Religion as a Group Phenomena/Church Sect Continuum

Religion as a Group Phenomena

“Maybe it’s a critical mass of Baby Boomers in the contemplative afternoon of life. Or anxiety over the coming millennium. Or a general dissatisfaction with the materialism of the modern world. For these reasons and more, millions of Americans are embarking on a search for the sacred in their lives.” 

Kantrowitz, Patricia, Debra Rosenberg, Karen Springen, Pat Wingert, Tessa Namuth, and T. Trent Gegax. 1994. “In Search of the Sacred.” Newsweek. 124:52-55.

Religion and the Characteristics of a Group
One characteristic of social groups is shared ideals and goals. As an example the Holy Ghost People support a literal interpretation of bible and emphasize the role of the Holy Ghost. Another characteristic is that the group possesses accepted norms.  Spontaneity, taking up serpents, drinking strychnine, speaking in tongues are some accepted norms of the Holy Ghost people.  Also consider the roles members take. For instance, the role of member under the power of the Holy Ghost is special. Speaking about the transformative power of the Holy Ghost, one congregant said,   “Holy Ghost leads me and guides me and keep me a ‘goin.” Another characteristic of the group is some accepted delineation of statuses/distinctions. The Holy Ghost People have no minister but there are manifest and latent lines of power within the group. The final characteristic of the group is commitment.  The Holy Ghost people are very tight-knit, and possess an intense religiosity.

Religion and the Five Functional Prerequisites of Group Life
•      Recruitment and Reproduction (see example of Shakers at http://folkstreams.net/video/the_shakers/the_shakers.mov )
•      Socialization
•      Producing Satisfactory Levels of Goods and Services
•      Preserving Order
•      Maintaining Sense of Purpose

The Effects of Increasing Group Size
As group size increases, consensus decreases. Malcolm Gladwell, author of the book Tipping Point, suggests the Rule of 150. Groups become unmanageable and inefficient when the group exceeds 150 members. With increasing membership, deviancy increases.  Perhaps, in reaction to increased deviancy,  rationality (see Weber) manifested in formal norms/Informal norms are stressed more. Furthermore, following there is an increase in specialization and a greater need for planning and coordination.

Max Weber and Routinization
Process by which explicit, abstract, intellectually calculable rules and procedures are increasingly substituted for sentiment, tradition, rule of thumb in all spheres of activity.

Characteristics of Routinization
•      The displacement of religion by science
•      The substitution of the trained expert for the cultivated person of letters
•      The ousting of the skilled handworker by machine technology
•      The replacement of traditional judicial wisdom by abstract, systematic statutory codes

Dilemmas of Bureaucratization
The initial reason for being is often lost as values and goals change later on. Symbols and language shift meaning and importance. Being faithful may mean bowing to the administrative order rather than the interpersonal relationships within the religious group. Power is regarded differently when the group becomes established and stronger within the community. Change, itself, becomes a problem.

The Bureaucratization of Religion
Religion becomes routinized when charismatic leadership replaced by oligarchies (Michael’s Iron Law of Oligarchies). Malcolm Gladwell, mentioned earlier, called this the “80/20″ rule. This rule suggests that 80 percent of the activities are done by 20 percent of the members. Routinization forms hierarchies characterized with vertical structure and reliance on official knowledge. Also there develops a division between laity and ordained ministry.

Religious Leadership

•      Prophet
–   Charismatic & revolutionary
•      Priest
–   Routinized & ritualistic
•      Magician
–   Uses magic to solve current problems

The Church-Sect Continuum of Religious Organization
Chapter 4

“An Alabama preacher has founded the First Church of the Hokey Pokey, which uses the children’s dance to spread the word of God. “To every season, there is a left foot in, and a left foot out,” said minister Wally Hucklebuck. He expects his venture to be more popular than his former congregation, the Church of the Macarena. “That one really lacked the spiritual element,” he said. “But the hokey-pokey is different. That’s what it’s all about.”

The Week, October 1, 2004.

The Sect

Members often feel that they are the “True” believers.  They tend to be of lower SES, charismatic, and egalitarian. Their groups usually are small in size. The groups are operated by lay leaders and all members use an “Orthodox” interpretation to religious ideology and practice      “Traditional” Ethics. Members strive to keep separate sacred (otherworldliness) from profane (of this world).

The Church
•      Universal-inclusive
•      Religious monopoly
•      Overlaps into secular institutions and processes
•      Bureaucratic & division of labor
•      Professional religious leaders
•      New members tend to be born into the church

Original source: Nelson, Geoffrey. 1968. “The Concept of the Cult.” Sociological Review. Vol?:360. See also, Wilson, Bryan. 1959. “An Analysis of Sect Development.” American Sociological Review. 24:3-15.

