organisations, movements and members

Question 1

what are churches?

Answer 1

(Troeltsch)
churches are large, with millions of members, place few demand on members, have a bureaucratic hierarchy, claim a monopoly of truth and are universalistic, ideologically conservative and linked to the state

Question 2

what are sects?

Answer 2

(Troeltsch)
sects are small exclusive groups demanding real commitment from members, are hostile to wider. society, recruit from the poor and oppressed, often have charismatic leadership and believe they have a monopoly of religious truth

Question 3

criticisms of Troeltsch ideas of churches and sects

Answer 3

they don’t fit into todays reality

e.g. some churches have lost their monopoly and been reduced to the status of denominations

Question 4

what are denominations?

Answer 4

(Niebuhr)
denominations are a midway between churches and sects, membership is less exclusive, they broadly accept society’s values, are not linked to the state and impose some minor restrictions, but not as demanding as sects

Question 5

what are cults?

Answer 5

least organised of all religious organisations, they are highly individualistic, small, loose-knit groupings without a sharply defined belief system (many are world-affirming)

Question 6

categorised of new religious movements

Answer 6

Wallis
world-rejecting NRMs
world-accomindvating NRMs
world-affirming NRMs

Question 7

what are world-rejecting NRMs?

Answer 7

have a clear notion of god, highly critical of the outside world and expect radical change

members must break with their former life, live communally and have restricted contact with the outside world (controls all aspects of life)

Question 8

what are world-accomodating NRMs?

Answer 8

often breakaways from existing churches, neither accept nor reject the world, focusing on religious rather than worldly matters, members tend to lead conventional lives

Question 9

what are world-affirming NRMs?

Answer 9

often lack some of the conventional features of religion, they offer followers access to spiritual or supernatural powers and accept the world as it is

promising followers success in their goals, followers are often customers rather than members

Question 10

evaluation of Wallis’ categorisation of NRMs

Answer 10

not clear whether he is categorising according to the movement’s teachings or individuals members’ beliefs, and also ignores the diversity of beliefs hat may exist within a NRM

Question 11

how do Stark and Bainbridge distinguish between religious organisations?

Answer 11

the degree of tension between the group and wider society, sects and cults are both in conflict with wider society

sects results from splits in existing organisations breaking away and offering other-worldly benefits to those suffering economic or ethical deprivation

cults are new religions (Scientology) or ones that have been imported (TM), offer this-worldly benefits to individuals suffering psychic or health deprivation

Question 12

what is TM?

Answer 12

transcendental meditation (created in India)

Question 13

how do stark and Bainbridge subdivide cults?

Answer 13

according to how organised they are:

audience cults: least organised, no formal membership and little interaction between members

client cults: a consultant/client relationship, with ‘therapies’ promising personal fulfilment

cultic movements: more organised, exclusivist, requiring high levels of commitment, claiming to meet all their members’ religious needs

Question 14

what are explanations for the rapid growth of sects and cultus since 1960s?

Answer 14

marginality
relative deprivation
social change and NRMs

Question 15

how has marginality caused rapid growth of sects and cults?

Answer 15

Weber says sects appeal to disprivileged groups who are marginal to society

sects offer a solution to their lack of status by offering members a theodicy of disprivilege (religious explanation & justification of their disadvantage) christian belief that ‘the meek shall inherit the earth’

many sects have recruited from the marginalised poor e.g. 20th century Nation of Islam recruited among disadvantaged blacks in USA

Question 16

how has relative deprivation caused rapid growth of sects and cults?

Answer 16

its possible for someone who’s quite privileged to feel deprived compared with others e.g. MC may feel spiritually deprived

people may then turn to sects for a sense of community especially in todays consumerist world which they perceive as impersonal and lacking moral value

Stark and Bainbridge argue that it is the relatively deprived who break away from churches to form sects, seeking to compromise beliefs in order to fit into society

‘harder for camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god’, better off might want to play this down

Question 17

how has social change and NRMs caused rapid growth of sects and cults?

Answer 17

Wilson argues that periods of rapid change undermine established norms, producing anomie, those most affected may turn to sects

e.g. dislocation from industrial revolution led to bird of methodism which offered sense of community and warmth

social change may also stimulate growth of NRMs

Question 18

how does social change stimulate growth of NRMs?

Answer 18

world-rejecting NRMs: social changes from 1960s (increased time spent in education) gave young people freedom, enabling an idealistic counter-culture to develop, growth of radical political movements offered alternative ideas about the future, attractive as they offered a more idealistic way of life

world-affirming NRMs: grown in response to modernity, brings rationalisation of work, work ceases to be a source of identity, and expected to achieve. WANRMs provide sense of identity and techniques promising worldly success

Question 19

how do sects and NRMs change over their lifetime?

Answer 19

churches stretch over many centuries, sects are often short-lived organisations:

denomination or death
the sectarian cycle
established sects

Question 20

denomination or death of sects

Answer 20

Niebuhr argues that sects are world-rejecting organisations that come into existence because of schism

within a generation they either die out or compromise with the world, abandoning their extreme ideas to become a denomination

because the second generation lack the commitment of their parents, ‘protestant ethic’ effect (sects that practise asceticism tempted to compromise with world), death of leader cause to collapse or bureaucratic leadership takes over so denomination

Question 21

what is schism?

Answer 21

splitting from an established church because of a disagreement over religious doctrine

Question 22

what is the sectarian cycle?

