organisations, movements and members

Question 1

Ernst Troeltsch

Answer 1

distinguish between two main types of religious organisations- the church and the sect

Question 2

Churches

Answer 2

-large organisations, often with millions of members, such as the Catholic Church run by a bureaucratic hierarchy of professional priests
-Claim a monopoly of the truth
-universalistic aiming to include the whole of society, although they tend to be more attractive to the higher classes because they are ideologically conservative and are often closely linked to the state
-e.g. The British sovereign is head of both the state and the church of England
-they place a few demands on their members

Question 3

Sects

Answer 3

-small, exclusive groups
-Hostile to wider society, and they expect a high level of commitment
-Draw their members from the poor and oppressed
-Many are led by a charismatic leader, rather than a bureaucratic hierarchy
-Only similarity with churches, is that sex, or believe that they have a monopoly of religious truth

Question 4

Denomination

Answer 4

-NIEBUHR describes denominations such as methodism as lying midway between churches and sects
-Membership is less exclusive than a sect, but they don’t appeal to the whole of society like a church
-Broadly except society’s values (like the church), but are not linked to the state
-They impose some minor restrictions on members, e.g. forbidding alcohol, but are not as demanding as sects
-Unlike both churches and sects, they are tolerant of other religious organisations, and do not claim a
monopoly of the truth

Question 5

Cults

Answer 5

-The least organised of all
-highly individualistic, loose-knit and usually small grouping around some share themes and interests, but usually without a sharply defined and exclusive belief system
-Usually lead by ‘practitioners’ or ‘therapists’, who claim special knowledge
-Like denominations cults are usually tolerant of other organisations and their beliefs
-Cults do not demand strong commitment from followers, who are more like customers or trainees than members- they may have further involvement with the court once they have acquired the beliefs or techniques it offers
-many cults are world-affirming claiming to improve life in this world

Question 6

Roy Wallis- similarities and differences

Answer 6

highlights two characteristics:
-How they see themselves: churches and sects claim that their interpretation of the faith is the only legitimate and correct one, while denominations and cults accept that there can be many valid interpretations
-How they are seen by wider Society: churches and denominations are seen as respectable, and legitimate, whereas sects and cults are seen as deviant

Question 7

Bruce
From cathedrals to cults

Answer 7

-sociologists argue that some of these descriptions of religious organisations do not fit today’s reality
-e.g. BRUCE argues that Troeltsch’s idea of a church, as having a religious monopoly only applies to the Catholic Church before the 16th century, protestant reformation when it had religious monopoly over society, symbolised by its massive and imposing cathedrals
-since then sects and cults have flourished and religious diversity has become the norm
-In today’s society, churches are no longer truly churches in Troeltsch’s sense, because they have lost their monopoly and been reduced to the status of denominations competing with the rest

Question 8

New religious movements

Answer 8

-since 1960 there’s been an explosion in the number of new religions and organisations e.g. the Unification Church AKA ‘Moonies’, the children of God, Transcendental Meditation (TM), Krishna Consciousness etc. - this has led to new attempts to classify them

Question 9

How does Roy Wallis categorise these NRMs into three groups?

Answer 9

-categorised based on their relationship to the outside world- whether they reject, accommodate to it or affirm it
-World-rejecting NRMs
-World-accommodating NRMs
-World-affirming NRMs

Question 10

world-rejecting NRMs

Answer 10

-similar to Troeltsch’s sects
e.g. the Moonies, the Branch Davidian, the People’s Temple
-vary greatly in size from a handful of members to hundreds of thousands

-several characteristics:
-Clearly religious organisations, with a clear notion of God
-Highly critical of the world outside, and they expect and seek radical change
-To achieve salvation members must make a sharp break with their former life
-Members live community with restricted contact with the outside world- the movement controls all aspects of their lives, and is often accused of brainwashing them
-Often have conservative moral codes e.g. about sex

Question 11

world-accommodating NRMs

Answer 11

-often breakaways from existing mainstream churches or denominations e.g. neo-Pentecostalists who split from Catholicism or Subud- and offshoot of Islam
-Neither, except nor reject the world, and they focus on religious, rather than worldly matters, seeking to restore the spiritual purity of religion
-e.g. Pentecostalist believe that other Christian religions have lost the Holy Spirit.
-Members tend to live conventional lives

