Assess the View That Cults and Sects Are Only Fringe Organisations That Are Inevitably Short Lived and of Little Influence in Contemporary Society Essay

It notify be argued that rages and sects ar besides belt organisations that be inevitably shortsighted make step to the fored and of itty-bitty becharm in contemporary family, as yet some may establish affects to line of rea paroleing this idea. A sect is an organization, which usually breaks gain from an established piety, which finds itself in disagreement with stamps and determine of wider society and refuses to tolerate the beliefs of opposites. Although the desire to be a member is voluntary, as contend to being born into, like religion, sects ar rejected by society and call for strong obligation and commitment by its members.A sect is an extremely minute organisation, which is frequently led by a charismatic leader. Whereas, in contrast, a cult does not progress from a mainstream religion and does not reject or take exception social norms. However, as tolerant of other beliefs as they atomic number 18, they still attract a salient deal of negative press, for compositors case brainwashing. Members in a cult are usually more like customers than followers. An fashion model of a cult is Heavens gate, which is a destructive doomsday cult, centered in California.There is a mass of supporting try that cults and sects are short lived and insignificant to wider society. Neverthe little, it must be maintained that the theme is complex as thither are many sects and cults, which identify themselves differently.There is licence to support this view of a casual nature of sects. This is due to many reasons. domain rejecting sects, due to their nature and succeeding societal rejection and stigma of bad press, must be able to compromise with society and befitting a denomination and therefore intercept to be a sect, if this is not through then the sect give cloy out. There is all overly an argument that sects cannot choose a great deal of reach upon society everyplace a ample term period as they cannot pass past the charis matic leaders tonetime and therefore sustain themselves over more than one propagation.The American theologizer Niebuhr theorises that another reason for transience of sects is that they rarely live past the 1st generation because the second generation usually lacks the belief of the 1st. In this way, theirmembership dwindles as the 2nd generation chooses to leave the sect and guard other views in wider society.However Wilson disagrees with Neibuhrs view and says that he overates his case and chooses to not compensate attention to groups who did preserve a obvious sectarian stance. Similarly, evidence proves to debase the belief that a sect fails to live on past their leaders death. For example, The Mormons have hold outd for many generations and besides the Amish- moreover this could be attri neverthelessed to the protective isolation-like in which they live. There is in any case a hypothesis that the Moonies surviving is due to the leader preparing for his son to tak e over his position as the charismatic leader after his death, however this is yet to be seen.Cults have seen a large incline in their matter recently and because they are more evaluate of wider society and despite receiving bad press, oblation a practical solution to peoples issues and wishes, wait less likely to die out due to refusal and disapproval. They are besides financially alternatively stable, the perform of Scientology for example has an estimated income of over 200m per year. This is down to the consumer attitude of cults. There is also a mass of evidence for their immensity in society in a sense that audience cults have a mass market of self jockstrap therapy there are many books for sale for example, tarot reading, crystals and reflexology regularly appear on the best seller list and often more room is devoted to these books rather than Christianity books themselves. The view that cults are fringe movements is less supported than that for sects.Sects very in frequently continue on as sects but cults such as scientology are not only prosperous but also have a huge celebrity undermentioned trend admired by the state-supported for example Tom Cruise.There is also evidence that sects and cults can be of great influence to society though it is problematic as to whether or not that is realizable today in a society as apparently secular as ours. Weber put forwards in his Theodicy of Disprivilege that because they offer a solution to problems justification and explanation for life and its problems, to marginalisedgroups such as dropouts or heathen minorities, world rejecting sects that offer billet ingathering to people. An example of this is Liberation Theology which was for the poorer people which had great influence upon the priorities of the Catholic Church in Latin America (though it has go bad more conservative, it continues to represent human rights and democracy).Bruce argues that it is not a religion and is instead a shallow , meaningless thing. Due to the elements of pick it offers, the choice about which bits to believe and whether to take its readings into account, it does not require commitment. This he argues prevents it having religious status. military position Modernists see it as being apparitional shopping it is part of a consumerist culture. condescension not necessarily being a religion, there is lots of evidence to order that it has influenced society as a unit and, some sociologists would claim, aided secularisation. There is also evidence to show that it is unlikely to be particularly short lived as it fits in so well with our Capitalist, consumerist society and our individualistic values and is so profitable.Therefore, though there is strong evidence to show that sects and cults are fringe organisations, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that neither are short lived in themselves either through the sectarian cycle or demand and hand over (though sects tend to become denomina tions) and also to suggest that the influence of sects and cults on society is great than expected though the influence of sects and cults is exemplified by older examples and so one cannot be sure as to how successful they will be in todays society, except in regards to specific sects and cults.In conclusion, the view that cults, sects are fringe organisations that are inevitably short-lived and of little influence in modern-day society, is on the consentient not wholly correct but has some strength in that the permanency of all is arguable as is their status as fringe organisations.