Answer 22

Stark and Bainbridge see religious organisations moving through a cycle:

1) schism - deprived members break away to found world-rejecting sect
2) initial fervour and charismatic leadership - tension between sect and wider society
3) denominationalism and cooling of fervour - ‘protestant ethic’ effect
4) establishment - as sect becomes world-accepting and tension with wider society reduces
5) further schism - less privileged members break away to found new sect

Question 23

why do not all sects follow the sectarian cycle?

Answer 23

Wilson says not all sects follow sectarian cycle, depends on how sects answer the question ‘what shall we do to be saved?’

conversions sects: who aim to convert large numbers of people, are likely to grow rapidly into larger denominations

Adventist sects: keep themselves separate from the corrupt world, this separatism prevents them from compromising and becoming a denomination

established sects: some sects survive for many generations e.g. Amish and Mormons (contrary to Niebuhr’s predictions), children socialised into high levels of commitment

Question 24

what is the new age?

Answer 24

new age covers a range of beliefs and activities, extremely diverse, including belief in UFOs, astrology, crystals, yoga, meditation

Question 25

what are two common themes among the new age?

Answer 25

self-spirituality: new agers seeking the spiritual have turned away from traditional ‘external’ churches and instead look inside themselves to find it

de-traditionalistion: new age rejects the spiritual authority of external traditional sources such as priests and instead values personal experience

Question 26

how is postmodernity related to the new age?

Answer 26

Drane argues that new age appeal is part of a shift towards postmodern society, people have lost faith in experts (e.g. scientists) and are disillusioned with the churches’ failure to meet their spiritual needs

Question 27

how is modernity related to the new age? (bruce)

Answer 27

bruce argues that growth of new age is a feature of the latest phase of modern society, not postmodernity

modern society values individualism (key principle of new age beliefs) which is an important value among those in ‘expressive professions’ concerned with human potential e.g. social workers, artists, who new age appeals to most

new age eclecticism (pick and mix spiritual shopping) is typical of late modern society, reflecting consumerism of capitalist society

Question 28

how are modernity and new age linked? (heelas)

Answer 28

a source of identity: in modern society, the individual has a fragmented identity, (many roles at work, family), new age beliefs offer a source of authentic identity

consumer culture: creates dissatisfaction as never delivers perfection it promises, new age offers an alternative way to achieve perfection

rapid social change: disrupts norms and values, creating anomie in modern society, new age provides a sense of certainty and truth

decline of organised religion: modernity leads to secularisation, new age is an alternative e.g. new age stronger in California where churchgoing is lowest

Question 29

gender and religiosity

Answer 29

more women than men believe in God, sin etc and participate in religious activities, in 2005 1.8 million women were churchgoers and 1.36 million men

estimated twice as many women as men are involved in sects

Question 30

what are reasons for gender differences within religion?

Answer 30

socialisation and gender roles
paid work
women and new age

Question 31

how does socialisation and gender roles cause gender differences within religion?

Answer 31

miller and Hoffman argue women are more religious because they are socialised to be more passive, obedient and caring which are qualities valued by most religions (men who have these qualities more likely to be religious)

davie argues that women’s closer proximity to birth and death (through child bearing and caring for elderly, dying relatives) brings them closer to ‘ultimate’ questions about life that religion is concerned with

Question 32

how does paid work cause gender differences within religion?

Answer 32

bruce argues that women’s greater religiosity is a result of their lesser involvement in paid work

rationalisation has secularised male-dominated, public sphere of work, confining it to private sphere of family which is what women are more concerned with

more women in paid work resulted in increased secularisation but religion remained attractive to women because still primary carers in family and in kind of paid work they do, values still favour by religions

Question 33

why are women more attracted to new age movements?

Answer 33

women more often associated with a healing role

bruce says child-rearing makes women less aggressive and more cooperative and caring (where men wish to achieve, women wish to feel) fitting expressive emphasis of new age

women in paid work experience role conflict, between instrumental role in public sphere of work and expressive role in private sphere of family, Woodhead: appeal to third, individual sphere, concerned with individual autonomy and personal growth, new source of identity based on inner self

Question 34

class differences in new age beliefs for women

Answer 34

bruce, those emphasising personal autonomy, control and self-development, appeal to middle class women

working class women more attracted to beliefs that give them a passive role, fatalistic ideas such as horoscopes

fit in with middle class belief in ability of individuals to control their own destiny contrasts with fatalistic working class attitudes

Question 35

ethnic patterns in religion

Answer 35

higher than average rates for most minority ethnic groups

London, black people twice as likely to attend church than whites

muslims, hindus and black christians more likely than white christians to see religion as important and to attend a place of worship every week

Question 36

reasons for ethnic differences in religion?

Answer 36

country of origin: most minorities originate from countries with higher levels of religious practice and maintain this pattern in UK

cultural defence: religion offers cultural identity in a hostile environment, a means of preserving one’s culture and coping with oppression in racist society

cultural transition: religion is a means of easing the transition into a new culture by providing support and community for minority groups in their new environment, once a group has made transition, religion may lose its role

Question 37

evaluation of ethnicity and religiosity

Answer 37

there has been decline in the importance of religion for all ethnic groups, especially among the second generation

Question 38

age patterns in religion

Answer 38

the older a person is, the more likely they are to attend religious services (under 15s exception)

overall any given age group (other than over 65) is ongoing fall in church attendance

Question 39

reasons for age differences in religiosity

Answer 39

the ageing effect: as we approach death, we may become more concerned about the afterlife, repentance of past misdeeds, so more likely to go to church

the period effect: people born in an earlier period more likely to be religious because of events they lived through e.g. war or rapid social changes

secularisation: as religion declines in importance in society, each generation becomes less religious than the one before it, Voas and Crockett found this to be major reason why younger people less religious than older people