Cults and New Religious Movements: A Reader
Cults and New Religious Movements: A Reader

Author: Lorne Dawson

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Published: 2003-06-09

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 9781405101806

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What is a cult? Why do they emerge? Who joins them? And why do tragedies such as Waco and Jonestown occur? This reader brings together the voices of historians, sociologists, and psychologists of religion to address these key questions about new religious movements. Looks at theoretical explanations for cults, why people join and what happens when they do. Brings together the best work on cults by sociologists, historians, and psychologists of religion. A broad-ranging, balanced and clearly organized collection of readings. Includes coverage of topical issues, such as the 'brainwashing' controversy, and cults in cyberspace. Section introductions by the editor situate the nature, value, and relevance of the selected readings in context of current discussions.

Comprehending Cults
Comprehending Cults

Author: Lorne L. Dawson

Publisher: Don Mills, Ont. : Oxford University Press

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13:

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He also analyzes controversial issues such as the accusations of brainwashing and sexual deviance that are sometimes made against cults; discusses why cults sometimes turn to violence; and examines what NRMs can tell us about the future of religion and culture in North America. The result is a comprehensive, evenhanded introduction to the study of new religious phenomena."--BOOK JACKET.

Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family
Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family

Author: Richard Abanes

Publisher:

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780891079811

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To help guard yourself and your loved ones against unbiblical spiritual systems, Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family offers a concise overview of ten religious groups that a young person is likely to encounter in the 21st century.

A Historical Introduction to the Study of New Religious Movements
A Historical Introduction to the Study of New Religious Movements

Author: W. Michael Ashcraft

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-02-02

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 1351670832

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The American public’s perception of New Religious Movements (NRMs) as fundamentally harmful cults stems from the "anticult" movement of the 1970s, which gave a sometimes hysterical and often distorted image of NRMs to the media. At the same time, academics pioneered a new field, studying these same NRMs from sociological and historical perspectives. They offered an interpretation that ran counter to that of the anticult movement. For these scholars in the new field of NRM studies, NRMs were legitimate religions deserving of those freedoms granted to established religions. Those scholars in NRM studies continued to evolve methods and theories to study NRMs. This book tells their story. Each chapter begins with a biography of a key person involved in studying NRMs. The narrative unfolds chronologically, beginning with late nineteenth- and early-twentieth century perceptions of religions alternative to the mainstream. Then the focus shifts to those early efforts, in the 1960s and 1970s, to comprehend the growing phenomena of cults or NRMs using the tools of academic disciplines. The book’s midpoint is a chapter that looks closely at the scholarship of the anticult movement, and from there moves forward in time to the present, highlighting themes in the study of NRMs like violence, gender, and reflexive ethnography. No other book has used the scholars of NRMs as the focus for a study in this way. The material in this volume is, therefore, a fascinating viewpoint from which to explore the origins of this vibrant academic community, as well as analyse the practice of Religious Studies more generally.

Religious Movements in Contemporary America
Religious Movements in Contemporary America

Author: Irving I. Zaretsky

Publisher:

Published: 2015-02-16

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780691610504

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Contemporary religious movements in America vary greatly in their organization, goals, methods, and membership. Reflecting the striking diversity of the current religious movement, the papers in this volume consider three categories of religious movements: native American churches, recently founded religious groups, and syncretistic groups based on imported cults. The general aim is to understand the varieties of human behavior within these institutions and to point out their relationship to society in the United States. Originally published in 1975. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Cults in Context
Cults in Context

Author: Lorne Dawson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-02-06

Total Pages: 725

ISBN-13: 135152464X

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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.

New Religious Movements
New Religious Movements

Author: Dereck Daschke

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2005-06-17

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0814707033

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An original collection of primary documents conveying the wide array of ideas connected to new religious movements New Religious Movements is a highly unique volume, bringing together primary documents conveying the words and ideas of a wide array of new religious movements (NRMs), and offering a first-hand look into their belief systems. Arranged by the editors according to a new typology, the text allows readers to consider NRMS along five interrelated pathways—from those that offer new perceptions of existence or new personal identities, to those that center on relationships within family-like units, to those movements that highlight the need for recasting the social order or anticipate the dawn of a new age. The volume includes original documents from groups such as the Unification Church, Theosophy, Branch Davidians, Wicca, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Santeria, and Seventh Day Adventists, as well as many others. Each section is prefaced by a contextual introduction and concludes with a list of sources for further reading. New Religious Movements offers a rare inside look into the worldviews of alternative religious traditions.

The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements
The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements

Author: James R. Lewis

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016-04-12

Total Pages: 545

ISBN-13: 0190611529

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The study of New Religious Movements (NRMs) is one of the fastest-growing areas of religious studies, and since the release of the first edition of The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements in 2003, the field has continued to expand and break new ground. In this all-new volume, James R. Lewis and Inga B. T?llefsen bring together established and rising scholars to address an expanded range of topics, covering traditional religious studies topics such as "scripture," "charisma," and "ritual," while also applying new theoretical approaches to NRM topics. Other chapters cover understudied topics in the field, such as the developmental patterns of NRMs and subcultural considerations in the study of NRMs. The first part of this book examines NRMs from a social-scientific perspective, particularly that of sociology. In the second section, the primary factors that have put the study of NRMs on the map, controversy and conflict, are considered. The third section investigates common themes within the field of NRMs, while the fourth examines the approaches that religious studies researchers have taken to NRMs. As NRM Studies has grown, subfields such as Esotericism, New Age Studies, and neo-Pagan Studies have grown as distinct and individual areas of study, and the final section of the book investigates these emergent fields.