Organisations, movements and members

Question 1

What did Troeltsch discover?

Answer 1

Sects and Churches

Question 2

What did Niebuhr discover?

Answer 2

Denominations and Cults

Question 3

What are features of churches? (5)

Answer 3

Millions of members worldwide.
Run by a hierarchy
Bureaucratic - rules you must follow.
Universalistic - accepts societies norms and values
Claims to have a monopoly of truth.

Question 4

What is an example of a church? (4)

Answer 4

Buddhism.
Nearly 1 billion Buddhists.
East, South East and Asia is where it is most popular.
Male leader

Question 5

What are features of a sect? (5)

Answer 5

Smaller groups that expect 100% committment from members.
Very close knit and hostile.
Charismatic leader
Short lived
Claims to have a monopoly of truth.

Question 6

What is an example of a sect? (4)

Answer 6

Branch Davidians.
Interpret scriptures literally.
Demands all committment to its members.
Mass suicide attempt showing it is short lived.

Question 7

What are features of denominations? (5)

Answer 7

Known as a watered down sect.
Been around for decades.
Accepts society’s values.
Tolerant to others views (open belief system)
Stronger committment from members.

Question 8

What is an example of a denomination? (3)

Answer 8

Pentecostalism
Growing in popularity, while Christianity is declining.
Pentecostalism is a moder version of Christianity.

Question 9

What are fearures of a cult? (5)

Answer 9

Smaller individual groups
Loose knit
Led by a spiritual leader
Tolerant of other beliefs.
Membership is flexible.

Question 10

What is an example of a cult? (5)

Answer 10

Shamanism.
Ancient tradition
Not an organised religion, a spiritual practice.
No fixed structure
Treat illness by healing the world.

Question 11

What do Stark and Bainbridge argue? (4)

Answer 11

Cults can be divided into three types: client, audience and movements.
Client: offer services in exchange for money and can be one to one.
Audience: Least organise,d no formal memberships or committment.
Movement: more organised, aimed to meet its members needs.

Question 12

Why is it difficult to classify religious organisations into different typologies?

Answer 12

It is difficult because they may have some features from one or more type of typlogy.

Question 13

Why do some ects become established?

Answer 13

They try to protect their members while other sects choose to cut thenselves off from the modern world.

Question 14

What does Wallis argue?

Answer 14

There are 3 types of NRM’s: World-affirming, World-accomodating and World-rejecting.

Question 15

What are World-affirming NRM’S? (3)

Answer 15

Accept the world and achieve success.
Tolerant of other religions. (open belief system)
Followers are often customers like client cults.

Question 16

What are World-accomodating NRM’s? (3)

Answer 16

Neither accept or reject the world.
Focus on religious.
Seek to restore the spiritual purity of religion.

Question 17

What are World-rejecting NRM’s? (3)

Answer 17

Clear notion of God.
Critical of the outside world.
Restricted contact with the outside world.

Question 18

What is an example of a World-rejecting NRM? (3)

Answer 18

Heaven’s Gate.
Had a charismatic leader.
21 women and 18 men killed themselves.

Question 19

What did Wallis evaluate of his own work?

Answer 19

There were some problems because an NRM could have features of each.
E.G: 3HO has a clear concept of God but claims to bring personal benefits.

Question 20

Why was there a rapid growth of NRMs?

Answer 20

Marginalisation
Relative deprivation
Social change.

Question 21

How does marginalisation lead to a rapid growth in NRMs? (2)

Answer 21

Sects tend to draw members from poor and oppressed because they may be excluded in society.
Weber offers a theodicy of disprivilege where is a justification of their suffering which explains why they are in that positions.

Question 22

How does relative deprivation lead to rapid growth in NRMs? (4)

Answer 22

Wallis argues thay m/c feel like they are spiritually deprived so they want to fit into society. By joining an NRM they can gain a sense of community.
W/C are culturally and materially deprived so may join an NRM to put a roof over their head.
Stark and Bainbridge argue that world-rejecting sects offer the deprived compensators that they need for rewards.
M/C will join world-accepting churches.

Question 23

How does social change lead to a rapid growth of NRMs?

Answer 23

Methodism was able to recruit large numbers of the w/c because it gave them a sense of community and promise for salvation.
But, according to Bruce, society has become secularised so people are less attracted to strict cults because of strict committments and routines.

Question 24

What is the New Age?

Answer 24

A spiritual movement used to refer to the hollistic milleu and brought about by a strong wave of spiritual energy.

Question 25

What is included in the New Age? (4)

Answer 25

Astrology
Tarot cards
Crystals
Alternative medicine.

Question 26

What study shows a spiritual revolution? (3)

Answer 26

Kendal Project
Looks at spiritual practices like yoga.
Hollistic milleu
People can take part in these practices even if it has no significance to them.

Question 27

What did Brussat argue?

Answer 27

Alphabet of spiritual literacy. The letters are needed to read the world.

Question 28

What does Heelas argue in NAMs? (2)

Answer 28

There are themes of the new age which are self-spirituality and detraditionalisation.
Self-spirituality: individuals searching for spirituality and begin to look inside themselves.
Detraditionalisation: individuals are the only source of the truth and they emphasise freedom to discover individuals.

Question 29

How does the New Age compare to churches? (2)

Answer 29

For the new age salvation comes from within but for churches you find salvation from God.
For the new age there is freedom to discover the truth but churches claim to have a monopoly of truth where there is only one version and no discovery.

Question 30

The new age can be the best of both world, how? (4)

Answer 30

Heelas argues that new age can be world-rejecting and world-affirming.
World-rejecting because it stresses how to experience the best of the inner world by turning away from concerns with worldly succes.
World-affirming because it stresses how to experience the best of the outer world and how people can be successful in business.
But this could cause confusion and tension because they are both opposites and don’t compliment eachother.

Question 31

What does Drane argue?

Answer 31

Due to failure of science people are now turning to spirituality.

Question 32

What does Giddens argue about NAMs?

Answer 32

New age appeals to the most affluent memebers who are university educated m/c because they have social capital.

Question 33

Who joins NAMs? (3)

Answer 33

Women - self-improvement.
Middle class - Have social capital
Middle ages - existential crises.

Question 34

What does Heelas argue about the new age and late modernity? (4)

Answer 34

Source of identity: in society a person has many roles between family and friends but they can overlap which results in a fragmented identity.
Decline or organised religion: modernity leads to secularisation which removes traditional alternatives to New Age beliefs.
Consumer culture: creates disatisfaction because it never delivers as it promises.
Rapid social change: disrupts the norms and values people held which results in anomie.

Question 35

What are 3 weaknesses of the new age?

Answer 35

The problem of scale: It would have to be on a large scale to fill the gape for traditional religions.
Socialisation of the next generations: For a belief system to survive it needs to be passed down in generations.
Weak committment: Even people who call themselves spiritual say these practices are important in their lives. Bruce says they have no interest in alternative spirituality.