beliefs

Jan 2013
Explain three ways in which women may be disadvantaged by Religion today:
Religious texts reinforce patriarchy. It is argued by some feminists that many Religious texts are written from a male point of view and reinforce women’s Secondary position.
Religious organisational hierarchies are still male dominated
Some religions do not allow women to become priests. Orthodox jews.
Some religions have segregation of men and women at worship. Orthodox Jewish religion, do not permit women to participate fully in some religious ceremonies.

Item A and elsewhere, assess the view that religion no longer acts as a ‘shared universe of meaning’ for people today:

For many people today, religion no longer acts as a shared universe of meaning, which means for that religion no longer, has importance. There is variety of reasons for this. However, some disagree as they belief religion still has importance to many and it is needed for society to function properly.

Post-modernists argue that religion doesn’t act as a shared universe of meaning anymore, this is a result of globalisation. This is supported by lyotards argument that there has been a collapse of the meta-narrative (religion) that falsely claims to offer the truth and how the world works as a means of progress to a better society. He believes that no one has special access to the truth, all accounts of reality are equally valid but truthful for the person who holds this ‘truth’ but this results in no longer a universal truth. However, his argument can be criticised on logical grounds as self-defeating as it claims that no theory holds the truth then that means we shouldn’t believe his theory either. Post-modernists argue that culture and identity differs from modern society this is mainly due to the role of media in creating an endless stream of ever changing images, values, and versions of truth, this resulted in religions and cultures becoming fragmented and unstable and that there is no longer a fixed set of values shared by members of society. The different messages and ideas undermine people’s faith in meta-narratives as they are confronted by so many truths; people cease to believe wholeheartedly in any one version of the truth. Post-modern society also involves the growth of consumerism and that idea that we now construct our own identities through what we chose to consume. Hervieu-Leger argues that we act as spiritual shoppers, choosing religious beliefs and practices to meet our own individual needs, from the variety available in the religious marketplace. This means that we no longer have to sign up to any one religious tradition, instead we can pick and mix elements of different faiths to suits our tastes and make them part of our identity, until something more fashionable comes along.

Furthermore Marxists argue that religion doesn’t act as a shared value of meaning. They see religion as dulling the pain of class exploitation and as fostering false consciousness plus they argue that is acts as an ideology that legitimises both the suffering of the poor and the privileges of the ruling class.

Similarly to Marxists, feminists also argue that religion doesn’t act as a shared value of meaning. The rise of feminism meant that many people agreed with their ideas and stayed away from religion as it’s a instrument of patriarchal. Feminists argue that religious texts reinforce patriarchal and no longer acts as a 'shared universe of meaning' for people today. Not to mention that religious organisations are still mainly male dominated and places of worship often segregate the sexes and marginalize women, for example seating them behind screens while men take the sacred places.

However, functionalists believe religion still acts as a shared universe of meaning. They see religion performing positive functions for society, these include social solidarity that binds all societies together strongly by defining moral values as sacred as Durkheim states. He also argues that social life would be impossible without shared values and moral beliefs as there would be no social order, no social control, no social solidarity. This means that religion must still have a shared universe of meaning that this all still exists plus there are still people out their worshipping the same values as others. However, functionalism has been criticised for ignoring religion as a source of division and conflict, especially in complex modern societies where there is more than one religion, for example; northern Ireland, where there is religious pluralism, its hard to see how it can unite people and promote integration. Also in addition functionalist’s only focus on the positives of religion but ignores the negatives such as religion as a source of oppression of the poor and women (makes them secondary compared to men).
Secularisation also refers to the decline of religion, this is supported by that statistics that convey church attendance in the uk is falling. Plus opinion poll research asking people about the church attendance shows that religious belief is declining. The reasons for this include; rationalisation in which Max weber refers to the process by which rational ways of thinking and acting come to replace religious ones. Also include social and structural differentiation and religious diversity. The growth of religious diversity has also contributed to the decline in religion as now we live in a society where many people hold views that are completely different to ours, which undermines our assumption that our own views are absolutely true. This links back to the post-modernity theory that there’s no absolute truth as now there are too many so people have stopped believing in one completely. However this as been criticised by Grace Davie 2007 that religion isn’t declining but taking a different form. Although churchgoing has declined, this is because people now believe without belonging, this is when people hold religious beliefs but don’t go to the church.

