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beliefs in society - Coggle Diagram
beliefs in society
religious organisations
Neiber (1929):
- Differentiates between denominations & cults
Denominations:
- Denominations lies midway between churches and sects
- Membership is less exclusive than a sect, but doesn't appeal to whole of society like a church
- Like churches, broadly accept society's values, but not linked to the state
- Impose minor restrictions on members, e.g. forbids alcohol, but not as demanding as sects
- Wallis: Unlike both churches and sects they are tolerant of other religious organisations and do not claim a monopoly of truth
Cults:
- World affirming, claims to improve life in this world
- Individualistic and without a sharply defined and exclusive belief system
- Led by 'therapists' who claim special knowledge
- Tolerant of other organisations and beliefs
- Don't require strong commitment
Stark & Bainbridge:
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Identify 3 different types of cults:
- Audience cults
- Client cults
- Cultic movements
1. Audience cults:
- Least organised
- Do not involve formal membership or much commitment
- Little interaction between members
- Participations may be through the media
e.g. astrology and UFO cults
2. Client cults:
- Based on relationship between a consultant and a client
- Provides services to their followers
- Offers 'therapies' promising personal fulfilment and self-discovery
e.g. Scientology
3. Cultic movements:
- Most organised
- Demand a higher level of commitment than other cults
- Aims to meet members' religious needs
- Aren't allowed to belong to other religious groups at the same time
- e.g. the Moonies
Makes some useful distinctions between organisations:
- e.g. idea of using degree of conflict with wider society to distinguish between them
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Wallis (1984):
2 characteristics to sum up similarities and differences between religious organisations:
- How they see themselves
- How they are seen by wider society
1. How they see themselves:
- Churches and Sects: their interpretation of the faith is the only legitimate one
- Denominations and Cults: accept that there can be multiple valid interpretations
2. How they are seen by wider society:
- Churches and Denominations: seen as respectable and legitimate
- Sects and Cults: seen as deviant
Ernst Troeltsch:
Distinguished between two main types of religious organisations:
- Sects
- Churches
Sects:
- Many led by charismatic leader rather than bureaucratic hierarchy
- Expect a high level of commitment
- Small, exclusive groups
- Hostile to wider society
- Draw their members from the poor and oppressed
- Believe they have a monopoly of religious truth
Churches:
- Run by a bureaucratic hierarchy of professional priests
- Claim a monopoly of truth
- Universalistic- aims to include whole of society however more attractive to higher classes because ideologically conservation and often closely linked to the state
- Places few demands on their members
- Large organisations with millions of members- monopoly
Bruce:
- The idea of churches being 'large organisations' only applies to the Catholic Church before the 16th century Protestant Reformation, when it had a religious monopoly over society, symbolised by massive and imposing cathedrals
- In today's society, churches are no longer truly churches in Troeltsch's sense because they have lost their monopoly and have been reduced to status of denominations competing with the rest.
relationships between different social groups and religious organisations, beliefs and practices
Age
Reasons for differences within this group:
- Age gap in religion depend on social + economic context
- Adults aged 18-39 less likely to state religion as 'very important'
Statistics:
- General pattern is that the older the person is, the more likely they are to attend religious services. However, exception is that under 15s have a high level of religious participation.
- 2/5 churches have no one under 11 years of age
- Over 65s are 30% of church goers
- U15s most likely to attend church
- Younger adults less likely to be religious
- No age gap between Jewish community in USA
High attendance of U15s is declining:
- Brierly: by 2025, young people will make up only 2.5% of church attenders and half of all English churches will have no people U20 attending at all.
Wrong:
- In 2024, 16% of 18-24 year olds went to church at least monthly- up from 4% in 2018.
