unit 3 - religious typologies Flashcards
7 features of churches
- higher power
- Holy Scripture
- Belief that they have the only truth
- Open membership
- Structured hierarchy
- World accommodating
- Regular place of worship to meet for regular communal worship
examples of churches
Islam
Christianity
5 features of sects
Mostly formed by a schism in a mainstream religion Exclusive membership Total commitment World rejecting Lead by a powerful charismatic leader
examples of sects
Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple
Strong City
6 features of cults
Focus is on individual experience and self improvement No higher power Lead by teachers Business like structure Low commitment Totally open membership
examples of cults
crystal healing
transcendental meditation
7 features of denomination
Becker: A sect that has ‘cooled down’ and is no longer a protest group
Neiebuhr: long surviving sects become denominations because when the leader dies it must become more bureaucratic and organised
Scripture
Higher power
Open membership
World accomodating
Becoming gradually less deviant and evolve into an ‘offshoot’ of a mainstream religion
examples of denominations
Mormons
Moonies
Hare Krishna
types of religious organisations
Churches
Denominations
Cults
Sects
Who created typologies for cults?
what are these typologies?
Stark and Bainbridge
Audience cults - lowest commitment, may never meet other member i.e. buying a crystal
Client cults - Requires an instructive i.e. Yoga
Cultic Movements - Most committed type of cult i.e. Scientology
Who created typologies for New Religious Movements?
What are the typologies?
Wallis
World accommodating
World affirming
World rejecting
World accommodating
Wallis - Most like denominations, they are branches of churches and denominations. They aim to restore spiritual purity. People in world accommodating organisations tend to live among mainstream society. i.e. The Moonies
World affirming
Wallis - Belief systems tend not to be central to the religion. They aim to provide access to spiritual/supernatural powers to followers. Tolerative of the existence of other religions and are non-exclusive.
World rejecting
Wallis - Most like a sect, tend to be based around a definite concept of God. Often are radical meaning they criticise the outside world and are fairly isolated. Commonly they are communal and control every aspect of the members’ lives.
NRM
(Any new religious movements since the 1960’s/70’s)
It is difficult to measure membership/affiliation to these organisations.
-Many have a large number of followers who are not formally registered.
-Some groups have disbanded but still have devotees.
Bruce
In 15th century Europe there was one dominant church and idea of God. The Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries saw the growth in religious freedom and diversity.
Industrialisation arose with complete belief systems, including scientific ones thus resulting in more diverse religious belief and practice.
Today belief is more a matter of personal choice.
evaluating Wallis’ typologies
Difficult to apply: does he categorise according to movements teachings or members’ beliefs.
Insufficient attention to diversity within religious movements. Some religions have features of all three.
Stark and Bainbridge: More useful to distinguish between religious organisations depending on how much conflict or tension there is between the religious group and wider society.
New Age movements (3 points)
More niche than NRMs
Do not tend to involve God but spiritual activities (spiritual rather than religious)
Often focus on the individual and are therapeutic
Stark, Bainbridge and Bruce
NAMs can be divided into one of three forms; audience cults, client cults and cultic movements
Strong City
Type of religion: Sect
Wallis Typology: World rejecting
Key Features: Charismatic leader, communal living, high commitment.
Members: Left seventh day adventists, mostly women and their children.
Reason for Joining: Desire for commitment to their faith. Children born in to it.
Scientology
Type of religion: Cultic movement/sect
Wallis Typology: World affirming
Key Features: Harrassment of those opposing the religion, business like, no belief in higher power, self improvement.
Members: Wealthy people, vulnerable people i.e. drug addicts.
Reason for Joining: self improvement.
Transcendental meditation
Type of religion: Cult
Wallis Typology: World affirming
Key Features: no higher power, low variable commitment, business like structure, inclusive.
Members: affluent people looking for self improvement
Reason for Joining: Self improvement, removal of stress.
Jim Jones and the People’s Temple
Type of religion: Sect
Wallis Typology: World rejecting
Key Features: charismatic leader, communal living, total commitment.
Members: people seeking a more equal/better society (many were african americans/middle class)
Reason for Joining: Wanting a more equal society.
Neibuhr
Looked at the lifecycle of sects concluding they would not last more than one generation.
The second generation: less committed and passionate about the religion. HOWEVER many 2nd generation members in Strong City were committed than parents.
The ‘Protestant Ethic’ Effect: Hard working ethic. People worked hard and denied themselves pleasures. This meant they became increasingly rich, resulting in them becoming more world accomodating.
Death of Leader: The group are so dependant on the charismatic leader that the group dies out following the death of their leader.
Stark and Bainbridge - The Sectarian Cycle:
The process of a sect forming and then becoming a deonomination.
- Schism forms.
- Inital fervour: Infactuation with the sect.
- Denominationalism: begining to ‘cool off’, more beurocratic (run by multiple people)
- Establishment: becomes world accomodating.
- Schism forms.
Wilson
Whether or not it dies out depends on the type of sect.
CONVERTIONIST - more likely to grow and become more beurocratic.
ADVENTIST - waiting for a messiah to come to earth. Globalisation makes it harder for sects to remain isolated.
Heelas
Growth of the New Age
There are more cults and New Age Movements than ever as self spirituality and detraditionalism occurs.
Self Spirituality: Developing a stronger sense of spiritualaity, people no longer want a higher power but are turning to the self and looking for improvment.
post modern perspective on religion
Today there is more choice and diversity, no fixed identity. This means that there are more life style choices.
Hadden and Shupe
Post-modernists
Supply lead religion, there is so much choice that everyone finds a religion to suit them.
Herveau Leger: Cultural amnesia in modern Europe means we have forgotten out culture e.g. religion. Lost our sense of fixed identity which results in us becoing insecure as a society. A hybrid of cultures has been created.
Herveau Leger:
Cultural amnesia in modern Europe means we have forgotten out culture e.g. religion. Lost our sense of fixed identity which results in us becoing insecure as a society. A hybrid of cultures has been created.
Bruce (new age and modernity)
We are in a spiritual supermarket in which we and pick and choose religion.
Heelas
Source of identity: we have rejected meta narratives.
Consumer culture: buying as we need i.e. Yoga
Rapid social change: people need faith to cling on to in times of change.
Decline in organised religion
