to secularisation

Question 200

What does Lyon describe religion has become?

Answer 200

Describes how religion has become disembedded in postmodern society: it is no longer embedded in religious organisations or in a particular country or culture and beliefs aren’t embedded in their original contexts. This allows people to pick and mix lots of different belief systems - take what they like and reject what they don’t like. In this way religion becomes a matter of choice and therefore should be viewed as consumption rather that obligation - fits in with idea of growth of holistic milieu
Major factor = technology - TV and internet has taken religion out of churches and into channels and websites - this allows religion to become more privatised - links to Davies idea of believing without belonging.

Question 201

Problems with religion linking to Durkheim, Parsons, Marx or De Beauvoir?

Answer 201

If religion is not about a shared set of beliefs but instead a private individualised belief, then it can’t lead to a collective conscience. If religion is about meeting the individual’s needs and wants as a product to be consumed, then it will not ensure self-discipline and control. People worshipping an entirely individualised, privatised religion are not worshipping society itself

Question 202

How is the idea of ‘pick and mixing’ religion related to fundamentalism?

Answer 202

Related through the way religion is a source of identity. In a society where other sources of identity are breaking down - gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality - religion can be an attractive source of identity and can become its primary function. A source of identity was never considered as a function for religion by Durkheim or Marx, because societies were assumed where most people were religious and most people believe in the same religion. In a diverse, pluralistic and globalised society, that isn’t the case and therefore religions new role is a source of identity.

Question 203

What does rejecting metanarratives mean for Lyotard?

Answer 203

Rejecting metanarratives, like Marxism theories or scientific theories, means that religion is just another narrative, competing with all the others. This is a challenge to secularisation theories because it’s saying religious ‘truths’ are as true as scientific ones. The idea that people can choose their own truth is another factor in a resacrilisation of society.

Question 204

What does Bauman argue?

Answer 204

Argued that in modernity people were looking for theories that were always right: universal truths, but in postmodernity people would find the belief or theory or truth that helped them at that time in that place.

Question 205

Evaluation of postmodern views of religion?

Answer 205

• Berger was correct that secularisation theory is Eurocentric and religion is growing in other places - for the vast majority of those religious people, religion is still largely traditional and carrying out its traditional functions. Many argue that secularisation is wrong not because religion has changed, but because it’s largely stayed the same
• while televangelism and preachers on YouTube are examples of religion changing, it’s possible that Lyon overstates their significance. Most of the audience at home will also attend religious ceremonies as these things are marketed at a religious audience.
• there’s still quite a lot of evidence that, in western liberal democracies, secularisation theory is accurate. Although there’s been a growth in new age movements, they don’t come close to challenging the popularity of major religions or atheism. Many of those who costume new age ideas are happy to consider themselves Christian or are clear that they have no religious faith. Those ‘believing without belonging’ and worshipping vicariously through professional clergy might not really believe much at all (Bruce)

Question 206

What does contemporary society being globalised and pluralistic mean for religion?

Answer 206

Religion has become more about identity in a way it traditionally was not

Question 207

What are 2 key idea about religion in contemporary society?

Answer 207

It’s assumed that economic development and prosperity goes hand in hand with secularisation. It’s also suggested that increased religiosity is a reaction to globalisation among the poor and marginalised - the ‘losers’ in the new global system

Question 208

What is significant about Nanda’s study on India?

Answer 208

Globalisation has come to India and brought with it rapid economic growth and a fast growing middle class. However Nanda reveals a large increase in the religiosity of this new middle class - Nanda argues as Indians become richer, they donate money to their temples and go on pilgrimages.
Nanda therefore argues that globalisation has helped to fuel Hindu nationalism in India and that this has been driven from the successful middle class
STRONG EVALUATION AGAINST SECULARISATION THEORY

Question 209

How has Nanda’s conclusions been criticised?

Answer 209

People argue that Hindu nationalism has deeper roots than globalisation and question the existence of a causal relationship between the two. These critics suggest that globalisation and economic development is likely to lead to sexualisation in India too

Question 210

What is a metanarrative?

Answer 210

A ‘big story’ which sets out to explain how the world works