World Affirming

• Bruce: growth of world affirming movements a reaction to modernity, specifically due to their rationalisation of work as work no longer provides meaning or a source of identity. Protestant ethic once gave work a spiritual meaning - now that work has become rationalised paired with the same expectations. World affirming movements provide both a sense of identity and techniques that promise success in the world. 
• Wallis: movements of the ‘middle ground’ such as Jesus Freaks have grown since the 197os and have attracted disillusioned former members of the world rejecting NRMs because they provide a halfway house between rejecting the world and living in a more conventional lifestyle.