Voas & Crockett:
3 explanations for age differences in religiosity:
- Ageing effect
- Generational effect
- Period effect
1. Ageing effect:
- People turn to religion as they get older as they become more concerned with the afterlife
2. Generational effect:
- Each generation less religious than the one before
3. Period effect:
- If born during specific time period someone may be more or less likely to be religious
- e.g. living through war
Social Class
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Statistics:
- 62% church goers are MC
- 38% church goers are WC
Reasons for differences within this group:
- MC more likely to feel attached to traditional churches, whereas WC people drawn to new religious movements due to lack of hierarchy in their structures
Additional notes:
- Religion is 'conservative force' that maintains social stability by creating false consciousness
- Historically in Britain there was a fairly close relationship between social class and religious participation
- In postmodern world this relationship has fragmented and there is evidence to show that class is less important than other factors as indicators of religious belief and practice
Clemence (2014):
Found that those of higher economic status were less likely to be religious in comparison to members of WC
Ethnicity:
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Additional notes:
- Pakistani & Bangladeshi Muslims in UK see being Muslim as primary identity- prioritise religion over nationality
Statistics:
- Church attendance: 19% of black Londoners attend Church weekly in comparison to 8% white Londoners (London Church census 2012)
Reasons for differences within this group:
- Cultural transition: minority groups use religion to assist the process of immigration
2 Cultural defence: using religion to protect identity in a hostile environment
Cultural transition: How does it lead to increased religiosity?
- By providing support & sense of community for minority groups in their new environment
- This is explanation that Herberg (1955) gives high levels of religious participation among first generation immigrants in USA
Cultural transition: How does cultural transition explain decreasing religiosity?
- Once a group has made a transition into the wider society, religion may lose its role + decline in important (as was case with Irish Catholics)
Cultural transition: Pryce (1979) study:
- Shows both cultural transition and defence
- Study of African Caribbean in Bristol showed that both cultural defence + cultural transition have been important
- Argues Pentecostalism helped AC to adapt to British society, playing kind of 'protestant ethic' role in helping its members to succeed by encouraging self-reliance + thrift, and giving people mutual support + hope of improving their situation
Cultural defence: How does this explain the higher religiosity of ethnic minorities?
- Ethnic minorities likely to experience racism, discrimination + hostility within society + religion can be a way of coping with the oppression of this
Cultural defence: Why may immigrants be more likely to be religious?
- Religious one way to preserve culture + language + form basis for community soldarity
- Particular important for newer migrants
Cultural defence: Why is evidence for cultural defence?
Brierley: shows significant growth of new churches in London catering for specific languages + nationalities as a result of recent immigration. The growth of 'black' churches demonstrates need for community solidarity against racist society (exclusion from 'white' churches).
gender
reasons for differences within this group
- women take on expressive roles + so their proximity to childbirth, child rearing, caring for elderly gives them reason to pray + seek spiritual support whereas men have little time away from work
- new age religions emphasises importance of being 'authentic'- including gender roles
- women likely attracted to this as perceive their roles as restrictive
- men's decline from religion in last two centuries meant that church gradually has become more feminised
MILLER & HOFFMAN 1995: 3 reasons for women's levels of religiosity
- women more risk-averse so don't want to go to hell
- women socialised to be passive + obedient- religious values
- women likely to work part time- more time to engage in religious activities
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GLOCK & STARK 1969
- studied rise in participation of women in new religious movements
- argue that increase is due to 3 types of deprivation suffered by women in society:
- social + economic deprivation: lack of status in society, such as employment
- ethical deprivation: sense that there has been a moral decline in society + therefore some women want a return to traditionalism- strong set of core values that they can relate to
- organismic deprivation: women more concerned about health than men so may seek comfort + healing that religions such as christian science claim to provide
contemporary trends
- recent decline in women's participation in religious activities in UK
- because traditional religions have tended to be closely bound up with traditional gender roles, women's rejection to subordination has led them to reject traditional religion at same time
BRUSCO: the pentecostal gender paradox
- pentecostalism is a patriarchal religion which is attractive to women despite its patriarchal features
- traditional gender roles at home + in church
- pupilar with women in latin american
- men in columbia spend 20-40% of income on alcohol + money on gambling- women want this religion to shame men + to get them back in employment + to look after them
BRUCE: women are twice as likely as men to join sects
- this because lower levels of involvement in paid work
- rationalisation has moved religion out of male-dominated public sphere of work, confining it to family + personal life- private sphere for women
statistics:
- churches in 2005: congregations were divided 57% women + 43% men
- 84% women believed in god compared to 64% men (1990 opinion poll)
- men's religiosity has declined more quickly than women
DAVIE: childbirth much less fatal now, so western women are less religious.
