Beliefs, P2

complete !

radical force

religion helps to change society e.g. neo marxist, Max Weber

conservative force

religion keeps society the same e.g. marxism, functionalism, feminism

Marxism as a conservative force

religion is conservative because it acts as a false spiritual compensator keeping us passive so that we continue to be exploited and therefore society does not change.

Without religion being an opiate, we might try and change society.

Functionalism as a conservative force

• Malinowski: religion gives us comfort in times of difficulty so we do not seek change.

• Durkheim: religion creates social solidarity so we feel like members of a ‘club’ and do not seek change. e.g. blood pressure pills means we continue having a poor lifestyle

opposing change and maintaining social stability to prevent disintegration e.g. divorce, abortion

feminism, religion as a conservative force

see religion as a conservative force as it legitimises patriarchal power and maintains women’s subordination in the family and society

Max Weber as a radical force (banks and the protestant reformation)

Banks: banks make money by taking deposits from customers and then lending money/ buying shares/assets that give them a profit. They then share a percentage of the profit with the person who made the deposit through interest.

• the existence of banks to lend money is very important in allowing the economy to grow because banks provide capital credit to people to start new businesses and innovate on new ideas. Without this it would be very difficult to create new businesses.

Protestant reformation, 1517

• started by Martin Luther in Wittenberg who nailed 95 Theses to door of All Saints Church.

• complaints about the conduct of the catholic church:

1. indulgences- things that could be bought by the family of someone who had died that would reduce the time they would spend in purgatory.
→ Luther felt that these would not help someone get to heaven and that they were manipulative e.g. Tetzel: sold ‘strong’ indulgences- he claimed that even if one were to rape the virgin mary they could still ascend directly to heaven.
2. absentee priests- this means that people could not have communion meaning they feared they would go to hell.
3. married priests- Luther was angry that priests were breaking their vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.

3 key protestant views (and why this makes religion radical)

1. Asceticism- living a humble rather than a lavish lifestyle

2. Vocation- all work is a calling from God

3. Predestination- fate of your soul is known before you are even born. (logically this would mean people could act however they wished and it would not make any difference. however this is not what happened, instead people wanted to believe that they were chosen for heaven and acted well in hope that this showed they deserved salvation)

Predestination + Vocation + Ascetism: this protestant work ethic created an environment where people earn a bit more but did not spend it and instead put it in banks.

• banks could then lend that money which they did to people who wanted to develop new ideas.

• the new ideas funded by this money created the industrial revolution which changed society.

dual character of religion, new marxist

normally is a conservative force but can be a radical force (depending on the circumstances)

Neo-marxism, billings (lay preachers)

studied a community with both coal miners and textile workers.

Both groups were demographically similar (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity) yet the coal miners were paid considerably more.

Due to having lay preachers (part of laity/congregation who preach occasionally but are not paid) who had status so could negotiate better pay and conditions on behalf of the workers, while the textile workers lacked this representation. religion bringing positive change in society through lay preachers.

Neo-marxism, Bloch (principle of hope)

in the right circumstances, religion can inspire change as it provides hope through providing a utopia (e.g. heaven). It is a principle of hope.

• even thought they would argue this is a false spiritual compensator it still creates a vision of a better world so strive towards social change.

e.g. Martin Luther King Jr- his ‘I have a dream’ speech/sermon evoked religion as means to unify people behind a vision or hope for a future without racism and create reform.

• talks about “when all of God’s children” → will all be able to sing about freedom together.

• christian faith/idea of heaven encouraged reform and abolishment of racism.

Believing without belonging, Grace Davie

• people may not feel the need to belong (attend) a religious service, they can believe without doing so e.g. take part in religion from home.

• religion has moved from the public sphere to the private sphere as it is now a choice if people wish to attend or not, whereas before it was expected.

• claims there is a trend towards ‘vicarious religion’. we are happy for a small group of people to undertake religion on our behalf.

• ‘spiritual health service’: religion has become something people want when they need it e.g. weddings, funerals, christmas events. However, people do not feel the need to attend regularly.

