Organizations, movements and members

1. Organizations, movements and members Arshad Habib

2. Learning objectives • To know about different types religious organisations • Who seek membership of such organizations? Gender, class, ethnicity and religious participation

3. Quiz • Who argued that Calvinism contributed to the birth of capitalism? • Weber • Describe briefly how Protestant ethics contributed to capitalism? • ---------------------------------------------------------------------- • List at least one criticism of ‘Protestant ethics-capitalism’ approach. • ----------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Quiz • Rationalisation of human life and advancement of science and technology has led to the decline of religion at a global level. True/False • False • What does the case of India show? • Religion has created consensus with modernity • The case of East Asia and Latin America reflects Weberian model. True/False • True

5. Quiz • Confucian values and Pentecostalist values support the decline of religion. True/False • False • Pentecostalism is the: • Localisation of Christianity • List at least TWO features of fundamentalism and cosmopolitanism. • ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Quiz • Who proposed the concept of ‘Resistant and Project’ identity? Describe briefly. • Castells • ---------------------------------------------------------------------- • Religion can become the agenda of cultural defence to mobilize people, thus uniting them against a foreign/external threat. True/False •  True • Samuel Huntington’s (1993) presented the idea of • Clash of civilisation

7. Quiz • According to Samuel Huntington religion may assume a new force to shape identity. True/False • True • List at least one criticism of Samuel Huntington’s approach to religion. • ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Religious organisations • Two approaches to study the state of religion • Religion is declining: secularisation thesis • Religion has changed its character: personalised version of religion • But how does it exist? • How various organizations emerge and attract members?

9. Types of religious organisation • Troeltsch (1912) distinction of Church and sect ChurchSect • Individual task:

10. Types of religious organisation • Troeltsch (1912) distinction of Church and sect ChurchSect Large in size Small in size Inclusive membership Exclusive membership Bureaucratic hierarchy of Single charismatic professional priests leader Monopoly of truth Monopoly of truth Associated with the state Hostile to wider society Sects dies out quickly

11. Types of religious organisation • Richard Niebuhr’s (1929) distinction of denomination and cult DenominationCult • Individual task

12. Types of religious organisation • Richard Niebuhr’s (1929) distinction of denomination and cult DenominationCult Mid way between church and sect Small in size in terms of (1) membership loose network (2) Appeal to society shared interests (3) commitment No specific belief system Open to multiple truths Open to multiple truths • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_95Kc4phloc

13. Types of religious organisation • Roy Wallis’ (1929) analysis • Churches and sects }Legitimate & respectable Monopoly of truth • Denominations & cults }Open to truths seen as deviant in society • Critique: • Troeltsch’s model does not reflect current situations such as churches have no more monopoly

14. Types of religious organisation • Roy Wallis’ (1929) analysis of New Religious Movements (NRMs) • World-rejecting NRMs • Firm religious belief and organization • Focus on salvation • Commitment to specific way of life • Rejects outside world • Conservative outlook Examples: Children of God, People's temple, Moonies, Krishna Consciousness

15. Types of religious organisation • Roy Wallis’ (1929) analysis of New Religious Movements (NRMs) • World-accommodating NRMs • Focus on religion but... • Positive towards world and life Example: neo-Pentecostalism • World-affirming NRMs • Not primarily focused on religious practices but... • Spiritualism • No conventional membership/commitment Examples: Human Potential, SokaGakkai, Scientology

16. Types of religious organisation • Stark and Bainbridge’s (1985) distinction is based on conflict with wider society • Sects are in conflict with society • Cults accepts society

17. Explaining the growth of religious movements • What are the causes of religious growth? Group exercise 1. Marginality: 2. Relative deprivation: 3. Social change:

18. Explaining the growth of religious movements • What are the causes of religious growth? 1. Marginality: • Organizations grow because marginalized groups join them 2. Relative deprivation: • Relatively deprived people are attracted to religious organizations 3. Social change: • The breakdown of community and crisis of meaning attracts people to religious organizations

19. The growth of the New Age • New Age: a mild way to find spiritual satisfaction and direction • Non-conservative • Mild belief in supernatural and human spirit • Focus on spiritualism • Tolerant and accommodating • What are the causes of the New Age? • The debate of modernity and post-modernity • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_uDAEwnh_o

20. Religiosity and social groups • Who seek membership of such organizations? • Gender, class and religious participation • Gender • 1.8 million attended church as against 1.36 million • Twice as many women as men are engaged in sects • 80% of the participants were women in spiritual shopping • Reasons: • Socialisation at home: passive, obedient and caring • Women as part time workers • Women’s proximity to death and birth: reflective tendency

21. Religiosity and social groups • Women are equally attracted to the New Age • Reasons: • Women’s distinct character and distinct life experiences: heeling, caring and child-rearing • Women are more likely to be poor, morally conservative and prone to mental health issues (Glock and Stark, 1969) • Recent trend indicates a decline of women's participation due to increased engagement in social life and gender consciousness • Women’ attendance (aged 30-45) fell by 16.4% between 1990 and 2005

22. Religiosity and social groups • Who seek membership of such organizations? • Ethnicity and religious participation • Religious minorities participate more than others in UK • Religion offers emotional support and alternative cultural identity to immigrants in UK • Religion as a mean of social solidarity • Religion help immigrants adjust in new conditions

23. Religiosity and social groups • Who seek membership of such organizations? • Age and religious participation Attendance at church services, England: by age (1000s)

24. Religiosity and social groups • Who seek membership of such organizations? • Age and religious participation • Reasons: • The ageing effect: religiosity increases as one grows old...seeking spiritual healing and overcoming previous guilt's • The generational effect: the ageing effect will decline as secularisation deepens in our society Voas and Crockett (2005)