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The symbols of fourteen religions are depicted here. In no particular order, they represent Judaism, Wicca, Taoism, Christianity, Confucianism, Baha\u2019i, Druidism, Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Shinto, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Can you match the symbol to the religion? What might a symbolic interactionist make of these symbols? (Photo courtesy of The major religions of the world (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Christianity, Taoism, and Judaism) differ in many respects, including how each religion is organized and the belief system each upholds. Other differences include the nature of belief in a higher power, the history of how the world and the religion began, and the use of sacred texts and objects.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Religions organize themselves\u2014their institutions, practitioners, and structures\u2014in a variety of fashions. For instance, when the Roman Catholic Church emerged, it borrowed many of its organizational principles from the ancient Roman military and turned senators into cardinals, for example. Sociologists use different terms, like ecclesia, denomination, and sect, to define these types of organizations. Scholars are also aware that these definitions are not static. Most religions transition through different organizational phases. For example, Christianity began as a cult, transformed into a sect, and today exists as an ecclesia.<\/p>\r\nCults<\/strong>, like sects, are new religious groups. In the United States today this term often carries pejorative connotations. However, almost all religions began as cults and gradually progressed to levels of greater size and organization. The term cult is sometimes used interchangeably with the term new religious movement (NRM). In its pejorative use, these groups are often disparaged as being secretive, highly controlling of members\u2019 lives, and dominated by a single, charismatic leader.\r\n Controversy exists over whether some groups are cults, perhaps due in part to media sensationalism over groups like polygamous Mormons or the Peoples Temple followers who died at Jonestown, Guyana. Some groups that are controversially labeled as cults today include the Church of Scientology and the Hare Krishna movement.<\/p>\r\nA sect<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is a small and relatively new group. Most of the well-known Christian denominations in the United States today began as sects. For example, the Methodists and Baptists protested against their parent Anglican Church in England, just as Henry VIII protested against the Catholic Church by forming the Anglican Church. From \u201cprotest\u201d comes the term Protestant.\r\n Occasionally, a sect is a breakaway group that may be in tension with larger society. They sometimes claim to be returning to \u201cthe fundamentals\u201d or to contest the veracity of a particular doctrine. When membership in a sect increases over time, it may grow into a denomination. Often a sect begins as an offshoot of a denomination, when a group of members believes they should separate from the larger group.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"200\"] Some sects dissolve without growing into denominations. Sociologists call these established sects<\/span><\/strong>. Established sects, such as the Amish or Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses fall halfway between sect and denomination on the ecclesia\u2013cult continuum because they have a mixture of sect-like and denomination-like characteristics.<\/p>\r\n A denomination<\/span><\/strong> is a large, mainstream religious organization, but it does not claim to be official or state sponsored. It is one religion among many. For example, Baptist, African Methodist Episcopal, Catholic, and Seventh-day Adventist are all Christian denominations.<\/p>\r\n The term ecclesia<\/span><\/strong>, originally referring to a political assembly of citizens in ancient Athens, Greece, now refers to a congregation. In sociology, the term is used to refer to a religious group that most all members of a society belong to. It is considered a nationally recognized, or official, religion that holds a religious monopoly and is closely allied with state and secular powers. The United States does not have an ecclesia by this standard; in fact, this is the type of religious organization that many of the first colonists came to America to escape.<\/p>\r\n\r\n One way to remember these religious organizational terms is to think of cults, sects, denominations, and ecclesia representing a continuum, with increasing influence on society, where cults are least influential and ecclesia are most influential.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section> Scholars from a variety of disciplines have strived to classify religions. One widely accepted categorization that helps people understand different belief systems considers what or who people worship (if anything). Using this method of classification, religions might fall into one of these basic categories, as shown in the table below.<\/p>\r\n\r\nTypes of Religious Organizations<\/h2>\r\n
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How might you classify the Mennonites? As a cult, a sect, or a denomination? (Photo courtesy of Frenkieb\/flickr).[\/caption]\r\nTypes of Religions<\/h2>\r\n