Conservative Beliefs
Conservative beliefs try to preserve things the way they are stabilising society and maintaining status quo. Thus it prevents social change because it upholds traditional beliefs about roles, moral views, institutions and customs. For example traditional religions like Catholicism forbid divorce, abortion and oppose homosexual marriage. Much of these beliefs in religions have changed over the years.
Most religions uphold traditional family values such as the patriarchal division of labour. For example, in the Church of England the belief that a man is the head of the family is embedded into traditional marriage ceremonies since 1602. The bride has to swear to love honour and obey. The groom only has to love and honour. However since 1966, the wife has been allowed to drop the vow to obey showing the changes that has taken place in religion.
Functionalists- They view religion as a conservative force functioning to maintain social stability and prevent society from disintegrating. For example it promotes social solidarity through value consensus; therefore individuals are stopped from pursuing their own selfish interests at the expense of others which could cause society to collapse.
Marxists- They see religion as a conservative ideology that prevents social change due to blinding people from the truth. This occurs because religion legitimates or disguises exploitation and inequality. Thus the ruling class’s stability and capitalist society is maintained because the working class are inflicted with false class consciousness.
Fredrich Engels describes how religion prevents change by disguising inequality. However it can also challenge the status quo and encourage social change. For example, religion sometimes preaches liberation from slavery and misery. Senior clergy usually support the status quo. However, lower ranks have often inspired, supported and organised popular protest. (Engels) (Martin Luther King)
Ernest Blotch explains how religion is a dual character, which is that it can have a positive or negative impact on social change. He describes how religion can give people images of a utopia, the perfect world. Thus people see or envision what needs to be changed and attempt to through political organisation and leadership. (Blotch) (M L King)
Feminists- They also see religion as a conservative force used as an ideology to legitimate patriarchal power and maintain women’s subordination in the family and wider society.
· Woodhead-Religious Feminism.
· Armstrong- Maintaining Marginality, causing oppression.
· Jean Holm- Positioning in Places of Worship.
Calvinism
Calvinism is a form of Protestantism founded by John Calvin in the 16th Century. This was during the reformation of Protestantism helping to bring out a major social change.
Max Weber notes that before societies had capitalism in the sense of greed and wealth, it was often spent on luxury consumption. However it is now based on systematic, efficient, rational pursuit of profit for its own sake rather than for consumption. Weber calls this the spirit of capitalism. He notes that Calvinism wasn’t the cause of modern capitalism but only merely an influence as one of its causes. Calvinist beliefs included:
· Predestination- God had predetermined which souls would be saved referred to as the elect.
· Divine Transcendence- No mortal could claim to know Gods will. This would cause a salvation panic. People didn’t know if they were chosen to be saved.
· Asceticism- Refers to self discipline and self denial. For example monks who refrained from luxury, wearing simple clothes and avoiding excess to devote themselves to God.
· Idea of a vocation or calling- Weber refers to this as other worldly asceticism. Thus Calvinists worked long hours and practiced vigorous self discipline. As Ben Franklin puts it, “idleness is a sin”.
Confucianism
Confucianism is an ethical and philosophical system that took place in other worldly countries having an impact in religion. It is however believed to have lacked the drive Calvinism had to emerge the spirit of capitalism. Thus countries like, China and India didn’t have capitalism emerging there like it did in western countries like Britain.
Hinduism
For example, instead of developing countries through capitalism, religions like Hinduism directed its followers away from the concerns of the material world and more to the spiritual world.
Religion and Social Protest
Steve Bruce uses case studies in which he compares two examples of the role of religiously inspired protest movements in America which have tried to change society. These are the American Civil Rights movement and the New Christian Right. (Bruce)
(Bruce) American Civil Rights Movement- This movement occurred in the 1950’s and 60’s to obtain equality for Black Americans. Many of them protested because they were prevented from having the right to vote, using the same amenities as whites and being segregated from public places or institutions such as schools. (1955, Rosa Parks, an activist refused to sit at the back of the bus.)
