Religious Orgainsation- Development Of Sects Flashcards
What the second generation argument for sects dying out or compromising
The people who are born into the sect the lack the commitment and fervour of their parents who had joined voluntarily
Leads to denomination :
- the group may compromise with wider society and become a world accommodating denomination because younger members dont wish to reject the world as their parents did
-they are more likely to have liberal attitudes
Leads to death:
-the group may not be able to retain members as young people reject the world rejecting values of the group
- as a result it dies out
Evaluation of the the second generation arguement
Aldridge points out that many sects have been successful in socialising their children into accepting the sects beliefs and practices
E.g. the Amish as they are isolated so their children don’t have aces to other views and beliefs
What the protestant work ethic argument for sects dying out or compromising
Sects that practice asceticism tends to become prosperous and upwardly mobile as with Methodists in the 19th century
Leads to denomination:
- once the members have become affluent they no longer need to reject society- they no longer need an explanation for their suffering
- therefore the group becomes accommodating of a capitalist society and becomes a denomination
Leads to death:
- once the members have the values they need to be successful and have achieved success they might choose to leave the group
-this may cause it to die out
What the death of the leader argument for sects dying out or compromising
Some sects are based on the charismatic leadership of one inspirational figurehead.
Leads to denomination:
- a more formal bureaucratic leadership takes over transforming it into a denomination
Leads to death:
- once the inspiration for members has gone, if no ‘like for like’ is possible, people may abandon the group
Evaluation of death of a leader
Aldridge says “denomination or death” is a myth as not all sects depend on a charismatic leadership. Therefore sects often remain sects for example jehovahs witnesses have never had a charismatic leader
What is the secretariat cycle
stark and Bainbridge built on the work of Niebuhr . He suggested that it’s not a simple as denomination or death. Instead it forms a continuous cycle.
-1st schism as tension between the needs of the deprived and privileged members of the church so deprived members breakaway to found a world rejecting sect
-Initially there’s fervour as a charismatic leader and tension between the sects beliefs and those of wider society
-Denomination as the Protestant ethic effect and the coolness of the second generation means the passion disappears
-Establishment, the sect becomes more world accepting and tensions with wider society reduces
-Further schism, when more zealous or less privilege members breakaway to found a new sect true to its original message
How do factors such as postmodernity and globalisation affect the future of sects
-postmodern societies are characterised by a fragmentation of beliefs and a wide diversity of religious and spiritual beliefs
-postmodern see the beliefs people hold as a purely personal matter
- we can go spiritual and religious shopping , picking choosing and changing beliefs freely
-there’s a greater tolerance of all beliefs today and this may mean that religious sects have a shorter shelf life as consumer tastes and current fads change
Evaluation of the affect of postmodernity and globalisation
Globalisation on the other hand makes it easier to recruit in the thirds world where there are large numbers of deprived people who will find the message of sects attractive
This can be seen in the success of Pentecostalism
How will the type of sect affect the future of sects
-Wilson argues that not all sects are likely to become established ( a denom)
- where or not they do depends on how the sect answers the question of what shall we do to be saved
-conversionist sects such as evangelicals convert large numbers and are likely to grow rapidly into larger more formal denoms as they interact with the world
-adventists like seven day adventists say to be saved we must hold ourselves separate from the corrupt world
-this separatism prevents then from compromising and becoming a denomination
