THE REAL ONE topic 3- religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice

who was the first to identify the features of diff. types of religious organisations?

Ernst Toeltch

what did Toeltsch distinguisuh

distinguished 2 types: church and sect

what is charcteristic of church according to toeltch

large organisation, often with milions of members

run by a beurocratic hierarchy of professional priests

claim a monopoly of the truh

universalistic- aim to include the whole of socuety

more attractive to higher lasses becasuw they are ideologically conservative and often sloely linked to the state

place few demands on members

how does toeltsch define sect

small

exclusive

hostil to wider society

expect high level of commitment

members are poor and oppresed

led by charismatic leader

claim monopoly of truth

what other did Niebuhr identify

denominations

how does niehbur describe denomination

denomination such as methodism as lyin gmidway beywee churches and sects.

membership is less exclusive than a sect

do not appeal to the whole of society which a church does

not linked to the state unlike a church

not as demanding as sects

tolerant of other religious faiths and do not claim a monoploy of truth- unlike church and sect

what is a cult

least organised compared to sect, denominationa dn church

highly individualistic

loose knit

small grouping

sharply defined and exclusive belief system

usually led by pratiioners or therapists who claim special knowledge

tolerant of other organisations

do not demand strong commitment of followers

what is the first characteristic Wallis highlight between church, sects and cults, denominations

how they see themselves- churches and sects claim a monoploy on truth wheras denominations and cults accept there are many valid interpretations

what is the second characteristic wallis highlights between church, sects and cults and denominations

how they are seen by wider society- churches and denominations are repsected and legitimate. wheras, cults and sects are seen as deviant

how does Bruce criticise Toeltche's definition of church

believes that toetch’s idea of church as having a religious monopoy is only applicable to the catholic church before the 16th century protestant reformaton.

what example support bruce's criticism on church, membership example

toeltsch describes church as having universal membership

this is not true because the church of england does not have universal membership

what example support bruce's criticism on toeltch’s defintion of church, other faiths example

toeltch claism that chuches claim a monopoly of truth.

this is not true, many churches do not claim a monoply on truth, they are tolerant to other faiths

according to bruce how did sects form?

the first sects in modern Europe were formed when groups of people broke away from a more established religion, because of disagreement over how that religion was interpreted.- known as schism

what is wilson's criticism on the categories of church, sect, cult and denomination

religious and spirityal organisations do not fit neatly into the categories

what are the 3 categories thar roy wallis categorises NRMS

1. world rejecting
2. world accomodating
3. world accepting

example of world rejecting NRMS

moonies, children of god, manson family

characterstics of world rejecting NRMS

highly critical of outside world and seek radical change

to achieve salvation one must make big changes to their former life

the movement controls all aspects of their lives often 'brainwashing' them

they often have conservative moral codes, for example about sex

examples of world accomodating NRMS

they are often breakaways from existing miantream churches or denominations

neo pentacostalists who split from catholicm

Subud which is an offshoot of Islam

characterstics of world accomodating NRMS

they neither accept nor reject the world, they focus on religious rather than worldly matters

they seek to restore the spiritual purity of religion

example of a charcteristic of world accomodating NRMS, neo pentacostalism

they seek to restore spiritual purity of religion- neo pentacostlists believe that other christian religions have lost the holy spirit

examples of world accepting NRMS

soka gakkai and Human potential

characteristics of world accepting NRMS

optimistic and promise followers success in their goals such as careers and personal relationships

lack convenntional features of religion such as collective worship

not higly organised

tolerant to other religions, non exclusive but claim to offer additional special knowledge or techniques that enable followers to unlock their own issues such as illness or unhappiness

offer followes acess to spiritual or supernatural powers

what criticism do Stark and Bainbridge argue against Wallis' categorisations of NRMs

reject the idea of constructing typologies altogether

instead, we should distinguish between religious organisations using just one criterion- the degree of conflict of tension between the religious group and wider society

criticism of wallis's categosations of NRMS, unclear

it is unclear whether he is categorising based on invididual members' belief or the movements teaching

according to stark and bainbridge what are the 2 organisations that are in conflict w society

sects and cults

how did sects form according to stark and bainbridge and what are examples

formed schism, which is asplit from existing organisations, often they break away from churches becasue of disagreement about doctrine

what do sects promise, stark and bainbridge

promise OTHER worldly beliefs for example a place in heaven for those suffering exonomic deprivation

examples of cults, stark and bainbridge

scientlogy and christian science

what do cults promise, stark and bainbridge

offer THIS worldly benefits, good health for example

for mrore propserious individuals who are suffering psychoc deprivation- normlessess and organismic deprivation- health problems

how do stark and bainbrudge 3 subdivides cults to how organised they are

audience cults, client cults and cultic movements

characteritic of audience cults, stark and bainbridge

least organised

do not involve formal memberhip

example of audience cults, stark and bainbrdge

UFO and astrology

characteristics of client cults, stark and bainbdridge

based on the relationship between client and consultant

examples of client cults, stark and bainbridge

medical miracoles and contact with the dead

examples of cultic movements

moonies, scientology and doomsday

characteristic of cultic movements

most organised and demand high level of commitment.

