Christian Smith elaborates in his article “Disruptive Religion” about how leadership qualities, financial resources, communication channels, tools, identity, and more can all come from an inner devotion to religion which can then be used to apply to one’s religious movement/activism. His conclusion can then be discerned as religious mindsets providing the foundation and motivation for activism. I believe this quote summarizes it well: “When a movement recruits members through religious networks and organizations, along come the well-established structures of solidarity incentives embedded in those networks and relationships.” This perfectly describes how religion can be used to bolster a movement through people, motivators, and complex organizational structures.
Smith begins his essay by discussing what religion can mean for activists. Firstly, he recognizes the value of “God’s will.” This sacred word is different from more “trivial” negotiable terms because it is absolute and eternal. This means that the mindset of religious activists has a remarkable and uncompromising position that cannot be easily swayed from their promising mission. Because of this position, the counterarguments to these religious activists may fall on deaf ears as how can the words of humans compare to such authority as that of God? Especially the words of humans who are non-believers. Smith points out that this does not necessarily make religious activists fanatical or absolutist, but that they have an added infusion behind their motivations, one that can be insurmountable for some critics.
Secondly, Smith points out how new activist movements begin when enough people feel that moral standards have been violated. Since religion is a major source of moral standards in many aspects of society, many activist movements have it as a primary motivator. An interesting point that Smith brings up is that these activist movements need multiple motivators to keep their prominence over an issue going. This means that religion is not just an ethical motivator in starting a movement, but it can also be an emotional motivator that can prolong and invigorate the participants in a movement. Symbols, rituals, songs, and more can be used to provide an identity and a drive within the people.
Self-sacrifice is then the next step one can take when devoting themselves to these movements. The price that one pays to give themselves up to a cause is usually not fully paid in physical or emotional terms. This may leave one wondering how proponents of causes keep their devotion to topics they believe in. Religion is the answer as it fulfills a spiritual benefit to the individual who gives in to the pressures, pains, and failures that can arise from any pursuit of a goal. A certain level of asceticism can be freeing to those who believe they are proving their love to God. This kind of devotional mindset has always interested me. To what lengths can religion drive someone to sacrifice? We know of the famous story of Abraham and Isaac, but what about those of us today who do not hear from God directly? Is it worth it to relinquish one’s comforts in the name of religion? Or in the name of any cause? I wonder what the standards and qualifications a goal must meet for one to lead a life of pain to accumulate some spiritual reward. Is it the reward at the end that is the motivation or is it the journey toward it? I am curious to hear others’ thoughts on this topic.