Question 12

world-affirming NRMs

Answer 12

-differ from all other religious groups and may lack some of the conventional features of religion e.g. collective worship and some are not highly organised
-However, like religions, they offer their followers access to spiritual or supernatural powers e.g. Scientology, Soka Gakkai, TM and Human Potential
-They accept the world as it is, and are optimistic and promise followers success in terms of mainstream goals and values e.g. careers and personal relationships.
-Are non-exclusive and tolerant of other religions, but claim to offer additional special knowledge or techniques that enable followers to unlock their own spiritual powers and achieve success, or overcome problems e.g. unhappiness or illness- have been described as psychologising religions offering this-worldly gratification
-most are cults, whose followers are often customers rather than members and entry is through training- the movement place few demands on them and they can carry on normal lives
-they have generally been the most successful of the movements that Wallis studied- e.g. Scientology had about 165,000 members in the UK in 2005, but only 1200 Moonies

Question 13

EVALUATION OF NRMs (of Wallis)

Answer 13

(: Wallis offers a useful way of classifying the new religious movements that have developed in recent decades
): but some argue that he is not clear whether he is categorising them according to the movements teachings or individual members beliefs
): Also ignores the diversity of beliefs that may exist within an NRM
): Wallis himself recognises that real NRMs will rarely fit into his typology and some such as 3HO (Healthy Happy Holy Organisations) may have features of all three types-
(: nevertheless, many sociologists find such typologies useful as a way of analysing and comparing the significant features of NRMs

Question 14

Stark and Bainbridge
Sects and Cults

Answer 14

-identify two kinds of organisations that are in conflict with wider society- sects and cults
-SECTS result from schisms- splits in existing organisations. They break away from churches, usually because of disagreements about doctrine.
-CULTS are new religions, such as Scientology and Christian Science or one’s new to the particular society that have been imported like TM
-They see sects as promising ‘other-worldly’ benefits (e.g a place in heaven) to those suffering, economic deprivation, or ethical deprivation, where their values can conflict with wider society
BUT
-Cults tend to offer ‘this-worldly’ benefits (e.g. good health) to more prosperous individuals who are suffering psychic deprivation (normlesness) and organismic deprivation (health problems)

Question 15

How do Stark and Bainbridge subdivide cults?

Answer 15

according to how organised they are:
-Audience cults: least organised
-Client cults
-Cultic movements: most organised

Question 16

Audience cults

Answer 16

-least organised
-do not involve formal membership or much commitment.
-there is little interaction between members.
-Participation may be through the media.
-e.g. Astrology and UFO cults

Question 17

Client cults

Answer 17

-based on the relationship between a consultant and a client and provide services to their followers.
-In the past, they were often purveyors of medical miracles, contact with the dead etc. but the emphasis has shifted to ‘therapies’ promising personal fulfilment and self discovery

Question 18

Cultic movements

Answer 18

most organised, and demand, a higher level of commitment than other cults. aim to meet all its members religious needs and unlike followers of audience and client cult they are rarely allowed to belong to other religious groups at the same time e.g. Moonie
-Some client cults become cultic movements for their most enthusiastic followers e.g. Scientology, which developed out of the client cult, Dianetics
-Some well-publicised Doomsday cults that predict the end of the world and practice mass suicide may be best seen as cultic movements

Question 19

What are some useful distinctions between organisations that Stark and Bainbridge make?

Answer 19

-e.g. The idea of using the degree of conflict with wider society to distinguish between them is similar to Troeltsch’s distinction between church (accepts society) and sects (reject society)
-however, some of their examples do not fit neatly into anyone of their categories

Question 20

Explaining the growth of religious movements

Answer 20

-marginality
-relative deprivation
-social change

Question 21

marginality: Weber

Answer 21

-sects tend to arise in groups to are marginal to society and who may feel they are disprivileged- not receiving their just economic rewards or social status
-sects offer a solution to this, by offering members a ‘theodicy of disprivilege’- a religious explanation, and justification for their suffering and disadvantage, which may explain their misfortune as a test of faith e.g. Holding out the promise of rewards in the future for keeping the faith.

e.g. 20th century: the Nation of Islam (black Muslims) recruited successfully among disadvantaged blacks in the USA
e.g. the Moonies recruited, well educated, young, middle-class, whites (Wallis argues that these individuals have become marginal society, even though they were middle-class, as most were hippies, dropouts or drug users)

Question 22

relative deprivation:
Wallis
Stark and Bainbridge

Answer 22

-‘The subjective sense of being deprived’
-Middle-class may be material well off, but spiritually deprived, especially in today’s materialistic consumer world which they may perceive as impersonal and lacking in moral value, emotional warmth or authenticity so Wallis says they may turn to sects for a sense of community