clients are rarely allowed to belong to other religious groups at the same time

positive eval of stark and bainbridge subdivide of cults

by subdividing on the conflict of tension between other religious groups and society is similar to Toeltch's distinction between accepting and rejecting society

what has been th growth in new reliigous movements

since the 1960 ther ehas been a rapid growth in the number of NRMS and the number of people belonging to them

there are estimatd to be over 800 NRMS and over half a million idividuals beloning to these

what are the 3 explanations to the growth in religious movements

marginality, relative deprivation and social change

who explains the growth in religious movements, marginality

toetlsch noted that sects tend to draw their mmeebers from the poor adn oppressed

max weber similarily recognised this. this is because sects offer a solution to their economic deprivation by offering members a theodicy of disciprilege, which is a religious explanation or justification for teir suffering and disadvantage, often explaining it as a test of faith.

pos eval for growth in NRM’s being marginality

historically, sects have recruited from marginalosed poor e.g. in the 20th C, the nation of Islam recruited from marginalised black peole

evaluation for sects recuriting disavantaged groups?

since the 1960’s, NRM’s members have been more affluent e.g. well educated, white ect. HOWEVER, Wallis claims that this doesn’t take away from Weber’s claims as the members had become marginalised. Despite middle class background they had become marginalised by being hippies, drug takers and drop outs

examples of sects that occupy the role of theodicy of dispriviledge

islam recruited disadvantaged black pople in the USA during 20th century

what is the second explanation in the growth of NRMS

relative deprivation

what sociologist gives the example of relative deprivation beign the rise of NRMS

Wallis

what is relative deprivation

someone who is prvileged feels a sense of being deprived. it is perfeclty possible for someone who is in reality privileged but they feel that they are deprived or disadvantaged in some way compared with others.

for example although the young middle class are materially well off they may feel spiritually deprived especially in todays materialistic, consermist world which they perceive as impersonal and lacking moral value, emotional warmth or authenticity.

Wallis claims sects offer these people a sense of community

Bainbridge and Stark claim that it is the relatively depreived that break away from churched to form sects

criticism for relative deprivation?

Beckford claims that it has never been proven that those in NRM’s face relative deprivation

what is the third explanation to the rise in NRMS

social change

who argues that social chgange is the cause for the rise in NRMS

wilson

how does social change explain rise in NRMS

rapid social change disrupt and undermine established norms and values which creates anomie.

in repons this may turn people to sects as a solution

example of social change being the cause of rise in NRMS

the dislocation created by the industrial revolution in britain led to the birth of methodism. this created a sense of community and lear norms and values which promised salvation

how does bruce explain the rise in NRMS, social change

it is a response to the social change due to modernisation and secularisation. this is becasue people are less attracted to the traditional churches and strict sects because they demand too much commitment. instead, epopel prefer new religious movements because they are less demanding and require fewer sacrifices- specifically world accomodating or affirming religions or adueince cults and client cults.

what are the 3 reasons why sects/NRMS are short lived

1. denomination of death
2. sectarian cycle
3. established sects

who put forward the arguement that denomination of death is the reason why NRMS are short lived and what did he say

niebuhr argued that new reliigous movements are often hort lived that within a gernaiton either die out or compromise with the world , abandon their extreme views and become a denomination. this short lived nature is becasue:

1. the second generation

   1. When the 2nd gen are born into the sect they lack commitment and fervour of their parents who had consciously rejected the world and joined voluntarily

2. The 'protestant ethic' effect

   1. Sects that practice ascetism (hard work and saving) tend to become prosperous and upwardly mobile, as was the case with Methodists in thr 19th century

   2. Such members will be tempted to compromise with the world, so they will either leave or will abandon the sects world-rejecting beliefs

3. Death of the leader

• Sects with a charismatic leader either collapse on the leader's death

• Or a more formal bureaucratic leadership takes over, transforming it into a denomination

who put forward sectarian cycle being the cause for short lived NRM

stark and bainbridge

how do stark and bainbrudge explain sectarian cycle

See religious organisations moving through a cycle

 

1. In the first stage, schism= there is tension between the needs of deprived and privileged members of a church. Deprived members break away to found a world-rejecting sect

 

2. In second stage, the person has initial fervour (lots of passion)

• There is a charismatic leadership

• There is  great tension between the sect's beliefs and those of wider society 

 3. Third stage is denominationalism

• The 'protestant ethic' effect and the coolness of the second generation mean the fervour disappears

 4. Fourth stage= establishment

• The sect becomes more world accepting

• Tension with wider society reduces

 

5. Final stage= further scheism

• Results when more zealous (those with great energy) or less privileged members break away to found a new sect true to the original message

however, what does Wilson argue

not all sects follow the patterns of denomination or death or sectarian cycle. the life of a NRM depends on the question- what shall we do to be saved

1. convertionist

   1. sects such as evangeicals aim to convert large numbers of people and are lilely to grow rapidly into larger more formal denominations

2. adventist

   1. sects such as the seventh day adventists or jehova’s witnesses await the second coming of christ to be saed, they believe that they must hold thsemselves seperate from the corrupt world around the, this seperatism preents tem from compormising and becoming a denomination

what does wilson point out

sects such as adventists, pentacostalists, the amish, mormons and quakers have survived for many generations and have not become denominations. they are established sects and contrary to Niehbur’s prediction about second generatin, the children have high level of commitment because they are kep apart from the wider world.

what does wilson argue about globalisation for the future of NRms

globalisation will make it harder in the future for sects to keep themselves seperate from the outside world.

however, globalisation will make it easier to recruit large numbers of deprived people for whom the message of sects is attractive- shown in pentacostalism