Organisations, movements + members

Church and Sect - Troeltsch

Church - Large organisations, millions of members e.g catholic church, run by hiearchy and claim a monopoly on truth while being universalistic(open to all of society).

Sect Small, exclusive, hostile to wider society and expect high levle of committment, draw members from poor and oppressed, and led by charismatic leader, also monopoly on truth.

Denomination and cult - Neibuhr

Denominations - lying between churches and sects, less exclusive but dont apply to all of society, some minor restrictions and dont claim monopoly on truth.

Cult - Individualistic, loose-knit and usually small grouping around some shared themes/interests, but no sharply defined belief system, and usually led by practicioners who claim special knowledge

New religious movements(NRMS) - Wallis

World-rejecting - Clear religious organisations with clear notion of God, critical of outside world and ecpect change, and a strong commitment, restricting them.

World accommodating - Breakaways from existing churches/denominations, such as neo-pentacostolists, focus on religion rather than trying to accept/reject world.

World affirming - Accept world as it is, promise followers success, tolerant of other religions and try to unlock ‘powers’ in people, most are cults, e.g scientology.

H:Stark and Bainbridge - Should use 1 critereon to distinguish between religious organisations

Subdividing cults - Stark and Bainbridge

Audience cults - least organised, do not involve formal membership or committment, little interaction between memebrs e.g astrology.

Client cults - Based on relationship between consultant and client, and provide services to their followers, e.g ‘therapy’.

Cultic movements - Most organised, demand high committment, aims to meets all members religious needs, and very exclusive, 

Explanations of the growth of NRM’s - Marginality (Weber)

Estimated over 800 NRms in thw world, and half a million individuals belonging to these. Sects arise in groups who are marginal to society, and feel they are disprivileged and not recieving their economic rewards or social status. Solution to this is them offering a theodicy of disprivige - a religious explanation and justification of their suffering.

Explanations of the growth of NRM’s - Relative deprivation

The subjective sense of being deprived. So is perfectly possible for someone who is in reality quite priviged to feel they are deprived in some way, compared to others. e.g M/C ppl who are materially well off, but spiritually deprived,which may mean they turn to religion for a sesne of morality and community,

Explanations of the growth of NRM’s - Social change

Wilson - Period of rapid change undermine established norms + values producing anomie, and those who are disrupted the most may turn to or form sects. e.g in industrial revolution Britain, Methodism offered a sesne of community

The dynamics of sects and NRMs - The growth of the new age (Heelas)

New age practices such as tarot, crystals, psychotherapy, meditation.

Self spritituality NEw agers seek the spitirual as they have turned away from tradtional ‘external’ religions and look inside to find it.

Detraditionalisation - The new age rejects the spritual authority of external traditional sources such as sacred texts, and valuing personal experiences over it

Gender differences in religion

Brierley - female churchgoers outnumber males by almost half a million.

Reasons for gender differences in religion - Risk, socialisation and roles(Miller + Hoffman)

Suggest gender differences in risk taking are a reason for differences, men more likely to be less religious and thus take the risk of being condemned to hell, whereas women arent.

Women more religious as they are socialised to be more caring, passive and obedient, all being qualities religion value most, so women are more attracted to it.

Women gender roles mean they are more likely to stay a home, and thus have more time to be religious and also are religious as a source for gender identity.

H:times are changing

Reasons for gender differences in religion - The new age

Women more associated with ‘nature’ and healing, so more attracted to these movements, as these movements give women a higher sense of self worth, and gives them a sense of authenticity rather than acting out gender roles

Reasons for ethnic differences in religion

Poorer countries so existential security theory, cultural defence, cultural transition.

(Textbook)