Religious organisations and spiritual movements Flashcards
Ernest Troeltsch (Churches)
churches:
> Open membership - anybody welcome
> is universal - all over the world.
> have restrained worship, involving routines and rituals.
> claim a monopoly of truth, as the only legitimate belief system.
> tries to accept society’s norms and values.
EVALUATION:
> church does not always claim a monopoly of the truth anymore.
> worship is not always restrained with many rituals - the church has adapted ways its services take place now, making it more fun for youth.
Ernest Troeltsch (sects) STRICT
Sects:
> highly exclusive organizations
> firm belief in God.
> claims the monopoly of the truth
> considered deviant by wider society.
> charismatic leader, no form of hierarchy.
CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE: Jim Jones temple - Welcomed “non-white” people to his church - he became paranoid authorities would try to break up his group.
Weber (1922)
Social Marginality:
> sects appeal to those who are marginal in society (pushed to the edge)
> sects offer a theodicy of dispriviledge
> sects offer hope, status, and understanding for underprivileged members of society
>sects act as a solution finder for their problems.
EVALUATION- Not all sect members are truly marginalized: The Amish and the Moonies don’t include socially marginalized people.
Glock and Stark
Relative Deprivation (someone who feels a sense of being deprived in comparison to others):
> Develop Weber’s argument, they claim that a necessary condition for the development of sects is a feeling of deprivation, explaining why sects appeal to poorer members of society.
> sects provide a solution to problems people may feel, providing “support”, improved self-respect, and a sense of community.
> Often relatively deprived who form sects as they act as religious compensators.
CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE - Westerners joining ISIS - westerners leaving the UK to help Islamic sect.\
EVALUATION - is relative deprivation really causing sect growth - feelings of relative deprivation are common across pretty much all people in western societies and some don’t join sects.
How do sects change over time
Niebuhr
> Sects are short-lived
sects tend to develop into denominations or wither away.
sects are closely linked to social circumstances, religious beliefs, and practices and are conditioned by these.
Niebuhr claims sects are short-lived because:
new members don’t have the same commitment as original members, the second-generation effect breaks up sects.
Death of a charismatic leader.
sect members may undergo a process of social mobility, they may become wealthy and slowly integrate into the world and want to leave the sect.
EVALUATION- Niebuhr ignores examples that contradict his views. Not all sects move from sects to denominations, and only those with certain characteristics will go to denominations.
Steve Bruce (2011)
> sects cannot survive long-term unless they water down radicalism.
> sects get their members from the working-class poor > societies are becoming wealthier.
This reduces the need for sects
Stark and Bainbridge (1985)
> Religious organizations go through stages, called the sectarian cycle.
1st stage - schism, the tension between deprived and privileged, deprived break away from sects.
2nd stage - initial fervor, charismatic leader excites deprived members.
3rd stage - de nominalization, lack of commitment of the second generation leads to fervor disappearing.
EVALUATION - sectarian is too simplistic, it does not apply to all sects e.g. the Amish.
Bryan Wilson (2003) not short-lived
> Not all sects follow the patterns Niebuhr claims, Stark and Bainbridge and Bruce.
He says sects are not short-lived.
He believes the survival of the sect depends on their answer to the question “what do we do to be saved?”
The answer to this question depends on whether the sect is:
Conversionist sect - sects that have become denominations tend to be those that believe the only way to salvation is by being “born again”.
such sects attempt to save souls and convert others, by spreading the word
EVALUATION - ignores contradictions to his model, denominations.
Denominations
> Do not claim a monopoly of the truth
part-way between church and sect
Do not have a close relationship with the state
Are not very demanding of their members.
E.g. Methodists, Baptists, Quakers, and Jehovah’s witnesses.
EVALUATION - the exact boundary between churches, sects, and denominations is difficult to establish.
Cults
> Loosely organized groups of members who share interests.
> Do not claim a monopoly of the truth, open to competing ideas.
> Generally tolerant of wider society
> Usually seen as deviant.
> Often promise to help release inner power.
Stark and Bainbridge (1985)Types of cults
> There are 3 main types of cults:
- Audience cults - least organized, don’t involve formal membership or much commitment. Little interaction between members. An example is Jediism, people who wear hoods due to Star Wars films, etc.
- Client cults - based on the relationship between consultant and client, provide services to followers. In past, they did “medical miracles” and had contact with the dead. This has been replaced with therapy.
- Cultic movements - most organized, demand higher levels of commitment. Aim to meet all member’s religious needs. Rarely allowed to belong to other religious groups at the same time.