Spiritual shopping, Danielle Hervieu-Leger

• we have forgotten our culture of religious traditions ‘cultural amnesia’

• we are like spiritual shoppers who are consumers- this is individualised so we can ‘do it ourselves’ and pick the religious ideas that appeal to us while ignoring traditional religious institutions. 
  - pilgrims: self discovery e.g. new age
  - converts: join religious groups that offer a strong sense of belonging

Lyon: Postmodernism and religion, Jesus in disneyland

relocation of religion: increased movement of religious ideas across national boundaries such as through the media. religion therefore becomes de-institutionalised so signs and images are detached from their place in religious institutions.

• traditional religion has declined but the ideas have been disembedded and relocated into new forms and media e.g. narnia, harry potter

• in these new forms they are more popular and easier to consume.

self religion and the new age

• new age is a new type of religious belief that rejects any religious authority but instead is deeply personal and about individual choice (often done at home)

• e.g. crystals, astrology

weaknesses of the new age 

1. socialisation- unlike 2 Christian parents raising their child to believe, the new age is not passed down from one generation to the next so not likely to grow.

2. weak commitment- rare for the new age to be a significant part of the life of a participant meaning it has a low impact e.g. might just be a phase, would not affect who they married

3. structural weakness- as it is so individual it lacks cohesion or a structure to grow around as each person is free to do and believe as they wish.

4. scale- even if the new age movement is growing it is still far too small to replace the congregational domain entirely (1.6% vs 7.9%)

secularisation continually increasing, stark and bainbridge

secularisation is a ‘distorted view’ of the future

• people are naturally religious and religion meets human needs

• people make rational choices based on the available religions

not everyone will be an atheist in the future: religion provides a supernatural compensator through the promise of life after death.

historical cycles suggests there is decline and then revival and renewal

existential security theory, norris and inglehart

variations in religiosity between society is due to different degrees of existential security: the feeling that survival is secure enough that it can be taken for granted.

• as religion meets a need for security, groups and societies who feel insecure will have a high level demand for religion e.g. why low income groups stay ore religious

congregational domain

traditional gathering of people

the holistic milieu

the meeting place of new ideas, self spirituality and the new age (often private and personal)

Marxism view

1. opiate of the masses’, Marx: religion pacifies the working class and keeps them quiet (acts as a painkiller to numb the pain) so they do not complain about exploitation so it continues.

2. false spiritual compensator: would argue that heaven/ afterlife does not exist so do not get reward after hard work. w/c just fooled into staying passive.

3. ‘spiritual gin’, Lenin: w/c get drunk on religion and are easy to exploit.

4. ‘flowers in the chains’: distracted from exploitation e.g. by music, smell of incense, grand buildings.

5. legitimises inequality: makes it seem fair. e.g. Hindus believe karma is built up as credit or debit in one life and in the next you are then rewarded or punished. Therefore your social situation is fair as you deserve your position, therefore stay passive. Also legitimises power of leaders by making position seem divinely ordained.

6. alienation- means you feel as if you do not belong. The work is repetitive, hard and we do not see the reward as alienated from the product. Religion provides compensation meaning we continue to work.

Functionalism view

1. social solidarity through value consensus, Durkheim

   • religion brings us together as one group as we agree on what is important

   • for example: the Arunta, an Aboriginal tribe in north Australia

     • saw value consensus in totems (had etchings of animals e.g. bears which represents strength)

     • community worship these totems so everyone understands the values of society therefore creating social solidarity.

     • sacred (significant and revered) and profane (ordinary and unremarkable) - all objects, ideas and values were separated into these.

   • created a collective conscience: the ritual actions of the society in worshipping the totems meant right and wrong were understood not individually but collectively across society.

