Religious Organisations Flashcards
The secularisation cycle : Stark and Bainbridge
Religious belief is always changing and although periods of secularisation occurs they are often temporary until new forms of religion are created
Secularisation : decline in religious influence
Innovation : creation of new forms of religious organisations due to a demand for spiritual or religious experience that other ideologies cannot fulfill
Religious revival : the resurgence of religion as a dominant belief system
Religious decline : dominant views are challenged and criticised as followers become sceptical
Churches
Defined by Troelstch : have a multi layered hierarchical structure and a professional clergy
Their membership is large and worldwide
Long lifespans
Few demands or restrictions on members e.g the Roman Catholic Church countries e.g Spain
Denominations
Defined by Niebuhr
Tend to originate as a sect but become successful enough to become a larger movement
Relatively large memberships as can be international
Large variety of different denominations
Rely on members for active involvement e.g converting others
E.g Pentecostalism emerged at the start of the 20th century as a different form of Protestant Christianity
Sects
Defined by Niebuhr
Revolve around a charismatic leader who claims to have chosen a supernatural power
Tend to have small memberships and a short lifespan
Often demand total dedication from their followers
Cults
Usually have a loose structure and no professional clergy
Have small memberships that buy into a service offered
Varies with market demand and demand strong commitments and mainly attract people looking for spiritual fulfilment
Three forms of cults
Stark and Bainbridge :
Audience cults = usually transmit their ideas through the media to a large audience and therefore don’t require specific membership
Client cults= involve a personal connection between a leader and their followers
Cultic movements = require specific commitments from their clients
World affirming movements
E.g Scientology involves the prices if auditing which removes any traumatic memories from the client
Most are cults and don’t denounce any other religions
World accommodating movements
E.go the Subud was founded in the 1920s. It is a denominator of the Islam that originated from Indonesia and provides its followers with spiritual exercise which aims to cleanse their spirits
Usually denominations or offshoots of mainstream churches
World rejecting movements
E.g Jim Jones People’s Temple was founded in 1995. The movement is famous due to its dramatic end in 1978 when 918 members committed suicide
A vast majority are sects and they demand social change as they don’t agree with the current stage of the world
Lifespan of sects : Niebuhr
Short lifespans - believes that sects rarely last longer than a generation for a variety of different reasons : the movement loses momentum when the leader dies or the children of sect members do not have the same intensity of belief as their parents and therefore the movement dies out in the second generation
NRM - Weber
Claimed NRMs tend to attract individuals who do not belong to the majority within a community . These movements tend to preach theodicies of disprivilege and provide the poor and the powerless with reasons that explain their unfortunate situations
NRM - a response to social change with increased religious participation
Wilson claims that in times of rapid social change, individuals often feel a sense of anomie and anxiety e.g the Methodist denomination surged in popularity during the 18th or 19th industrialisation
The religious marketplace : Hervieu Leger
Describes a process known as de-traditionalisation - parents are now less likely to pass on traditional customs to their children and this leads to cultural amnesia whereby religious norms are being lost and forgotten
The Kendal Project
Hellas et al. Conducted questionnaires and interviews with individuals who attended traditional religious services and people who were part of a local new age movement and found that although traditional church attendance was still the dominant religious experience they found a rapid increase in levels of participation of New Age Movements, they reflect the self interested or individualistic nature of our society
