Topic 6 - Organisations, members and movements Flashcards
Types of religious organisations
. Troeltsch
Churches - E.G. the catholic church
. large with a lot of members
. ideologically conservative
. few demands on members
. linked to the state
. claim monopoly of the truth
. have a bureaucratic hierarchy -> layers of decision making
- eval = christocentric relig like hindu + islam fit this typology
Sects
. small exclusive group
. demands commitments from members
. hostile to wider soc
. believe they have a religious monopoly of relig truth
. have charismatic leadership
. recruit from the poor and oppressed
- eval = there can be different types of sects
wilson - conversionist, reformist etc
Denominations
. midway between church and sect
. not linked to state
. impose minor restrictions but not as demanding as sects
. tolerant of other religions
. broadly accepts soc’s values
. membership = less exclusive
-eval = too much overlap with church definition
Cults
. dont have sharply defined belief system
. least organised
. highly individualistic, small loose-knit groups
. many = world affirming
-eval = confused in media with sects - too much overlap
evaluation
. Troeltsch’s typologies not reflect modern soc + religious pluralism of soc - Bruce
. Robertson - state is less concerned bout opinion of the church in contemp soc
. Growth of NRMs calls the ridged definitions into question
NRM
. New Religious Movements - Wallis 1984
World accommodating
. Breakaways from existing mainstream church
. accept soc but not their place in it
-> want to get back to purity
World affirming
. have a lot in common with cults
. insights that relate to psychotherapy
World rejecting
. have conservative moral codes
. members live in communities away from the outside world
. similar to sects
-> highly religious + critical of the outside world
sects and cults - Stark et al
. sects offer other-worldly benefits (heaven/ afterlife) and cults offer this-worldly benefits (good health)
. 3 types of cults
-> Audience cults - no formal membership/commitment, participation mainly through media (eg astrology)
-> Client cults - service provided to followers (used to be medical miracles but now more of a focus on therapies for personal fulfilment)
-> Cultic movements - most organised + demand commitment, followers not allowed to belong to other relig groups
explaing the growth
Marginality
. Weber - groups arise to offer help to those marginalised
. sects offer a theodicy of deprivileged (explains their misfortune + offers then hope)
. many sects drawn from marginalised poor
-> eg Nation of Islam recruited many disad blacks in the 60s in the USA
Relative deprivation
. ppl feel deprived (might not be poor) often a sense of being spiritually deprived -> turn to sects for community -Wallis
. stark et al - its the relatively deprived that break away from established churches to form sects to emphasise initial claim (what they are against in the church - eg wealth like in analogy its easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven)
social change
. Wilson - rapid change disrupts and undermines established norms and values = anomie (normlessness) -> those most affected may turn to sects as solution
. Bruce - response to soc change involved in modernisation and secularisation cos ppl are less attracted to the traditional churches cos they’re too demanding.
The Dynamics of Sects and NRMs
Denomination or death
. Neibuhr - world-rejecting orgs that split off from OG church that are short lived and die within a generation
. The 2nd gen - born into sect but lack commitment parents have
. ‘Protestant ethic’ effect - practice hard work + saving eg Methodists
. Death of the leader - collapse on leader’s death or more formal bureaucratic leadership takes over making it a denomination
The Sectarian cycle
. Stark et al - move through a cycle
1) schism - tension between deprived and privileged members - deprived break away
2) initial fervour - charismatic leader
3) denomination - the ‘coolness’ of the 2nd gen = fervour gone
4) establishment - sects becoming more world-accepting + less tension
5) Further schism - less priv break away from sect + find new one close to OG message
Established sects
. Wilson - types of sects
-> Conversionist - aim to convert large groups = grow fast into formal denominations
-> Adventist - await the 2nd coming of christ like Jehovah’s Witnesses -> have to stay separate to keep away from sin so separateness stops them from being a denomination
. agrees with Neibuhr’s view
The growth of the New Age
. New age beliefs like UFOs, Aliens, astrology, crystals + mediation
. 2 common themes of New Age beliefs IDed by Heelas :
1) self-spirituality - looking inside self to find it + turn away from trad ‘external’ relig