religion, renewal & choice
grace davie: modern view of religion:
- obligation to consumption
- in today's society we are seeing a major change in religion from obligation to consumption
- people used to feel obliged to go to church
- this no longer the case but a personal choice
- believing without belonging
- religion is not declining but becoming more privatised
- people increasingly reluctant to belong to organisations but people still hold religious beliefs (believing without belonging)
- vicarious religion: the spiritual health service
- trend towards religion practiced by minority on behalf of great majority, who then experience religion second hand
- churches seen as 'the spiritual health service' (it is there for everyone to use whenever they need to, e.g. major life events)
- compares vicarious religion to tip of iceberg: what we see at top is minority but underneath that are those who remain attached to the church as an institution that provides ritual + support when needed but do not attend often
- evidence of believing w/o belonging
believing without belonging
voas & crockett (2005):
- don't accept davie's claim that there is more believing than belonging
- evidence shows there is decline in church attendance and believing
- bruce (2011):
- if people not willing to invert time in going to church this is reflection of declining strength of their beliefs
- when people no longer believe they no longer wish to belong so their involvement in religion diminishes
daniele hervieu-leger (2000):
- spiritual shopping
- there has been decline in religion across europe with fewer people attending church in most countries
- partly because of cultural amnesia
- children used to be taught religion by parents, extended family + parish church but now doesn't happen so religion handed down generations is diminishing
- parents let children decide what to believe- no longer have religion imposed on them and have become spiritual shoppers
- religion is individualised + fits in with our own interests
- although religion no longer acts as source of collective identity it does have some influence on society's values (e.g. values of equality)
- as a result there are two new religious types emerging:
- pilgrims: follow individual path in search for self-discovery
- converts: join religious groups that offer strong sense of belonging, based on shared ethnic background or religious doctrine
heelas & woodhead: the kendal project (2005)
- investigating whether traditional religion has declined + how far the growth of spirituality is compensating for this
- two groups:
- the congregational domain: traditional + evangelical christianity
- the holistic milieu: spirituality + new age
- found that a typical week, in 2000, 7.9% of the population attending church and 1.6% took part in the activities of holistic milieu
- explanation of these trends:
- new age spirituality has grown because of a massive subjective turn in today's culture: shift away from idea of doing your duty + obeying external authority to exploring your inner self by following spiritual path
- result traditional religions, which demand duty and obedience, are declining
- evangelical churches are more successful than traditional churches: evangelicals also emphasise the importance of spiritual healing + personal growth through the experience of being 'born again'
- in spiritual marketplace, the winners are those who appeal to personal experience as only genuine source of meaning + fulfilment, rather than the received teachings + commandments of traditional religion
POSTMODERN RELIGION
LYON (2000)
- agreed with davie that believing without belonging was becoming increasingly popular
- argues traditional religion is giving way to new religious forms that demonstrate its continued popularity
- a postmodern society has many features that are changing the nature of religion:
- globalisation
- media + communications
- consumerism
GLOBALISATION
- growing connectedness of societies across national boundaries
- we have access to ideas + beliefs from previously remote places + religions
- religious ideas have become 'disembedded'
- e.g. televangelism disembedded religion from real, local church and relocate it on the internet/tv, allowing believers to express their faith without physically attending church
MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS
- internet creates range of opportunities for religious organisations + individuals to exploit
- hellard (2000): distinguishes between:
- religion online:
- form of top down communication
- religious organisations use it address members
- no feedback
- communicating only the officially approved ideas
- online religion:
- form of cyber religion that may have no existence outside the internet
- allows individuals to create non-hierarchal relationships and a sense of community to explore shared spiritual interests
- provide mutual support
CONSUMERISM
- postmodern society involves growth of consumerism + idea that we not construct our identities through what we choose to consume
- LYON'S: view that religion has moved to the sphere of consumption
- people may have stopped belonging to religious organisations, they have abandoned religion
- instead they have become 'religious consumers' making conscious choices about which elements of religion they find useful
