Beliefs in Society - Organisations, Movements and Members

Question 1

Troeltsch (1980) and the two main types of religious organisations:

Answer 1

Troeltsch argues that religious organisations are mainly:
- Churches: large universalistic organisations are run by a bureaucratic hierarchy of professional clergy and that require an average levels of commitment, largely attract the higher class
- Sects: small exclusive religious groups that are hostile to wider society and require high levels of commitment, often led by charismatic leaders and largely attract the poor and oppressed
The only similarity being both claim a monopoly on religious truth.

Question 2

Niebuhr (1929) and denominations:

Answer 2

A third type of organisation is the denomination, midway between churches and sects: membership being less excluive but still not appealing to everyone and requiring some minor restrictions like sobriety. The major difference is that the do not claim a monopoly of truth.

Question 3

What is the fourth kind of religious organisation?

Answer 3

Cults are highly individualistic groups led by ‘practitioners’ who claim special knowledge of the supernatural, they have low levels of comitment with followers acting more as customers or trainees, also not claiming a monopoly of religious truths.

Question 4

Wallis (1984) and the 2 characteristics of organisations:

Answer 4

• Internal perception: whether or not they claim a monopoly of truth
• External perception: whether they are seen as respectable or deviant

Question 5

Give a criticism of Troeltsch’s (1980) definition of a church

Answer 5

Bruce (1996) argues that no Church has held a religious monopoly since the Catholics before the Protestant Reformation and they have become increasingly accepting of other beliefs.

Question 6

Wallis (1984) and the three types of new religious movements:

Answer 6

• World-rejecting
• World-accomodating
• World-affirming

Question 7

Outline the features of world-rejecting NRMs

Answer 7

Similar to a sect, Wallis (1984) argues that they have:
- Clear religious organisation and notion of God
- Hostile to outside world
- Members must break with former life to achieve salvation
- Communal living and high levels of control over members
- Often conservative moral codes

Question 8

Outline the features of world-accommodating NRMs

Answer 8

Often breaking away from an existing church, they seek to restore spiritual balance and purity rather than focussing on worldly matters; neo-Pentecostals believe other Christians have lost the holy Spirit.

Question 9

Outline the features of world-affirming NRMs

Answer 9

Non-exclusive groups that claim no monopoly of truth but claim to offer special additional spiritual knowledge to gain mainstream rewards like happiness to members that act more like customers, this has been described as the psychologisation of religion.

Question 10

Give a criticism of Wallis’s (1984) 3 types of NRMs.

Answer 10

Wallis recognises that NRMs rarely fits neatly into they typology as they will often fit into multiple groups, the Peoples’ Temple split from the Pentecostals who Jones viewed as having lost the spirit of christianity (world-accomodating) but were very exclusive (world-rejecting).

Question 11

Stark and Bainbridge (1986) and the two religions in conflict with society:

Answer 11

• Sects result from schisms due to disagreements over doctrine, they offer other-worldly benefits to those suffering economic of ethical (non-mainstream values) deprivation
• Cults are entirely new religions that offer this-worldly benefits to those suffering psychic (normlessness) or organismic (health) deprivation

Question 12

Stark and Bainbridge (1986) and the three types of cults:

Answer 12

• Audience cults: disorganised with little formal membership or commitment, with little interaction and participation mainly through media.
• Client cults: based on a service relationship between a consultant and a client, traditionally focussed more on medical miracles and the such but now focus on ‘therapies’ for self-discovery
• Cultic movements: highly organised with high levels of commitment that aim to meet all of members’ religious needs, unique in that they demand that members do not paticipate in other religions.

Question 13

Give a criticism of Stark and Bainbridge’s (1986) three types of cults.

Answer 13

There is diversity of organisation and participation within many cults, scientology acts as a client cult but as one ascends the sea org, their leadership, it becomes more of a cultic movement.

Question 14

Outline the features of the Catholic Church that make it a church.