2) Detraditionalization - rejects spiritual authority of ‘external’ trad sources (priests, holy books) and values personal experiences -> we can discover the truth for and within ourselves
Postmodernity and the New Age
. meta-narratives are claims to have ‘the truth’
. science has brought war, genocide, global warming , etc instead of a better world -> ppl lost faith in these professions so turn to New Age ideas
. The New Age and Modernity
-> Bruce - new age = latest stage of modern soc (values the individual + so does the New Age)
-> pop with those in ‘expressive professions’ (community wrkrs/ artists) concerned with human potential
. New Age attractive to westeners cos make few demands + cater for self centred W
. Heelas linking the New Age and Modernity
-> a source of ID
- mod soc = individ has lots of roles with little to no overlap = fragmented ID-> New Age Belies = source of authentic ID
-> consumer culture
- never delivers the satisfaction if promises
- New Age offers alternative way of achieving perfection
-> Rapid Social change
- mod soc disrupts established norms + values = anomie
- the New age provides sense of truth + certainty in teh same way as sects
-> decline of organised religion
- Modernity = secularisation-> removes trad alternatives to New Age beliefs (USA New Age strongest where church going is lowest -> California)
Religiosity and social group
- Gender
. more women believe in god (84%), afterlife (57%) and the devil (42%) compared to men (75%, 39% and 32%).
. Reasons for gender gap - Miller et al
-differences in risk taking -> men less risk adverse so more likely to take the risk of not being religious
-women socialised into the qualities valued by religion so more likely be religious
-women have more time to be religious + church acts as gender ID
. Paid Work
-Bruce -> women = higher religiosity in past cos lower involvement in paid work
-2 reasons why religion still attractive to women
-> has strong affinity with values such as caring for others (women responsible for the care of the family +paid work)
-> churches feminised space that emphasises women’s concerns like ships + caring
. Women and the New Age
- women associated with nature cos of childbirth + healing roles -> NAM give women a higher status (eg Woodhead found 80% of participants in Holistic milleu in Kendal were women)
- Bruce said experience of child rearing makes women more attracted to NAMs cos more gentle, goal-orientated and cooperative
- women in paid work suffer cos of confilct between home and work roles
- Brown - self religions attract more women cos they want autonomy but some attracted to fundamentalism cos of centuries of gender roles prescribed to them
. Women, compensators and sects - 3 forms of deprivation
- organismic - physical + mental health probs more likely suffered by women so seek healing that sects offer
- Ethical - more likely see the world in a moral decline so attracted to sects cos share this view
- social - sects attract poorer -> women more likely in these groups
the Pentecostal gender paradox
- its a patri religion cos all important figure heads are men (the clergy, priests and heads of church)
- Brusco says its attractive to women cos men pressured to bring money back into the fam rather than gamble it away -> improves quality of life
recent trends
- relig declined in UK women cos they in paid work so reject trad gender roles and trad relig
Religiosity and social groups
- Ethnicity
. eth minorities value relig more -> Muslim = 74% but catholic = 32%
. reasons for eith differences
- cultural defence
. Bruce - sense of ID in hostile environment
. Bird - way of preserving culture + creating solidarity + coping with oppression in racist soc
- Cultural transition
. eases transition cos provides support + sense of community (this y 1st gen imm have high lvls of relig)
. once made transition to wider soc relig could decline in importance
.2021 Census
- UK becoming secular (46.2% pop = Christ)
- women still more active in relig
- more older ppl participate in relig
Religiosity and social groups
- Age
. Religious participation
- more older ppl with acception of <15 made to go by parents
- in future 1/2 of all churches will have nobody under 20 go
. Reasons for age gap
- Voas et al have 3 explanations
. the age effect - turn to religion as get older cos closer to death
. the cohort effect - ppl born at a particular time are more or less relig cos of events they lived through
. Secularisation - relig becomes less important to each new gen
- they say Secularisation is the main reason for the age gap cos 1/2 as many relig as the gen before it
- Arweck et al - “virtual collapse of religious socialisation” after 1960s
. Sunday School gone
. if both parents same relig on 50% change to raise kid as church going adult
-> when 2 different relig chance = 25%
