Unit 7 - Beliefs in Society - Part 2

Topic 1 - New religious movements

In Topic 4 of Unit 6 we looked at religious organisations and in particular the role of sects and cults. This topic examines in more detail the emergence and proliferation of new religious movements (NRMs) and New Age movements (NAMs) since the 1970s, many of which can be seen as sects or cults. These new movements and groups have become an important part of the sociology of belief systems, and have attracted interesting analysis and research. In this topic we will look at the sociological explanations for the development of NRMs and NAMs in contemporary society, at the people they may appeal to and the reasons why they can prove attractive, and at factors affecting their longevity.

Ethnicity and religion

In earlier sections we looked at how immigration has led to the growth of minority ethnic communities, in particular from former colonies in the Caribbean and Asia, but also from other parts of Europe and Africa. As a result the UK is shifting from a Christian society to a more multifaith society. Data from the most recent 2011 census (ONS, 2012) show increases in religions that are particularly associated with minority ethnic groups - Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism. The figures for England and Wales from the 2001 and 2011 census are as follows: check online

Measuring secularisation

In earlier topics we have seen how the latest census (ONS, 2012), of the population in England and Wales suggests that 59 per cent of the population of England and Wales are Christian, 8 per cent belong to another religion, and 25 per cent have no religion. These figures show a decline in the number of Christians (down from 72 per cent in 2001), increases in the other main religious groups and an increase in those with no religion (up from 15 per cent). However, other sources give a somewhat different picture. For instance, the British Social Attitudes Survey 2014 suggests that 49 per cent of the population have no religious affiliation (BRIN, 2015): check online

Meet the researcher: Eileen Barker

In her study of the Moonies Barker used three methods to try to get as full a picture as possible: - She submitted a detailed questionnaire (a quantitative research method) and received responses from virtually the whole of the UK membership of the Unification Church. - She then selected a smaller group for in-depth interviews, some lasting up to 12 hours in total (a more qualitative method). - She also engaged in overt participant observation (a qualitative research method) by visiting and staying at Moonie centres, joining in their meetings, and observing theological instruction, worship and recruitment rallies. She found that, of those who attended an initial 2-day workshop, 30 per cent went on to a longer week-long workshop, 13 per cent became members and just 5 per cent were still members after 2 years. How can we be sure Barker maintained her objectivity and didn't start to sympathise or identify with the Moonies. This is an issue. But Barker says that, although her part-observational research meant that she had to be sympathetic and involved, she retained her objectivity, did not become a member and refused financial backing from the Unification Church. Barker's study challenged certain media portrayals of the Moonies.

Give one example of each of the key words from Wilson's definition: - thinking - practices - institutions. Briefly explain how each of these might have lost 'social significance' in the UK.

-thinking: Examples include anything connected with the creed of a particular religion. A creed can be defined as a set of principles and beliefs of a religion. For example, Christians believe in God, the Resurrection and the Virgin Birth. In terms of losing social significance, the number of people who profess religious belief in the UK is falling. -practices: Examples include attending worship and prayer. In terms of social significance a minority (less than 10 per cent) attend religious worship regularly and fewer than that pray regularly. -institutions: Examples include buildings and religious organisations. In terms of social significance there is falling membership of all mainstream Christian churches, with closure of some churches and sparse attendance at many that remain. Critics of Wilson have challenged his definition of religion because they say it centres on Christianity. They argue that what he is actually defining is 'de-Christianisation' rather than secularisation. We have already seen in Topic 3 that in our multicultural and multifaith society, religious participation is much higher in some groups than in others. We also saw in Topic 1 that people are increasingly attracted to NRMs and NAMs. All three of the 'founders' of sociology, Durkheim, Marx and Weber, expected the process of secularisation to continue. Durkheim predicted that people's sense of sacredness would weaken due to a growth of individualism in an increasingly fragmented industrial and urban society. As communities weaken, he saw religion losing its role in integrating society. However, he did feel there was 'something eternal in religion' and predicted it would never cease entirely but would 'ebb and flow', and be capable of reasserting itself at any time. Marx predicted that under communism, religion would cease to have any social purpose and would disappear. Weber argued that scientific and technological knowledge would increasingly explain the mysteries of the world and predicted that as a result the importance of religion would decline. He did, however, see a role for non-scientific ideas to explain the 'big questions' in life. But such are the problems and ambiguities surrounding the definition of what exactly secularisation involves that some commentators, such as David Martin (1978), have argued that we should abandon the term secularisation altogether.

Bruce has argued that New Age Spiritualities are little more than dying embers in the concluding stages of the history of secularisation of the West. Essentially New Age spiritualities provide privatised religion for disenchanted Westerners who want to hang on to the remnants of religious belief without inconveniencing themselves too much. Generally speaking, new forms of spirituality lack religious salience and function as weak substitutes for their dying predecessors. Western culture is increasingly characterised by forms of religion that do not claim absolute truth, do not require devotion to one religious leader and do not insist on the authority of a single set of sacred writings, but rather encourage exploration, eclecticism, an understanding of the self as divine. ... In summary Bruce is confident that the number of people interested in new religions and alternative spiritualities is small 'participation is shallow' and their beliefs lack ideological weight. Indeed as far as Bruce is concerned, as individualism and consumerism increase in the secular West, all forms of religion will become increasingly trivialised and subject to personal choice and whim. Source: Adapted from Lewis, J R, The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 43-4 1. How does Bruce account for the growth of New Age spiritualities? 2. Why does Bruce reject the significance of New Age spiritualities?

1. Bruce sees these New Age spiritualities as insignificant, referring to them as the 'dying embers' of religion in an increasingly secular Western society. He sees them as offering a form of privatised religion for disenchanted Westerners. 2. Bruce sees these new forms of spirituality as lacking depth and ideological weight (they do not claim to absolute truth, there is no devotion to one leader, there are no sacred writings, etc.). He thinks they appeal to a relatively small section of the population.

For the 'Seven new religious movements' described in the textbook: 1. Which are world-affirming, world-rejecting or world-accommodating? 2. Which are sects and which are cults?

1. Heaven's Gate, People's Temple, Krishna Consciousness, Moonies and Branch Davidians are world rejecting; Church of Scientology and Transcendental Meditation are world affirming. 2. Heaven's Gate, People's Temple, Krishna Consciousness, Moonies and Branch Davidians are sects; Church of Scientology and Transcendental Meditation are cults. Exam hint: Examiners will expect you to have a good understanding of the three different kinds of group and for you to supply some examples of each in your answers.

1. Briefly outline Bruce's features of New Age religion. 2. Are the following NAMs more likely to be 'audience cults' or 'client cults'? a) crystal b) therapy c) UFOs d) Aliens e) astrology f) paganism g) Tai Chi h) Indian head massage i) reflexology 3. What difficulties do you notice in classifying cults?

1. Bruce suggests that New Age religions combine an emphasis on the self with a holistic approach that suggest mind, body and spirit are all connected. He argues that many are therapeutic and that people are able to pick and choose from what he calls 'the global cafeteria'. In contrast with other religions they do not accept a 'higher authority'. 2. Audience cults could include UFOs, aliens, paganism and astrology. Client cults could include reflexology, crystal therapy, Tai Chi and Indian head massage 3. The activity highlights the difficulty of classifications. For example, while an interest in astrology might be seen as an audience cult, attending an astrology consultation might be seen as a client cult. And while activities such as Tai Chi and yoga may be seen as client cults because they accept the existence of chi or chakras, many people might attend Tai Chi and yoga classes as forms of exercise much like going to the gym. Some scientists have themselves been attracted by the fact that NAMs are holistic and spiritually integrative in the sense that they seek to establish equilibrium between the mind, body and spiritual. Thompson and Woodward (2004) concluded that by cutting across the traditional boundaries, NAMs may be viewed as bridging the gap between science and religion.

Watch the talk by David Voas and then answer these questions. 1. What does Voas mean by the term 'secular transition'? 2. What does Voas mean by the term 'generational replacement'? 3. Are there any criticisms you might make of what Voas says?

1. By the term 'secular transition' Voas means a gradual, and in his view unstoppable, move towards a less religious society. He sees this as a normal part of a process that he calls 'modernisation'. 2. With the term 'generational replacement' Voas is arguing that, during the secular transition, each generation becomes less religious. In this he is challenging the idea put forward in Topic 3 that people become more religious as they get older as a result of disengagement and the prospect of ill health and death. 3. It might be possible to criticise Voas on the basis of his methodology which is largely quantitative and takes less account of people's lived experience - in contrast, say, to the Kendal Study (Heelas et al, 2004). We have already seen how two different surveys can give rather different figures. Martin (1978) argues that 'secularisation is not an automatic and universal process'. He cautions against assuming there was once a 'golden age' of religious participation. He argues that higher attendance at church in the past was more to do with custom and respectability, rather than a reflection of religiosity. In the nineteenth century there were more social pressures within tightly knit communities to attend church and there is documented evidence that some Victorian mill owners fined workers who missed church on Sunday. Voas' analysis is explicitly Western in its focus. He argues that as countries modernise they will become more secular. This does not allow for cultural differences - all the countries he quotes are Western and Christian and he pays little attention to Muslim or Hindu countries. Furthermore, a recent report (Hackett at al, 2015) forecasts that by 2050 there will be many more Muslims and Christians across the world as a whole, and a smaller percentage of people with no religious affiliation, reflecting in particular population growth in Africa. We will look at this again later in the topic. This global element to the debate is extremely important as we look at the evidence both for and against the concept of secularisation. We saw early in Section 6 how Linda Woodhead argues that Marx and Durkheim's views of secularisation reflected their own, European, culture and did not take account of the role of religion in other cultures. Commentators on the Middle East argue that countries like Palestine, Lebanon and Syria were rather more secular in the recent past than they are now, in the wake of conflict. Just how inevitable is the secular transition?