Answer 14

• Large universalistic appeal - Pope Francis: “being homosexual is not a crim”
• Bureacratic hierarchy - the Pope, Cardinals, and Archbishops all at the top
• Low levels of commitment - attending mass, minor restrictions, largely based on belief

Question 15

Outline the features of the Peoples’ Temple that make it a sect.

Answer 15

• High levels of commitment - members must live in communes and abide by Jone’s instructions lest the be beat, starved or (allegedly) killed
• Hostility to wider society - believed America has fallen to capitalism and racism and strayed from the ‘true God’
• Led by a charismatic leader - Jim Jones was venerated as ‘God Socialist’

Question 16

Outline the features of Methodism that make it a denomination.

Answer 16

• Vague hierarchy - the President and vice-President are elected yearly which gives some power but not much
• No monopoly of truth - methodists are allowed to participate in othe religions, rooted in its origins as a reform group
  However, they do attempt to be universalistic, as the President and vice-President will preach widely and attempt to evangelise

Question 17

Outline the features of Scientology that make it a cult.

Answer 17

At the lower levels, it acts as a client cult:
- Provides special spiritual knowledge - ‘auditing’ allows people to see through ‘engrams’ into their past lives
- This-worldly rewards - doing to can heal almost all physical and mental illness
At higher levels, it acts as a cultic movement:
- High levels of commitment - Rathburn, former Inspector General, claimed that people who did not obey the leader, Miscavige, were put in a windowless room called ‘The Pit’
- Highly organised - members of the sea org act based on a strict hierarchy based on the amount they have paid to Scientology

Question 18

What are the main explanation for the growth of new religious movements?

Answer 18

• Marginality
• Relative depravation
• Social change

Question 19

Weber (1905) and marginality:

Answer 19

Sects are especially attractive to those who are marginalised within a society as they provide a ‘theodicy of disprivelige’, a justification for their suffering such as it being a test of faith. Increasing immigration and greater awareness of queerness since the Stonewall riots has caused many to look for justification and turn away from traditional religious authorities that are associated with their suffering (colonialism, anti-homosexuality, etc.)

Question 20

Give a criticism of Weber (1905) and marginality.

Answer 20

The moonies, a prominent sect in South Korea, recruits mainly from groups of middle-class well-educated white people, not a group traditionally marginalised. However, Wallis (1984) argues that those recruited were marginalised as they were often hippies, dropouts and drug users.

Question 21

Why do m/c people turn to sects?

Answer 21

Wallis (1984) argues that m/c people may feel relatively deprived, specifically spiritually deprived in a today’s consumerist impersonal and inauthentic society, causing them to turn to sects for Community.

Question 22

Stark and Bainbridge (1986) and the organisations the classes join:

Answer 22

Stark and Bainbridge argue that world-rejecting sects offer more compensators for the economic relative depravation the w/c experience, whereas the m/c is attracted to world-accepting churches that allow them to express their status and bring them further success.

Question 23

Wilson (1970) and social change:

Answer 23

Periods of rapid social change in a society undermines traditional values and norms, producing anomie. This insecurity may cause the affected to turn towards sects as they are hostile to the changes of wider society.

Question 24

Give a criticism of Wilson (1970) and social change.

Answer 24

Giddens (1999) argues that uncertainty is more likely to cause people to turn to religious fundamentalism rather than new religious sects; however, these share similar character so are not mutually exclusive.

Question 25

Wallis (1984) and counter-culture:

Answer 25

World-rejecting NRMs were attractive to the youth of the 60's as it gave them an idealistic vision of a changed world that aligned with counter-culture that came with increased time in education. - Bruce (1995) argues that it was actually the failure of counter-culture that caused a disilusioned youth to turn to religion, possibly for other-worldly rewards

Question 26

Bruce (2011) and world-affirming NRMs:

Answer 26

Bruce argues that world-affirming NRMs ameliorate the rationalisation of work, where work no longer provides meaning or source of identity (unlike the Protestant Ethic) but we are still expected to suceed, by providing both identity and tecnhiques to promote success.

