UPSC Sociology Mains Syllabus
Paper 1 – Chapter 8
Religion and Society:
(a) Sociological theories of religion.
(b) Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.
(c) Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism.
- In Sociology, Church-Sect typology is originally formed by Weber and Troeltsch. According to them, Church is a large well established religious institution, bureaucratic in its working which is culmination of the evolution from sect.
- Sect, on the other hand, is smaller in size, closed and has a different agenda than the dominant religion.
- Howard Becker has further added ‘denomination’ and ‘cult’ to the church- sect typology of Weber and Troeltsch.
CULTS
- Cult is a small group of religious activities whose beliefs are different from the dominant religion and are usually individualistic focusing on individual experience.
- It never challenges the mainstream religion directly.
- They are often based upon charismatic leadership.
- It has no concept of membership and it is loosely organized with little rules and regulations and members may even retain affiliations to other religions as well.
- Some thinkers see their origin in terms of social evils, discontentment and change in society.
- They provide alternatives to the people and hence are more readily accepted by the marginalized sections of the society.
- The Cult is a voluntary organization, open to all who wish to join or participate in it.
SECTS
- Sects are the more organized form of religion than cults and in this type of social organization, institutionalization of social roles starts.
- Urge for change and reinterpretation are at the heart of the sects and they are defined as new religious movements which break away from orthodoxy of dominant religion.
- The sect is often intolerant toward other religious groups.
- It is marked by a desire to disassociate from the existing social order.
- Sects are seen as an attempt to rationalize the dominant religion.
- Sects also, generally, promote brotherhood, equality and common goals for its members. Sects tend to arise during a period of rapid social change.
- For Example, Bryan Wilson sees rise of Methodism as a response of new working class to the ethos and uncertainty of life in newly settled industrial areas.
DENOMINATION
- A Denomination grows out of the sect.
- Sects often lose their momentum as it is difficult to maintain high levels of commitments for long periods and sects either die out or transform themselves into denominations.
- According to Howard Becker, ‘A denomination is a sect which has cooled down and become an institutionalized body rather than an active protest group’.
CHURCH
- Church or Ecclesia or institutional religion refers to final stage in the evolution of cults, sects and denomination.
- It refers to a large formal organization with a hierarchy of the officials.