- LYON: argues that the decline of traditional churches does not spell the end of religion
- in their place many new religious movements are springing up that the religious consumer can sample from + can construct their own personal belief system
- religion + spirituality are not disappearing but they are simply evolving
SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION
- instead of secularisation a spiritual revolution is taking place
- move towards new age spirituality which rejects the idea of obligation + obedience to external authority found in traditional religions
- instead focuses on the idea that life is a journey of discovery + connecting with one's 'inner self'
- increased interest in spirituality can be seen all around us
- explosion in number of self help books, courses, therapies
- link to the kendal project
BRUCE: CHALLENGES NEW AGE:
- challenges claim that religion is changing its nature or form rather than declining
- the problem of scale
- even if new religions are forming would have to be much larger to fill gap
- socialisation of the next generation
- for a belief system to work must be passed down between generations
- weak commitment
- although may follow spirituality very few say they are important in their lives
- structural weakness
- unlike traditional religion, the new age lacks external power (church hierarchy), can't achieve consensus, cannot evangelise
- these characteristics make new age structurally weak + unlikely to fill gap left by decline of traditional institutional religion
STARK & BAINBRIDGE (1986):
- critical of secularisation theory + view it as being eurocentric
- focuses on decline in religion in europe but ignores its strength in america + elsewhere
- it is misleading to say there was a 'golden age' of religion in past + that it is unrealistic to predict a future where everyone will be an atheist
THEORY BASED ON 2 ASSUMPTIONS:
- people naturally religious + religion meets human needs.
- so the overall demand for religion remains constant, even though the demand for particular types of religion may vary
- it is human nature to seek rewards + avoid costs
- when people make choices, they weigh up the costs + benefits of the different options available
COMPENSATORS:
- religion is attractive as it provides us with compensators- when real rewards are scarce or unattainable religion compensates by promising supernatural ones
- e.g. immortality is unattainable but religion compensates by promising life after death
CYCLE OF RENEWAL:
- alternative to secularisation
- decline > revival > renewal
- can be seen throughout history, some religions declining + others growing
- e.g. when churches decline, they leave gap in market for sects + cults to attract new followers
- so secularisation theory is one sided as it sees decline but ignores the growth of new religions
RELIGIOUS COMPETITION:
- churches operate like companies selling goods in a market
- argue that competition leads to improvements in the quality of religion 'goods' on offer
- churches that make their products attractive will succeed in having more 'customers'
HADDEN & SHUPE (1988):
- rise in 'televangelism' in america shows that religious participation is supply led
- opened up competition between evangelist groups
FINKE (1997)
- lifting of restrictions on asian immigration into america in 1960's led to asian faiths becoming another option that proved popular with consumers in the religious market place
MILLER (1997):
- compared the evangelical mega-churches (congregations of 2000+) found in america + south korea to hypermarkets
- with such large congregations they have more resources so are able to offer a vast range of activities to meet the diverse needs of their members
AMERICA VS EUROPE: SUPPLY NOT DEMAND:
- demand for religion increases when there are different sorts to choose from
- where there is a religion monopoly (one church with no competition) it leads to decline
- this is because without competition a church has no incentive to provide people with what they want
- america
- religion thrives in USA as there has never been a religious monopoly
- constitution guarantees freedom of religion + separation of church + state
- encourages growth of healthy religious market
- europe
- dominated by an official state church which had a religious monopoly
- e.g. church of england
- competition has been held back
work of JD TAKES + JOEL OSTEEN
- refers to jesus as the product to be sold
ideology, science + religion
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science + religion
DIXON:
- until 200 years ago, religion + science weren't separate + distinct types of knowledge but were seen primarily as one
- this because science dominated by religious thinkers who believed primary purpose of science was to document glory of God
- modern science grew + became separate from religion in C18th Europe.
open + closed belief systems
- DIXON: main difference between science + religion is the science is open belief system and religion is closed belief system
- POPPER: science is open belief system as based on empirical evidence, open to scrutiny + tested by others to check its validity. basis of science built upon falsification.