Question 27

Niebuhr (1929) and the fate of sects:

Answer 27

Niebuhr argues that world-rejecting sects ofthen only last a generation as they either die out or compromise their beliefs with wider society, known as 'denomination or death': - The second generation often lack the commitment and fervour of their parents who conciously rejected society - Ascetic sects tend to prosper so will be tempted to compromise with the world so further succeed - Deaths of a leader often cause total collapse or the creation of bureaucracy that makes them a denomination

Question 28

Stark and Bainbridge (1986) and the sectarian cycle:

Answer 28

World-rejecting sects exist in a 5-stage cycle: - Schism due to tension between priveliged and deprived members - Initial fervour with charismatic leader and tension with wider society - Denominationalism: second generation and 'protestant ethic' decays fervour - Establishment: sect becomes more world-accepting and tension reduces - Further schism with more zealous or less priveliged members

Question 29

Wilson (2008) and established sects:

Answer 29

Not all sects follow the 'denomination or die' or sectarian cycle, some become 'established sects' like the Amish as they are 'adventists' who see salvation as keeping themsevles seperate from corruption, keeping them from denominationalising. Conversely, conversionists are evangelisers so will compromise to have wider appeal.

Question 30

Wilson (2008) and the effect of globalisation on sects:

Answer 30

Globalisation provides positives and negatives for sects: - It'll make it harder for sects to stay seperate and avoid denominationalisation - Dispriveliged people in the developing world provide many recruits, as shown by the success of Pentecostalism

Question 31

Heelas (1996) and the defining characteristics of the New Age:

Answer 31

- Self-spirituality: practitioners have turned away from traditional 'external' religions to look inside - Detraditionalisation: rejection of spiritual authority of traditional sources like clergy, valuing personal experience above all

Question 32

Drane (1999) and postmodernity and the New Age:

Answer 32

The rise of the New Age is a response to the rejection of meta-narratives in a postmodern era, with people losing faith in experts like doctors and scientists, because of the horrors of science, and with churches due to their failure to meet spitirual needs. The New Age provides a meta-narrative-less personal fulfillment of those needs.

Question 33

Bruce (2011) and modernity and the New Age:

Answer 33

The rise of the New Age is a feature of the individualistic nature of modernity, a key value of the New Age - these beliefs are often more watered-down, lower commitment versions of Easter religions like Buddhism, typical of the modern consumerist ethos.

Question 34

Heelas (1996) and modernity and the New Age:

Answer 34

The New Age is a symptom of modernity for multiple reasons: - The variety of roles of people in modern society causes a fragmented identity, the New Age offers an 'authntic' identity. - The New Age offers an alternative 'perfection' that the consumer culture fails to deliver - Modern rapid social change causes anomie, the New Age provides a feeling of certainty and truth, similar to sects

Question 35

Give 3 statistics relating to gender differences in religion.

Answer 35

- Female churchgoers outnumber men by half a million - 12% more women than men describe themselves as spiritual - More men are atheists and, even among atheists, men are 2x as likely not to believe in an afterlife

Question 36

Miller and Hoffman (1995) and risk:

Answer 36

Women are socialised to take less risks than men, being unreligious risks eternal damnation so women are more likely to participate for safety. Davie notes that the decline in dangers associated with childbirth mean that Western women face fewer risks and may be becoming less religious as a result.

Question 37

Miller and Hoffman (1995) and socialisation and work:

Answer 37

Women are more attracted to religion as it values the attributes they are socialised into: caring, kindness, obedience - men who share these attributes are also more likely to participate. Women are also more likely to work part time or be full-time carers so have the time to participate.

