Growth of New Religious Movements

Growth of New Religious Movements:

• New religious movements include cults, sects and denominations of established religious organisations

• Gradual drift away from established organisations to denominations of established religious organisations to denominations from the Protestant Reformation

• Expansion of new religious movements in the mid to late 20th century

Explanations for the growth of NRMs:

Social changes in society have led individuals to find alternatives to established religions:

1. Marginalisation

2. Deprivation

3. Social changes

4. Supply of NRMs

Marginalisation Weber (1922):

• He argued that NRMs developed as a response to the marginalisation of individuals

• Sought out explanations for their disadvantages in society - 'theodicy of disprivilege'

• Often linked to rapid social changes and attitudes in society - e.g., the civil rights movement

Marginalisation Wallis (1984):

• He explains the higher levels of young people in NRMS

• Changing norms, values and attitudes of youth clash with established ideas of mainstream society

• 1960s counter-cultural movements saw increased membership of NRMs

Marginality Troelsch:

•Sects tend to draw members from the poor and oppressed

•Weber – Sects offer a solution to the problem of poverty by offering them a theodicy of disprivilege – an explanation and justification for suffering

•Example: Nation of Islam recruited from impoverished and disadvantaged blacks from America

Deprivation Wallis (1984):

• He argued that deprivation in society had led to individuals looking to NRMs for spiritual enrichment

• Reaction to a materialistic view of capitalist society

• The sense of community offered by NRMs provides individuals with fulfilment that they cannot obtain through materialism

Deprivation:

• McGuire (2002): Deprivation creates the conditions for individuals to turn to NRMs for explanations

• Stark and Bainbridge (1985) argue that schisms form between members of established churches based on status

• Lower-status people leave and form their own religious movements

Relative Deprivation:

• Impoverished or lower-class individuals seek ‘compensators’ that they need to justify their lack of success in world-rejecting sects

• The rich tend to be attracted to world-accepting churches and do not tend to be involved in NRMs

Social Change:

• Wilson (1970) argues growth of NRMs is a result of changing social norms

• Individuals form NRMs when traditional religion fails to fulfil the needs of its members

• Bruce (2011) argues failings of traditional religion to adapt to modern society led to people moving to NRMs

Social change – Wilson (Functionalist):

• Periods of rapid change (fragmentation - changes in technology and value systems) produce anomie (normlessness) and cause people to form sects in protest

  • Example: Dislocation caused by the Industrial Revolution gave birth to Methodism

Wallis (1984) argued social changes would lead to the inevitable growth of NRMs:

• Increased levels of education

• Extension of youth

• Technological advancements

• Radical political ideologies

Supply of NRMs:

• Stark and Bainbridge (1985) take an economic view of the growth of NRMs

• Increased demand for NRMs will increase the supply of NRMs

• Lead to more alternatives for individuals to explore - increasing demand further

The Dynamics of NRMs:

• Niebuhr – Churches have staying power and last a very long time whereas sects tend to reflect the protests of a generation and tend only to last through one generation

• If they last for more than one generation, they normally turn into denominations

Niebuhr- Denomination or Death (1929):

• The second generation – lack the commitment and fervour of their parents

• The protestant ethic effect – sects that practice asceticism tend to become prosperous, which means that some members will be tempted to compromise with the world

• Death of a leader – sects with charismatic leaders lack direction after his/her death

Established Sects:

Wilson – ‘not all sects follow the sectarian cycle’:

• Conversionist sects such as evangelicals convert large number of people grow into denomination

• Adventist (millenials) sects (such as seventh day adventists or Jehova’s witnesses) await the second coming of Christ and hold themselves separate from corrupt world around them also become a denomination

Evaluations:

• Rapid social changes of the mid to late 20th century saw growth in NRMs

• Economic deprivation can lead to the reaffirmation of traditional religious practices

• Social changes brought about by globalisation saw the reaffirmation of traditional religions globally

The Meaning of the Growth of the New Age:

• The New Age refers to beliefs and activities that have been widespread since the 1980s

Include

• Westernised examples of ancient Eastern religion

• Belief in crystals, energies and the occult

• Spiritualism

• Belief in UFOs

All focus on God within

Heelas (2008):

• Two common themes characterise the new age:

  • Self-spirituality: Turned away from traditional ‘external’ religions and instead, looked inside themselves to find it

  • Detraditionalisation: Rejects the spiritual authority of priests or sacred texts – we can discover the truth for ourselves and within ourselves​