Topic 6: organisations, movements and members

• Types of religious organisation- church and sect

  Toelstsch distinguished between two main types of religious organisation (church and sect)

  • Churches a large organisations with millions of members such as the Catholic Church, run by a bureaucratic hierarchy of professional priests, they claim a monopoly of truth and are universalistic aiming to include the whole of society, although they tend to be more attractive to mc because they are ideologically conservative and often closely linked to the state
• Types of religious organisation- church and sect

  Troeltsch sees sects as small, exclusive groups

  • Unlike churches sects are hostile to wider society and expect a higher level of commitment
  • They draw their members from the poor and oppressed
  • Many are led by a charismatic leader rather than a bureaucratic hierarchy
  • The one similarity with churches is that sects too Believe they have a monopoly of religious truth
• Types of religious organisation- denomination and cult

  Neibuhr- describes denominations such as methodism as lying midway between churches and sects

  • Membership is less exclusive than a sect, but they don’t appeal to the whole of society like a church
  • Like churches, they broadly accept societies values, but not linked to the state
  • They impose minor restrictions on members such as forbidden alcohol but are not as demanding as sects
  • Unlike both church and sect they are tolerant of other religious organisations and don’t claim a monopoly of truth
• Types of religious organisation- denomination and cult


  Cults are highly individualistic, loose and usually small grouping around some shared themes and interests, but usually without a sharply defined an exclusive belief system system

  • Culture usually led by practitioners or therapists who claim special knowledge
  • Like denominations, cults are usually tolerant of other organisations and their beliefs
  • They don’t demand strong commitment from their followers, who are often more like customers than member
  • Many cults affirming claim to improve life in this world
• Types of religious organisations- similarities and differences

  Wallis highlights, two characteristics

  • How they see Themselves- churches and sects claim that their interpretation of the faith is the only legitimate or correct one. Denominations and cults except that they can be many valid interpretations.
  • How they are seen by wide society- churches and denominations are seen as respectable and legitimate whereas sects and cults are seen as deviant
• Types of religious organisation- from cathedrals to cults

  Sociologist argue that some of the above descriptions of religious organisations don’t fit today’s reality

  • Bruce argues that troeltsch idea of the church as having a religious monopoly only applies to the Catholic Church before the 16th century protestant reformation, when it had religious monopoly over society, symbolise by its massive and imposing cathedrals
  • Since then, sects and cults have flourished and religious diversity has become the norm
• Types of religious organisation-from cathedrals to cults


  Today’s society is no longer truly churches in Troeltsch’s sense because they have lost their monopoly and been reduced to the status of denominations competing with all the rest
• New religious movements

  Since the 1960s, there has been an explosion in the number of new religions and organisations, such as the unification church or Moonies, the children of God, transcend meditation and many more

  • This has led to new attempt to classify them Roy Wallace categorise these new religious movements into three groups based on their relationship to the outside world
  • Whether they reject the world, accommodate to it, or affirm it
• World rejecting NRMs

  These are similar to troletsch sects

  • Examples include the Moonies, Krishna consciousness, children of God, the mason family and the peoples temple
  • They very greatly in size, from a handful of members to 100s of thousand
• World rejecting NRMs

  They have several characteristics

  • They are clearly religious organisations with a clear notion of God
  • They are highly critical of the outside world and they expect or seek radical change
  • To achieve salvation, members must make a sharp break with their life
  • Members live community, with restricted contact with the outside world. Members live community, with restricted contact with the outside world. The movement controls all aspects of their life and is often accused of brainwashing them
  • They often have conservative moral codes
• World rejecting nrms

  The were founded in Korea by rev sun myung moon in 1954

  • They reject the secular world as evil
  • They have strong moral rules
  • And have mat weddings
• WOrla accommodating NRMs


  These are often breakaways from existing mainstream churches or denominations such as neo Pentecostalists who split from Catholicism or sunbud (an offshoot of Islam)

  • They need to accept nor reject the world, and they focus on religious rather than worldly matters, seeking to restore the spiritual purity of religion
  • For example, neo Penticost lists believe that other Christian religions have lost the holy spirit
  • Members tend to lead conventional lives
  • Conform to norms and values of wider society
• World accommodating groups

  Concerned with rediscovering a spiritual thought that has been lost and revitalising the spiritual life of their members

  • Examples are neo coastal ism, baptism and evangelical churches
• World affirming NRMs


  These group differ from all other religious groups and they like some of the conventional features of religion such as collective worship, and some are not highly organised