Question 38

Davie (2013) and the 'ultimate questions':

Answer 38

Women are closer to birth and death due to child-rearing and taking care of the elderly, this makes them more likely to consider the 'ultimate questions' about where we come from and where we go that religion provides answers for. Greeley (1992) similarly argues that women are responsible for their families 'ultimate' welfare, pushing them to faith.

Question 39

Bruce (2011) and private sphere:

Answer 39

Due to rationalisation, religion has moved from the predominantly-male public sphere to the predominantly-female (women have lower involvement in paid work) private sphere; however, the entrance of women into the public sphere has caused the 'decline of female piety' (Brown (2009)).

Question 40

Woodhead (2001) and why religion remains more attractive to women:

Answer 40

- Religiously valued attributes remain those that women hold as primary carers - Men's absence in religion for centuries has caused it to shift focus to the worries of women such as caring and relationships (reinforced by the introduction of female clergy like Church of England bishops in 2015)

Question 41

Bruce (2011) and child-rearing:

Answer 41

Because of child-rearing, women are more cooperative and caring compared to men who are aggressive and goal-oriented, these are attributes valued by the expressive emphasis of the New Age.

Question 42

Woodhead (2001) and the individual sphere:

Answer 42

Modern women experience a role conflict between their masculine instrumental role in work and feminine expressive role at home, causing a fragmented identity. The New Age appeals to a third 'individual sphere' that creates a new source of identity base on the 'inner self', giving women a sense of wholeness.

Question 43

Bruce (2011) and female class differences in the New Age:

Answer 43

M/c women are more likely to be spiritual due to the appeal of its emphasis on personal autonomy and self development; w/c women, on the other hand, are more likely to opt for beliefs that give them a passive role, like an all-powerful God.

Question 44

Stark and Bainbridge (1986) and women and sects:

Answer 44

Women are more likely to join sects as they are more likely to be deprived in multiple areas of life and requiring compensators that sects offer: - Organismic: women are more likely to have poor health so seek sects' magic healing - Ethical: women are more likely to be morally conservative so share the view with sects that we are in moral decline - Social: women are more likely to be poor

Question 45

Martin (2000) and Pentecostalism:

Answer 45

More Latin american women than men are pentecostal despite its emphasis on the power of men, such as men being the head of the house and all clergy, she dubs this the 'Pentecostal Gender Paradox'.

Question 46

Brusco (2012) and Pentecostalism:

Answer 46

Latin American women are more likely to pentecostal as they can use the religion's asceticism to combat the machismo culture that has men spend 20-40% of the household income on alcohol, getting pressured by pastor and community to change their ways and increase the standard of living for women. Western-style liberation is not found, men remain the patriarchs, but its critique of wastefullness is appealing.

Question 47

Brierley (2013) and ethnic minorities:

Answer 47

Black people are 2x as likely to attend Church as white people.

Question 48

Bird (1999) and cultural defence:

Answer 48

Religion provides multiple benefits to defending minorities: - A basis for community solidarity - A means of preserving culture and language - A way of coping with oppression

Question 49

Herberg (1955) and cultural transition:

Answer 49

There is a high degree of religiosity among first-generation migrants as it eases them into British culture through community and support.

Question 50

Pryce (1979) and Bristol:

Answer 50

The African Caribbean Pentecostal community in Bristol utilises culture transition by providing Western-values and support systems. Rastafarianism, on the other hand, largely rejected Western society as racist and exploitative.

Question 51

In 2015, how many more 45-64 year olds were there compared to 15-19 attending church?

Answer 51

Brierley (2015): almost 6x

Question 52

Voas and Crockett (2005) and explaining age differences in religion:

Answer 52

- The ageing effect: people turn to religion as they get older - The cohort effect: certain generations live through certain experiences that affect their religiosity - Secularisation

Question 53

Heelas (2005) and old people:

Answer 53

People become more interested in spirituality as we approach death.

Question 54

Arweck and Beckford (2013) and socialisation:

Answer 54

The decrease in religion of the young is due to the 'virtual collapse of religious socialisation'.