Asses sociological explanations for the increasing number of religions & spiritual organisations and movements in society today

When looking at the growth of NRM's we can also look at social change to help explain it further. Wilson argues that periods of rapid change disrupt and undermine established norms and values, producing anomie or normlessness. A s there is so much uncertainty as we live in a fragmented society as described by postmodernists, those of us who are most affected by disruption may turn to sects as a solution. Bruce sees the growth of sects and cults today as a response to the social changes involved in modernisation and secularisation. In Bruce's view, society is now secularised and therefore people are less attracted to the traditional churches and strict sects, because these demand too much commitment. People now prefer cults because they are less demanding fewer sacrifices. There has been a significant growth with world rejecting NRM's and world affirming NRM's. For world rejecting NRM's, Adolescents and young adults are targeted. They Offer some certainty at an otherwise uncertain time, no dependants makes membership easier and radical beliefs appeal to the young with rapid turnover of members as a result of reliance on young. for world affirming NRM's Bruce argues that their growth is a response to modernity, especially to the rationalisation of work. These provide both a sense of identity and techniques that promise success in this world. Wallis also notes some movements of middle ground have grown and has attracted disillusioned former members of world rejecting NRMs because they provide a halfway house back to a more conventional lifestyle.

There has also been a growth in NAM's, these are also known as new age movements. the 1980's and 90's has seen the growth of these so called New Age movements - the majority of which are cults based on such things as spiritual healing, paganism and ecology.. They tend to be client and audience style cults. Many of these movements are hybrids of different belief systems and rely on the media to get their message across.Heelas argues that there are two common themes that characterise the New Age and these are self spirituality, this is when new agers seeking the spiritual have turned away from traditional 'external' religions such as the churches and instead look inside themselves to find it. Also because of detraditionalisation the new age rejects the spiritual authority of external traditional sources such as priests or sacred texts. Instead it values personal experience and believes that we can discover the truth for ourselves and within ourselves. Drane a postmodernist argues that its appeal is part of a shift towards poatmodern society. One of the features of postmodern society is a loss of faith in meta narratives or claims to have 'the truth'. As science has failed to deliver in its promise to bring progress to a better world it has instead given us war, genocide, environmental destruction and also global warming. This has resulted in people losing their faith in experts and professionals and they are disillusioned with churches failure to meet their spiritual needs.

Even though NRM's and NAM's are increasing they are generally short lived. This is because Interest is linked to the changing nature of modern culture. For example Scientology has increased in popularity as it is practised by a number of Hollywood celebrities. John Travolta made a film Battlefield Earth in tribute to the leader L. Ron Hubbard. Some people only join at times of crises and leave when that crisis is over. For example women are far more likely to join sects and cults at times of organismic tension such as depression and anorexia. Commitment often depends on the leadership groups have. For example the Branch Davidians had a highly charismatic leader in David Koresh. His presence meant that members were highly committed, rejected society and unlikely to leave.Some New Religious Movements are of their time, but quickly date and fade. For example the number of apocalyptic sects that sprung up around the millennium has diminished in popularity and influence. Some groups fail to recruit beyond their original members.Some New Religious Movements are marginalised to such an extent that it very difficult for them to survive.

Established religious movements such as churches and denominations have more enduring power and attraction.

To conclude, the main problem with categorising religious groups is their diverse characteristics. The criteria used to distinguish religious movements from one another is limited, leaving out a number of important Christian faiths and not applying to non-Christian faiths at all. Sociologists have very little idea about how a sect turns into a denomination. This gives the impression that any sociological theory that seeks to categorise NRMs is vague and lacks empirical support. Postmodernists would theoretically criticise the categorisation of NRM as religion is now personalised. It is impossible to distinguish between a cult, sect and denomination because individual members see them and use them in different ways. They would argue that the people join NRMs through choice rather than any societal reason.

Kasha Regisford 13PL