Social Change

Examining religion and social change (Pg. 23)

Identify and briefly explain three reasons why the New Christian Right might have failed to achieve its aims. (9 marks)

The New Christian Right may have failed to achieve its aims because the group lacked wide spread support. They also had a strong opposition from groups who stand for freedom of choice, e.g. Planned Parenthood and People for the American Way. Another reason why the New Christian Right might have failed is that its campaigners found it difficult to cooperate with people from other religious groups, even when campaigning on the same issue such as abortion. Another reason is that the group was, at most, 15% of the population, meaning it was never a majority and never really had many members.

Steve Bruce (2003) describes this movement as a failure. He believes it is because of the basically liberal and democratic values of most American societies. For example, a belief in the separation of church and state. Surveys have shown that most Americans are comfortable with legalising activities that they personally believe are immoral (e.g. abortion), which poses a problem for the New Christian Right. Bruce explains how their demands are impossible in a mature democracy. Bruce also believes in order to succeed like the American Civil Rights movement, they need to connect with the mainstream beliefs of society.

Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the contribution of religion to social change. (18 marks)

Social change refers to any significant alteration over time in behaviour patterns and cultural values and norms. It is debateable whether religion creates or inhabits social change. Functionalists and Marxists would argue that religion helps maintain stability in our society but as item A suggests, "Sociologists have identified a range of examples, taken from different societies and historical periods, which show that

religion can play an important part in social change".

For example...