Study Of New Religious Movements Research Articles

Embarrassing Superstition, Doctrine, and the Study of New Religious Movements

L'A. analyse la doctrine et les pratiques de Shinnyo-en. Il s'agit d'une nouvelle organisation bouddhiste japonaise peu etudiee jusqu'a maintenant. Elle compte presque un million de disciples. L'A. remarque l'importance de la base doctrinale dans le systeme de croyance pour tous les nouveaux mouvements bouddhistes. Ce que l'on considere comme croyance populaire est en fait ancre dans la doctrine normative bouddhiste. En outre, on observe que les recherches de l'A. sur la base doctrinale de ces mouvements peuvent etre appliquees a d'autres nouveaux mouvements religieux

RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS AND VIOLENCE: A FRIENDLY CRITIQUE OF THE INTERPRETIVE APPROACH

ABSTRACT: The analysis of episodes of violence associated with religious movements is becoming a key sub-area in the study of new religious movements. An influential method which we term the "interpretive" approach has produced important insights. This approach focuses on how messianic movements interpret the behavior of persons and groups which they perceive as deeply hostile. However, some scholars may have placed too much emphasis on the reactive quality of movement violence as a response to the hasty actions of authorities influenced by distorted or self-fulfilling stereotypes of deviant groups. Some movements are capable of violence that does not appear to be elicited by forceful and dynamic provocations against them, although some leaders may perceive a demonic quality underlying any criticism or opposition or blockage of their aspirations. While hasty or overbearing actions by authorities may lead to violence with respect to some groups in some situations, the withholding or slow pace of intervention may enhance the potential for violence relative to other groups in other contexts. The view of fringe movements as victims may often be valid, but sometimes it may inhibit legitimate criticism of some movements' problematic practices or repugnant beliefs. Objective scholars should consider relinquishing permanent investments in images of alternative religions as either victims or destructive demons.

THE BLACKLISTING OF A CONCEPT: THE STRANGE HISTORY OF THE BRAINWASHING CONJECTURE IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION

ABSTRACT: This is the first part of a two-part article on the concept of brainwashing in the study of new religious movements (NRMs). The use of this term has become so emotionally charged that scholars find it difficult to discuss its merits and scientific utility with calmness and objectivity. I devote Part One of this article to an examination of the cultural and structural sources of an extreme polarization that has occurred among scholars of new religious movements. I argue that a majority faction within the discipline has acted with a fair degree of success to block attempts to give the concept of brainwashing a fair scientific trial. This campaign has resulted in a distortion of the original meaning of the concept so that it is generally looked at as having to do with manipulation in recruitment of new members to religious groups. Its historically consistent use, on the contrary, should be in connection with the manipulation of exit costs for veteran members. In Part Two of this paper (to be published in a later issue of this journal), I go on to examine the epistemological status of the brainwashing concept and compare theories based on brainwashing to alternative theories accounting for patterns of switching out of new religious movements.

Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements

In the face of the increasingly variegated ideological landscape of contemporary America, cults have become the focus of public controversy. The growth of new religions has been matched by the development of an organized and vocal opposition, the anti-cult movement. This in turn has prompted an extensive investigation of new religious movements (NRMs) by sociologists and psychologists of religion, as well as historians and religious studies scholars. The readings collected here contribute to the debate about cults by sampling some of the best and most accessible publications from the academic study of NRMs. The contributors address the questions most commonly asked about cults, such as: What brought about the emergence of new religious movements? What is a cult or new religious movement? Who joins new religious movements and why? Are converts to new religious movements brainwashed? Why did the Jonestown and Waco tragedies happen? Are cults inclined to be violent? What does the emergence of so many new religious movements say about our society? What does it say about the future of religion? Cults in Context surveys the descriptive typologies, theories, and data accumulated by sociologists and psychologists studying new religious movements over the last twenty years. It serves to defuse many popular fears and misconceptions about cults, allowing the reader to develop a more reasonable and tolerant understanding of the people who join new religious movements and the functions of these movements in contemporary society.

Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements

Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements

BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS Get access Cults In Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements. Edited by Lorne L. Dawson. Canadian Scholars' Press, 1996. 468 pages. $47.95. Christopher H. Evans Christopher H. Evans Colgate Rochester Divinity School Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Volume 65, Issue 4, Fall 1997, Pages 885–887, https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/65.4.885 Published: 01 October 1997

Who joins new religious movements and why: Twenty years of research and what have we learned?

Surprisingly, perhaps, controversy about the nature and dangers of cults or new religious movements remains a topic of considerable public concern and significant misunderstanding. Scholarship in the study of new religious movements, however, has reached a certain obvious maturity. This article summarizes and integrates the empirical data available in dispersed sources to provide a sociological profile of what reliably can be said about how people become interested in new religions, who tends to become interested in new religions, and some insights into why people join such religions.

Het ethos van de beoefenaar van de godsdienstwetenschap ten aanzien van nieuwe religieuze bewegingen

Studies in the History of Religions have had some impact on the development of religious phenomena. This was never questioned, but also hardly mentioned as a legitimate aim. Does there implicitly exist a ‘practical’ or ‘adapted’ Religionswissenschaft? Or do scholars still favour the traditional ‘epochè’? Many studies of new religious movements in our society often do not show such a scholarly distance, even when they themselves suppose to do so. Is an author in the field of religious studies a ‘defensor religionis’ or should he continue in the footsteps of the Enlightenment? The question concerns such different issues as a scholarly relation with the Unification Church and the study of the search for identity of hinduism in the Netherlands.

Research Unit for the Study of New Religious Movements and Independent Churches (NERMIC)

Research Unit for the Study of New Religious Movements and Independent Churches (NERMIC)

Research Unit for the Study of New Religious Movements and Independent Churches (Nermic)

Research Unit for the Study of New Religious Movements and Independent Churches (Nermic)

Religious Movements: Cult and Anticult Since Jonestown

The article contains an overview of theoretical and empirical work carried out by sociologists of religion in the study of new religious movements and the anticult movement since 1978; it pays special attention to the aftereffects of the mass suicide/murder of followers of Jim Jones in Guyana. The different theories as to why people join the movement are discussed-whether they are 'brainwashed,' what influences (pushes and/or pulls) the wider society has on the membership. Mention is made of the role of sociologists themselves as witnesses in court cases and as participant observers at conferences organized by the movements. Bibliographic details are supplied of writings about particular movements, in particular countries, and concerning particular problems (finances, family life, legal issues, conversion, 'deprograrnming,' etc) It is suggested that the differences between the movements are considerably greater than is often recognized and that there is a need for further comparative research and more refined classificatory systems before our theoretical knowledge can develop and be tested satisfactorily. Various changes (such as the demographic variables of an aging membership, the death of charismatic leaders, and the socialization of second-generation membership; changing relationships with the 'host' society; and the growth—or demise—of the movements) provide much more of interest for the sociologist to study in the future.

Religious Movements: Cult and Anticult Since Jonestown

The article contains an overview of theoretical and empirical work carried out by sociologists of religion in the study of new religious movements and the anticult movement since 1978; it pays special attention to the aftereffects of the mass suicide/murder of followers of Jim Jones in Guyana. The different theories as to why people join the movement are discussed-whether they are 'brainwashed,' what influences (pushes and/or pulls) the wider society has on the membership. Mention is made of the role of sociologists themselves as witnesses in court cases and as participant observers at conferences organized by the movements. Bibliographic details are supplied of writings about particular movements, in particular countries, and concerning particular problems (finances, family life, legal issues, conversion, 'deprograrnming,' etc) It is suggested that the differences between the movements are considerably greater than is often recognized and that there is a need for further comparative research and more refined classificatory systems before our theoretical knowledge can develop and be tested satisfactorily. Various changes (such as the demographic variables of an aging membership, the death of charismatic leaders, and the socialization of second-generation membership; changing relationships with the 'host' society; and the growth—or demise—of the movements) provide much more of interest for the sociologist to study in the future.

