Religion and Social Change

1
Religion and Social Change

• Both Functionalists and Marxists believe that
  religion helps to prevent change,
• it is a conservative force maintaining the staus
  quo for functionalists
• it is part of the false consciousness process
  for Marxists
• Weber believed that religion was a force for
  change and developed a theory that protestentism
  was responsible for capitalism developing. This
  was developed in his work
• 'The protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism'

2
Religion and Social Change

• Lutheranism
• For Lutherans religion was more than just going
  to church.
• It was a life long vocation affecting every
  sphere of life- work, rest and play
• People worked hard and made money - but they
  werent allowed to spend on pleasures and
  therefore ploughed profits back into businesses

3
Religion and Social Change

• Calvinism
• Believed in predestination
• i.e. you do not know whether you are going to
  heaven or hell
• Calvinists worked hard to try and convince
  themselves and others that they were part of the
  elect bound for heaven

4
Religion and Charisma

• A second link between religion and social change
  has to do with how sects develop and change
• 2 factors help in the development of sects
• 1. A group of people find that their existing
  religion is not meeting their needs.
• 2. A leader claims to have a new answer. This
  leader is often charismatic

5
Religious Organisations

• Three interesting issues about charisma
• 1.
• It is used widely to describe a range of people -
  
• actors, rock stars, teachers

6
Religious Organisations

• 2.
• It is often seen as dangerous -
• a leader can make people do things they wouldnt
  normally do
• e.g. Hitler, Jimmy Jones

7
Religious Organisations

• 3.
• Groups with charismatic leaders are often short
  lived
• It is difficult to maintain the charisma element
• The movement dies out when the leader does - or
• becomes more bureaucratic

8
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• Wallis 1984
• argues that the last 30 years in the USA and
  Europe have witnessed a rapid growth in NRM's.
  This appears to be going hand in hand with the
  decline in established churches, suggesting that
  beliefs are not so much declining as changing

9
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• Wallis 1984 - 3 types of NRM
• 1. World Accomodating
• The text book gives little on this format,
  suffice to say that such groups stress the
  personal matter of religious belief and practice.
• Members of such groups (Subud,
  Neo-Pentecostalism), usually live 'normal' lives
  i.e. live and work in the same way as the
  majority of population.

10
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• 2. World-rejecting movements
• The Moonies are a typical example
• Members are required to reject the world and its
  ills
• They cut off former ties - friends, relatives,
  possessions
• Often live in communities
• Often have charismatic leaders
• Moral panics about brainwashing etc are common
• Their membership is very small

11
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• 3.World Affirming Religions
• Scientology is typical of this format
• The world is one of opportunity
• We can be more successful and become better
  people
• Many involve expensive training programmes
• Members live in the normal world

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New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• Themes - Beliefs
• Both world rejecting and world affirming
  movements combine different beliefs e.g. the
  Unification Church combines Christianity and
  eastern religions.
• The sociologists job is to explain why people
  believe what they do without justifying it.
• Read the article on page 637 concerning the work
  of Eileen Barker. In a famous study in the 1970's
  she used a triangulation approach to study the
  Moonies. Here she tries to take some of the fear
  away from cult-watching.

13
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• Themes - Membership
• World-rejecting NRM's are have a more restricted
  membership than world affirming ones.
• This is often because they recruit less widely
  and have more control over members.
• There is a popular fear of such groups - with
  allegations of brain washing etc. But Barkers
  study of the Moonies shows that they were very
  unsuccessful in keeping members.
• World rejecting NRM's usually appeal more to
  young people and this heightens the fear of
  parents who see their children as being
  'captured'.

14
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• Themes - New Age Movements
• The 1980's and 90's has seen the growth in so
  called New Age movements - the majority of which
  are cults based on such things as spiritual
  healing, paganism and ecology.. They tend to be
  client and audience style cults.
• Many of these movements are hybrids of different
  belief systems and rely on the media to get their
  message across.

15
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• As a result we have less small enclosed
  communities of believers and more 'religious
  milieu'.
• This fits with the post modernist view of
  religion taking on a more "pick'n'mix" mentality
  - i.e. there is a lot of choice and consumers
  pick the elements to form their own belief system
  - often mixing 'mainstream' beliefs with others

16
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• The appeal of NNRM's
• When we hear of the stories Waco and Jonestown
  etc the usual question is why?
• Sociologists are particularly interested in what
  makes people join and support NRM's

17
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• Suggested answers
• 1. The decline in organised religion has left a
  gap in the market
• 2. Relative deprivation -
• not necessarily economic - some feel that
  'normal' life is not giving them satisfaction
  and therefore seek it elsewhere
• 3. NRM's appeal to particular groups of people

18
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• World-Rejecting NRM's and the young unattached
• Adolescents and young adults are targeted
• Offer some certainty at an otherwise uncertain
  time.
• No dependants makes membership easier
• Radical beliefs appeal to the young
• Rapid turnover of members as a result of reliance
  on young

19
New Religious Movements (NRM's)

• World-Affirming NRM's and the older attached
• Provide a spiritual component for those
  disillusioned with a rational world
• Provide techniques to increase wealth, happiness
  etc.
• Provide opportunities for people to work on their
  inner selves
• Heelas (1992) calls them cults for capitalism