'There is in Sociology a time honoured dichotomy between those schools that focus on interpretive understanding and those that stress more behaviourist, positivistic or scientific approaches. What was to be my approach? Should I perhaps become an ethnomethodologist and investigate that taken-for granted Moonie world, or should I regard Moonies as rats and dispassionately watch them running about their mazes, dismissing from my mind any notions of meaning or conscious purpose that could not be covered by stimulus/response or the more sophisticated operant conditioning models of behaviour? Or perhaps I should forget about individuals as such and search only for structures and functions at a societal level? Would I adopt a philosophical anthropology that assumed we are complicated but nonetheless determined, reacting robots: or are we free, initiating creators, capable of self determination? Whom would I believe when it came to descriptions of the Unification Church? Who was more trustworthy, the brainwashed Moonies themselves or the sceptical critics? Would I learn more as an outsider or an insider? What was the true reality and how could I get to know about it? Was I to be guided by fact or theory or both? But, then, which theory, and how was I to get at the facts? I began to realize that there could be no one answer. Several of the perspectives seemed to be necessary while none was sufficient for my purposes. I was convinced that without having a methodology as scientific as possible one would be unlikely to produce a sociological contribution that would add anything to all the claims and counter-claims which already existed. But it also seemed that without verstehen, or in other words some kind of empathic understanding, one could not hope to find one's data in the first place.' Source: Barker, The Making of a Moonie, 1984, p. 6 1. What does Barker mean by an interpretive perspective? 2. What does she mean by behaviourist, positivistic or scientific approaches? 3. What does she say is valuable in a) the interpretive perspective and b) the behaviourist, positivistic or scientific approach? 4. What was her conclusion about the best methodology for her study?

1. For Barker, an interpretive perspective would involve viewing the situation as an 'insider', looking at the Moonies' world from their own perspective. 2. By contrast, a more behaviourist, positivistic or scientific approach would involve observing the Moonies as an 'outsider' and attributing behaviour to conditioned responses. 3. The interpretive perspective would allow her to observe as an 'insider' and to develop an empathic understanding which would give her access to the data she needs.A scientific approach would enable her to provide a sociological contribution to the current debate, working as an 'outsider' with more objectivity. 4. Barker decided that the best way to proceed would be to combine approaches, i.e. to use triangulation.

1. Outline what is meant by 'Religious market theory'. 2. Outline what is meant by 'Existential security theory'.

1. Religious market theory (Stark and Bainbridge, 1996) sees religion rather like a capitalist marketplace. There is a demand for religion from the population - which the theory argues tends to be constant - and supply from religious institutions. People select their religion on the basis of costs and benefits and where there are high levels of competition between religions (as in the US) there will be higher levels of participation. Religious market theory has significant limitations - in particular it dos not explain the high levels of religious participation in countries like Greece or Iran. 2. Existential security theory (Norris and Inglehart 2012) argues that in countries with low levels of existential security - where there is poverty, ill health and conflict - there will be higher participation in religion. Countries with higher levels of existential security - where there is greater prosperity and security - will be more secular. Even in a wealthy country like the US, there is existential insecurity because wealth is very unevenly distributed. Meet the researcher: Pippa Norris: Pippa Norris, with Rodney Inglehart, researched and wrote Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide, the book which first set out the existential security theory. She is professor of comparative politics at Harvard University and also studies democracy and women's rights. Norris explains how the book, Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide, resulted from detailed analysis of the World Values Survey covering 80 societies and all the world's major religious faiths. She argues that: 'Exposure to physical, societal and personal risks drives religiosity. Conversely, a systematic erosion of religious practices, values and beliefs has occurred among the more prosperous strata in rich nations.'

'Take the concept of freedom. For opponents, freedom consists in not wearing a religiously-endorsed piece of cloth. For proponents, freedom consists in being able to wear a religiously-endorsed piece of cloth. How do you move on from here? By probing why freedom has such different meanings, by considering what sacred narratives and symbols animate it and give it meaning for each party. So the western feminist may tell a tale of how she or her foremothers had to reject what their fathers (in the flesh and in God) wanted them to do in order to be allowed into the house of the fathers. And a Muslim woman may tell of how covering has allowed her to gain the same respect of her religious community, relate to God, defy her parents, make her feel proud and self-confident, enter public space on equal terms with her brothers, and gain a clearer sense of identity in a country in which she would otherwise just be another "immigrant''.' Linda Woodhead (2009) 1. Why does Woodhead warn against a simplistic use of the 'concept of freedom'? 2. Which paradigm - positivist or interpretivist - does Woodhead appear to be working in here? 3. How might a Marxist feminist respond to what Woodhead says?

1. She suggests that the concept of freedom can mean different things for the different people. 2. Woodhead's use of phrases such as 'why freedom has such different meanings' and 'what sacred narratives and symbols animate it and give it meaning' suggest an interpretivist paradigm. (It is worth saying though that earlier in the article Woodhead says 'Without in any way neglecting the importance of social, political and economic factors, what I want to do here is offer a largely cultural analysis of the debate'.) 3. While a Marxist feminist might respect the views described by Woodhead, they might point to the ideological role of religion and whether this serves to legitimise the oppression of women.

What do these three pyramids tell us about: 1. the attraction of the two religions to different age groups? 2. the possible relationship between age and religion?

1. The age profile of Christians suggests both that more people over 40 are Christian, and that this trend has increased in the ten years. By contrast, Islam would appear to appeal much more to young people, at least in Muslim communities. While established Christianity may have lost its appeal to young people, there has been a resurgence of identity of Islam in young Muslims. 2. The first pyramid suggests that established Christianity appeals most to older people; by contrast the third pyramid suggests that younger people are more likely to not be religious. There is evidence that among all groups young people tend to be less religious than their parents; Modood et al (2004) found that for young people of all ethnic groups there seems to be a decline in the importance of religion for them - though Murina Mirza's 2007 research might appear to contradict this.

'The Southern Baptists, America's largest Protestant group with 16 million members including President Clinton, have amended their basic statement of beliefs to include the declaration that a wife must "submit herself graciously" to her husband's leadership. It was also agreed that a woman must accept she has the "God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing their household and nurturing the next generation". Paige Patterson, the Baptists' president, said the decision to include the amendment, which was overwhelmingly supported by members at this year's annual convention in Salt Lake City, was in response to "a time of growing crisis in the family". The move brings the Baptists into line with the Promise Keepers, a fast-growing band of Christian men who claim to have turned their backs on infidelity and alcohol in order to resume their rightful place as head of the family. Although the Baptists' amendment stresses that men and women have equal worth in the eyes of God, it is unequivocal when it comes to power-sharing in the marriage. Taking its lead from Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 22-33, it compares the husband's role in marriage to that of Christ ruling the Church and says the wife should submit to her husband's leadership "as the Church willingly submits to the headship of Christ".' Adapted from: McNeill, 1998 1. How does this amendment of the Southern Baptists legitimise patriarchal structures in the home? 2. Why may women agree to such subordination in the twenty-first century?

1. The amendment states that a wife must submit herself graciously to her husband's leadership as head of the family and that she has a God-given responsibility to respect her husband and serve as his helper, nurturing the next generation. 2. Women may agree to such levels of subordination because they have been socialised into these religious values within their community and family. If they publicly challenge these views they or their husband may be ostracised. They may be told that obedience in the present world will result in rewards in the afterlife.

1. What happened to the percentage of people claiming to be Christian in England and Wales between 2001 and 2011? 2. What happened to the Muslim population between 2001 and 2011? 3. What happened to the Hindu population between 2001 and 2011?

1. The percentage of people claiming to be Christian fell from just under 72 per cent to just over 59 per cent - a decrease of 4 million. 2. The Muslim population grew from 1,546,626 to 2,706,066 - an increase of 1.16 million. 3. The Hindu population increased by a third. Further analysis of the 2011 census (ONS, 2013) shows that even within Christianity, where overall numbers have fallen, there has been a rise in churches associated with the African Caribbean community, while the Catholic and Orthodox churches have received new adherents from Eastern Europe: check online

Think for a moment about how different sociological perspectives might try to explain greater participation in religion of minority ethnic groups. 1. Which ideas of Marx and Weber might help to explain this? 2. How might a postmodernist explain this?

1. Where minority ethnic groups face poverty, low wages and unemployment Marx's idea of religion as the 'opium of the people' and Weber's 'theodicy of disprivilege' might help explain the importance of religion to these communities. 2. A postmodernist might be interested in the way minority ethnic groups might draw on religion to help forge their identity. The textbook refers to the idea of cultural hybridity to describe how people may blend more than one cultural background.

The dynamics of sects and cults

A number of Sociologists - from Nieburh (1929) to Aldridge (2013) - have looked at the life span of sects and cults. Why do some religious organisations such as the Methodists, which began life as a sect, go on to become established denominations? Why do others tend to be much more short-lived?

Patriarchy and religion

A key question is raised by the feminist critique of religion: 'Is religion necessarily patriarchal?' Historically, it is fair to say that women have been viewed by many of the established religions as second-class citizens. And although there may have been shifts towards greater equality within the family and workplace, there has perhaps been less movement in that direction in many belief systems. -Religious texts and imagery: Three of the largest world religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) share the original Hebrew god Yahweh. Although there are theological debates about the gender of God, and some feminist theologians see God as female or genderless, God and Allah are usually referred to in terms of 'He' or 'Him', and Adam, David, Jesus and Mohammed are male. Women are also often portrayed in religious texts as in some way inferior to men. In the Bible, Eve is responsible for the fall, Delilah is a beautiful seductress while the twelve apostles are all men. In Catholic imagery Mary (the Madonna) is portrayed as a symbol of maternity, and this has transmitted an important cultural message down the centuries about the 'nurturing' and 'caring' role of women within families - in contrast with Mary Magdalene who has been portrayed as a prostitute, another female stereotype.

Suggest one reason why these two surveys may give such different results.

