The Anti-Cult Discourse of Print Media: Problematization of the Role of the Anti-Cult Movement

Abstract

This article is devoted to analyzing the anti-cult discourse in the Republic of Belarus in 1996–2000. The print media and the anti-cult movement are selected as objects of research because of their significant role in this discourse. The main features when it comes to covering the topic of new religious movements by both actors are investigated by method of standardized survey of texts on a sample of 521 anti-cult articles from 57 Belarusian newspapers. The range of variability of religious organizations identified as new religious movements is revealed, and their distribution by type of structure is analyzed. The results are compared to the estimated population universe of new religions of the Republic of Belarus. The frequency of their mentions is established, as well as a group of organizations that are criticized by actors, but have never operated in the country. The range of variability and frequency of use of special terminology is disclosed. The influence of the anti-cult discourse on changes in the evaluative connotations of special terms is analyzed. Different facts from the history and modern practice of the anti-cult movement are examined, all of which are particularly important in terms of understanding the specifics of its representatives’ attitudes towards non-specialized print media. The ambivalent nature of the coverage of the topic of new religions in the press and its influence on the anti-cult movement is noted. Special care is taken defining the place and role of print media and the anti-cult movement in the complex system of society’s anti-cult discourse. Based on the data obtained, the dominant theory of the unilateral influence of the anti-cult movement on print media is criticized. An alternative hypothesis on the complex genesis of anti-cult discourse is proposed, in which the specifics of its main features as perceived by each subject are influenced by many different factors. Two methodological problems related to searching for and recording materials relevant for analyzing this discourse and verifying this theory are identified.