-Stark and Bainbridge argue that it is the relatively deprived who break away from churches to form sects
-world-rejecting sects offer the deprived compensators needed for the rewards, denied in this world, while the privileged don’t need compensators or W-R religion so instead are attracted to world-accepting/affirming churches that express their status, and bring them further success in achieving earthly rewards

Question 23

Social change:
Wilson
Bruce

Answer 23

-Augies, that periods of rapid change, disrupt, and undermine established norms and values, leading to enemy or homelessness, which creates uncertainty and insecurity, and so there is most affected by the disruption may turn to sects as a solution
-e.g. dislocation created by the industrial revolution in Britain in the late 18th and early 19th century, caused the birth of Methodism, which offered a sense of community, warmth and fellowship, clear, norms and values and a promise of salvation, so they recruited large numbers of the new, industrial working class.
-Bruce she’s growth of sex and cults as responses to social change involved in modernisation and secularisation- as society is more secular people are less attracted to the traditional churches and strict sects as they demand too much commitment and so prefer cults, which are less demanding and require a few of sacrifices

Question 24

The growth of W-R NRMs:
Wallis
Bruce

Answer 24

-Wallis points to social changes from 1960s, impacting on young people, including the increased time spent in education
-This gave them freedom from adult responsibilities and allowed counterculture to develop
-Also the growth of radical political movements offered alternative ideas about the future
-W-R NRMs are attractive as they offered young people, a more idealistic way of life
-Bruce: failure of the counterculture to change the world that caused disillusioned youth turning to religion instead

Question 25

The growth of W-A NRMs

Answer 25

-Bruce: growth is a response to modernity, especially to rationalisation of work, which no longer provides meaning or a source of identity- unlike the past when the protestant ethic gave work, a religious meaning to some people
-We are still expected to achieve, even though we may lack the opportunities to succeed
-W-A NRMs provide a sense of identity and techniques that promised success in this world
-Wallis: some ‘movements of the middle ground’ e.g. Jesus Freaks have grown since the 1970s- have attracted disillusion, former members of world-rejecting NRMs (generally less successful) because they provide a halfway house back to a more conventional lifestyle

Question 26

Denomination or death:
Niebuhr

Answer 26

-argues sects are W-R organisations that come into existence because of a schism- splitting from an established church, because of a disagreement over religious doctrine
-argues sects are short, and within a generation either die out, compromise with the world, or abandon their extreme ideas and become a denomination
-many reasons for this:
the second generations
the ‘Protestant ethic’ effect
death of the leader

Question 27

the second generation

Answer 27

Born into the sect so lack the commitment and fervour of their parents who had consciously rejected the world and joined voluntarily

Question 28

the ‘Protestant ethic’ effect

Answer 28

-sects that practice ascetism tend to become prosperous and upwardly mobile
-e.g. Methodist in the 19th century.
-Such members will be tempted to compromise with the world, or it will abandon its world-rejecting beliefs

Question 29

death of the leader

Answer 29

sects with a charismatic leader, I have a collapse on the leaders, death, or a more formal bureaucratic leadership, transforming it into a denomination

Question 30

The sectarian cycle: Stark and Bainbridge

Answer 30

(1) ‘schism’- there is tension between the needs of the deprived and privileged members of a church- deprived members break away to form a world-rejecting sect
(2) ‘initial fervour’- with a charismatic leadership and great tension between the sect’s beliefs, and wider society’s
(3) ‘denominationalism’- the Protestant ethic effect, and the coolness of the second generation means fervour (intense, and passionate feeling) disappears
(4) ‘establishment’- sect becomes more world-accepting and tension with wider society decreases
(5) ‘further schism’- results when more zealous or less privileged members break away to found a new sect true to the original message

Question 31

But Wilson disagrees with the Sectarian cycle..

Answer 31

-Argues that not all sects follow these patterns and whether they do or not depends on how they answer the question, ‘what shall we do to be saved?’
-Conversionist sects
-Adventist sects

-some sects have survived over many generations becoming established sects e.g Pentecostalists, Mormons, Quakers
-contrary to Niebuhr’s predictions, many have succeeded in socialising their children into a higher level of commitment, largely by keeping them apart from the wider world

Question 32

conversionist sects

Answer 32

e.g. evangelicals
-Whose aim is to convert large numbers of people are likely to grow rapidly into larger, more formal denominations

Question 33

adventist sects

Answer 33

e.g. Jehovah’s witnesses
-Believe to be saved, they must hold themselves separate from the corrupt world around them, and this separatism prevents them from compromising and becoming a denomination