- science has become dominant belief system in western world because it can be challenged + has grown
KHUN 1970: science is closed belief system due to paradigms that dominate it. scientists work within pre-existing framework that does not encourage creative freedom- those who follow guidelines tend to be rewarded, whereas those who question how science should work tend to be ridiculed + marginalised
- a paradigm shapes how the discipline is defined and understood by those who operate within it and by others + how research is conducted (creating hypotheses)
why has science grown as a discipline?
- enables us to explain, predict + control world in a way that non-scientific belief systems can't do: cognitive power
- MERTON (functionalism): science grown due to following four norms (CUDO):
- Communism: scientific knowledge shared with whole community + not kept private
- Universalism: all scientists regarded as equal so it should be work that is challenged not social characteristics
- Disinterestedness: scientists should be committed to truth- no fraud or subjective bias
- Organised scepticism: all knowledge within science should be challenged + scrutiny should be encouraged
- is science socially constructed?
- KNORR-CETINAS 1999 scientists' study in laboratory is highly 'constructed' and far removed from the 'natural' world they are supposedly studying
- WOOLGAR 1988: scientists have to persude the scientific community to accept their interpretations of world. scientific fact is simply a shared, socially constructed belief
- INTERPRETIVISTS: science is socially constructed
- why does society have faith in science?
- science has revolutionised economic productivity + higher standard of living
- why has society's faith in science started to fail?
- recognition that science can cause/has caused problems, e.g. pollution, ai
- what prevents scientific knowledge from being sacred or absolute truth?
- it can always be questioned, criticised + potentially proven wrong
functionalist theory
DURKHEIM
role of religion
- create + maintain value consensus, order + solidarity
the sacred + profane
- sacred: set apart, inspire feelings of awe + fear
- involve collective ritual + symbols which represent something of great power as they evoke strong feelings
- all symbols perform essential function of uniting believers into a single moral community
- profane: no special significance, ordinary + mundane
totemism
- one of the earliest and simplest form of religious practice
- studied arunta (aboriginal australian tribe with clan system)
- they came together periodically to perform rituals involving worship of a sacred totem (clan's emblem)
- totem inspired feelings of awe because it represents power of group on which individual is 'utterly dependent' (worshipping society)
- shows significance of symbols on creating + maintaining value consensus
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the collective conscience
- sacred symbols represent society's collective conscience (shared norms + values that make social life + cooperation between people possible)
- regular shared religious rituals reinforce collective conscience + maintain social integration- binds individuals together + reminds individuals of power of society
- also plays important functions for individuals- makes us feel part of something greater than ourselves
hard to apply to large-scale societies where two or more religious communities may be in conflict- his theory may explain social integration within communities but not conflicts between them
MESTROVIC (postmodernist): durkheim's ideas can't be applied to contemporary society as increasing diversity has fragmented the collective conscience so no longer a single shared value system for religion to reinforce
cognitive functions
- religion is source of intellectual + cognitive capacities (ability to reason + think conceptually)
- to think we need categories (time, space) and they need to be shared in order to share thoughts
- religion is origin of concepts + categories we need for reasoning, understanding the world + communicating
MALINOWSKI: psychological functions
- religion promotes solidarity by performing psychological functions for individuals, helping them cope with emotional stress
- 2 types of situation in which religion does this:
- where outcome is important but is uncontrollable + thus certain (study of trobriand islanders: iagoon fishing [safe, no ritual], whereas, ocean fishing [dangerous, accompanied by 'canoe magic'- rituals to ensure safety + eases tension])
- life crises
- birth (religion minimises destruction)
PARSONS: values + meaning
- identifies two essential functions
- creates + legitimates society's central values by sacralising them (e.g. protestantism sacralised core american values: individualism + meritocracy)
- primary source of meaning by answering 'ultimate' questions- why do the good suffer?