A key reason may be the way the question was asked. The Census asked 'What is your religion?' while the British Social Attitudes Survey asked 'Do you regard yourself as belonging to any particular religion?'. The sample is also different. Whereas the Census covers all households, the British Social Attitudes Survey is based on a random sample of over 3000 people. A third survey, the British Cohort Study, also offers data relevant to secularisation. David Voas, who has analysed the data, says that 'At first sight, birth cohort studies seem to offer an ideal opportunity to study the magnitude and direction of religious change over the life course.' He goes on though to say that close examination of the data 'mainly reveals an enormous amount of uncertainty in measurement, making it hard to detect whatever genuine change might have occurred.' Meet the researcher: David Voas David Voas is Professor of Population Studies at the University of Essex. He describes himself as a 'quantitative social scientist' and his research has particularly focused on quantitative analysis of religious change and value change in modern societies, the intergenerational transmission of religion and values and attitudes of and towards ethno-religious minorities.

Radical feminism

A more sceptical view comes from radical feminists who see attitudes to women in religion as part of patriarchal domination. The US feminist Mary Daly (1973, 1978) has argued that the development of Christianity served to suppress 'goddess religions' (with female deities) and promote hatred of women. For the Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi (1980), the patriarchal monotheistic religions reflected the patriarchal and class divided societies of their times. They justified the oppression of women; for example female 'witches' were persecuted because as 'well women' they threatened the male medical profession. Meet the researcher: Nawal El Saadawi: Nawal El Saadawi is an Egyptian feminist and writer who has campaigned against female mutilation in the name of religion. El Saadawi (1980) sees the oppression of women as linked to the patriarchal system, rather than to the specific content or values of religions. For example, she challenges the idea that female circumcision is specifically an Islamic practice, pointing out that it is culturally prevalent in many societies, not all of which are Islamic. She also argues that men misinterpret and distort religious messages in order to legitimise their oppression of women. In return for promising a commitment to the morality of the scriptures, the males receive a religious acknowledgement that they are the true head of their households and that their wives must treat them with respect and submission. This then serves to justify their ideological control and possibly even physical force in keeping their wives in their place, obliging them to treat their husbands with duty and obedience. In a 2014 interview with the German website Quantara she states: 'I spent ten years comparing the Old and New Testaments with the Koran - they are very similar; the differences are minimal. So we can say that the root of the oppression of women lies in the global postmodern capitalist system, which is supported by religious fundamentalism. This is because they need a god to justify oppression, their political hypocrisy, colonialism and the killing of people.'

African-Caribbeans

African-Caribbeans were mostly Christian when they arrived as immigrants to the UK but they encountered the same racism in established Christian religions as they found in wider society. Their response was to set up their own forms of Christian spirituality - often evangelist, charismatic and Pentecostal in character. -Meet the researcher: Ken Pryce: In his study of Caribbean descendant residents of the St Pauls area of Bristol, the British-Caribbean sociologist Ken Pryce (1979) describes the religious group he calls the 'Saints' as a tight-knit community who chose each other's company, welcomed each other into their homes, and looked after each other's children. Such was the strength of this community that the Saints even shunned the company of non-religious Caribbean people who lived in the area. While researching criminality in Jamaica in 1987, Ken Pryce disappeared and his body was later found washed up on a beach - a reminder that participative observation is far from risk-free. Peter Brierley (2015) found that membership of Pentecostal churches rose from 342,485 to 529,594 between 2005 and 2015. He points out that the Redeemed Christian Church of God has started 296 new churches in the five years up to 2015, and that some 400 black majority churches began in London between 2005 and 2012 - more than any other religious groups. Data from the Citizenship Survey (DCLG, 2011) showed that as many as one in six churchgoers on a Sunday were African-Caribbeans. Worship in a Pentecostal church is centred on emotional expression with active 'calling and responses' between the preacher and the congregation. Some people fall into trances and even begin to 'speak in tongues'. Services may also incorporate healing. The congregation is expected to demonstrate an active awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit through their behaviour and personal testimonies. Preaching is often centred on stories rather than analysis of religious texts.

Women and NRMs

Alan Aldridge (2013) argues that NRMs are attractive to women because they lack patriarchal structures and ideology and offer a more positive picture of the women's place in society compared to most traditional religions. Some sects were founded by women, notably the Seventh Day Adventists, the Christian Scientists and the Shaker movement. It has been suggested that women may find it easier to move up the hierarchies of NRMs to leadership roles. However, there is some scepticism about this among feminists as most sect leaders are male and many sects have a conservative view of traditional housewife and mother roles. Some of the more notorious sects have had elderly male leaders who have sexually abused and exploited young female followers. The US feminist Susan Palmer (1993) argues that in many NRMs women are subordinate and that the sexual promiscuity that occurs in some NRMs involves a contradiction between empowerment and what she terms neopatriarchy.

The decline of religious institutions

Another important indicator of secularisation is the separation of religion from wider society. Until recently, it was common for the Archbishop of Canterbury to be consulted by the government on important matters. However, today these political ties are weaker. Bruce (1995) uses the term social differentiation to describe a situation in which the church has less opportunity to involve itself in non-religious affairs and people no longer see themselves as subject to the power of an omnipotent God. Under social differentiation the single social world becomes divided into different spheres and institutions, each dominated by its own values and, increasingly, by its own group of professionals. The church's functions have also reduced - the state has taken on some of its role in marrying couples, baptising babies and carrying out funeral services. On Sunday, religion now competes with sporting events and the retail industry. The postmodernist Jean Baudrillard (1988) sees shopping as the new religion and shopping centres as the new cathedrals of worship. Even in Puritan Scotland shops are open all day on Sundays. Activities like drinking alcohol, horse racing and gambling are no longer forbidden on Sundays. The status of the clergy has also declined reflecting the distrust in religious experts discussed in Section 6. Wilson (1966) argues that in contrast to the past, when religions used to be monolithic (one dominant faith and one worldview), modern society has a plurality of faiths and the competition between them reduces their credibility, power and influence. This is what Peter Berger (1980) meant when he said: 'We are all now heretics ... the religious institutions become marketing agencies and the religious traditions become consumer commodities: God no longer chooses us; we choose God'. The UK sociologist Ian Thompson (1986) argues that the ecumenical movement is a result of this weakening of religion through competition. Other commentators have noted that in the UK's increasingly industrialised and urbanised secular society we are no longer constrained by the moral influence of religion or religious institutions. If you lived in a traditional village, your non-attendance at Sunday worship would be noticed and commented on. If you live in a modern urban setting people are less likely to notice.

Outline and explain the relationship between young people and religion. (4 marks)

Apart from young Muslims, young people's attendance and membership of religious organisations is in decline across all ethnic groups. Most young people may find established and traditional religion unappealing. However, there is research evidence that young people continue to identify with and search for some form of spirituality in their lives.

Religion in the US

As the US is a highly industrialised and technological society, we might expect secularisation levels to be high, but around 40 per cent of the population regularly attend places of worship. The textbook describes this as 'an anomaly' for the existential security theory. The UK sociologist Betty Scharf (1970) argued that US churches have developed themselves in a secular way - this may reflect the idea of 'civil religion' discussed in Section 6 and Durkheim's idea of worshipping society. American social scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell in American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (2012) provide an interesting analysis of religion in the US. They argue that, despite growing polarisation between religious conservatives and secular liberals, stronger personal ties between faiths (e.g. interfaith marriage) have brought greater interfaith tolerance. They argue that 'Unique among nations, America is deeply religious, religiously diverse, and remarkably tolerant.'

World-affirming groups

As their name implies, world-affirming NRMs - usually seen as cults - have a positive view of society. They offer individuals ways of self-improvement and the unlocking of hidden powers within the prevailing social order. These groups encourage individuals to relate to the world more effectively, introducing skills, strategies and techniques such as meditation to help achieve this. Examples include the Church of Scientology, which has some famous members including Tom Cruise, or the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement under its leader the Hindu Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. World-affirming NRMs tend not to participate in acts of collective worship or have theologies like those of more mainstream religions. They attract what has been described as 'socially-integrated people' often from professional and managerial backgrounds (but not necessarily the middle classes), who tend to be successful people in their thirties.

Women's sexuality

Bird (1999) argues that women's sexuality is seen as a threat by traditional religions. He gives the historical example of 'churching' in Christianity, which is a ritual a woman can undergo to 'purify' her body within several weeks of childbirth. He also notes that in some religions, attendance at worship is still, even today, forbidden during menstruation, which is seen as 'unclean' and symbolic of women's inferior spiritual purity compared with men. The UK feminist Jean Holm (1994) argues that both menstruation and childbirth are 'almost universally regarded as polluting'. For example, Hindu and Muslim women cannot touch a sacred text during menstruation. In Catholic teaching, sex is for procreation, not for pleasure, and birth control is not allowed. In the Bible, Jesus was conceived 'without sin'. Roman Catholicism and some fundamentalist groups condemn abortion as murder. Religions often reinforce the patriarchal nature of marriage, frequently assuming that women's domestic roles are both somehow natural and appropriate, as in the Baptist amendment quoted earlier. Lifelong monogamy is encouraged in many of the main religions, and while some religions permit men to take several wives, women do not have the equivalent right.

Asian religious groups

By contrast, most people of South Asian origin are not Christian. At the time of the 2001 census, people describing themselves as Indian were 45 per cent Hindus, 29 per cent Sikhs and 13 per cent Muslim, while people describing themselves as Pakistani or Bangladeshi were predominantly Muslim (92 per cent for both groups). Data from the Citizenship Survey (DCLG, 2011) showed that all three groups were more likely to practise their religion than Christians: - 79 per cent of Muslims practised their religion - 74 per cent of Sikhs practised their religion - 70 per cent of Hindus practised their religion compared to 33 per cent of Christians. As Muslim, Hindu and Sikh immigrants found almost no existing religious organisations they embarked on establishing and practising their own religious infrastructure. The work of Modood et al. (1994) suggests that for Asians their religion became a marker of difference (being non-Christians) and connected with their identity in a way that was not applicable to African-Caribbeans.