Question 34

What does Wilson believe about globalisation and sects

Answer 34

-globalisation will make it harder in the future for sects to keep themselves separate from the outside world
BUT
-Globalisation will make it easier to recruit in the Third world, where there are large number of deprived people for whom the message of sects is attractive as the success of Pentecostalist have shown

Question 35

The growth of the New Age: Heelas

Answer 35

-estimates about 2000 new age activities, and 146,000 practitioners in the UK- many are very loosely, organised, audience or client cults
-Extremely diverse and eclectic (putting unconnected ideas together in new combinations) and include belief in UFOs, and aliens, astrology, tarot, crystals, alternative medicine, yoga, meditation etc.
-Believes there are two common themes that characterise the new age
self-spirituality
detraditionalisation

Question 36

self-spirituality

Answer 36

New Agers seeking the spiritual have turned away from the traditional ‘external’ religions e.g. The churches and instead look inside themselves to find it.

Question 37

detraditionalisation

Answer 37

-The NA rejects, the spiritual authority of external traditional sources, like priests and sacred texts, and instead value personal experience
-Believe we can discover the truth for and within ourselves

Question 38

Beyond the common features, how do NA beliefs vary?
Heelas

Answer 38

-W-A aspects help people succeed in the every day ‘outer world’
but
-W-R elements allow individuals to achieve enlightenment in their ‘inner world’
HOWEVER, Heelas argues that most NA beliefs and organisations offer both

Question 39

Postmodernity and the NA: Drane

Answer 39

-argues that the NA’s appeal is part of a shift to postmodern society, where one of the features is a loss of faith in metanarratives or claims to ‘have the truth’
-Science promised to bring progress of a better world, but instead gave us war, genocide, environmental destruction, and global warming, so people have lost faith in experts and professionals (e.g. Scientists and doctors) and are disillusioned with the churches failure to meet their spiritual needs
-Turn to NA idea that each of us can find the truth for ourselves by looking within

Question 40

The NA and modernity: Bruce

Answer 40

-argues that the growth of the NA is a feature of the latest phase of modern society, not postmodernity
-Modern society, values, individualism, which is a key principle of NA beliefs that an individual has the truth within themselves
-Is also a particularly important value among those in the expressive professions concerned with human potential e.g. Community workers, artists- the group to whom the NA appeals most
-Bruce notes that NA beliefs, are often softer versions of much more demanding and self-disciplined, traditional eastern religions e.g. Buddhism that has been ‘watered down’ to make them palatable to self-centred westerners.
-explains why NA activities are audience or client cults as these make few demands on their followers
-sees the NA eclecticism ‘ pick and mix spiritual shopping’ as typical religion in late modern society, reflect the consumerist ethos of capitalist society

Question 41

What are the 4 ways that Heelas sees the NA and modernity as linked in?

Answer 41

-A source of identity
-Consumer culture
-Rapid social change
-Decline of organised religion

Question 42

a source of identity

Answer 42

in modern society, the individual has many different role (at work, in family, with friends)
-But there is little overlap between them, causing a fragmented identity
-NA beliefs of a sense of ‘authentic’ identity

Question 43

consumer culture

Answer 43

create dissatisfaction, because it never delivers the perfection, it promises (e.g. In advertising)
-NA offers an alternative way to achieve perfection

Question 44

rapid social change

Answer 44

in modern society, disrupts, established norms and values, creating anomie
-NA provides a sense of certainty and truth in the same way as sects

Question 45

decline of organised religion

Answer 45

modernity leads to secularisation, thereby removing traditional alternatives to NA beliefs
-e.g. In the USA, the NA is strongest where churchgoing is at its lowest, in California

Question 46

ethnicity differences in religion

Answer 46

-higher than average rate of religious participation for most ethnic minorities (e.g. Hindus= 43%, African Caribbean Protestants= 57%, Muslims= 62%) > white Anglicans=9%
HOWEVER, MODOOD ET AL found some decline in the importance of religion for all ethnic groups, and that fewer were observant, especially among the second generation

Question 47

reasons for ethnic differences

Answer 47

-Most ethnic minorities originate from poor countries with traditional cultures, both of which produce higher levels of religious belief and practice
-On arrival to the UK, they and their children, maintain the pattern they bought with them from their country of origin
-cultural defence
-cultural transition

Question 48

cultural defence:
Bruce
Bird
Brierley

Answer 48

-Bruce: religion gives a sense of cultural identity in an uncertain/hostile environment
-Bird: religion acts as a basis for community solidarity, among ethnic minorities, as a way of coping with oppression in racist societies and preserving one’s culture and language
-Black African and Caribbean found many white churches in the UK did not actively welcome them so they turned to founding or joining black-led churches, esp. Pentecostal churches
-Brierley: a significant growth of new churches in London, catering for specific languages and nationalities as a result of recent migrations

