topic six - organisations, movements and members

Question 1

what are sociologists interested in

Answer 1

the type of religious organisations, how theydevelop and who joins them

Question 2

who initially distringuished two types or organisations and what were they

Answer 2

Troeltsch:
- chruch
- sect

Question 3

define church

Answer 3

TROELSTCH: large organisations such as the Catholic Church run by a bureaucratic hierarchy of professional priests
- claim a monopoly of truth and are universalitstic so aim to include the whole of soc
- yet, they attract higher classes because they are ideologically conservative
- place few demands on their members

Question 4

define sect

Answer 4

TROLESCH: small, exlusive groups with a charismatic leader instead of a hierarchy who are hostile towards the rest of society’s differing beliefs especially
- mainly attract the poor and oppressed
- claim a monopoly of truth as well
- have expectations and demands of their members so expect a high level of commitment

Question 5

who has identified another type and what is it

Answer 5

Niebuhr:
denominations are a more moderate religious group than a sect as membership is less exclusive than a sect but are relatively bureaucratic and organised
- accepts the legitimacy of society’s values
- impose minor restrictions such as forbidding alcohol
- do not claim a monopoly of truth

Examples: Methodists, Baptists

Question 6

fourth type of religious organisation

Answer 6

cult:
- highly individualistic and least organised
- made of a few loosely-knit members who share some beliefs
- often led by practitioners or therapists who claim special knowledge to improve life in this world so are world-affirming
- do not have high expectations of members
- ideas and belief systems are not fully developed yet

Question 7

similarities amd differences:

Answer 7

Wallis:
- churches and sects claim a monopoly of truth
- chuches and denominations are seen as respectable whereas sects and cults are seena s deviant

Question 8

how is Troelstch criticised

Answer 8

• his descriptions of religious movements do not fit today’s reality for example churches being large organisations only applies to the Catholic Church before the 16th centry as it’s religious monopoly was undermined by the Protestant Reformation

Question 10

due to what changes how can religious movements be categorised in today’s society

Answer 10

religious diversity becoming the norm in society has led to many new religions and organisations such as Transcendental meditation or Krishna Consciousness
- this has led Wallis to catergorise them into the following:
- World-rejecting NRMs
- World-accommodating NRMs
- World-affirming NRMs

Question 11

World rejecting NRMs

Answer 11

• distinct religious organisations with a clear notion of God
• highly critical of wider society’s views and seek to bring about radical change
• members believe that in order to attain salvation they must detach fully from their former lives
• there is restricted contact from the wider world as members live communally
  e.g. the Branch Davidian

Question 12

World accomodating NRMs

Answer 12

• often split from mainstream denominations or churches as they believe these are no longer upholding the spiritual purity of religion and so seek to restore this
• they are not accepting nor rejecting of worldly matters and members lead conventional lives
  e.g. neo-Pentecostalists

Question 13

World-affirming NRMs

Answer 13

• not highly organised organisations but offer members spiritual reasoning and powers
• accepting of the world as it is and have an optimistic outlook: enables them to promise followers this-wordly success
• not critical of other views but claim to offer special knowledge to overcome suffering such as unhappiness or illness

Question 14

which was the most successful of Wallis’ categories

Answer 14

World affirming NRMs such as Scientology with about 165,000 members in the UK as of 2005

Question 15

How does Wallis criticise themselves

Answer 15

• not all movements can clearly fit into a specific typology and instead could have elements of more than one
• e.g. the 3HO movement
• however, even if general, sociologists find typologies useful as a way of analysing and comparing significant features of NRMs

Question 16

Who else criticises Wallis

Answer 16

Stark and Bainbridge as the argue religious organisations should be distinguished in terms of the level of conflict between the group and wider society and therefore identify two types:
sects and cults

Question 18

Stark and Bainbridge’s sect

Answer 18

result from schisms (conflicts in existing organisations) and usually break away from churches due to disagreements about doctrine
- promise other-wordly benefits to those suffering economic deprivation such as salvation/rewards in heaven

Question 19

Stark and Bainbridge’s cult

Answer 19

new religions such as Scientology
- offer this wordly benefits to more weather prosperous individuals who suffer from psychic deprivation (anomie) or organismic deprivation (health concerns)

Question 21

how have Stark and Bainbridge further categorised cults

Answer 21

• audience cults
• client cults
• cultic movements

Question 22

audience cults

Answer 22

S AND B:
- least organised and do not involve formal membership or intense commitment as there is little interaction between members so participantion can be through the media
e.g. astrology