Outline and explain two reasons why declining church attendance is not necessarily evidence of secularisation. (4 marks) Exam hint: Past examination papers show that the word 'secularisation' may not necessarily appear in exam questions and the concept can be slightly disguised. For example, in the exam you may be invited to discuss the declining influence of religion or the changing nature of religious belief - this indicates that you are being asked about secularisation.

Declining church attendance does not necessarily indicate secularisation because people today may take a more individual and private approach to religion, summarised in the comment, 'believing without belonging' (Davie, 1994). People may be drawn to other religions, NAMs and NRMS, internet sites or religious broadcasts.

Define the term desacrilisation. (2 marks)

Desacrilisation means the process by which sacred and supernatural forces are no longer seen as controlling the world.

Religious practice

Despite the decline in regular adult participation in mainstream Christian churches in the UK, figures from the Archbishops' Council (2016) show that average weekly attendance for the Church of England was 980,000 in 2014, with 2.4 million attending on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Weekly attendance at Cathedral services rose by 24 per cent between 2004 and 2014, again with particularly high attendance at Christmas and Easter (Archbishops' Council, 2015). Peter Brierley's (2015) figures show how some UK churches - particularly Pentecostal, new churches and smaller denominations - have gained new members over the last ten years: check online Although these increases (350,000) did not fully offset the 1 million decline in traditional churches, they did reduce the impact by over a third over this ten year period. Many people listen to or watch religious broadcasts and the explosion of cable and satellite broadcasting has resulted in many dedicated religious channels. St Pixels is a virtual church on the internet with an online community where people chat, engage in theological debates, and sometimes worship together. It could be argued that TV or internet worship have replaced going to church for increased numbers of Christians. Davie (1994) coined the term 'belief without belonging' to describe people who continue to profess religious belief without taking part in religious activities. There is less social pressure to attend church and a more private, individualised idea of faith may not require identification with one particular religion. Davie also argues that, although public participation in religion has declined, many people engage with religion vicariously. For example, following the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Toxteth, Liverpool, in 2007, the local community mourned his death and celebrated his life by placing Everton football shirts near the spot where he fell. The national media covered the funeral service to allow the nation to participate in this religious activity. We have also seen how immigration has added significantly to the membership of non-Christian religions - and more recently Roman Catholicism as people migrate from Eastern Europe. The Kendal project found that 1.6 per cent of the local population participated in New Age activities - and predicted that this would rise. Not all agree however.

Why are women more religious than men?

Despite the patriarchal nature of much religion, statistics suggest that women are rather more likely to be religious than men. - A Tearfund report (2007) found that 15 per cent of the population went to church at least once a month, but that female attendance (19 per cent) was much higher than male attendance (11 per cent). - Statistics from the British Social Attitudes Survey 28 (2010) suggest that 56 per cent of men claim to have no religion compared to 45 per cent of women. Just 25 per cent of men say that they ever attend religious meetings compared to 35 per cent of women. - According to George Gallup (2002): 'A mountain of Gallup survey data attests to the idea that women are more religious than men, hold their beliefs more firmly, practice their faith more consistently, and work more vigorously for the congregation'.

A secularisation cycle?

Durkheim believed that secularisation was a self-limiting process because it would always generate religious revival. Stark and Bainbridge (1985) argue there will always be a role for religion as a 'compensator' and explainer of the 'big questions'. Stark and Bainbridge point out that there are many examples in the past where religious belief went into decline. Rather than a linear development from religious to non-religious, they argue that a cyclical pattern has always existed - with an upsurge in belief and faith replacing a more secular recent past. Martin (1978) notes how secularisation is associated with a number of factors such as large urban concentrations dominated by heavy industry and a traditional working class. He argues that changes in the occupational structure towards white-collar and service sector jobs and the future trend towards working from home may halt or even reverse the trend of secularisation. He also argues that national, regional, ethnic and social class differences in the role of religion make it dangerous to apply generalisations about secularisation to specific countries and social groups. This summary of the secularisation debate shows some of the complexities involved. We can certainly argue that the UK has seen a significant reduction in the moral control that the church has over people's lives. People can now have children without marrying, get divorced, have an openly gay relationship or never go to church without attracting moral opprobrium. In this sense we live in a more secular society. But whether this means that people are less religious or spiritual is perhaps more questionable.

Social class and religion

Earlier in this topic we mentioned that Marx's idea of religion as the 'opium of the people' and Weber's 'theodicy of disprivilege' might suggest that religiosity might be higher among working class people. But is this actually the case? In Chapter 1, Topic 3 the section on 'Social class and religion' suggests that it 'is hard to make statements about the links between social class and religious participation' but that research suggests that: - Established churches tend to be dominated by the middle classes while some denominations appeal more to working class people. - Some sects appeal particularly to deprived and marginal groups, while many New Age cults appeal more to middle class people.

The decline of religious practice

Earlier in this topic you watched David Voas' argument of how secularisation has gained ground in the West as a result of declining religious practice. We have also seen how statistics from the British Social Attitudes Survey 2014 suggest that 49 per cent of the population have no religious affiliation (BRIN, 2015). Peter Brierley, in UK Church Statistics (2015), suggests an overall decline in membership of the main traditional UK churches and denominations over the last ten years: check online The CofE's own data (Archbishops' Council 2016) suggests that attendance at Sunday services halved in a generation from an average of 1.6 million each Sunday in 1968 to 765,000 in 2014 - though 980,000 still attend church at some time each week. And while there have been increases in many sects and cults, including evangelist and sectarian Christianity (resacralisation) Wilson (1988) argues that the diverse, fragmented and short-lived nature of many of these movements is further evidence of secularisation. He sees such movements as 'only superficially religious', offering little more than an 'exotic novelty'. He says 'religion becomes a matter of choice or preference and religious diversity is quite consistent with a secularised society'. They [NRMs] have no real consequence for other social institutions ... they add nothing to any prospective reintegration of society, and contribute nothing towards the culture by which society might live. The new cults do not serve society. They are indeed almost irrelevant to it, since their sources of inspiration are exotic, esoteric, subjective and subterranean. Wilson, B, 'Secularization: religion in the modern world' (1988) Wallis (1984) concludes that for most people NRMs are 'a matter of profound indifference'. Bruce (1995) also sees NRMs as posing little threat to the secularisation thesis: 'By embracing elements of (say) Christianity, popular psychology, personal superstitions and the teachings of gurus of various kinds, religion becomes a sort of do-it-yourself spiritual survival kit'. Bruce sees NRMs as an extreme form of the individualism that characterises modern societies.

Barker's study of the Moonies

Eileen Barker's The Making of a Moonie (1984) is seen as a landmark study in developing our understanding of religious sects. The official name of the group she studied is the Unification Church but they became known as 'Moonies' because their leader or 'Messiah' was the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, a successful South Korean businessman. The Moonies have developed into a worldwide organisation with a membership in the UK of several hundred. Barker set out to study the UK Moonies sociologically in the light of their poor media image, which included allegations of brainwashing and kidnapping new members from their homes and families. She embarked on a lengthy research programme in which she sent out a questionnaire, conducted in-depth face-to-face interviews and undertook participant observation within Moonie communities, posing research questions such as 'Why join?' and 'Why stay?'. She found that many members were middle class and highly educated, which contradicted the idea that these kinds of movements primarily appeal to poor and deprived people. She also concluded that, rather than new members being 'irrational' or deviant in some way, they had clear reasons and logic for joining the movement. For some young people living in a chaotic, confusing modern world with a massive range of choices and lifestyle options - many of which leave them feeling unfulfilled - the choice to join a sect that offers 'answers' makes perfect sense. There is a feeling of belonging and togetherness which provides comfort and security.

Summary of Gender, feminism and religion

Feminist theory describes how the patriarchal structures of society are reflected in how religion portrays and acts towards women. As well as institutional inequality in many religious organisations there are ideological forces that maintain male dominance and portray women as less rational and even unclean. Stereotypes of gender roles in organised religions often portray women as helpers rather than leaders although in some denominations women have been ordained for many years now. Although some NRMs were founded by women and include active and equal roles for women, other sects are dominated by male leadership. In NAMs female participation is much greater than that of men.

Feminism, religion and patriarchy

Feminists focus on the ways in which religion acts as a form of social control over women. The leading French feminist Simone de Beauvoir interpreted the gender divide in religion as an instrument of oppression helping to keep women in their place in an unequal and unjust society. She wrote: Man enjoys the great advantage of having a God endorse the codes he writes; and since man exercises a sovereign authority over woman, it is especially fortunate that this authority has been vested in him by the Supreme Being. de Beauvoir (1953) As we shall see, women are often the primary consumers of religion, but they may be prevented from playing an active role in a religion's hierarchical structure. In most world religions men are in dominant positions and in some religions women are even forbidden from entering their places of worship.

How do feminists view religions?

Feminists see religion as a product of patriarchy and an instrument of oppression of women. Liberal feminists see the position of women in society as gradually improving through time, citing examples like the growing ordination of women. However, radical and Marxist feminists see attitudes to women in religion and throughout wider society as deeply entrenched.

Find a short passage from a Christian text, prayer or hymn (either in the Bible, a prayer or hymn book or on the internet). Change all the male references such as 'he', 'his', or 'him' to female equivalents ('she', 'hers' or 'her'). How does the revised text look? If it seems 'strange', write down why.

If you looked at the Christian Lord's Prayer, starting with 'Our Mother', etc. you may have realised how used we are to the notion that god is male. Replacing 'father' with 'mother' may seem strange because different gendered images are traditionally associated with mothers and fathers.

The evidence against secularisation

In this section we will again follow the order of the section on 'The evidence against secularization' in Chapter 1, Topic 5 of the textbook, organised once more under three key words from Wilson's definition: - Religious thinking and belief - Religious practice - Religious institutions Once again begin by reading the material in this topic and then go on to read the equivalent sub-section in the textbook.

Summary of Religion, ethnicity, age and class

In this topic we have explored the relationship between religion and ethnicity, particularly in a multicultural society like the UK. The evidence we have examined in this topic suggests that many of the people from ethnic minority groups in the UK are more religious than the majority population. The appeal of practised religion appears less strong in young people from most religious groups, with the exception of young Muslims for whom Islam may form an important part of their identity.