→ for Durkheim, religion was the origin of human thought, reason and science

all secondary research

what is true of a religion in the simplest society will not be the same as religion in other societies

2. psychological comfort, Malinowski - religion or beliefs serve the role of helping us cope with dangerous or scary situations. ( existential security)

• studied Trobriand islanders

  • used open sea- had a high yield of fish but was dangerous OR

  • lagoon- low yield of fish but safer

• used canoe magic before setting off as a psychological comfort to feel safer due to open sea being more dangerous e.g. praying, ceremonies

→ therefore also helpful in times of crisis such as birth, marriage and especially death

3. Parsons: religion also promotes value consensus through legitimising and saralising basic norms and values. It also provides a source of meaning answering ‘ultimate’ questions about life helping to increase commitment to society’s values and remain stable.

Feminism view

Feminists argue that religion is patriarchal and that it legitimises and supports the patriarchy.

1. religious organisations- women cannot have many roles in leadership e.g. the Pope is male, leaders in Islam or Judaism etc. are always male.

2. women are not able to attend services in Islam or Judaism while on their period

3. religious buildings favour men e.g. separate prayer rooms in Islamic mosques for men from women and children.

4. different cultural expectations e.g. headdress in Islam

5. different religious laws for men and women e.g. access to divorce (women not able to request it). man as the head of his wife like Jesus is the head of the church.

What is secularisation and some statistics

Secularisation: process of religion declining in society through the decline of beliefs, practices and institutions.

• 1851- 40%, 2020- 4% (adults attending church)

• since 1983 adults with no religion has risen from a 1/3 to a 1/2

• Clergy: 1900- 45000 → 2000- 34,000
  - fewer people going so fewer clergy needed
  - fewer churches so fewer clergy needed

explanations for secularisation: rationalisation- weber

society no longer uses religion to explain the world around us meaning it has become less important.
- the enlightenment lead to a period of disenchantment meaning we stopped understanding the world as being enchanted or mystical but instead as something we could understand e.g. understanding gravity, evolution.
- therefore developed a technological/ scientific worldview rather than a religious one.

explanations for secularisation: structural differentiation, Parsons

the church had a generalised role but as these roles have been replaced by specialists institutions the role of the church has declined.
- shops were specialist institutions e.g. butchers, greengrocers → now become more generalised institutions where focus is on providing a range of services e.g. TESCO, Amazon.
- churches were generalised institutions but have now become more specialist.

explanations for secularisation: social and cultural diversity, Wilson

• pre industrial society mostly consisted of farming communities with strong bonds between each other where religion was at the heart of these communities and was a collective experience.

• during the Industrial revolution there was significant rural to urban migration as workers moved to the cities to take up new jobs in factories/ mills etc. which created large impersonal loose knit centres with diverse beliefs and values.

• religion was part of an older way of life and was abandoned by many

explanations for secularisation: religious diversity, berger

• in the middle ages, the catholic church had a monopoly as it was the only belief system so was not challenged meaning virtually everyone was a follower and did not question their beliefs.

• however, with increasing diversity, just caused by the protestant reformation and then by increased migration and globalisation, people encouraged new ideas that challenged their own.

• this challenged their plausibility structures (set of beliefs which combine to make us believe something) which Berger argued meant people lost their beliefs leading to secularisation.

Fundamentalism

• an extreme form of religious belief that often leads to extremism and hatred towards other religions or people of no faith

• would claim to be returning to the basic fundamentals of their religion (the core ideas) although in reality there no such former ‘pure’ religion ever existed.

common features of fundamentalism

1. monopoly of the truth- they believe that they alone have access to the truth, they are right and everyone else is wrong.

2. an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality- very hostile and defensive to the outside world and alternative views

3. a literal interpretation of scripture e.g. the Bible although often this is a selective approach ignoring inconsistencies

4. use technology to spread their views and ideas

5. ideas are often based on conspiracy theories or a belief that there is ‘hidden information’ e.g. moon landings were faked or that princess diana was killed by the royal family

6. charismatic leadership

Growth of fundamentalism, cosmopolitanism GIDDENS

globalisation causes a multicultural diverse society

- most people identify a cosmopolitan society as beneficial as it gives diversity and opportunity.
- however, some are threatened by alternative views (broader cultural views on gender roles, marriage) and so embrace fundamentalism as a response.

e.g. Iran: in the 60s and 70s Iran was becoming increasingly open towards the West however in the 80s there was an Islamic revolution which rejected western values and democracy.

