Religion and Social Groups Flashcards
Social class: The church
the church welcomes all areas of society, however, the middle classes are the ones who usually attend
> this is because the church generally supports and upholds the main values of society, and is supportive of the state.
> both the church and middle class are conservative.
EVALUATION - not all religious groups support conservative values, for example, Quakers allow same-sex marriages, but also allow ceremonies to take place.
Sects
members from working class.
> strict demands on commitment and membership.
> promises of fulfilment and being “saved”
> Jim Jones - appealed to low-income black Americans experiencing racism > he promised a change for the better > they became dependent on him > he exploited them with his power over them.
EVALUATION - sects dont only appeal to the poor > Jehovahs witnesses, Moonies and Amish followers are not overwhelmingly from poor.
Cults and New Age Practices
> clear relationship between middle class and cult membership.
cults are more flexible than other religious organisations, they enable members to fit in practices around busy schedules.
as cults are less strict than sects they allow middle class members to get on with their day and do practices when they want to.
New Age:
same thing, they are more individuals, can do it when they want to and fits into their day.
Gender
a> 57% of church attending are women.
> women more likely to attend church once a week.
> women are more religious than men according to survey.
> women are far more likely to follow new age practices than men.
> men attend mosques more than women.
EVALUATION - difficuilt to precisely measure how religious people are, some lie on surveys or dont understand the question.
Miller and Hoffman (1995) (A)
> women are socialised to be passive, caring and obedient, and boys taught to be assertive, dominant and independent.
this show women posses more characteristics of what “being religious” requires.
EVALUATION - have a fixed view of socialisation, boys and girls socialised more similarly now then people think.
Miller and Hoffman (1995) (B)
> women less likely to be employed full time > more free time > allows them to participate in religious practices.
men can achieve status and identity through work, for women they achieve it through religious beliefs they hold.
women take more responsibility for socialising children, take more significant role in spiritual and moral development of them.
EVALUATION - changes in employment rates are happening, more women trying to build a career and are more at work now than any other time in history.
Miller and Hoffman (1995) (C)
> women less likely to take risks in life compared to men.
not being religious involves degree of risk, what if there is a God? What if there is heaven?
women have concern in not being religious and therefore going to hell.
EVALUATION - ignores impact of secularisation, men and women now less concerned with religious risks.
Steve Bruce (1995)
Religion was public sphere, church every sunday was expected.
> it is now a private sphere and personal choice
> women more religious than men
> women are the “guardians of the private sphere of family life”
> women closer emotionally to “life and death”
EVALUATION -
Stark and Bainbridge
> women experience more problems than men, therefore they are more attracted to sects than men because:
sects appeal to underprivelidged as they offer “salvation” for suffering. Religion compensates for women suffering.
reason for women central role in sects is emphasis of feeling, co-operation and caring.
Women more likely to see the world in “moral decline” , they care more about future etc. sects would appeal more to women as they claim answers to the world problems.
women more open minded to self improvement, they are more likely to want to join cults as they focus on dealing with personal problems.
EVALUATION - women are now achieving greater status in society, access to education, full-time work and higher pay in work shows this.
Age and Religiosity
> young people tend to be less religious than the old in Britain
2006 - 59% of churches had no attendance in 15-19 age range.
Sects appeal more to the young
under 15s have above-average church attendance.
cults and new age tend to appeal to middle-aged.
Vaas and Crocket (2005)
> focuses on why younger people are less religious, they found two explanations:
1. ageing effect- people get more concerned with religion as they get older, people become religious when spirituality, life and death become more important to them.
2. generational effect - society gets more secular = each new generation gets more secular, religion will die out at some point if this is true.
EVALUATION - in some parts of the world, young people are more religious, for example young people participating that are young is increasing in USA.
Young muslims are becoming more interested in the UK, therefore young can be religious in the UK.
Why are the elderly more religious than young people
generation effect - older people brought up to be religious and attend church. During the older generations, religion was alot stricter and you were frowned upon if not religious.
ageing effect - people become more religious later in life, as they are closer to death and want answers compared to free-young. religion provides comfort for the elderly.
Decline of RE in schools
> schools place less emphasis on RE (can choose to take or not)
young people not as exposed to religion as they once were.
long term decline in Sunday church attendance demonstrates this.
Competing interests
> expansion of technology and entertainment has shifted interests of young people
shops are open on Sundays.
EVALUATION - there is not a “spiritual supermarket” open to young people, this is where there is alot more beliefs and there is a “pick and mix” for people to choose from.
Ethnicity and Religiosity
> very low rates of religion among Chinese heritage
high rates of religion among Asian backgrounds
Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are mainly Muslim
significant number of white people claim to not be religious at all.
around 30% of Christians practise their religion daily
80% of Muslim practise their religion daily
among British-Indians, Hinduism, SIkhism and Islam are strong
