Religion and Social change and Religious fundamentalism Flashcards
Weber argued that protestant calvinism helped bring social change because of calvinist beliefs, which are what?
calvinists believed in predestination - where souls were already determined to be saved or not and it could not be known what the decision was which created a salvation panic. they believed the only thing known about God was that we were put on earth to glorify his name through our work so they worked hard and success helped cope with salvation panic and was a sign of God’s favour
he notes ancient china and india were more advanced but capitalism didn’t take off due to lack of religious belief system like calvinism to spur development
Marx saw economic factors as the driving force for capitalism but Weber argued that…
economic factors alone cannot bring about capitalism
what does Tawney argue against Weber about the cause of capitalism?
technological changes brought about capitalism. he argues it was only after capitalism was established that calvinist beliefs were adopted to legitimate their economic gain
capitalism did not develop in every country where there was calvinism e.g. scottland
what does marshall argue is the reason why capitalism didn’t develop everywhere there was calvinism?
because of lack of investment and skilled labour - supporting weber’s point that material and cultural factors were also needed for capitalism
what example does Bruce give of religion motivating social change?
the struggle for black civil rights in the 1950’s where the black clergy were the backbone of the movement
he saw religion as an ideological resource, providing beliefs and pratices that protesters could draw on for motivation and support.
what are the 3 ways Bruce says religious organisations support social change? and give examples
- taking the moral highground - pointed out the hypocrisy of the white clergy in preaching love thy neighbor
- channeling dissent - martin luther king’s funeral was a rallying point for civil rights
- mobilising public opinion
which marxist said that although religion inhibits change by disguising inequality, it can also challenge dominant groups and encourage social change? and give an example
Engels
e.g. religion sometimes preaches freedom for slavery - moses
what is liberation theology?
in Latin America in the 1960’s catholic elites accepted poverty but this changed as catholic priests supported the poor by developing literacy programmes and educating them about their situation
what is millenarianism? what may this belief do?
the belief that existing society is corrupt and a supernatural force will intervene to destroy existing society and create a new perfect world order
may create desire to change things
who does Worsley claim are most attracted to millenarianism?
the poor as is offers immediate improvement
Billings identifies ways religion supported/challenged hegemony what are 2 of these?
- could use churches to hold meetings
- leadership helped convert others to the cause
what is religious fundamentalism?
returning to the fundamentals of any religion?
New christian right seek to reverse liberalisation of america what are two things they campaign for?
teaching of creationism and a ban on sex education
Why according to Bruce are the new christian right unsuccessful in achieving aims?
because they only have the support of 15% of the population becuase of liberal and democratic values of american society and studies show that americans are comfortable with legalising activities they personally disagree with and they find it difficult to campaign with other groups even for the same issue
what type of religion does Bruce argue is religious fundamentalism confined to?
monotheistic religions as they are based on the notion of God’s will being revealed through a single authoritative text laying down specific rules while polytheistic religions lack a single all powerful deity so there is more scope for different interpretations