  • However, like religions, they offer their followers access to spiritual or supernatural powers, e.g. Scientology, TM and human potential
  • They accept the world as it is, they are optimistic and promised followers success in terms of mainstream goals and values such as careers and personal relationships
• World affirming NRMs

  they are non-exclusive and tolerant of other other religions, but claim to offer additional special knowledge to unlock their own spiritual powers and achieve success or overcome problems such as unhappiness or illness. They have been described as psychologising Religions offering this worldly gratification

  • Most are cults, his followers are often customers rather than members, and entry is through training. The movement places few demands on them and they can carry out normal lives
  • World affirming movements have been the most successful of the movements Wallis studied
• World affirming

  Wallis- sees these mainly as cults and they may often lack features of traditional religions e.g. buildings and rituals. These are usually individualistic and Enable people to unlock spiritual powers to release human potential

  • Aldridge argues they do not require a radical break with a conventional lifestyle nor strongly restrict behaviour. However the services they offer may come into conflict with well established professional groups e.g. science
• Evaluation of types of religious organisation

  A useful way of classifying the new religious movements that have developed in recent yrs However, some argue that it is not clear whether he is categorising them according to the movements teaching or individual members beliefs. He also ignores the diversity/ beliefs that may exist within a NRM

  • Wallis himself recognises that real NRMs will rarely fit neatly into his typology and some may have features of all three types
  • but, many sociologists find such typologies as useful way of analysing and comparing the significant features of nrms
• Evaluation of types of religious organisation

  Stark and brainbride reject the idea of constructing such typologies altogether

  • Instead they argue that we should distinguish between religious organisation using just one criteria, the degree of conflict or tension between the religious group and wider society
• Sects and cults

  stark and brainbridge identify two kind of organisation that are in conflict with wider society: sects and cults

  • Sect results from schisms (split existing in organisations) they break away from churches usually because of disagreements about doctrine
  • Cults- are new religions, such as Scientology and Christian science, or new to that particular society that have been imported such as TM
• Sects and cults

  Stark and brainbridge

  • They see sects as promising other worldly benefits (e.g. a place in heaven) to those suffering economic deprivation or ethical deprivation
  • By contrast cults tend to offer this worldly benefits (e.g. good health) to more prosperous individuals who are suffering psychic deprivation and organismic deprivation
• Cults and sects

  Stark and brainbridge subdivide cults according to how organised they are

  • Audience cult, are the least organised and do not involve formal membership or much commitment. there is little interaction between members. participation may be through the media. Examples include astrology and UFO cults.
• Cults and sects

  Stark and brainbridge subdivided cults according to how organised they are

  • Client cults-are based on the relationship between a consultant and a client, and provide services to their followers. In the past, they were often purveyors of medical miracles, contact with the dead. But the emphasis has shifted to therapies, promising personal fulfilment and self discovery.
• Cults and sects

  Stark and brainbridge subdivided cults according to how organised they are

  • Cultic movements-are the most organised and demand higher levels of commitment than other cults. The movement aims to meet all its members religious needs and unlike followers of audience and client cults they are rarely allowed to belong to other religious groups at the same time. Eg the moonies. Some client cults become cultic movements for their most enthusiastic followers such as Scientology which developed out of the client cult.
• Examining the growth of religious movements

  Since the 1960s there’s been a rapid growth in the number of sects and cults, and in the number of people belonging to them

  • For example, there are estimated to be over 800 NRM and over half 1 million individuals belonging to these and other non-mainstream Christian churches in the UK
  • Sociologists have offered three main explanations for this trend: marginality, relative deprivation, and social change
• Examining the growth of religious movements- marginality


  Troltsch Aruges sects tend to draw their members from the poor and oppressed

  • Weber argues sects offer a solution to this problem by offering their members a theodicy of disprivilege- that is a religious explanation and a justification for their suffering and disadvantage
  • This may explain their misfortune as a test of faith, while holding out the promise of rewards in the future for keeping faith
• Examining the growth of religious movements- marginality


  Wilson argues situation such as poverty and natural disasters and economic collapse could lead to a group becoming marginalised and turning to new religion

  • Wallis doesn’t believe that being mc contradicts marginality theory, as many of them belong to marginal groups in society because they were ‘ hippies, dropouts, surfers, LSD and marijuana users’
  • This goes against the argument that religion is a response to disadvantage and oppression
• Explaining the growth of religious movements- marginality


  Historically, many sects as well as military and movements have recruited from the marginalised port e.g. in the 20th century the nation of Islam (the black Muslims) recruited among disadvantage black people in the USA

