Topic 6: Organisations, movements and members

Churches (Troeltsch)

•  Large organisations with millions of members (e.g Catholic Church)

• Run by a hierarchy of priests

• Universalistic, include the whole of society

• Often appeal to upper classes because they are linked to the state

• Place few demands on their members

• Claim a religious monopoly of the truth

Sects (Troeltsch)

• Small, exclusive groups

• Break away from churches (often due to disagreements)

• Hostile to wider society

• Expect high levels of commitment

• Often appeal to poor and oppressed

• Led by charismatic leader

• Believe they hold religious monopoly of truth

Denominations (Niebuhr)

• Do not expect a high level of commitment

• Often fairly large organisations

• Impose few demands on members

• Don’t appeal to the whole of society (Methodism)

• Tolerant of other organisations

• Not linked with the state

• Do not claim a religious monopoly of the truth

Cults (Niebuhr)

• Highly individualistic

• Group around shared themes and interests

• Often without an exclusive belief system

• Usually led by ‘therapists’ who claim special knowledge

• Tolerant of other beliefs

• Do not demand strong commitment

• Often world-affirming

• Churches and sects are similar because they both claim that their faith is the correct and legitimate
• Denominations and cults are similar because they accept other valid interpretations
• Churches and denominations are seen as respectable and legitimate to society whereas sects and cults are seen as deviant.

• Wallis' three categories of NRMs

WORLD-REJECTING (characteristics)

• clear notion to God

• highly critical of the outside world and they expect or seek radical change

• to achieve salvation - taking a break from former life

• members live communally, with restricted contact with the outside world. The movement controls their lives and is often accused of brainwashing the members

• they have conservative moral codes such as for sex

• example include - the moonies, the manson family and people's temple

WORLD-ACCOMMODATING (characteristics)

• breakaways from existing mainstream churches or denominations e.g. neo-pentecostalists who split from catholicism or subud a breakaway from Islam

• They neither accept nor reject the world and they focus on religious rather than worldly matters, seeking to restore the spiritual purity of religion e.g. neo-pentecostalists believe that other christian religions have lost their holy spirit.

• WORLD-AFFIRMING (characteristics)
• differ from all other religious groups
• lacks conventional features of religion such as collective worship and not organised
• they accept the world as it is
• they are optimistic and promise followers success in terms of mainstream goals and values such as careers and personal relationships
• they are not exclusive and are tolerant of other religions
• claim to offer additional special knowledge or techniques that enable members to unlock their spiritual powers and achieve success or overcome problems such as unhappiness or illness
• described as psychologising religion offering this-wordly gratification
• most are cults - followers are often customers rather than members
• few demands and commitment on them and they can carry on with their normal lives
• examples include: Scientology, Human potential and TM.

Criticims of Wallis' classification of NRMs

• not clear whether he is categorsing thema according to the movements teachings or individual beliefs

• ignores the diversity of beliefs WITHIN an NRM

• Wallis recognises that some NRMs may not fit in neatly in his typology as some may have all three features

• stark and bainbridge rejects creating such typologies, instead we should distinguish between religious organisations using just one criterion which is the degree of conflict or tension between relgious groups and wider society

• Sects result from schisms - breakaway from existing organisations such as churches usually over disagreements about doctrine. They see sects promising other-worldly benefits (a place in heaven) to those who suffer from economic deprivation or ethical deprivation (their values conflict with wider society)
• Cults are new religions such as Scientology and Christian Science. They offer this-worldly benefits (good health) to people who are suffering psychic deprivation (normlessness) and organismic deprivation (health problems)
• In evaluation, this suggests that sects attract the poor and oppressed and in a Marxist's perspective they will see that this legitimises their exploitation in society and not allowing them to reach the same goals as people from the ruling class.

Stark and Bainbridge subdivided cults according to how organised they are:

• audience cults - least organised. No formal membership or commitment required. Little interaction between members

• client cults - relationship between a consultant and client. Provides services to their followers like therapies which promises personal fulfilment and self-discovery

• cultic movements - most organised. Demand higher level of commitment. Aims to meet all its members religious needs.