Evaluate the role of New Age movements in society today:
NAMs tend to be unstructured, and often exist independently of any organisation. Instead they tend to be centred more on sets of beliefs or activities associated with a range of lifestyle activities or therapies associated with the mind or body. These can often contain a spiritual element.There is a range of debates about the nature of new age movements. Some sociologists suggest they are fringe organisations in the sense that they only appeal to a minority of the population whereas heelas found a large increase in the new age activities in his Kendal research and others such as niebuhr, argue that new age movements are short lived, either becoming denominations or dying our altogether.

Heelas rejects that new age movements are fringe organisations. His research in Kendal suggests that participation in new age activities is widespread among the population there, which suggests that new age movements are not fringe organisations. However bruce points out that Heelas;s data reveals that only one in 50 people in Kendal were involved in any sort of new age activity. This suggests that the appeal of new age movements is a minority. Nevertheless, post-modernists argue that the appeal of new age movements reflects the pick and mix nature of post-modern society. People today feel they have a choice as consumers of religion- they have become spiritual shoppers. Religion is now individualised as more and more people choose religions that give a meaning to their life and not because people believe it to be true.

New-Age movements are inclusive in the sense that they tend to be open to anyone (however, they appeal to only a minority of people).
The term ‘spiritual shopper’ suggests the diversity and choice now available to individuals within a post-modern society for those seeking spirituality or spiritual answers. The term implies that people may use consumer culture with regard to religion and shop around from one religious organisation or NAM to another until they find one that offers what they are looking for.
With advances in communication technology, particularly the internet, individuals have access to global groups and ideas. At a time when traditional religions are in decline, the global cafeteria of ideas and beliefs offer an abundance of groups catering for people’s spiritual needs.
Heelas sees the holistic milieu as referring to the range of activities to do with mind, body and spirit associated with New-Age movements. In contrast to traditional religious participation, the holistic milieu is growing, appealing particularly to women and the professional middle class. The holistic milieu can also be understood in terms of a post-modern society, the notion of a spiritual shopper and the global cafeteria. The holistic milieu is part of a spiritual revolution whereby people are not only seeking spirituality in areas other than traditional religion but are doing so in search of truths being interpreted as increasingly individualistic and personal rather than objective.
In terms of their appeal, NAMs are growing at a fast rate, but from a small base. NAMs tend to appeal to all age groups, but primarily to women over men and the middle-class professional over other social class groupings
New Age is centred on some form of beliefs; these rarely fit into normal religious categories, as they do not follow sacred texts or have a belief in God
Many postmodernists, such as Jean Lyotard, argue that people have lost confidence in the meta-narratives of both science and religion. As a consequence they may see New-Age movements as offering answers and solutions to their individual and personal rationales. It has been suggested that people act rather like ‘spiritual shoppers’ moving from one New-Age idea or group to another until they find their spiritual home. drane - new age has grown due to post modernity - collapse in meta-narratives
AO2:- bruce- new age is feature of modernity - softer version of more traditional stricter religions such as churches
Heelas - new age movements are popular because they provide source of authentic identity, consumer culture, decline in traditional religions.
Bruce - growth of new age is due to modernisation and secularisation.
AO2:- the smaller growth of new age movements has not compensated for the larger decline of traditional religion therefore spiritual revolution has not taken place. Furthermore stark and bainbridge also claim that new cults and sects are growing due to the continuous cycle of religion - old churches decline and leave a gap in the market to attract new sects and cults
Marginality, relative deprivation, schism, new religious movement, world-affirming, world-rejecting, world-accommodating, conversionist, Adventist, New Age, anomie, inner and outer world, organismic deprivation, holistic milieu and globalisation

June 2012
Explain three reasons why statistics on religious belief may not be accurate:
Beliefs change over life-time
Statistics may not include all religions
Many people worship in private
People do not tell the truth about their beliefs. People sometimes lie to researchers about their religious beliefs, perhaps giving an answer they think the researcher would like to hear or one that fits their image rather than actuality
Religious organisations overestimate their membership. For reasons of image and prestige some religious organisations overestimate the numbers of people who are members of their organisation.

