Sect

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Sect

The term "sect" is identified with small religious groups that are generally seen in opposition to a more dominant religious belief system. This opposition may be visibly manifested in habits or forms of dress that signal a separation from mainstream society, physical isolation from society, or criticism of social norms. Because of these traits, sect members have sometimes been labeled as sociologically marginal, or deviant.

One of the most useful analytical definitions of the sect is found in the church-sect typology developed by Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch. In this typology the "sect" is defined in opposition to the "church." Whereas the archetypal model of the church is the universal Catholic Church, the archetypal model for the sect is the band of apostles who followed Christ. In his church-sect typology, Weber identifies a number of characteristics by which the sect can be identified. One of the chief characteristics is voluntary membership. Members of the sect make a conscious decision (often prompted by an individual conversion experience) to accept the rules and beliefs of the faith community. Such communities tend to be democratic and self-governing, rather than hierarchical, and consequently tend to remain small in size.

Because of their opposition to the status quo, such sects are often perceived to be revolutionary or deviant, enacting their beliefs through their lifestyle and behavioral choices. These decisions often result in a withdrawal from the world and its institutions and values; exclusiveness in both attitude and social structure; an intense sense of fellowship among members; and an attitude of ethical austerity, often of an ascetic nature, in opposition to the worldliness of secular society.

A number of scholars have argued that the sect type of religious organization is difficult to sustain beyond the first generation of believers. H. Richard Niebuhr (1929) believed that the second generation rarely inherits the religious fervor of their parents. In addition, he believed in the lessons taught by Weber's Protestant Ethic, that the disciplined and ascetic lifestyle practiced by sect members would eventually lead to a worldly success that would cause sect members to form an accommodation with, rather than isolation from, secular society. Niebuhr felt that eventually sects would mature into denominations—that is, Christian assemblies divided by race, class, and caste but living in accommodation with the values of secular society. J. Milton Yinger (1946) argued that not all sects developed into denominations and coined the term "the established sect" to refer to second- and third-generation sects that retained their separation from secular society. Yinger included Quakers, Mennonites, and the Amish within this subtype.

Still another approach at classifying sects is attempted in the later work of Yinger (1957), and in Bryan Wilson (1959). This approach attempts to classify sects by their worldviews. Yinger distinguished among (1) acceptance sects, characterized by individualism; (2) aggressive sects, characterized by their rejection of society as evil; and (3) avoidance sects, characterized by pessimism and concentration on life in the hereafter. Wilson's work also distinguished among sects by their worldviews. Among those he identifies in his work are (1) conversionist sects that focus on evangelism; (2) adventist sects that focus on the imminent overthrow of the current social order; (3) pietist sects that tend to withdraw from the world and direct attention toward the life of the community, who are seen as the elect; and (4) gnostic sects that emphasize a special body of knowledge and offer a new teaching of the Christian doctrines. Of these four, he believes that conversionist sects are the most likely to develop into denominational types of organizations because their emphasis on evangelism brings them into direct confrontation with the secular world to accomplish their goals, and thus they are more likely to embrace secular values. Scholars suggest that since the 1970s, the influx of non-European immigrants, increasing exposure to non-Western world religions, and the approaching millennium have introduced new religious models that have stimulated the formation of new religious sects.

In contemporary usage, the terms "sect" and "cult" often denote overlapping concepts that may be used interchangeably by the mass media. Both terms are used to denote a religious group marginalized by society for its unusual religious beliefs or practices, and both terms are perceived by many to have negative connotations. Several scholars, including Rodney Stark and William S. Bainbridge (1987), distinguish between sects and cults by identifying sects as reform movements that have split from one of the mainstream churches or denominations, and cults as new religions formed around a charismatic leader and generally of a highly innovative character.