MARGINALITY

• Marginal groups (poor or oppressed communities) join sects because they feel de-privileged by not receiving a economic and social status and sects offer a solution to this problem

• Weber talks about 'theodicy of disprivilege' means when a religious group offers a religious explanation and justification for their suffering and disadvantage

• Wallis argues that some well-educated, young, middle-class whites join sects because these individuals had become marginal to society

RELATIVE DEPRIVATION

• RD means a subjective sense of being deprived

• Middle-class people feel spiritually deprived because they lack moral value, emotional warmth and authenticity which is why they turn to sects for a sense of community

• according to Stark and Bainbridge, world-rejecting sects appeal to the deprived because they offer them compensators that they need for the rewards they are denied in this world

• according to Stark and Bainbridge, the privileged join world-accepting churches because it expresses their status and brings them further success

SOCIAL CHANGE

• Wilson says that sects emerge in times of rapid social change because during the times of social change it disrupts and undermines established norms and values and produces anomie. In response to this, it creates uncertainty in society, therefore those effected by the disruption turn to sects as a solution e.g. methodism

• Bruce suggests that people join sects in response to secularisation because people are less attracted to traditional churches and strict sects because they demand too much therefore people join other sects and cults which demand less

WORLD-REJECTING

• attractive to young people because they offer a realistic way of life

WORLD-AFFIRMING

• their growth is a response to modernity and work as it no longer provides a meaning of identity, W-A nrms provide identity and techniques that promise success

• schism - splitting from an established church because of a disagreement over religious doctrines

• Neibuhr's reasons why sects are short lived:
  • The second generation - people who are born into the sect because their parents were part of one who rejected the world. Their norms and values change which is different from their parents therefore do not want to be part the organisation.
  • The Protestant ethic - Sects that practise asetism their members will be tempted to comprimise with the world so they leave it or it will abandon its world-rejecting beliefs.
  • Death of the leader - When the sects leader dies, the organisation collapses or a more formal bureaucratic leadership takes over, transforming it into a denomination.
• Stark and Bainbridge's sectarian cycle:
  • Schism
  • Initial Fervour -  with a charismatic leadership and great tension between sects and wider society.
  • Denominationalism - 'Protestant ethic' effect and the coolness of the second generation mean the fervour disappears.
  • Establishment - sects become more wordly-accepting.
  • Further schism - less privileged members break away to find a new sect true to the original message.

• According to Wilson, there are two patterns which conversionist and adventist sects follow:
  • Conversionist - sects such as Evangelicas aim to convert larger members of people, are likely to grow rapidly into larger and more formal denominations
  • Adventists - sects such as Johavah's Witnessess wait for the second coming of Christ to be saved. They seperate themselves from the corrupt world and this seperation prevents them to compromise and to become a denomination.
• Established sects: Adventists, Pentecostalists, The Amish, Mormons and Quakers
• Wilson suggests that sects are struggling to keep themselves seperate from wider society  because of globalisation.
• Globalisation helps some sects because it makes it easier to recruit third world - where there are large numbers of deprived people for whom the message of sects is attractive as the success of Pentecostalism have shown.

•  New Age beliefs consist of UFO's, aliens, astrology, meditation and alternative medicine

Two common themes of New Age beliefs identified by Heelas:

• self-spirituality - seeking spirituality inside themselves rather than external force

• De-traditionalisation - rejects spiritual authority of external traditional sources like holy spirits and sacred texts. Instead value personal experience and believes that we can discover the truth ourselves and within ourselves (individualistic)

• People have lost faith in professionals such as scientists and doctors because science has only brought war, genocide, environmental destruction and global warming in to the world.
• The growth of the New Age is a feature of modern society because it values individualism which is a key principle of the New Age beliefs.
• New Age is attractive to Westerners because they are less demanding than Eastern religions like Islam or Buddhism.
• The four ways in which Heelas links the New Age and modernity:
  • Source of identity - lack of identity people have because of the different roles they have such as work, family and friend therefore wanting a authentic identity.
  • Consumer culture - New Age offers an alternative way to achieve perfection as Consumer culture creates dissatisfaction because it never delivers the perfection that it promises.
  • Rapid social change - disrupts established norms and values resulting in anomie. The New Age provides a sense of certainity and truth in the same way as sects does.
  • Decline of organised religion - Modernity results in secularisation which removes the traditional alternatives to New Age beliefs such as in the USA - the New Age is strongest whereas churchgoing is at its lowest.

