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ORGANISATIONS, MOVEMENTS AND MEMBERS (EXPLAINING THE GROWTH OF RELIGIOUS…
ORGANISATIONS, MOVEMENTS AND MEMBERS
TYPES OF RELIGIOUS ORGANISATIONS
Denomination and cult
:silhouette: Niebuhr (1929)
Midway between churches and sects
Membership less exclusive, broadly accept society's values
Not linked to the state and impose some minor restrictions
Not as demanding and are tolerant of other religions
Cults
Least organised
Highly individualistic, small, loose-knit groupings
No sharply defined belief system
Many are world-affirming
New religious movements (NRMs)
:silhouette: Wallis (1984)
World-rejecting
Clear notion of God
Highly critical of outside world
Break with former life
Live communally and have restricted contact with outside world
e.g. Branch Davidian, The People's Temple
World-accommodating
Often breakaways from existing churches
Neither accept nor reject the world
Focusing on religious rather than worldly matter
Controls all aspects of their lives
World-affirming
Lack some of the conventional features of religion
Offer followers access to spiritual or supernatural powers and accept world as is
Promising followers success in their goals
Customers rather than followers
e.g. Scientology
Church and sect
:silhouette: Trowltsch
Churches
Large with millions of members
Few demands on members
Bureaucratic hierarchy
Claim a monopoly of truth and are universalistic
Ideologically conservative and linked to the state
Sects
Small, exclusive groups demanding real commitment from members
Hostile to wider society
Recruit from the poor and oppressed
Charismatic leadership and believe they have a monopoly of religious truth
Sects and cults
:silhouette: Stark and Bainbridge (1985)
Audience cults
Least organised, with no formal membership and little interaction between members
Client cults
A consultant/client relationship, with 'therapies' promising personal
Cultic movements
Organised, exclusivist, high levels of commitment, claiming to meet all needs
EXPLAINING THE GROWTH OF RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
Marginality
:silhouette: Weber (1922)
Sects offer a solution to their lack of status by offering theodicy of disprivilege - religious explanation of their disadvantage
Many sects and millenarian movements have recruited from the marginalised poor
Relative deprivation
People may then turn to sects for a sense of community
:silhouette: Stark and Bainbridge
The relatively deprived who break away from churches to form sects
Privileged but feel spiritually deprived
Social change and NRMs
The dynamics of sects and NRMs
The growth of the new age
Postmodernity and the New Age
RELIGIOSITY AND SOCIAL GROUPS