BELLAH: civil religion
- what unifies american society is an overarching civil religion (belief system that attaches sacred qualities to society)
- e.g. in american, civil religion is a faith in americanism or in nazi germany, they had political beliefs + rituals
- argues civil religion integrates society: claims loyalty of all americans
- it is expressed in various rituals, symbols + beliefs (e.g. pledge of allegiance to flag)
evaluation
- emphasises social nature of religion + its positive functions
- neglects negative aspects (e.g. religion as source of oppression of poor)
- ignores religion as source of division + conflict, especially where there is religious pluralism in societies, hard to see how it can unite people
marxist theory
sees societies as divided into two classes, one of which exploits the labour of the other- in modern capitalist society, the capitalist class who own means of production exploit WC which creates class conflict.
MARX: predicted WC would ultimately become aware of their exploitation + overthrow capitalism leading to a classless society + end of exploitation
religion as ideology
- ideology is a belief system that distorts people's perception of reality in interests of ruling class
- legitimises inequality
- MARX: religion operated as an ideological weapon to legitimate the suffering of poor as something inevitable + god-given, misleads the poor into believing in rewards in afterlife
- this creates false consciousness (prevents poor from acting to change their situation)
- legitimises power of ruling class
- religion legitimates power of ruling class by making their position appear divinely ordained
- LENIN: spiritual gin
- describes religion as spiritual gin that confuses WC + keeps them in place, creates mystical fog that obscures reality
religion as product of alienation
- MARX: under capitalism, workers are alienated because they do not own what they produce, have no control over production process
opium of the people
- religion is form of consolation, dulls pain of exploitation: opium of the people
- marx ignores positive functions of religion
- NEO-MARXISTS: see certain forms of religion as assisting not hindering development of class consciousness
- ALTHUSSER: alienation is unscientific
- religion does not necessarily function effectively as an ideology to control population
- ABERCROMBIE, HILL + TURNER: in pre-capitalist society, christianity has limited impact on the peasantry
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ideology & religion
belief systems
- set of stories + realities about the world that a person believes to be true
- includes religious beliefs + morals
religion as closed belief system
- suggest that they know the truth about the world + do not tolerate those that criticise that truth
- very conservative in beliefs + don't wish to change
religion as open belief system
- can be an open system of belief when it's open to change
- HERBERG: some religions are open to change + have diluted their beliefs systems to maintain relevance in modern society (internal secularisation)
- e.g. acceptance of female bishops into the Church of England
science as a closed belief
- KUHN: science is a closed belief system as it runs off paradigms which shape the way that the discipline is defined + understood as well as how research is carried out
- as this is accepted by majority it is very hard to change
science as a open belief system
- POPPER: believes that science is an open system as it is open to challenge + it is built upon idea of falsfication
- if a theory is proven wrong it is replaced + the knowledge within discipline grows
POLANYI: self sustaining beliefs
- to protect themselves from challenge, closed systems such as religion have 3 main tendencies
- denial of legitimacy: complete rejection of claims of rivals to convince followers they alone hold the truth
- subsidiary explanations: get out clauses to explain away criticisms or to deflect the argument
- circularity: each idea within system is explained in terms of another idea within the system
case study: azande & witchcraft
- EVANS PRITCHARD
- studied azande tribe + showed how their belief system reflects the characteristics of a closed system
- their belief in witchcraft causing misfortune + the proof coming from a 'benge' potion given to chickens seems irrational to outsiders but is indoctrinated into the tribe + no one questions it
ideology
- the political, social + economic ideas that help to define a particular group of people
marxism
- all ideologies (including science + religion) are a tool of the ruling class to maintain power + reproduce inequality
- justify the principals of capitalism + prevent the proletariat revolution
- major scientific discoveries are motivated by generating mass profits + only fuels capitalism further
postmodernism/pluralism
- there are multiple ideologies within society + they reflect the values and world views of the different social groups within that society
- no dominant ideology but a sharing of power amongst them
this is a contradiction as pluralism itself is declaring dominance. also ignores the unequal distribution of power within society.