The Denomination
•      Overlaps into secular institutions and processes
•      More exclusive
•      Members primarily born into denomination
•      Modest changes
•      Less emotional than sects
•      Professional religious leaders
•      Less intensive involvement than sects but more than churchs
•      Middle to Upper SES

The Formation of Sects
•      Creation of specialized groups
–  Catholic monastic orders
–  Episcopalians, Lutherans, Catholics Pentecostal groups
•      Withdrawal of individual/group into new denomination
•      Sect formation

The Impact of Deprivation on Sect Development
•      Economic
–   Actual vs. perceived
•      Social
–   Power, Prestige, Opportunities for participation
•      Organismic
–   Health, biological
•      Ethical
•      Psychic
–   Lack of satisfaction

The Evolution of Sects
•      Effects of Increasing Group Size
–  Multiple competing interests
–  Deviance
•      Universal Group Maintenance Needs and Process
–  Authority, leadership, and money
•      Routinization of Charisma

The Institutionalized Sect
•      Characteristics
•      Examples are Amish and Quakers

New Religious Movements
•      New religion
•      New Terminology and symbols
•      Individualistic
•      Urban centered
•      Transitory and short lived
•      Female more than male
•      Higher education and income

American NRMs

People’s Temple (JonesTown): Disciple of Christ minister; IN to CA to Guyana; Beliefs wove in influences from Pentecostalism, the Christian Social Gospel, socialism, Communism, and utopianism

Branch Davidians: Waco Texas, David Koresh-7th Messenger of Revelation 10:7; Beliefs–Ellen White (19th Cent. SDA leader) is considered to be inspired by God
•    deny the concept of “innate mortality”
•    second coming of Christ is imminent
–    Behaviors
•    Vegetarianism, conscientious objection to military service
–    ATF vs. BD

Non-American NRMs

Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God:    Apocalyptic-1999.

Aum Shinrikyo: Apocalyptic-1999
–    liberation from suffering and illness
–    Shiva, the god of destruction embodies Aum’s main focus, the creation and destruction of the universe
–    “Lotus Village Plan,” was for small communes to be self-sufficient and able to rebuild civilization (Mullins: 317).

Falun Gong: Internal falun (law of Dharma Wheel)

Al Qaeda

Refinements of the Church-Sect Typology
•      Liston Pope (1942)
–   Characteristics of cults and churches
•      Benton Johnson (1963)
–   Rejection of larger social environment
•      Roland Robertson (1970)
–   Legitimacy as perceived by religious leaders of group
–   Group membership
•      Stephen Steinberg (1965)
–   Church movements

Extraordinary Groups: Hasidim

SOURCES

Adair, Peter. 1967. The Holy Ghost People. Scrabble Creek, West Virginia: Thistle Films http://www.archive.org/details/HolyGhostPeople (Accessed July 27, 2009).

Bates, Larry. 2008. “Psychology of Religion.” Sociology of Religion Class (SOC 495). University of North Alabama.

Benton Johnson. 1957. “A Critical Appraisal of the Church-Sect Typology.” American Sociological Review 22:88-92.

Benton Johnson. 1963. “On Church and Sect.” American Sociological Review 28:539-549.

Gladwell, Malcolm. 2002. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. 1st ed. Boston: Back Bay Books.

Glock, Charles Y. 1965. Religion and Society in Tension. Chicago: Rand McNally.

Jones, Terry. 1979. The Life of Brian. Warner Brothers.

Kantrowitz, Patricia, Karen Springen, Pat Wingert, Tessa Namuth, and T. Trent Gegax. 1994. “In Search of the Sacred.” Newsweek, November, 52-55.

Nelson, Geoffry K. 1968. “The Concept of the Cult.” Sociological Review 16:351-362.

Pope, Liston. 1942. Millhands & Preachers, a Study of Gastonia. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Roberts, Keith A. 1990. Religion in Sociological Perspective. 2nd ed. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Pub. Co.

Robertson, Roland. 1970. The Sociological Interpretation of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell.

Staff. 2004. “An Alabama preacher has founded the First Church of Hokey Pokey.” The Week, October.

Starbuck, Edwin D. 1899. The Psychology of Religion. New York: Scribner.

Steinberg, Stephen. 1965. “Reform Judaism: The Origin and Evolution of a “Church Movement”.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 5:117-129.

Tipler, Frank J. 1994. The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God, and the Resurrection of the Dead. 1st ed. New York: Doubleday.

Wilson, Bryan R. 1959. “An Analysis of Sect Development.” American Sociological Review 24:3-15.