Question 49

cultural transition:
Herberg
Bruce
Pryce

Answer 49

-Herberg: high levels of religious participation, among first level migrants into the USA (e.g. Irish, African Caribbean)
-Bruce support this and sees a similar pattern in UK migration, where religion provides a focal group for these communities
HOWEVER
Once they have transitioned religion might lose its role and importance
-Pryce: both cultural defence and transition play a role. Pentecostalism is a highly adapted religion of the oppressed, providing migrants with values appropriate to the New World (e.g. Pentecostalism helped African Caribbean to adapt to British society. Playing a kind of ‘ protestant ethic’ in encouraging self reliance and thrift)

Question 50

Gender differences statistics:
Davie
Brierley
Voas
Miller and Hoffman

Answer 50

-Notes that there are gender differences in terms of religious practice, belief, self distinction and private prayer
(84% F vs. 75% M believe in God, 72% F vs. 66% M believe in sin)
-Most churchgoers are female who are also more likely than men to attend regularly. Female churchgoers outnumber men by almost half a million. (Brierley)
-Many fewer women than men (34% vs. 54%.) are atheists/agnostics. Even among atheists, men are nearly 2 times likely to say, they definitely do not believe in life after death. (Voas)
-Women expressed greater interest in religion and have a stronger personal commitment to it (Miller and Hoffman)

Question 51

Miller and Hoffman: 3 reasons why women are more religious than men

Answer 51

(1) risk-taking: men are less risk than women are more likely to take the risk of not being religious (and being condemned to hell)
(2) women are socialised from a young age to be more passive obedient and caring- these qualities are valued by religion so women will be more likely to be be attracted to religion
(3) gender roles mean women are more likely to be part-time workers or full-time carers, which means they have more scope for organising their time in order to take part in religious activities. Women are also more likely to be attracted to church as a source of gender identity.

Question 52

Bruce: why has male secularisation happened faster

Answer 52

-Women’s religiosity is due to lower levels of involvement in paid work. As religion is driven out of the sphere of work (male dominated), it is linked with the private home, so may secularisation has occurred faster than women’s

Question 53

Why does religion still remain attractive to women rather than men even due to them also taking on a secular, masculinised role in the public sphere of paid work?
(‘decline of female piety’ - Brown)

Answer 53

for two reasons:
(1) religion has a strong affinity with values, such as caring for others and women still have a primary role in caring for the young and old in both the private and public spheres
(2) men’s withdrawal from religion means churches have gradually become feminised spaces, emphasising women’s concerns. This continues to make religion more attractive for women. (Woodhead)

Question 54

Stark and Bainbridge: women and sects
What are the three types of deprivation?

Answer 54

-there is estimated to be 2x the number of women in sects than men (Bruce)
-S&B argue that many participate in sects because they offer compensators for the following types of deprivation, which are more more common among women than men
(1) organismic deprivation
(2) ethical deprivation
(3) social deprivation

Question 55

organismic deprivation

Answer 55

physical and mental health
-Women are more likely to suffer ill health and thus seek the healing that sects offer

Question 56

ethical deprivation

Answer 56

Women tend to be more morally conservative
-They are more likely to regard the world, as being in moral decline and turn to sects who share this view

Question 57

social deprivation

Answer 57

Women are more likely to be poor, and sects attract poorer groups

Question 58

age differences in religiosity

Answer 58

-Under 15s are generally more likely to go to church, but they don’t have a say in the matter and are made to go by their parents (so likely to accompany another family member)
-in addition, 65 and over are more likely to have a fall in church attendance due to a number of factors, such as illness and mobility issues
-Overall, however, the trend is clear- the older, someone is the more likely they are to be religious
(in 1980: church attendance for under 15s= 1177, 45-64= 906, 65+= 774)
-for any given age group a[art from those aged 65 and over, there is an ongoing fall in church attendances and the fall is sharpest among the young

Question 59

Voas and Crockett: the three possible explanations for age, differences in religious
(Heelas)

Answer 59

(1) the aging affect- people turn to religion as they get older. Heelas argues people have become more interested in spirituality as their age and approach death. We naturally become more concerned about the afterlife, repentance and such.
(2) the period/cohort effect: born during particular periods may be more or less likely to be religious because of the particular events they lived through.
(3) Secularisation: as religions importance declines, each generation becomes less religious than the one before