Robert W. Wyllie, Spiritism in Ghana: A Study of new religious movements, American Academy of Religion; Studies in Religion No. 21, Missovla, Montana, Scholars Press1980, 139 pp., paperback.

Robert W. Wyllie, Spiritism in Ghana: A Study of new religious movements, American Academy of Religion; Studies in Religion No. 21, Missovla, Montana, Scholars Press1980, 139 pp., paperback.

A Question of Balance

This article was written after I participated in a research seminar sponsored by the Center for the Study of New Religious Movements, Berkeley, California. As part of our research, we interviewed members and former members of spiritual groups over a period of eight months. The topic of health and pathology in new religious movements was of particular interest to me as a practicing psychotherapist, and I discuss it here from a transpersonal perspective. Current popular interest in spiritual alternatives is viewed in terms of psychological development. Motivation for joining groups is varied, and participation in such groups may be either healthy or pathogenic for individual development. Distinctions are made between ego mastery and spiritual mastery, and characteristics of genuine spiritual mastery are delineated. Choosing a teacher and recognizing groups that are potentially detrimental requires both self-awareness and the ability to evaluate levels of development beyond ego. A balanced use of intuition and reason, and willingness to recognize personal limitations, can contribute to adequate evaluation.

A Bibliography of Social Scientific Studies of New Religious Movements

A Bibliography of Social Scientific Studies of New Religious Movements

Quelques aspects du phénomène des nouveaux mouvements religieux en République Fédérale d'Allemagne

This article was conceived as a supplement to an empirical study of new religious movements which was conducted in the Federal Republic of Germany. The empirical study as well as the "national" reports were undertaken because of the concern about the new groups which has arisen in some of the governmental agencies. The controversy about the new religions presents a delimma for the German government. On the one hand there is a constitutional guarantee for religions freedom and on the other there are similar obligations to protect youth and the institution of the family.

A Program for the Study of New Religious Movements in America

A Program for the Study of New Religious Movements in America

The study of new religious movements in Africa, 1968—1975

The choice of such a short span for this survey is dictated by the abundance of published work in a field of such size and variety, and of such popularity among so many disicplines, as the new religious movements among the peoples of -subSaharan Africa. A more comprehensive study would have had to reach back at least to 1948, to the pioneering work of Bengt Sundkler, Bantu Prophets in South Africa (rev. edn 1961), that is probably the best known publication on the subject ; this outline may be allowed to commence with the other work that is becoming as well known as Sundkler's, D .B . Barrett's Schism and Renewal in Africa (1968), which marks the first attempt at a continent-wide study of the phenomena and a comprehensive theoretical interpretation . Each of these is in fact more limited than is generally realized : Sundkler's book primarily to the Zulu, and Barrett's to movements that are professedly Christian . Barrett's book, however, does provide a landmark for the start of this bibliographical journey . It would be well to take first a quick glance at the world scene where single works attempting an overall study and interpretation of similar phenomena in primal societies might have something to contribute to work in the African sector . Here the results are disappointing for none shows any special interest or competence in African studies . W . La Barrels 'Materials for a History of Studies of Crisis Cults', Current Anthropology 12 (1), 1971, is an ambitious attempt to employ a single category for almost all religious movements (the more one succeeds here the less meaningful it becomes!) and is valuable for bibliography and for the stress on a multi-disciplinary approach and on manyfactored explanations . He seems, however, indifferent to the religious disciplines and especially hostile to the

: The Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of New Religious Movements in Japan . H. Neill McFarland.

: The Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of New Religious Movements in Japan . H. Neill McFarland.

The Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of New Religious Movements in Japan

The Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of New Religious Movements in Japan