McGuire claimed that some religions are more able to create social change than others and this is because of the CHARISTMATIC LEADER. Leaders such as Jesus Christ and Hitler and able to create social change because they are passionate and people believe that they could make change.
Also , religions need to have STRONG MORAL CODES which attract the most followers and therefore produce change
1) Weber: The Protestant Ethic and Capitalism
He argued that the strong religious beliefs of the Calvinists was able to bring about social change. They believed that their destiny was PRE-DETERMINED but they also led an ASCETIC LIFESTYLE dedicated to God rather than self pleasure. They enaged often in ascetic activities such as praying,etc They saved up money, spent little on them selves, were hard-working and very self-disciplined. These were the attitutes of capitalism so they helped to create major changes
AO2: Weber has been criticised because NOT all society's that were highly populated in Calvinists, such as in Switzerland and Hungary was there capitalism developed
Marxists also criticise Weber for being far too simplistic i.e. it wasnt just religious beliefs that created a capitalist society but also ECONOMIC FACTORS
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