Social Class and Religion
- Traditional Marxist approaches suggest that religiosity and religious participation should be
greatest among the most deprived social class, for whom religion provides a means of
coping with poverty and oppression
- WEBER’s idea of a theodicy of disprivilege would suggest religion may appeal most to
disadvantaged and marginal groups
- On the other hand, neo-Marxists like MADURO suggest that religion may also be used by
the poorest social classes to fight their oppression e.g. Liberation Theology
- In practice, mainstream religions are inclusive and recruit from a broad range of classes,
with religion part of the experiences of all social classes
- Therefore, it is hard to make overall statements about the link between social class and
religious participation
Churches and denominations
- The upper and upper-middle classes, especially women tend to be over-represented in
churches, though members of all social classes attend
- Established churches like the COE are middle class dominated with its leaders tending to
come from privileged backgrounds
- ASHWORTH and FARTHING found that church-going is largely a middle-class pursuit
- Those in the higher social classes were the most likely to be regular church goers and fringe
and occasional church goers while the manual working class had the lowest proportion of
regular church goers
- Those in the poorest social groups, including those dependent on the state, had the highest
proportion who did not attend Church
- Many denominations seem to appeal mostly to the lower, middle and upper working class
and tend to have the higher proportions of working class members
Sects, cults and the New Age
- Sects seem to gain their strongest support from the most deprived and marginal social
groups, who perhaps use them as a means of coping with their disadvantage- opium of the
people / theodicy of disprivilege
- Many NRMs seem to appeal most to the young middle class
- Cults attract a cross section of society including deprived and marginal groups
- However, BRUCE and HEELAS suggest New Age client cults and world-affirming NRMs have
their greatest appeal for those who are fairly affluent members of the middle class, like
young professionals
- This is because followers are customers, who have to spend money to buy into the products
associated with these cults
- They may thereby access what they hope will be a means of filling a spiritual void and of
becoming more successful in their working and personal lives
- New Age ideas and spirituality, according to HEELAS, appeal mainly to middle class women,
who can afford it, while astrology and fortune telling appeal more to working class women
- All manner of New Age therapies and spiritual healing appeal mainly to the middle class, not
least because of the costs involved in buying these services
- Traditional Marxist approaches suggest that religiosity and religious participation should be
greatest among the most deprived social class, for whom religion provides a means of
coping with poverty and oppression
- WEBER’s idea of a theodicy of disprivilege would suggest religion may appeal most to
disadvantaged and marginal groups
- On the other hand, neo-Marxists like MADURO suggest that religion may also be used by
the poorest social classes to fight their oppression e.g. Liberation Theology
- In practice, mainstream religions are inclusive and recruit from a broad range of classes,
with religion part of the experiences of all social classes
- Therefore, it is hard to make overall statements about the link between social class and
religious participation
Churches and denominations
- The upper and upper-middle classes, especially women tend to be over-represented in
churches, though members of all social classes attend
- Established churches like the COE are middle class dominated with its leaders tending to
come from privileged backgrounds
- ASHWORTH and FARTHING found that church-going is largely a middle-class pursuit
- Those in the higher social classes were the most likely to be regular church goers and fringe
and occasional church goers while the manual working class had the lowest proportion of
regular church goers
- Those in the poorest social groups, including those dependent on the state, had the highest
proportion who did not attend Church
- Many denominations seem to appeal mostly to the lower, middle and upper working class
and tend to have the higher proportions of working class members
Sects, cults and the New Age
- Sects seem to gain their strongest support from the most deprived and marginal social
groups, who perhaps use them as a means of coping with their disadvantage- opium of the
people / theodicy of disprivilege
- Many NRMs seem to appeal most to the young middle class
- Cults attract a cross section of society including deprived and marginal groups
- However, BRUCE and HEELAS suggest New Age client cults and world-affirming NRMs have
their greatest appeal for those who are fairly affluent members of the middle class, like
young professionals
- This is because followers are customers, who have to spend money to buy into the products
associated with these cults
- They may thereby access what they hope will be a means of filling a spiritual void and of
becoming more successful in their working and personal lives
- New Age ideas and spirituality, according to HEELAS, appeal mainly to middle class women,
who can afford it, while astrology and fortune telling appeal more to working class women
- All manner of New Age therapies and spiritual healing appeal mainly to the middle class, not
least because of the costs involved in buying these services