Fundamentalism is response to secularisation

As society becomes less religious generally, the few religious people that remain become more committed to their views. some may turn to extreme forms of religion as they perceive their beliefs to be under threat. Fundamentalism is a reaction against the decline in religion.

globalisation causing secularisation (berger)

globalisation → migration → encounter people with different religious beliefs or none → challenges plausibility structures → lose religious beliefs altogether → secularisation.

globalisation leading to spiritual shopping, Hervieu Leger

we are spiritual shoppers who can shop from a ‘supermarket’ of religious ideas. this is possible because these ideas have been spread by migration and globalisation.

globalisations causing a clash of civilisations, Huntington

argues that the civilisations are each broadly associated with a religious tradition e.g. middle east with islam, west with Christianity, India with Hinduism. globalisation has caused a clash between these civilisations e.g. 9/11 terrorist attacks, 7/7 transport suicide bombings, conflict between Israel and Palestine, troubles in northern ireland

globalisation leading to culture wars, Kurtz

clash between cultural ideas for superiority. Kurtz argue this has been spread by globalisation. The conflict of ideas is often framed in the context of good vs evil. religious identity has replaced ethnicity as a cause of anxiety, especially islamophobia.

Church (members, hierarchy, truth, demands)

• millions of members (biggest type of religious organisation)

• bureaucratic hierarchy: complicated power structure with lots of levels where different groups have influence which makes change slow

• monopoly of truth, universalistic: only they have access to the truth, everyone else is wrong

• low demands on members: cannot control lives of members as so large so membership does not have high demands

• linked to state: church is linked to government e.g. king is head of the church and the government

Sect (members, leadership, truth, demands)

• small and exclusive: enables them to have significant control over their members and to make membership feel like a privilege/

• charismatic leadership: liked and have high levels of influence over people getting them to do what they wish them to do.

• monopoly of the truth and hostile to threats: believe that they are right and everyone else is wrong. react strongly to any perceived threat.

• high demands on members e.g. isolation, breaking ties with friends and family, financial requests, sexual abuse, attendance

• recruit the vulnerable: often easier to manipulate and control and looking for compensation

Cult (members, hierarchy, truth)

• small, loose knit communities

• limited or no hierarchy so no-one is in charge

• lack a defined belief system: no strict beliefs that must be followed. often world affirming so have a positive view and embrace the world and other people.

• individualistic: focus on personal choice autonomy rather than authority.

denomination (hierarchy, truth, members)

• size between a church and a sect

• does have a hierarchy but the power structure is less than a church as smaller

• no monopoly of the truth: accepting of other beliefs and views

• low demands on members as still quite large

• not linked to the state

explaining the growth of new religious movements (holistic milieu), Weber- marginality

• marginalised people most likely to join NRM e.g. homeless, people in poverty, addicts, mental health problems, former prisoners

• more vulnerable and so may seek support and structure from a NRM (rational choice theory- more to gain and less to lose)

• may seek spiritual compensation for their disadvantage

• on the other side, the NRM themselves may intentionally seek the vulnerable e.g. by seeking people in homeless shelters, foodbanks, needle exchanges or other places where marginalised people might congregate

explaining the growth of new religious movements (holistic milieu), Weber-relative deprivation

• feeling or being poor relative to those in your society or social group

• it can be both economic or lacking something else e.g. no new iphone if everyone else does, not having a job if everyone else does

• Weber argued that relatively deprived people can act like they are deprived and thus be attracted to the spiritual compensation of a NRM

e.g. university students who have not yet adjusted to independence, women who have adult children so lose their sense of purpose

Niebuhr, development of a sect

overtime a sect either becomes a denomination or dies out. after the initial fervour following a formation, the excitement will cool →
- either become established and develop a hierarchy OR
- disappears as members lose interest and charismatic leadership cannot be maintained

3 types of new religious movements

1. world rejecting: spiritual goals. restricted contact and are highly critical of the outside world.

2. world accommodating: neither accept nor reject the world but focus on religion.

3. world affirming: success in this world. followers are often customers.

