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· Clearly religious organisations, with a definite conception of god
e.g. Moonies pray to a heavenly father.
· They're ideologies are usually highly unconventional, and extremely
critical of the outside world. As a result the group usually expects
or seeks social change.
· Some groups are millenarian, they expect god to intervene and change
the world. E.g. the nation of Islam in the USA, prophesised that in
the year 2000 Allah would destroy the whites and there religion.
· To achieve salvation, members may have to remove themselves from
conventional life-total institutions. The organisation would control
every aspect of the member's life. Outsiders often see this as
brainwashing as the member may experience a complete personality
change.
· Limited contact with the outside world only for fundraising
purposes.
· Leaders may take an active role in the outside life, whilst waiting
for divine intervention. E.g. Louis Farrakhan-nation of Islam- became
heavily involved in us politics promoting the rights of the
disadvantaged minorities.
· Usually radical in beliefs held, however many are morally
puritanical. E.g. Moonies restrict sex to monogamous marriage.
· They vary in size.
· They are based around communal living, therefore are a conservative
force as they don't learn or change with the world around them.
World accommodating new religious movements
· Usually offshoots of an existing world religion or denomination e.g.
neo-pentacostalists are offshoots of protestant or Roman Catholic
religions.
· They neither accept nor reject the world they simply live within it.
· They are concerned with religious not worldly questions; beliefs of
the followers are aimed at helping them cope with their social role in
society.
· They seek to restore the spiritual purity to religion which it feels
has bee lost among many more conventional churches
· Members lead conventional, conforming lives outside of their
religious activities. E.g. Ken Pryce studied West Indian
neo-pentacostalists living in Bristol. He found that they lived
'normal' lives, and have or wish to have normal respectable jobs.
Religion: A conservative force or an instigator of social change
Sociologists have long been divided over the extent as to which
religion acts as an instigator of social change, or as a conservative
force, maintaining the status quo.
The functionalist perspective is diametrically opposing the Marxist