• It is suggested that females are more religious than men.g. statistics show that 84% of females believe in a God and only 75% with males.

Reasons for gender differences

Millers and Hoffman's three reasons why women are more religious than men

• men take more risks than women

• Women are socialised to be passive and obedient and caring. These qualities are valued by most religions therefore women are more likely to be attracted to religion than men.

• Women are more likely to work part-time or be full time carers therefore they have time to participate in religious activities.

• Women are more likely to be attracted to churches for a source of gender identity.

Paid work

• According to Bruce, women are more religious because they are seen to have little involvement in paid work (expressive role) therefore they have more time on their hands to be involved in religious activates

Two reasons why religion remains attractive to women:

• strong values in caring for others and this is shown by women continuing to have a primary role in caring for the young and old

• churches have now gradually emphasised women's roles in society such as caring and relationships and women priests and bishops have reinforced this

Women and the New Age

• Women are usually associated with nature because they have children and have a healing role
• Bruce believes that women's experience of child-rearing makes them more likely to be attracted to the New Age movements because they make them feel less aggressive and goal-oriented and makes them become more co-operative and caring. Whereas, men want to achieve and women want to feel.
• Women who work suffer from role confliction because between instrumental role and expressive role. Religion offers a third sphere where women can have time for themselves.
• Woodhead and 'individual sphere' - he defines this as: The sphere is concerned with individual autonomy (independance) and personal growth rather than role performance.
• Brown suggests that 'self' religions attract women because they fulfil women's wish for autonomy.
• Women may be attracted to fundamentalism because of the certainties of a traditional gender roles that it offers them.
• New Age appeals to middle-class women because it offers them personal autonomy, control and self-development / working-class women are attractive to ideas that give them a passive role. (according to Bruce)

Women, compensators and sects

There are three forms where women suffer from deprivation:

• Organismic deprivation - suffering from physical and mental health problems. Women are more likely to suffer ill health and thus seek the healing that sects offer.

• Ethical deprivation - Women who tend to be more morally conservative. They are therefore likely to regard the world as being in moral decline and be attracted to sects, which often share the same moral view.

• Social deprivation - Sects attract the poor and women are more likely to be poor.

The Pentecostal gender paradox

• Pentecostalism is a patriarchal religion because men are seen as both heads of the household and the head of the church.
• According to Brusco, Pentecostalism is attractive to women despite it being a patriarchal religion because they demand a ascetic lifestyle, women then use this idea to combat a widespread culture of machismo. Men are then pressured by their church to change their ways which then raises the standards of living of women and their children.

Recent Trends

• Religious participation by women have declined in the UK this is because of the movement of women into paidwork and rejecting traditional gender roles.
• Women also reject tradtional religions because they reject traditional gender roles.

Ethnicity and Religiosity

• Other ethnicities such as Muslims take religious seriously - 74% of Muslims said religion is important in their lives and 62% attended worship as opposed to White Anglicans - only 11% of them said religion is important in their lives and 9% of them attended worship  and White Catholics - only 32% of them said religion is important in their lives and 29% of them attended worship.

Reasons for ethnic differences

• Cultural defence - religion offers support and a sense of cultural identity in a uncertain and hostile environment.

• Cultural transition - easing the transition into a new culture by providing support and a sense of community for minority groups in their environment.

Age and religious participation

• The older the age group the more people attended church on a Sunday.
• The implications of this trend is that by 2025, is that half of all English churches have no-one under the age of 20 attending this also means there will be a further decrease in church attendence as this generation grows up.

Reasons for age differences

According to Voas and Crockett, there are three explanations for age differences

• The aging effect - people turn to religion as they get older as people get more interested in spirituality as they age. As they approach death they therefore natually become more concerned about spiritual matters and afterlife.

• The period or cohort effect -  people born during a particular period may be more or less likely to be religious because of the particular events they lived through, such as war or rapid social changes.
• Secularisation - As religion declines in importance each generation becomes less religious than the one before it.

According to Voas and Crockett, the main reason for age differences is due to secularisation as this is the cause of younger people becoming less religious.

Arweck and Beckford have a theory called The Virtual Collapse of Religious Socialisation - what they mean by this is religion is disappearing, for example traditional sunday schools have disappeared and parents who share the same faith have only a 50/50 chance of raising their child to be a churchgoer.