World affirming movements

World-affirming movements are more akin to self-help or therapy groups than to conventional religious groups. They are movements that often lack rituals, churches and formal theologies, turning their focus on members’ spiritual well-being. As the name suggests, world-affirming movements do not reject the outside world or its values. Rather, they seek to enhance their followers’ abilities to perform and succeed in that world by unlocking human potential.

World-rejecting movements

World-rejecting movements are highly critical of the outside world.

They often demand significant lifestyle changes from their followers-members may be expected to live ascetically, to change their dress or hairstyle, or to follow a certain diet.

World-accommodating movements

The third type of new religious movement is the most like traditional religions. World-accommodating movements tend to emphasize the importance of inner religious life over more worldly concerns.

One example of a world-accommodating movement is Pentecostalism. Pentecostalists believe that the Holy Spirit can be heard through individuals who are granted the gift of ‘speaking in tongues’.

60. Secularisation and the process whereby religion loses its influence over the various spheres of social life.
Secularization describes the process whereby religion loses its influence over the various spheres of social life. Evaluating the extent of secularization is a complex sociological problem, which has been at the centre of heated debate. Church membership and attendance figures paint some of the picture but say nothing about levels of belief (assessed by attitude surveys) or the social influence of churches (as providers of schools, representatives on various public bodies or as ‘moral experts’ in public and media debates). ‘Believing without belonging’ and ‘vicarious religion’ (where a small, active minority perform religious activities on behalf of and with the tacit approval of the non-active majority) are two characterizations of religion today suggested by Grace Davie. The debate is further complicated by the increasingly multi-ethnic nature of societies where very different religious groups will be represented
61. Religious fundamentalism as a relatively new phenomenon and response to globalisation.

Fundamentalism involves a strict adherence to a literal reading of the basic texts of a religion. Fundamentalism is associated with many religions and has been growing in recent decades as the global forces of modernization have increasingly destabilized traditional elements in the social world.
62. Religious fundamentalism and religious extremism, their interconnection and mutual influence. 

Religious extremism, fundamentalism, violence and terrorism can be found around the world in worrisome supply. Although it must be noted that the mass media over-report on extremism because the content sells well. The phrase "religious extremism" describes faith-based actions that are deliberate attempts to cause harm to other people. It includes violent religious movements, routine asceticism that is extreme enough to cause medical concern and beliefs that cause harm through denial of medicine or mental harm through abusive family behaviours. Religious tolerance, multiculturalism and equality are the particular targets of extremists. Their own religion provides guidance that trumps any secular law or any concept of human rights.
63. Islamic fundamentalism and Christian fundamentalism.

Islamic and Christian fundamentalism is considered, both being seen as responses to globalization and rapid modernizing change. Although Weber never completed his study of Islam, among the early sociological thinkers it is his approach that could have seen the way in which Islam has transformed itself to become a major force in the modern world. Islamic fundamentalist movements have gained influence in many countries but have come to power only in Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan (where it was ousted in 2001 by indigenous opposition forces and the US military). Some see the potential for conflict between Islam and the West as a key global division, whilst others point to the complexity within Islam and the societies where it is most prevalent and to the relationship between Islam as a religious identity and other political struggles for national or cultural identity. It is clear that despite being a revival of traditional beliefs, this reaction against Western modernization itself takes distinctively modern forms. Particularly in the US, the growth of both Christian fundamentalism and the development of electronic churches are often associated with politically right-wing values. The New Christian Right asserts a return to ‘traditional’ values, its touchstone issues being abortion, homosexuality, pornography, humanism and the fractured family.