Question 23

client cults

Answer 23

based on the relationship between the client and a consultant
- in the past they claimed to be practioners of medical miracles or had the ability to contact the dead
- in today’s society, they come across as therapists who promise personal fulfillment/self- discovery

Question 24

cultic movements

Answer 24

• most organised and demand a higher level of commitment
• requires strict membership (cannot belong to other movements)
• aims to meet members’ needs
  e.g. Doomsday cults which predict the end of the world and commit mass suicide

Question 25

3 reasons for the growth of NRMs

Answer 25

- marginality - relative deprivation - social change

Question 26

how does marginality explain the growth of NRMs

Answer 26

- sects offer a theodicy of disprivilege which explains their suffering as a test of faith - therefore they attract members from the poor or oppressed groups who a marginalised from society by providing other worldly promises - e.g. the Nation of Islam recruited majority disadvantaged blacks in USA

Question 27

how can marginality be influenced and then what's the Y in Percy

Answer 27

- world rejecting NRMs have recruited mainly from affluent groups from the 1960s - However, just because they are prosperous does not mean they do not face marginalisation as they are often hippies or drug users

Question 28

how does relative deprivation explain the growth of NRMs

Answer 28

WALLIS: - middle class individuals feel spiritually deprived especially in today's consumerist society - they feel as if they lack the emotional warmth and comfort and so turn to sects for a sense of community

Question 29

Who further explains relative deprivation as a reason for growing NRMs

Answer 29

- they explain the involvement of those who are materially deprived - they are more attracted to sects who break away and uphold the original message of the organisation which the middle class may have compromised to fit into today's materialist soc - they will emphasise messages such as 'the meek will inherit the Earth' or the camel quote which offers them compensators for the rewards they are denied

Question 30

How does social change cause the growth of NRMs

Answer 30

- Wilson observes that periods of social change being about anomie and instability - those who are most affected by the disruption turn to sects e.g. dislocation caused by industrial revolution in Britain in the 19th century lead to the rise of Methodism which offered community, warmth, a clear set of norms and values and the promise of salvation - was especially popular amongst the working class

Question 31

specific causes of the growth of world rejecting NRMs among a specific social group

Answer 31

- Wallis points to social changes affecting young people from the 1960ssuch as increaed time spent in education - extended childhood and provided freedom from adult responsibilities - world rejecting NRMs were attractive as they offered young people an idealistic way of life

Question 32

specific reasons for the growth of world rejecting NRMs

Answer 32

- Wallis

Question 33

specific growth of world affirming NRMs

Answer 33

- Bruce argues the growth of this was a response to modernity and the rationalisation of work - in a modern soc, work no lonfer provides a source of identity as it once did during the Protestant ethic effect - yet we are still expected to achieve so world affirming NRMs provide the techniques to succeed and promise such attainment

Question 34

explain the dynamic of a sect

Answer 34

Niebuhr develops S and B's definition of sects: and argue that they are short lived because of: - the second generation effect where children of members lack the fervour of their parents who joined voluntarily - the 'Protestant ethic effect': sects that practice ascetisms in particular encourages members to become prosperous so overtime they disregard their ascetic lifestyles and choose to compromise with the world - death of a leader: the loss of the charismatic leader may undermine their teachings, causing members to find alternatives so are likely to abandon their existing beliefs

Question 35

explain the sectarian cycle

Answer 35

- Stark and Bainbridge: 1) tension arises in a denomination/church especially between the deprived and privileged members resulting in a schism 2) deprived members break away and form their own sect with the religious ideas from their previous organisation which they believe have now been abandoned 3) charismatic leadership overtime strengthens the ideas but also make them more extreme/ conflicting to that of wider society 4) denominationalism and the reasons for sects being short lived from before all decrease the tension of beliefs with wider society and it becomes more world accepting 5) more zealous members amongst the current group create Futher schism and form a new sect, repeating the cycle

Question 36

is this pattern of the sectarian cycle always true

Answer 36

- Wilson argued that not all sects follow this pattern as he distinguishes two types based on their answer to 'what sall we do to be saved': - conversionist - adventist

Question 37

conversionist

Answer 37

Sects such as evangelicals whose aim is to convert large numbers of people and are likely to grow into denominations

Question 38

adevntist

Answer 38

Sects such as the Seven Day Adventists who await the Second Coming of Christ - to be saved they believe they must be separate from the rest of the corrupt world which prevents them from eventually compromising with society