Summary of Secularisation

In this topic we have seen that both defining and measuring secularisation are difficult. We have considered the evidence both supporting and challenging the secularisation thesis, and discussed how the concept can be problematic when one looks at the wider global picture. We have also discussed the impact of globalisation on beliefs in the modern world.

Topic 3 - Religion, ethnicity, age and class

In this topic we will examine the connections between religion and ethnicity, age and social class. We begin by looking at the most recent census data before going on to discuss reasons why some ethnic minority groups appear to be more religious than the rest of the population. We then examine the relationship between age and religion and differing levels of religiosity among younger and older members of the population. We finish by looking very briefly at the relationship between religion and social class.

Outline and explain two reasons why New Age movements may appeal to people in modern Britain. Bearing in mind that you would have at most 15 minutes to answer this question in an exam, aim to write about four paragraphs in answer to this question.

Introduction - Marginalisation vs relative deprivation (Stark and Bainbridge - link to Weber's ideas). Social location of subscribers (ethnic groups, younger people, females, middle-class?) - Search for spirituality (in an increasingly spiritually barren society). Disillusionment/lack of appeal of conventional religion. 'Spiritual shopping' (individualistic postmodern society) Conclusion

The decline of religious thinking and belief

It was Weber who first engaged with the idea of the 'rationalisation' of society in order to predict secularisation. He believed that the rationalisation of modern society was ultimately expressed in the process of desacrilisation - when myths and legends begin to lose their magic as events are increasingly understood through rational explanation. Rationalisation is linked to scientific advances which have steadily undermined religious explanations of the world. For example, we no longer turn to God for explanations of disasters or illness, but to the sciences of medicine or meteorology. Evidence of desacrilisation may be found in the growing number and acceptance of atheists in UK society and the popularity and influence of leading atheists such as Richard Dawkins.

From your reading, outline and explain reasons why some sects and cults may be short-lived while others may survive much longer.

Key reasons why some sects and cults may be short-lived include: the loss of a charismatic leader; changing trends and fashions; the difficulty of maintaining religious fervour over time. Eileen Barker (2014) gives one example: A different age profile is revealed if we look at the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (or Triratna as it is now called). Although all its members did not have to be celibate, many were and few children were born into the movement, which found itself ageing to the degree that one of its members who conducted a statistical analysis pointed out that if the present trend continued the Order's average age would be around 75 in 30 years' time, with an imminent expectation that the movement, like the Shakers and the Panacea Society, would die out. The reasons why other sects and cults may survive can be very contrasting. Some move away from an initial world-rejecting stance to becoming more integrated into society, as the Methodists have done. Others by contrast cut themselves off completely from society, as the Amish have done.

Marxist feminism

Marxist feminists argue that religion forms part of the ideology of the dominant classes and that women are doubly exploited - both as members of the working class, and as women. Religion is used to keep them in their place with its promise of an afterlife. Marxist feminists see a need for a more dramatic or revolutionary change in society, with some seeing the eventual decline or end of religion in an equal society where the source of oppression in capitalism has been eradicated.

Outline and explain how Barker's study undermined media portrayals of the Moonies brainwashing and kidnapping gullible young people.

Media reports on sects like the Moonies often focus on kidnapping and brainwashing, for example by describing a young person who has joined a sect and given up his or her former life, cutting all links with family and friends. Parents and family are portrayed as devastated and heartbroken by this loss, experiencing something like bereavement. As the results of her study show, of those who attended an initial 2-day workshop only 13 per cent affiliate with the movement and only 5 percent stay for two years or more. Barker comments that if kidnapping and brainwashing do occur, they are not very effective. - 85% finish initial 2-day workshop - 30% go on to a 7-day workshop - 18% go on to a 21-day workshop - 13% affiliate with the movement - 5% are members after 2 years She suggests that it is better for parents to let things run their course rather than employing agencies to 'recapture' and 'deprogramme' their sons or daughters as this can backfire and strengthen their resistance and determination to stay in the movement.

Summary of New religious movements

New religious movement (NRM) is the term used by sociologists to describe non-established belief systems that have developed recently. Wallis has classified NRMs into world-affirming movements which emphasise the development of individual qualities through practices like meditation: world-rejecting movements which tend to be exclusive and expect total commitment of members along with a break from their past lives; and world accommodating movements which maintain a link with orthodox religions and are characterised by charismatic worship and a lively celebration of faith. New Age movement (NAM) is the term used by sociologists to describe groups that do not necessarily have an obvious connection to conventional religion but engage nonetheless with alternative spirituality.

Religion and the LGBT community

Most world faiths - especially Christianity, Judaism and Islam - have a strong emphasis on heterosexuality and view anything else (apart from celibacy for priests) as being abnormal or deviant. The debate about the attitudes of religious organisations to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community is regularly featured in the press and broadcast media. Many Christian groups like the Roman Catholic church and fundamentalist sects condemn homosexuality as an unnatural practice that goes against biblical teachings. As a result, many religious LGBT people are unable to be open about their sexuality. In particular, gay clergy can face considerable pressure - for example, there has been a strong campaign in the Church of England against acceptance of gay ministers. In Islam homosexual acts are unlawful under Islamic law. Many Muslim countries prohibit gay relationships and gay sex is a capital offence in countries including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran and Sudan. There are however exceptions: - A growing number of Christian organisations accept LGBT members and ordain LGBT priests. These include in the UK the Quakers and the United Ecumenical Church while the Church of Scotland allows individual congregations to appoint a LGBT minister. Unitarians and Quakers welcome gay marriage. Changing Attitude (http://changingattitude.org.uk/) lists Church of England congregations which welcome LGBT people. - In Judaism the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements accept LGBT members and have ordained LGBT rabbis since 1984. - In 20 Muslim majority countries including Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon gay relationships are legal. - In India, British colonial law banned gay relationships until it was repealed in 2009. Traditionally, though, Hinduism was less restrictive than Christianity and today Hindu priests 'adopt a range of attitudes ... to same sex love marriages' (Vanita, 2010).

Outline and explain the strong connection that Muslims feel between their religion and their ethnic identity. (4 marks)

Muslims in the UK have a strong religious-based identity. The Islamic religion, law and customs provide a focus and sense of belonging in the way described by Durkheim, and influence Muslim attitudes and behaviour towards things like alcohol, food, dress and marriage.

Secularisation in a global context

One of the most important criticisms of the secularisation thesis has been around its focus on religion in Western societies. Critics argue that the focus on the decline of organised religion in some Western countries is not the whole picture. The global picture is more complex. Already within Europe around 90 per cent of Greeks are Orthodox Christians while three quarters of Italians see themselves as Catholic. Of other Western countries the USA has much higher levels of religious commitment than the UK. In. And globalisation and the internet have given us access to a wide variety of cultures and values, including many religions, beliefs and faiths. The picture becomes even more complex when one looks to other parts of the world. Anglicanism may have declining participation in Britain, but across the world in 2011 there were 85 million Anglicans, with over half in Africa where membership has been increasing. In 2010 there were across the world: - 2.17 billion Christians - 1.6 billion Muslims - 1 billion Hindus - 0.5 billion Buddhists. The number of people without religious affiliation in the world stood at 1.13 billion, just 16 per cent of the world's population (figures taken from Hackett at al, 2015). In some parts of the world religion is very closely linked to power. Saudi Arabia, with its radical Sunni Wahhabi version of Islam, enforces religious Sharia law. In Iran, where over 90 per cent of the population are Shia Muslims, the government is dominated by religious clerics. In India, the Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi was elected prime minister in 2014. The Pew Research Centre (Hackett at al, 2015) predict likely changes in religion across the world, using population projections and other demographic statistics. They forecast that: - The number of Muslims in the world will increase from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.76 billion in 2050 - an increase from 23 per cent to 30 per cent of the overall world population. - The number of Christians in the world will increase from 2.17 billion in 2010 to 2.92 billion in 2050 - as a percentage Christians will remain stable at just over 31 per cent. - Although the number of people without religious affiliation in the world will increase a little from 1.13 billion in 2010 to 1.23 billion in 2050, as a percentage of the population they will fall from 16 per cent to 13 per cent. These figures do not necessarily invalidate the secularisation thesis. But they do suggest that it may be hazardous to extrapolate the experience of one country or region to another. In an earlier topic we looked at religious fundamentalism. Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism all have adherents who hold fundamentalist beliefs and recent attacks on towns across the world including New York, Paris, London, Beirut and Nairobi have highlighted the growth of Muslim fundamentalism. Steve Bruce, in his book Fundamentalism (2008), suggests that fundamentalism can be seen as a reaction against rapid change and modernisation and, to a certain extent at least, secularisation.

Globalisation and religion

Religions have never been restricted to specific geographical regions. Christianity expanded across Europe and the Near East once it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Islam spread rapidly in the wake of early Muslim conquests and later through the Ottoman Empire, the Mughals in India and through trade with South-East Asia. European colonialisation spread Christianity worldwide, notably to Africa and Latin America. This process has continued with modern globalisation and increasing travel, trade and immigration, and the development of the internet. Many of the major world religions can now be considered transnational - there are Christians in China, Jews in Argentina, Hindus in Birmingham, Buddhists in Hollywood and Muslims in France. The internet has led to the rise of what some postmodernists have called the 'global spiritual supermarket'. The international spread of religions has never been without its problems. The early expansion of Islam provoked the Christian reaction of the crusades. The spread of Protestantism led to wars of religion, notably in France and what is now Germany. Tensions between Muslims and Hindus exploded into violence following the partition of India. So it is not surprising that the modern globalisation of religion has also provoked problems including fundamentalism, Islamophobia and clashes of culture.

Define the term 'new religious movement'. (2 marks)

Religious groups that have a predominantly first-generation membership.

