Beliefs in Society (3)

RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS 

Church 

Churches are large organisations, often with millions of members. It is likely that they will be run by a heirarchy of proffessional priests. Claim a monopoly of truth, and aim to include the whole of society.Tend to be linked to the state- and predominantly attract the middle classes. 

Denomination

A midway between a Church and a Sect. They tend to attract working class people. They tend to impose minor restrictions on members- such as forbidding alcohol, however they are not as demanding a sects. Unlike Church and sects they are tolerant of other beliefs and do not claim a monopoly. 

Sect 

Small, exclusive groups who tend to be hostile to wider society and therefore aim to create barriers between themselves and the outside world. Members are often from marginal and opressed groups. Tend to be led by a charasmatic leader rather than a heirarchy. Believe they hold a monopoly of truths. Supportive of the individual but critical of wider society. 

Cult

The least organised type of religion- highly individualistic, loose knit and small. They are usually led by practitioners who claim to have a special knowledge. They do not demand a strong commitment from followers, who tend to be more like customers. 

NRMs (new religious movements)

Wallis refers to NRMs to the organisations which evolved since the 1950s which claim to offer some sort of spiritual or possibly philosphical guidence, differing from that of mainstream religions. He catagorised these into different catagories:

• World accomodating: usually an offshoot of an existing major church or denomination, some may focus on restoring the spiritual purity of religion. 
• World affirming:Tend to lack the conventional features of religon and offer special techniques to enable followers to unlock spiritual powers and over come problems which will allow them to become sucessful within the dominant values of society.  
• World rejecting: similar to sects. They are critical of the world and seek radical change. Members tend to life communally and restrict contact with the outside world, with strict rules governing their lives. 

Reasons for the emergance and growth of NRMs:

• Weber : believed that sects were most likely to develop within marginal groups. As groups were not considered 'mainstream' they may feel as if they are recieving the prestige they feel they deserve. 
• In general growth of NRMs in the 60s and 70s were from young, white, MC- Wallis argues that these groups were already marginalised from society and despite…