Popper

Focuses on how religion and science are different

evidence (Popper)

science: based on empirical data e.g. the big bang

religion: based on tradition e.g. Scripture

change (Popper)

science: open to change e.g. einstein’s work on newton’s gravity

religion: based on tradition and not open to change e.g. religious texts are not altered to reflect modern values

individuals (popper)

science: based on the research rather than who did it so individual personality is not important

religion: based on individual’s status and position e.g. the pope has authority as a church leader

falsification (popper)

science: beliefs can be falsified (open belief system)

religious: beliefs cannot be falsified (closed belief system)

falsification- an idea can be falsified if there is a way it can be tested to see if it is false, then therefore a scientific statement.

• a way to saying you can test to see if it is false rather than commenting on whether it is true or false e.g. moon is made of cheese is falsifiable so scientific as can be tested

• ‘God loves me’- religious statements like this cannot be falsified so according to Popper they are not scientific (but not necessarily untrue)

Kuhn- religion and science are not very different

• scientists claim to be objective and doing empirical research that is open to change but in reality they typically operate very frequently without questioning their scientific beliefs.

• work within existing scientific paradigms.
  - expected and established way of doing something.
  - scientists are reluctant to shift and do not change. the paradigm shift can happen but is incredibly rare. usually a new idea is rejected e.g. evolution and only very rarely does a new idea get accepted.
  - when it does scientists all rush to the new paradigm but again they do not question it , the new paradigm becomes the new established position.

gender: women are more religious than men (stats)

• Bruce: twice as many women involved in sects
  - Heelas and Woodhead: 80% of the holistic milieu was women
  - in the UK, over 500,000 more female church goers

Glock and Stark- more females religious - social deprivation

women are more likely to be marginalised or relatively deprived and so are more attracted to sects that recruit from these groups

Glock and Stark- more females religious- ethical deprivation

women are more likely to be morally conservative which attracts them to the conservatism of sects or new religious movements.

Glock and Stark- more females religious- organismic deprivation

women are more likely to suffer ill health and seek healing.

socialisation and gender roles influence on gender and religion

• Miller and Hoffman

• Bruce

• Davie

• Miller and Hoffman: women are socialised to be more passive, obedient, and caring (qualities valued by religion)

• Bruce: women are less likely to work and so take the role of the being responsible for raising children and part of this is teaching them morality which they get from religion.

• Davie: women are more exposed to both life and death, and consequently to ‘ultimate questions’ this proximity brings them closer to religion.

women and the new age (holistic milieu)

• brown

• bruce

• Brown: women are far more attracted to the new age.
  - traditional religions are often patriarchal, the new age gives women autonomy and self expression and choice.

• Bruce: class difference in the new age and women.
  - m/c women especially interested in autonomy and self religions.
  - w/c more interested in fatalistic ideas e.g. horoscopes

ethnicity statistic on religious

minority ethnic groups more likely to be religious

cultural defence, ethnicity and religion

religion offers a cultural identity in a hostile environment, a means of preserving one’s culture and coping with oppression in a racist society

cultural tradition, ethnicity and religion

religion might help preserve one’s culture and identity (not necessarily against hostility)

cultural transition, ethnicity and religion

help people ease into a new culture by providing support and community for minority ethnic groups in a new environment

country of origin, ethnicity and religion

if someone has migrated from another country that is more religious, they are likely to be more religious themselves.

reasons why older people are more likely to be religious

• secularisation

• globalisation

• community

• ageing effect

• period effect

1. secularisation- as society has become more secular, people who are younger are less likely to be religious. Voas and Crockett argued this was the primary reason why young people are less religious.

2. globalisation- younger people more exposed to globalisation (e.g. scientific ideas) which challenges the plausibility structures of belief making them less religious. Berger.

3. Older people may find that religion offers them community and comfort and that this is especially attractive later in life. (marginalised)

4. the ageing effect- as we approach death we may become concerned with the afterlife and be more likely to engage in religion.

5. the period effect- people who have experienced periods of significant suffering e.g. war or rapid social change. may have found comfort in religion and therefore be more religious.