Topic 2 - Gender, feminism and religion

Research suggests that women are more likely to believe in God and be more religious than men in a variety of other ways. They play a crucial role in the background of many religious organisations and they tend to have significantly higher participation rates in most religions, especially the long established Christian churches and denominations. Yet bureaucratic structures and clergy are usually dominated by men. In this topic we will look at religion from the feminist perspective, examining how religions tend to be patriarchal in nature and the role they can play in the oppression of women. We will examine how gender can influence the extent to which an individual engages and participates in religious activity. We will also discuss why alternative spirituality may appeal to women more than men.

Islam and identity in the UK

Samad (2004) argues that for young Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in the UK, being Muslim has become their most important marker of identity. This has been linked to their feelings of injustice and marginalisation in UK society, and their sense of stigmatised identity in the face of growing Islamophobia. The UK media has generated moral panic about the radicalisation of Muslim youth. Hopkins and Kahani-Hopkins (2004) suggest that those most vulnerable to radicalisation include both young people who do not have educational qualifications or job prospects and those who go to university but who feel their social mobility is blocked. However, Tufyal Choudhury (2007) suggests that despite the media's preoccupation with the radicalisation agenda, in fact most young Muslims think of themselves as 'British Muslim', reflecting a desire to positively integrate themselves in UK society. -Two contrasting pieces of research: In Units 1 and 2 on education we met the work of Heidi Safia Mirza, author of Young, Female and Black. In 2011, with Veena Meetoo and Jenny Litster, she published the results of research in two British schools. The research included in-depth one-to-one interviews and focus group discussions with 30 young migrant women (including 17 Muslims), as well as in-depth interviews with 7 school staff and a discussion group with 13 parents. The research was funded by European Commission European Fund for the Integration of Third-country Nationals. Four years earlier her namesake, Munira Mirza, with Abi Senthilkumaran and Zein Ja'far had published the results of research with British Muslims (Living Together Apart, 2007). They had conducted telephone interviews and internet questionnaires with 1003 British Muslims plus 40 semi-structured hour-long interviews with young Muslims. The research was commissioned and published by the centre-right think tank, Policy Exchange.

Outline and explain two conclusions that Barker formed from her study of the Moonies. (4 marks)

She found that many members were middle class and highly educated, which contradicted the idea that these kinds of movements primarily appeal to poor and deprived people. This may reflect the idea of relative deprivation - the need to fill the spiritual void that can exist in people's lives even when they are not economically deprived. She also concluded that, rather than new members being 'irrational' or deviant in some way, they had a clear rationale and logic for joining the movement. For some young people living in a chaotic, confusing modern world with a massive range of choices and lifestyle options, many of which are not bringing them happiness, the choice to join a sect that offers 'answers' makes perfect sense. There is a feeling of belonging and togetherness which provides comfort and security.

The emergence of new religious movements

Sociological interest in new religious movements (NRMs) developed in the 1980s. Until that point, most sociologists believed that with secularisation, belief and religious organisations were losing their significance in society. In the 1980s, however, it became clear that the situation was more nuanced than that and that some new religious movements might offer an alternative to established religious organisations. The UK sociologist Eileen Barker (2014) has discussed the difficulties of defining NRMs but suggests we may call them 'religions that have a predominantly first-generation membership'. She has estimated that there are at least 500 NRMs in the UK alone. However, because of the isolation and private nature of many NRMs, it is difficult for sociologists to establish the actual size of overall membership. In Chapter 1, Topic 3 the sections on 'New religious movements' and 'The features of NRMs' list more features of NRMs. Read these now up to but not including 'World-rejecting NRMs'. It is also important to bear in mind that both NRMs and NAMs are far from mainstream activities. The Kendal Project that we met in Topic 4 of Section 6 (Heelas et al, 2004) found that only 1.6 per cent of the Kendal population engaged in the alternative spirituality activities of NAMs. It is likely that an even smaller number are members of NRMs. The UK sociologist of religion Roy Wallis (1945-90) divides NRMs into three broad categories: - Christian religions, e.g. the Moonies - non-Western religions, e.g. the Hare Krishna movement or Transcendental Meditation - self-development movements, e.g. the Church of Scientology. Wall also proposes a typology of NRMs: - world-rejecting groups - world-accommodating groups - world-affirming groups.

Explain why world-affirming NRMs are popular among working class black people. (4 marks)

Some world-affirming NRMs, such as Christadelphians and Pentecostalists, appear to offer something which is lacking in more conventional religions. Sects like these are popular in deprived inner city areas and have a high proportion of working class black people in their congregations. Worship in world-affirming NRMs involves lively participation in chanting, rap music, dancing and spontaneous displays of joy and emotion which would be unheard of in a cathedral or more conventional Christian church.

Why are minority ethnic groups more religious?

Steve Bruce (1996) argues that for recently migrated groups, the shift from one culture to another is far from being an easy change. Religion often plays a very important role in helping people to adapt to this cultural transition. As we have seen, people arriving in the UK from the Caribbean in the 1950s and 1960s responded to the coldness, indifference and even hostility of the mainstream churches and culture in the UK by forming new churches, and basing their lives around them. Steve Bruce describes this process of using religion to help maintain community identity as cultural defence. Modood et al (1994) also point to religion as a means of socialisation for minority ethnic communities. The American sociologist Will Herberg (1960) makes a similar claim for the role of religion in helping immigrants integrate into new communities in the US. He sees religion as providing both assimilation into the new community and a substitute community which can: - provide some defence against the prejudice, discrimination and racism that immigrants often face - provide an arena where people can assert the integrity of their culture as well as their commitment to its values and beliefs - reinforce people's personal sense of worth. Abby Day's (2007) findings suggest that apparent high levels of religious affiliation may reflect a desire for people to have a sense of belonging to a community rather than the strength of their religious belief or faith.

Age and religion

The 2011 census also provides data on the relationship between age and religion. These diagrams (ONS, 2013) show the age pyramid of Christians (left) and Muslims (right): check online Here is a similar pyramid for people with no religion: check online

Outline and explain what the 2011 census tell us about different religious beliefs in the UK. (4 marks)

The 2011 census shows a marked increase in the number of people with no religion, a decline in the number of people claiming to be Christian, and an increase in the number of people claiming to be Muslim, Hindu or Sikh. It also shows that within Christianity, there has been a rise in churches associated with the African Caribbean community, while the Catholic and Orthodox churches have received new adherents from Eastern Europe.

Suggest two reasons why women participate far more than men in New Age groups.

The Kendal Study found that 80 per cent of participants in NAMs are women. Steve Bruce has argued that this is because much of the holistic spirituality milieu is designed by women for women, that men are generally more reluctant to seek help with their health, and that many NAM activities do not fit gendered stereotypes of what is 'masculine'.

Younger people and religion

The age pyramids that we have just looked at, together with Table 1.4 in the textbook, suggest that, with the exception of Muslims, younger people are less religious. -Meet the researcher: Gordon Lynch: The textbook quotes also from Gordon Lynch's 2007 article 'Understanding the sacred'. Gordon Lynch is professor of modern theology at the University of Kent and in 2012 published The Sacred in the Modern World: A Cultural Sociological Approach. In this book Lynch develops Durkheim's idea of the sacred and Bellah's idea of civil religion (which we discussed in Section 6, Topic 2) in a modern context. He argues that a wide range of non-religious symbols may become sacred to people - from football to music, from Gaza to the BBC, as well as revolutionary and ideological movements. If Lynch is right, then young people may in fact be finding spirituality in unorthodox places, such as in the popular culture of music and art, as well as, in true postmodern fashion, picking and mixing from a variety of religious sources. In Chapter 1, Topic 3 the section on 'Age and religion' sets out a number of possible reasons why young people may be less religious, at least in the traditional sense. Much of this reflects the impact of secularisation that we will look at in more detail in Topic 4 - in particular the declining attraction of traditional religion in the face of an expanded 'spiritual marketplace' and increased competition from other leisure activities. Study hint: When studying data about age it is important to bear in mind the fact that differences can result from specific cohorts rather than age itself. For instance the 'baby boomer' generation had different characteristics from the previous and subsequent generations.

Extract 1 The girls' ability to survive and flourish depended on their resilience and ability to negotiate the harsh educational terrain of urban inner city schools. Their ability to overcome everyday issues such as sexual and racial bullying, forced marriage, depression, poverty and parental restrictions and surveillance depended on the schools' ability to mediate and support them. Access to good school support such as counsellors, parental liaison officers, educational welfare officers could be chaotic and often came down to the individual teacher or tutor that was approached. The young women suffered surprisingly high rates of psychological stress including domestic abuse and attempted suicide. They also voiced great disappointment in the ability of schools to contain the racial and sexual bullying that was rife between and among different competing ethnic migrant groups, including but not only white groups. A great deal of the bullying was gendered, perpetrated by boys with similar ethnic backgrounds to the girls. Mirza, Heidi Safia, Meetoo, Veena and Litster, Jenny. 'Young, Female and Migrant:Gender, Class and Racial Identity in Multicultural Britain'. In Young MigrantWomen in Secondary Education: Promoting Integration and MutualUnderstanding through Dialogue and Exchange. University of Nicosia Press,2011 Extract 2: Our research into the attitudes of Muslims in Britain showed that there is a growing religiosity amongst the younger generation of Muslims. - 86% of Muslims feel that my religion is the most important thing in my life. - 62% of 16-24 year olds feel they have as much in common with non- Muslims as Muslims, compared to 71% of 55+ year olds. - 60% of Muslims would prefer to send their children to a mixed state school, compared to 35% who would prefer to send their child to an Islamic school. There is a clear age difference. 37% of 16-24 year olds preferred to send their children to Islamic state schools, compared to 25% of 45-54 year olds and 19% of 55+ year olds. - 59% of Muslims would prefer to live under British law, compared to 28% who would prefer to live under sharia law. 37% of 16-24 year olds prefer sharia compared to 17% of 55+ year olds. Mirza, Munira, Senthilkumaran, Abi and Ja'far, Zein, Living Together Apart:British Muslims and the Paradox of Multiculturalism, Policy Exchange, 2007 Note down two or three key differences in their research that may have influenced the findings.

