Religious Organisations Flashcards
Who contrasts between churches and sects?
Troeltch
Churches-large organisations, with millions of members such do the Catholic Church rubbed bureaucratic hierarchy of professional priests and men claim monopoly of the truth they cre universalistic aiming so include the undo of society they attract the higher classes as they are ideologically conservative and are linked to the state
Sects - Small, exclusive groups, they are hostile to wider society and expect high levels of commitment. Draw members from the poor and oppressed. Lead by a charismatic leader rather than bureaucratic hierarchy also believe they have monopoly over religious truth
Who describes denominations as laying midway between cults and churches?
Niebuhr- membership is less exclusive than a sect, but they do not appeal to wider society like a church does. Like churches, they broadly accept society’s values but are not linked to the state. They impose minor restrictions on members such as forbidding alcohol, but they are not as demanding as sects. Unlike both church and sect, they are tolerant of other religious organisations and not claim monopoly over religious truth
Who mentions finding similarities and differences between religious organisations?
Wallis - highlights two characteristics
How they see themselves - Churches and sects claim that their interpretations of faith is the only legitimate or correct one. Denominations and cults accept that there can be many valid interpretations
How they are seen by wider society - Churches and denominations are are seen as respectable and legitimate whereas sects and cults are seen as deviant
How does Wallis categorise new religious movements?
World rejecting new religious movements - religious organisations with a clear notion of God, highly critical of the outside world and seek radical change, members must live communally with restricted contact with the outside world & have conservative moral codes
World accommodating new religious movements - they neither accept or reject the world, they focus on religious rather than worldly matters, seeking to restore the purity of religion. Tend to lead conventional lives
World affirming new religious movements - they accept the world as it is, they are optimistic and promise their followers success in terms of mainstream goals and values such as careers and personal relationships. They are non exclusive and tolerant of other religions, but claim to offer special knowledge that enable their followers to unlock their own spiritual powers - psychologising religions, places few demands on members
Eval for types of NRM’s
Stark & Bainbridge - reject the idea of constructing such typologies, and instead argue that we should distinguish between religious organisations by using one criterion, the degree of conflict or tension between the religious groups and wider society
Who subdivides cults based on how organised they are?
Stark and Bainbridge
Audience cults - least organised and do not involve formal membership or much commitment. There is little interaction between members and participation may sometimes be through the media, examples include astrology and UFO cults
Client cults - based on relationship between a consultant and client and provide services to their followers, emphasis in ‘therapies’ promising personal fulfilment
Cultic movements - most organised and demand a higher level of commitment than other cults. The movement aims to meet all its members religious needs and rarely belong to other religious groups. Example is the moonies
How does marginality explain the growth of new religious movements?
Weber
Sects tend to arise in groups who are on the edges of society & feel they are not receiving their just economic rewards or social status
Sects offer a theodicy of disprivilege, a religious explanation for their suffering. They explain that misfortune is a test of faith, while holding out the promise of rewards in the future for keeping the faith
How does relative deprivation explain the growth of new religious movements?
Stark & Bainbridge
Although middle class people are materially well off, they may feel spiritually deprived in todays materialistic, consumerist world which they may perceive as lacking personal and moral value and authenticity, hence they turn to sects for a sense of community
The relatively deprived break away from Churches to form sects. When middle class members of a church seek to compromise its benefits in order to fit into wider society, deprived members are likely to break away to form sects that safeguard the original message of the organisation
Why are the deprived and privileged drawn to different NRM?
Stark & Bainbridge
World rejecting sects offer the deprived compensators that they need for the rewards they are denied in this world
Privileged are drawn to world accepting Churched that express their status further and bring them further success in achieving earthly rewards
Why does social change cause NRM’s to grow?
Wilson
Argues that rapid periods of change disrupt and undermine established norms and values, producing anomie. In response to the uncertainty this creates, those who are most affected by the disruption turn to sects as a solution
For example, the dislocation created by the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century led to the birth of Methodism which offered a sense of community, warmth and fellowship with the promise of salvation (recruited large numbers
of working class)
Why are people joining world rejecting new religious movements?
Wallis - social change in the 1960s impacting young people, including increased time spent in education. This gave them freedom and adult responsibilities, & enabled a counter culture to develop
Growth of radical political movements offered alternative ideas about the future
World rejecting NRM - were attractive because they offered young people are more idealistic way of life
Why are people joining world affirming new religious movements?
Bruce - Growth is a response to modernity especially to the rationalisation of work. Work no longer provides meaning or a source of identity unlike in the past when the Protestant work ethnic gave religious meaning for some people. World affirming new religious movements provide a sense of identity and techniques that promise success in this world
Who supports Wallis idea of social changing causing people to join sects & cults?
Bruce
Sees growth of sects and cults today as a response to social change involved in modernisation and secularisation, society is now secularised, therefore people are less attracted to traditional churches and strict sects, because these demand too much commitment
Instead, they prefer cults because they are less demanding and require less sacrifice
Who argues that sects are short lived and why?
Niebuhr
World rejecting sects come into existence because of schisms, splitting from an established church due to disagreements over religious doctrine
Sects are short lived and within a generation, die out or they compromise with the world, abandon their extreme beliefs and become a denomination for 3 reasons
1) the second generation, who are born into the sect but lack the commitment of their parents who had rejected the world
2) The Protestant ethic effect, sects that practice asceticism tend to become prosperous, some members will be tempted to compromise with the world, so will either leave or abandon its world rejecting beliefs
3) death of a leader, sects with a charismatic leader will either collapse after the leaders death, or a more bureaucratic leadership will take over, turning it into a denomination
What is meant by the sectarian cycle?
Stark & Bainbridge
Religious organisations move through a cycle
First stage — schism, tension between privileged and deprived members of the church, deprived members will break away from the church to form a world rejecting sect
Second stage — the sect will have a charismatic leader and tension between the sects beliefs and wider society
Third stage — denominationalsim, the Protestant work ethic and lack of commitment from second generation means fervour disappears
Fourth stage — establishment, the sect becomes more world accommodating or affirming, tension with society reduces
Fifth stage — further schism results when less privileged members break away to from another sect to safeguard the original message
What is the difference between sects and cults?
Sects — result from schisms, splits in existing organisations, usually break away from churches due to disagreements over doctrine, tends to promise other-worldly benefits such as a place in heaven to those who feel the world has not given them their just economic rewards or social status (the deprived)
Cults — new religions such as Scientology, or ones that have been imported, promises this-worldly benefits such as good health to more prosperous individuals who are suffering from relative deprivation
