appeal of sects and world-rejecting NRMs - reasons

• -offer a theodicy of disprivilege = religious explanation for people's suffering; appeal to the working class + ethnic minorities - promise members that things will get better in this life or next; provide explanations for their unjust treatment also give members a stronger sense of status+security; e.g The People's Temple were black and poor, Jim Jones promised them a better life

  -functionalists would argue that sects promote social solidarity as it bring people from all communities together and it also integrate members also give them a sense of belonging
• -to compensate for marginalisation = sects act as a 'compensators' for marginalised groups

  religion makes up for their inequality + helps them to deal with their situation

  e.g pentecostal sects offer african-carribean clear values + the reward of being the chosen few who will be rewarded in heaven

  -marxists feminists would agree that sects compensate members specially women for their marginalisation through the promise of heaven -black people in America compensated for racism
• -protest =against society + established religion (church)

  membership of a sect could be a means of protest

  some ethnic minority groups feel frustrated + angry with the treatment of society e.g lack of job oppurtunities

  sect can be a form of protest against their situation

  nation of Islam in USA is a religious sect for black people offering a means of protest against white society

  -neo-marxixst argue that religion helps to change society + people's situation e.g liberation theology where catholic priests supported working class to overthrow the oppressive government
• individual choice + identity formation = postmodernists argue that sect offers a new source of identity in this society

  people are now 'spiritual shoppers' where they pick n mix different beliefs from religious marketplace according to their personal tastes = religion has become more private + personal

  however its not easy to leave a sect -> happened in The people's temple where jim jones offered a new version of Christianity which is more individualised to the needs of his working class followers
• relative deprivation = white middle class people join a sect not because of absolute deprivation but of a feeling of relative deprivation. this is when they feel deprived compared to someone else (it's a common feeling in a materialistic world)