The first piece of research is highly qualitative with a classic interpretivist focus on the young women's lived experience of, for example, racist and sexist bullying. By contrast the second is much more quantitative with headline findings suggesting the more positivist emphasis on seemingly 'objective' statistics - though with some triangulation in the form of comments from the semi-structured interviews. While the first piece of research focused on young migrant women from a variety of backgrounds, the second focused exclusively on British Muslims. You might also have commented on the funding source - European Commission European Fund for the Integration of Third-country Nationals versus the centre-right think tank, Policy Exchange. Might this have affected the research and its findings? You might have raised concerns about the validity of the second piece of research - the headline statistics are very general without a sense of how it feels to be a British Muslim. They also provoked newspaper headlines, to the point that Munira Mirza (2007) felt obliged to respond: 'Most Muslims are well integrated, want to live under British law and prefer to send their children to mixed schools...Their religion is not a barrier to integration and is very often perfectly reconciled with being - and feeling - British.' This is an interesting example of why interpretivists argue that the questions researchers ask, and the way they ask them, have an important impact on findings. You might have raised concerns about the reliability and representativeness of the first piece of research - the sample is very small. But when three British-born Muslim teenage girls secretly travelled to Syria to join ISIS, Heidi Mirza (2015) drew on her research to inform the debate: 'Criminalised and demonised as the new female folk devils, young Muslim women, far from being 'dangerous', are actually 'in danger' of falling between the cracks of virulent raced and gendered Islamophobic debates that play out in the everyday microcosms of our multicultural British schools.' Other commentators have argued that young Muslim women can cultivate their identity as 'Good Muslims' to their advantage, allowing them to challenge parental pressure for unwelcome activities such as arranged marriages or attempts to control their behaviour. They are therefore seen to have cultivated a cultural hybridity that transcends Western and Islamic culture - what Linda Woodhead (2007) refers to as 'Muslim chic'.

Liberal feminism

The position of liberal feminists, sometimes referred to as the 'gradualist position', sees the status of women in society gradually improving through time. They point to the increased numbers of women officials in organised religions - such as the Church of England - as evidence. Liberal feminists note that in some religions such as Sikhism, women have more equality and are able to take up official positions. There is also a growing number of female clerics in Judaism, Buddhism and Protestant Christianity.

What evidence is there that women participate in religion more than men?

The statistics suggest that women attend religious services more than men - a Tearfund report (2007) found that 19 per cent of women attend church at least once a month compared to 11 per cent of men. More women claim to be religious than men. They are more likely to believe in some form of spirituality and engage far more with NAMs and the 'holistic milieu'.

New Age movements

The term 'New Age movements' is used to describe a wide range of alternative spiritualities, exercises and therapies. They have little in common with the Christian religious organisations described in Unit 6 or indeed the more world-rejecting new religious movements we have just discussed. The textbook suggests that they can include: - beliefs in Paganism, ley lines or astrology or even UFOs or aliens - referred to by Stark and Bainbridge (1985) as audience cults - practices such as meditation, Tai Chi or Feng Shui - referred to by Stark and Bainbridge as client cults - green and environmental movements and dietary practices such as vegetarianism or organic food. In Unit 6 we looked at the Kendal project carried out by UK sociologists Paul Heelas, Linda Woodhead and colleagues. In this research they used the term 'holistic milieu' to embrace the main activities in Kendal. Meet the researcher: Paul Heelas: Paul Heelas published The New Age Movement in 1996 and identified some of the key spiritual elements of certain NAMs: that there is a higher, more comprehensive divine nature; within each human being is a higher divine self, which is a manifestation of the higher divine nature; this higher divine nature can be awakened and can become the centre of an individual's everyday life; this awakening is the reason for the existence of each individual life. He has continued researching the area since; in 2012 he edited Spirituality in the Modern World and in 2015 he gave a talk about life force In Unit 6 Topic 4 we distinguished between sects, which claim to have a monopoly of truth, and cults, which do not. Most NAMs can be seen as cults rather than sects and the textbook argues that NAMs are more likely to take the form of audience cults and client cults rather than what Stark and Bainbridge call cult movements.

Religious institutions

The textbook argues that: - the institutional power of churches remains - religious institutions remain very influential in education in Britain - religious institutions may focus more on spiritual matters now that other social care functions have been taken over by the welfare state - religious institutions remain very important in ethnic minority communities. Even if membership of Christian churches in the UK is in decline, increasing numbers participate in other established religions such as Islam. Senior figures in the Church of England have argued for disestablishment of the church from the political and state system. 'Disestablishmentarians' argue that this would allow the Church to be more flexible and less bound up in tradition and ceremony. Many of the world's countries do not have a state religion as such, for example, there is no 'Church of America' in the US, but religious participation is much higher than in the UK. So weakening the link between church and state does not necessarily lead to secularisation.

Defining secularisation

The textbook begins by noting that it is difficult to define both religion and secularisation. For some time now it has been argued that countries like the UK are becoming less religious than they were. For example, in October 2000 Rowan Williams, the then Archbishop of Wales, declared that the UK had become a 'nation of atheists' who had ceased to be interested in religion. Linda Woodhead (2007) argues that any religious identity people have in the UK today is mainly cultural and ethnic in character. Although in the UK 2011 census 59 per cent of respondents ticked the box 'Christianity' in preference to 'No religion', she argues that people did so more as a marker that they did not belong to another group, such as Muslim. She claims that many people of Indian descent identify with the label Hindu for the same reason. The textbook gives this definition of secularisation from one of the leading UK sociologists on secularisation, Bryan Wilson (1966): 'The process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose social significance.' The strength of this definition is that it includes not just ideas, but also the behaviour of people and organisations.

Can you suggest two reasons why religiosity may be higher among older people?

The textbook suggests three reasons: - As people get older they lose some forms of integration into society such as work and family life ('disengagement') and religion can provide another form of integration. - Older people may have experienced greater religious socialisation than young people today. - Religion may offer comfort to people facing ill health and death.

What three types of NRM does Wallis identify? (3 marks)

The three types of NRM are world-affirming, world-rejecting and world- accommodating.

The veil: symbol of oppression?

The veiling of women has historically been part of some religions, notably in some Christian and Muslim traditions. For some feminists (Aldridge 2013) the veil is seen as a symbol of oppression. In 2010 the French government passed a law banning veils such as the niqab that cover the face. However the UK sociologist Helen Watson (1994) interpreted the wearing of the veil by Islamic women as potentially liberating. Although her research is based on a sample of three Islamic women it has sociological value as it challenges ethnocentric ideas and warns against simplistic conclusions. The Turkish/US feminist Seyla Benhabib (2005) believes that young women who wear the hijab use it as a marker of difference to reassert their identity as Muslims. Linda Woodhead (2009) points out that 'the Muslim veil has become a key symbol of the encounter (with Islam), and a focal point of controversy and strong feeling'. The next activity looks at a short extract from Woodhead's article.

The appeal of NRMs and NAMs

There are several reasons why NRMs and NAMs appeal to people. These include: - pragmatic motives - secularisation - spirituality in a postmodern world - marginality - relative deprivation - anomie and social change. We will look at each of these below. -Pragmatic motives: Many established religions promise rewards in the afterlife rather than the present. This is in marked contrast to the world-affirming NRMs and NAMs which claim to offer an individual route to self-fulfilment, health and happiness. For example, Heelas et al. (2004) found that the popular NAMs in Kendal emphasised individuals living their unique lives, in contrast to established religions that advocated the subordination of the individual. -Secularisation: Some sociologists see New Age spirituality as a response to modernisation, secularisation and globalisation, and a world dominated by the development of science and technology. Spirituality in a postmodern world: Davie (1994) sees the existence and growth of NAMs as evidence of the continued importance of the sacred in contemporary society. She argues that NAMs are exploiting the decline of traditional religious organisations. She cites complementary medicine and the ecological movement as examples of alternative lifestyles that also incorporate elements of spirituality. The textbook notes how people question modern institutions associated both with science and established religion. It highlights a distrust in experts across all fields (religious and scientific) and a lack of acceptable grand narratives to help us face the problems of modern life. As a consequence people are increasingly shopping around spiritually in order to find a belief system that makes sense to them as individuals. -The appeal of alternative spiritualities: According to Bellah (1970), the growth of sects in the 1960s stemmed from an increasing rejection of the US values of 'utilitarian individualism' whereby individuals were expected to aspire to the American Dream of social improvement and economic consumption. In the 1960s young people in particular were attracted to sects that offered inner experience, harmony and close relationships with others. These sects were made even more attractive when cultural icons like the Beatles adopted Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as their spiritual guru. Mystic Eastern spirituality seemed the perfect antidote to the materialist culture of the West and the lifestyles of their parents. In some ways sects could even be viewed as part of a counter culture. -Marginality: The textbook reminds us of Weber's idea of theodicies of disprivilege. It suggests that NRMs can appeal to individuals who feel particularly isolated in society, such as people from some minority ethnic groups. It also introduces the term status frustration to describe how young people may turn to NRMs to find a status denied to them by the wider society. -The appeal of charismatic movements: Some world-accommodating NRMs, such as Christadelphians and neo-Pentecostalists, offer something which may appear to lacking in more conventional religions. Sects like these are popular in deprived inner city areas and have a high proportion of working class black people in their congregations. Worship in world-accommodating NRMs involves lively participation in chanting, rap music, dancing and spontaneous displays of joy and emotion which would be unusual in a cathedral or more conventional Christian church. -Relative deprivation: At the same time it seems that some NRMs appeal to certain members of the middle class who are far from economically deprived but who feel the need for a spiritual element to their lives. We have seen how Barker's study suggested that most Moonies come from happy and secure middle-class homes - Barker implies that the Moonies offered a surrogate family to such people. -Anomie and social change: The textbook also suggests that in times of social change NRMs may help people to deal with the resulting insecurity and uncertainty that Durkheim called anomie.