Led by Martin Luther King, it was motivated through religion as religious institutions played an important role. They were used to reinforce social solidarity acting like a sanctuary in the face of oppression. The black clergy thus shamed the whites by making them change the law for their shared Christian values. It thus brought out shame to those in power who couldn’t practice the principle that all men and women were born equal. Bruce describes how religion in this context was used as an ideological resource:
· Took the moral high ground- Blacks pointed out the hypocrisy of the white clergy who preached loved thigh neighbour.
· Channelling Dissent- Religion provides channels to express political dissent. The funeral of Martin Luther King was a rallying point for the civil rights cause.
· Acting as an honest broker- This was because religious institutions such as Churches provide a context for negotiating change due to respect from both sides and often seen as standing above politics.
· Mobilising Public Opinion- Black Churches of the south successfully campaigned to get support across the whole of America.
(Bruce) The New Christian Right- This is a political and morally conservative Protestant fundamentalist movement. It has gained prominence since the 1960’s due to the liberation of American society. They aimed to take America back to God arguing against homosexuality and divorce. The largely favour traditional family and gender roles. However they found it difficult to communicate with the public for many reasons. For example The Moral Majority, a 1978 right wing pressure group was 15% of the population at most making it never the majority.
Bruce describes this The New Christian Right as a failed movement for change. Despite its enormous media, it did not achieve its aim in taking America back to God. Now days most Americans for example believe the church is separate from the state. Numerous surveys show that despite people not agreeing with homosexuality and divorce, people were willing to accept other people’s views.
Liberation Theology
This was a movement that emerged within the Catholic Church in Latin America during the end of the 1960’s. It had a strong commitment to the poor and opposition to military dictatorships. Thus it brought a major change of direction for the Catholic Church in Latin America.
For years Latin America had been an extremely conservative society encouraging fatalistic acceptance of poverty and supporting the wealthy. The factors that led to the emergence of Liberation Theology were:
· The growth of slums throughout Latin America.
· Human rights abuses such as false imprisonment, torture and death squads murdering political opponents in places such as Brazil and Argentina.
· The growing commitment to catholic priests who supported the poor due to violations of human rights. It would go against everything they believe in.
Liberation Theology set out to educate the poor about their situation. It helped them fight oppression under the protection of the church. During the 1970’s Catholic Priests were often the only authority figures that took the side of the oppressed when torture and murder squads were used to hold onto power. However in the 1980’s Pope John Paul II condemned liberation theology on the basis of it resembling Marxism.
The Marxists Maduro and Lowy see how liberation theology is an example of a religiously inspired social change even though many other Marxists disagree.
Religion and Hegemony(Gramsci)
· (Hegemony- This means dominated by the ruling class through ideology so they can maintain control over society.)
Sociologists like Gramsci found that the ruling class maintain control over the state without force but simply through ideology. He did studies on religion and hegemony. The term hegemony refers to the ideological domination or leadership of society. Thus the ideology for this concept is that hegemony is the cause of the prevention of social change.
Economic Factors on Social Change (Kautsky)
The Marxist Kautsky argued against Weber’s views. He didn’t believe religion was the main source of social change. To him, economic factors were the main source of social change. For example, since the decline in the industrial revolution, postmodern society has been more based on technology in Britian. Thus to Kautsky, this effects people more than religion as employment for workplaces has changed and more people are entering education.
Millenarian Movements
These movements take the name from the world millennium. It refers to the idea that Christ would come into the world for a second time and rule for a thousand years before the day of judgement and the end of the world.
Worsley- notes that such movements also believe there will be total and immediate transformation of the world through supernatural means. Thus many religious movements expect there would be a heaven on earth, life free from pain, suffering and imperfection.
These views are favourable to the oppressed who are more likely to join these religious movements. (Worsley)
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