New religious movements Flashcards
Roy Wallis (1985)
> sociologists found it hard to place groups into “sect” and “cult” therefore New Religious Movements (NRM) were introduced.
three main types of NRM:
1. World-affirming NRMs - accept the world and positively embrace it. Offer members techniques to become more successful in the world.
2. World-accommodating NRMs - encourage members to remain in wider society, but they remain critical of its secular nature and prefer members not to take part in “sinful” activities.
3. World-rejecting NRMs - founded by a charismatic leader and hostile to the wider society. Strict conditions for entry and continuous members. Expect high commitment and they are the truth in their eyes.
EVALUATION - in reality, NRMs overlap and they only create more confusion rather than avoiding it.`
Paul Heelas (2005) New Age Movement.
> New age refers to a large number of spiritual therapies since the 1970s.
New agers don’t have a “belonging” to the group but practice individually.
Heelas calls it a holistic milieu. That is self-spirituality
New-age therapies include yoga, crystal healing, palm reading, meditation, etc.
The new age is part of a spiritual revolution, where people have taken control of their own beliefs and spirituality.
Who does the new age appeal to?
> All age groups, but especially middle-aged, middle-class women, especially those working in professional, expressive occupations.
> They are more open-minded and have more leisure time and money to enjoy them.
> They believe that traditional religions don’t have answers to all questions and that the New age does.
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New age
> Has no idea of membership and is purely for individuals.
In the absence of grand-meta narratives, people seek a personal explanation for their existence.
New age doesn’t claim a monopoly of the truth.
De-traditionalisation is used by Heelas when referring to the New Age rejecting mainstream religions which were tradition