Outline and explain two ways in which religion may be seen as 'patriarchal'.

There are several reasons why religion has been described as patriarchal. One key reason is that, despite women's often greater commitment to religion, most religious organisations are dominated by a predominantly male clergy and hierarchy. Indeed, within Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism women are excluded from ordination. Even when women may be ordained, as in the Church of England, they are less likely to occupy higher roles such as bishops. A second key reason is the way in which religious scriptures and imagery depict women. Within Islam, Christianity and Judaism, God is traditionally described as a male. Women are often portrayed in religious texts as in some way inferior to men, either as 'helpers' of men or indeed as seductresses. Religious organisations may also regard menstruation and childbirth as unclean.

Topic 4 - Secularisation

Throughout Units 6 and 7 we have mentioned the idea of secularisation - a 'process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose social significance'. In this topic we will examine the concept in greater detail. We will begin by looking at some of the issues involved both in defining and measuring secularisation. We will then look at the evidence for and against secularisation, asking whether or not there have been declines in religious beliefs and thinking, religious practices and religious institutions

Religious thinking and belief

We have already noted that although public religious participation is a minority experience in the UK, religion does seem to hold private meaning for many of the population. Voas (2015), analysing the British Cohort Study, notes that just 22 per cent of the population does not believe in God; the remainder ranges from not knowing whether there is a God (21 per cent) to certainty that God exists (19 per cent). The same data suggests that 48 per cent of the population definitely or probably believe in life after death. The Kendal Study (Heelas et al 2004) showed an increase in alternative spirituality and the 'holistic milieu', and also found that churches that emphasised individuality 'in the living of unique lives' were thriving. The implications from this research are that the decline in established religion is not solely evidence of secularisation, but that other forms of religion are more attractive. The textbook refers to this process as resacralisation. Heelas (1996) sees the search for meaning in postmodernity increasingly turning people to New Age forms of spirituality or self-exploration. He believes this constitutes a sort of autobiographical religion in which people manufacture their own synthesis of beliefs. In addition, many of the values associated with the major world religions such as kindness, generosity, tolerance and love remain just as important among most non-believers. These values are not inherently religious, secular or indeed Western.

The evidence for secularisation

We look at the evidence in favour of the secularisation thesis in the UK using the three headings in the section on 'The evidence for secularization' in Chapter 1, Topic 5 of the textbook. These three headings reflect the key words from Wilson's definition: - The decline of religious thinking and belief - The decline of religious practice - The decline of religious institutions For each of these headings, begin by reading the material in this topic and then go on to read the equivalent sub-section in the textbook. Exam hint: Bear in mind as you read through this section and the next ('The evidence against secularisation') that this will form the basis for the main question in Assignment 7, and that this topic may well come up in the exam. In answering a question on the evidence for secularisation one good way to organise your essay is to examine the evidence for and against a decline of religious thinking and belief, then go on to weigh up the evidence for and against a decline of religious practice, and then the evidence for and against a decline of religious institutions.

Explain what is mean by the concept of 'relative deprivation'. (2 marks)

While it is true that some NRMs are popular among the most disadvantaged in society (what Weber called the theodicy of dispriviledge) other NRMs such as the Moonies have many members who are middle class and highly educated. This may be explained by the idea of relative deprivation - the need to fill the spiritual void that can exist in people's lives even when they are not economically deprived.

Women and NAMs

While the attraction of NRMs to women may be a subject of debate, there seems little doubt that New Age groups appeal far more to women. In their study of Kendal, Heelas et al. (2004) found that participation in the 'holistic milieu' was primarily by women (80 per cent). Steve Bruce's work suggests a very similar picture. -Meet the researcher: Steve Bruce: We have already on several occasions quoted from the work of the Scottish sociologist Steve Bruce, who has been Professor of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen since 1991. He has written extensively on the nature of religion in the modern world and on the links between religion and politics. In his book Religion in the Modern World (1996) he suggested that New Age activities such as healing, channelling and spirituality tended to appeal to women and that this might help explain the gender differences in participation in NAMs. In 2006 he and Tony Glendinning examined data collected as part of the 2001 Scottish Social Attitudes Survey. They found that 'better-educated women are much more likely to engage with holistic practices associated with well-being' while some younger, less well-educated women were drawn to horoscopes, astrology, fortune-telling and tarot. In a 2013 article on the subject 'It's All for Girls': re-visiting the gender gap in New Age spiritualities' he and Marta Trzebiatowska argue that 'there is nothing in being a woman per se that may attract an individual to certain spiritual activities' but that 'much of the holistic spirituality milieu is designed by women for women'. They also suggest that this combines with men's greater reluctance to seek help with their health, and with gendered stereotypes about which activities are masculine.

Briefly outline Wilson's definition of secularisation. (2 marks)

Wilson's definition of secularisation is: 'The process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose social significance.'

Women in religious organisations

Women have traditionally been barred in many religions from serving as priests and are still excluded from the religious hierarchy of Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism. Within Christian organisations, the Roman Catholic Church remains firmly opposed to the ordination of women priests. Even within the Anglican Church there has been a deep divide about the role and position of women. In Protestant churches and denominations, the picture is a little more positive where ordination of women has been occurring for some time. Examples include: - Salvation Army- women ordained since 1865 - Some Baptist denominations since the 1920s - United Methodist Church since 1939 - Presbyterian Church since 1956 - Church of England since 1994. It remains rare in most organisations for women to progress far up the hierarchy. The Church of England consecrated its first female bishops in 2015 and it may be some time before we see a female Archbishop, let alone a female Pope. Within the other major world religions the picture is varied: - Although Orthodox Judaism does not accept female rabbis, other forms of Judaism do. The first female rabbi was ordained in Germany in 1935. - In Hinduism both men and women can be ordained as purohits and pujaris. - In Buddhism the Buddha himself is said to have established an order of nuns (bhikkhunis), though he saw the nuns as subordinate to the monks. The tradition of bhikkhunis survived in some schools of Buddhism and has been revived in others. There is often a minimal presence of women on the management committees of mosques (Islam), temples (Hinduism) and gurdwaras (Sikhism). Bana Gora, who as chief executive of the Muslim Women's Council conducted an audit of prayer facilities in Bradford, found that the majority of mosques in Bradford followed 'a patriarchal model with poor access for women', and that 'women's representation on mosques' governing structures was non-existent' (quoted in Sanghani, 2015). Thompson and Woodward (2004) argue that despite women's low levels of participation as public representatives of their faith, women are very active in privately promoting religion. They argue that women are the most active in maintaining religious identities when they arrive as immigrants in a predominantly Christian culture. Simon and Nadell (1995) interviewed female rabbis and Protestant ministers and found that they approached their role in a very different manner to their male counterparts. The women described themselves as more approachable, pastoral and egalitarian as well as being less formal and less concerned about power struggles. Some commentators, such as Holm (1994) talk of 'signs of hope' in the breaking down of patriarchy within belief systems. Others, such as the US feminist Rita Gross (1994), talk of a move to a post-patriarchal Buddhism.

World-accommodating groups

World-accommodating NRMs tend to be more orthodox, with stronger links with mainstream religion. The focus of these movements is the personal religious experience of members. They tend to place great emphasis on seeking enlightenment. World-accommodating NRMs are often characterised as charismatic (having a sense of grace) - note that this is a slightly different use of the word from when we talk about a charismatic leader (to describe a powerful and attractive personality). Members are encouraged to cultivate an awareness of inner power or inner divinity in order to cope with the secular world. Acts of worship are enthusiastic and vital, offering a spiritual element many members believe is absent in traditional mainstream religious organisations. The Neo-Pentecostal churches are the most familiar examples.

World-rejecting groups

World-rejecting NRMs are sects that are highly critical of society. They emphasise the community over the individual, sometimes even insisting that members give up their names and dress in a uniform way. World-rejecting NRMs are often characterised by exclusivity, claiming they are the only way to access truth or salvation. Conversion tends to be sudden, involving a complete break with members' previous lives and families. Examples of world-rejecting NRMs include the Unification Church (the 'Moonies') and the Hare Krishna movement (Children of God, or the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)). Because of the way in which individuals are expected to give up their personal identity and their past, world-rejecting groups have been accused of abducting people against their will and engaging in 'brainwashing'. However, as you will see later from Barker's study of the Moonies (1984), this is not necessarily the case. World-rejecting groups often view the outside world as threatening and may control the access that members have to it. An example is the sect that follows the Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. These people have built their own town in Oregon in the US. World-rejecting groups can be subject to intense public scrutiny, as in the siege of the Waco compound of the Branch Davidians in 1993, the sarin attack on the Tokyo underground transport system by members of Aum Shinrikyo in 1995, and the mass suicides of members of Heaven's Gate in 1997.

What differences do you notice between the structure of sections on 'Patriarchy and religion' in the pages above and the textbook?

You are likely to have seen that although the two sections have broadly similar content, there are more headings in the textbook and some similar material is organised under different headings. This is not to say that one structure is better than the other; but it does point to the importance of thinking carefully about how you structure your own writing, and what you will include where. Exam hint: In the light of your reading, you may find it helpful to produce your own plan of how you might organise a piece of writing on the topic of 'Patriarchy and religion'. Come up with your own list of headings and a series of bullet points under each one.

Outline and explain two reasons for secularisation. (4 marks)

You may have suggested two of the reasons discussed under the headings the decline of religious thinking, the decline of religious practices and the decline of religious institutions.

Outline and explain two reasons why people from minority ethnic groups may be more religious. (4 marks)

Your answer may have included the idea that religion can help during cultural transition, as recently migrated groups adjust to the shift from one culture to another. You could also have discussed Steve Bruce's idea of cultural defence - for example, people arriving in the UK from the Caribbean in the 1950s and 1960s responded to indifference from mainstream churches and culture in the UK by forming new churches, often Pentecostal, and basing their lives around them. You could also draw on the work of Weber, who suggested that religion appeals more to deprived groups, and Durkheim, who argued that religion helps bond communities together.