  • However, since the 1960s the sect-like world-rejecting NRM such as the Moonies have recruited mainly from more affluent groups often well educated young middle-class white people
• Explaining the growth of religious movements- relative deprivation

  The poor are more deprived than the middle-class

  • However middle-class people may feel they are spiritually deprived especially in today’s materialistic, consumer world, which they may perceive as impersonal and lacking immoral value, emotional, warm or authenticity as a result Wallis argues they may turn to sects for a sense of community
• Explaining the growth of religious movements- relative deprivation

  stark and brainbridge argue that it is the relatively deprived who break break away from churches to form sects. When middle-class members of a church seek to compromise it believes in order to fit into society, deprive members are likely to break away to form sects that safeguard the original message of the organisation
• Explaining the growth of religious movements- social change


  Wilson states that sects tend to arise when there is rapid social change which makes individuals question social relationships (due to an inconsistent meaning/understanding of them) and a disruption in social norms and values

  • Due to the uncertainty caused by change these groups offer a close community which offered support in a multitude of ways for the individual
• Explaining the growth of religious movements- social change


  Bruce Sees the development of cults and sects as a reaction to modernisation and secularisation

  • As traditional institutions have lost influence meaning individuals are more willing to explore alternative religions to provide answers to the existential questions
  • More people have lost strong beliefs and commitments, cults have become popular as they generally require sacrifices and little religious observance than churches or denominations
• Explaining the growth of religious movements- the growth of NRMs

  Explanations have been been put forward for the growth of both world rejecting and world affirming NRM

  • World rejecting NRMs- Wallis sees social change from the 1960s impacting on young people, including the increased time spent in education. This gave them freedom from adult responsibility and enabled a counterculture to develop. Also the growth of radical political movements offered alternative ideas about the future. World rejecting were attractive in this context because they offered young people are more idealistic life
• Examining the growth of religious movements- the growth of NRMs

  World rejecting NRMs

  • Bruce argues that it was the failure of the counterculture to change the world that led to this disillusioned youth turning to religion instead
• Examining the growth of religious movements- the growth of NRMs

  World affirming NRMs- Bruce argues that their growth is a response to modernity, especially to the rationalisation of Work.

  • Work no longer provides meaning or a source of identity unlike the past, when the Protestant ethic gave Work a religious meaning for some people
  • Yet at the same time we are expected to achieve, even though we may like the opportunities to succeed
  • World affirming NRMs provide both a sense of identity and techniques that promised success in this world
• Examining the growth of religious movements- the growth of NRMs

  World affirming NRMs

  wallis also notes that some movements of the middle ground such as the Jesus freaks have grown since the mid 1970s

  • these have attracted Disillusioned former Mendes of world rejecting NRMs (which have generally been less successful) because they provide a halfway house back to a more conventional lifestyle
• Explaining the growth of religious movements- the dynamics of sects and NRMs

  Churches such as the Catholic Church and the church of England, England have a history stretching over many centuries, sects by contrast are often short lived organisations, frequently lasting only a single generation or less

  • Sociologists have therefore been interested to understand the dynamics of sect development
• Explaining the growth of religious movements: the dynamics of sects and NRMs (denomination or death)

  niebuhr argues that sects are well rejecting organisations that come into existence because of schism

  • Niebuhr argues that sect are short-lived and that within a generation they either die out or they compromise with the world, abandon their extreme ideas and become a denomination
  • There are several reasons for this
  • The second generation, who are born into the sect, lack the commitment of their parents, who had consciously rejected the world and joined voluntarily
• Explaining the growth of religious movements: the dynamics of sects and NRMs: denomination or death


  Reasons why sects are short-lived

  • The protestant ethic effect- sects that practice asceticism (hard work and saving) tend to become prosperous and upwardly mobile, as was the case with the Methodist in 19 century. Members will be tempted to compromise with the world, so they will either leave or it will abandon its world rejecting beliefs
  • The death of the leader- sects with a charismatic leader either collapse on the leaders, death, or it moves into a denomination
• Explaining the growth of religious movements: the dynamics of sects and NRMs- the sectarian cycle

  Stark and brainbridge see religious organisations moving through a cycle

  • 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
  • The second stage is one of internal fervour, with a charismatic leadership and a great tension between the sects beliefs and those of wider society
• Explaining the growth Of religious movements: the dynamics of sects and NRMs- the sectarian cycle

  In the third stage denominationalism, the protestant ethic affect and the coolness of the second generation mean the fervour disappears

  • The fourth stage, establishment, sees the sect become more world accepting and tension with wide society reduces
  • In the final stage further schism results when more zealous or less privileged members break away to found a new sect true to the original message