feminism
- ideologies (e.g. science + religion) have promoted the patriarchy for generations
- e.g. by blocking women from positions of power or tainting them as weak/impure
- OAKLEY: a good example of science acting as an ideology is bowlby's study of maternal deprivation
- suggests his idea that children's development is damaged by working mothers has been used to justify gender inequality in work place + reinforced the patriarchal idea of women staying at home + men as the breadwinner
MANNHEIM
- claims all world views are ideologies + are product of the theologians + intellectuals that cannot relate to the everyday, so their idea reflect their own personal interests
- identified two types of world views:
- ideological thought: justifies traditions + maintenance of society thus resisting change. this because those who control the ideology are benefiting from the status quo
- utopian thought: attempts to promote social change because the current state of the world doesn't benefit those who construct utopian belief systems
- we need to detach ourselves from these worldviews + create an objective world view that all can relate to. these ideas would be created by a 'free floating intellgensia'
neo-marxist theory + religion
- agree with marxism that religion can exploit the poor
- criticise marxist for failing to see how religion can be a cause of social change + develop class consciousness
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pope john paul II rejected liberation theory + told priests to focus on their religious responsibilities
feminism + religion
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STARK & BAINBRIDGE: women more likely to join sects + cults because:
- offer compensators for three forms of deprivation:
- organismic deprivation: women are more likely to suffer ill health so will look to sects + cults for healing
- ethical deprivation: women tend to more morally conservative + thus more likely to see the world in moral decline + share views held by sects + cults
- social deprivation: sects + cults tend to attract poorer groups + women are more likely to be in poverty than men
postmodernism
reflexivity: we are continually re-evaluating our ideas + theories, nothing is fixed or permanent + everything is up to challenge
disembedding: we no longer need face to face contact in order to interact. there is a breakdown of geographical boarders thus making interaction more impersonal
cultural amnesia: means loss of religion that was handed down by generations before, instead parents are letting their children choose their own belief systems
pluralist society: a diverse society where people in it believe all kinds of different things + tolerate each other's beliefs even when they don't match their own
key concepts
LYOTARD: monopoly of truth
- religion provides a meta narrative which tries to hold a monopoly on the truth
- however such claims are no longer acceptable in the postmodern world because there is no such thing as an absolute truth
LYON: spiritual shoppers
- there is an emergence of a spiritual marketplace which has developed as result of religious leaders turning the the media to publicise their beliefs
- to survive, people's identities have become fluid in the postmodern world so religions have to work harder to entice new members + keep the ones they ave
- because people will try out different religions in order to find one which matches their own personal belief systems
growth of NEW AGE movements
- believe that traditional religions have been replaced by new age movements with a focus on spirituality + self improvement rather than devotion to a god
LYON: disembedding
- describes how religion has become disembedded in postmodern society
- it is no longer embedded in religious organisations or in a particular country or culture + beliefs are not embedded in their original contexts
- allows people to pick + mix lots of bits of lots of belief systems: take what they like + reject what they don't
HERVIEU-LEGER: inability to change
- religions' inability to change has led to its demise in society because there are so many alternative views to compete with its teachings it has led to more scrutiny of the beliefs the mainstream religions
pick + mix culture
- outlines how postmodernity has enabled the individual to become a spiritual shopper
- as result individual will actively select + choose a religion based on its suitability in answering existential question
evaluation
BRUCE: postmodernists have overexaggerated the extent to the decline in traditional religions. NAM's are short lived + cannot lived + cannot compare with established world religions
disembedding has been overexaggerated, e.g. for many muslims the mosque is still a big part of their belief system
-