Assess the view that women are no longer oppressed by religion:
Secularisation; fundamentalism; spiritual shopping; polygamy; female circumcision; sati/suttee; differential punishments for adultery; female priests; feminist theology; veiling; lifestyle; patriarchy; oppression; pick-and-mix religion; New Age movements; disenchantment; globalisation; social solidarity; anomie; status quo; false class consciousness

Jan 2012
Explain three reasons why members of minority ethnic groups may seem to be more religious than members of the majority population:
Part of cultural transition. Some members of minority ethnic groups may see active religious participation as desirable in adapting to a new culture
Part of cultural defence. Some minority ethnic groups may practise their religion actively as a way of maintaining their previous culture. The majority population worship privately. Changes in the religious habits of the majority population may mean that they practise their religion in a less visible and more private manner, thus it may seem that minority ethnic groups are more actively religious. They are more religious. Religion is an inherent and permanent feature of their culture and socialisation.

Assess the view that most people today choose not to be lifelong members of religious organisations:
Secularisation; fundamentalism; spiritual shopping; lifestyle; pick and mix religion; new religious movements; New Age movements; disenchantment; globalisation; social solidarity; anomie; status quo; false class consciousness; liberation theology; patriarchy; pilgrims and converts

Assess the usefulness of functionalist theories in understanding religion today:
Individuation, met-narrative, conservatism, value consensus, collective conscience, cultural imperialism, theodicy, social solidarity, emotional stress, civil religion, ideology, patriarchy, oppression, liberation theology, disenchantment, hegemony and globalisation

June 2012
Three characteristics of religious fundamentalism:
A belief that theirs is the only true vision of the world. Fundamentalists believe that their vision of the world is the only valid one and deny the authenticity of alternative visions
A belief in the literal truth of texts: fundamentalists believe that what is written in their sacred texts is literally true and not a story – e.g. creationists believe that God created the world in seven days and do not believe in scientific explanations of the creation of the world.
Resistance to change: fundamentalists want a return to the basics of their faith and tend to views that are resistant to religious and social change, as these can be seen as a threat to their beliefs and way of life.

Assess the view that religion is a force for social change:
Secularisation; fundamentalism; spiritual shopping; pick and mix religion; new religious movements; globalisation; social solidarity; anomie; status quo; false class consciousness; liberation theology; patriarchy; oppression; predestination; theodicies.

Assess the view that new religious movements are mainly for the middle classes and the young:
Holistic milieu; cultic milieu; marginality; relative deprivation; resacrilisation; cult; sect; millenarian; New Age; theodicy of disprivilege and globalisation

Jan 2011

Explain three reasons, apart from lower church attendance, why the Church of England might be seen to be ‘in decline’:
Seen as dated. The Church of England is seen by many as having old fashioned, unchanging or dated attitudes and is something that was important in the past but not today.
• Loss of status by Church of England ministers in the community. It is argued by
Some that ministers used to have high status in the community but that, relative to
Other occupations and positions in society, their status has steadily declined.
• Disengagement
• Loss of political power and influence
• Fewer children now attend Sunday school.

Assess the view that, while the Church of England is declining, other religions and spiritual movements are flourishing:
The privatisation of belief, believing without belonging, secularisation, individuation, desacrilisation, fundamentalism, spiritual shopping, pick and mix religion, new religious movements, changing leisure and social patterns, globalisation, multicultural influences, social status, the uncertain nature of evidence on beliefs

Assess the view that religion is a major source of instability and conflict in society today:
Patriarchy, gender inequality, social control, subordination, fundamentalism,
Ideology, ecumenicalism, hegemony

June 2010
Explain three reasons why membership of sects may be short-lived:
People are only experimenting/spiritual shopping. Some argue that people today shop around and experiment with various religious and spiritual movements without ever committing themselves to long-term membership.
• People only join to help cope with crises. Many join sects to help them cope with
Personal crises in their lives – when the crisis is over they have no further need for the religious sect.
• People cannot cope with the strictures of membership. Many sects impose strict
Discipline and rules on their members. Some find such rules hard to cope with and eventually leave the sect.
• The charismatic leader dies
• Tastes and fashions change
• Sects find it hard to sustain the enthusiasm of members

Examine the view that cults and sects have taken the place of established churches as the most important religious and spiritual movements in society today:
The privatisation of belief, believing without belonging, secularisation, individuation, desacrilisation, disengagement, spiritual shopping, pick and mix religion, socialisation, changing leisure and social patterns, multicultural influences, social status, the uncertain nature of evidence on beliefs

Evaluate feminist views on the role and functions of religion in society today:
Patriarchy, gender inequality, social control, subordination, glass ceiling,
Disenchantment, hegemony.