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New Religions As Global Cultures: Making the Human Sacred

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New Religions As Global Cultures: Making the Human Sacred New Religions as Global Cultures EXPLORATIONS Contemporary Perspectives on Religion Lynn Davidman, Gillian Lindt, Charles H. Long, John P. Reeder Jr., Ninian Smart, John F. Wilson, and Robert Wuthnow, Advisory Board New Religions as Global Cultures: Making the Human Sacred, Irving Hexham and Karla Poewe Church, Book, and Bishop: Conflict and Authority in Early Latin Christianity, Peter Iver Kaufman Religion and Politics in America: Faith, Culture, and Strategic Choices, Robert Booth Fowler and Allen D. Hertzke Birth of a Worldview: Early Christianity in Its Jewish and Pagan Context, Robert Doran New Religions as Global Cultures MAKING THE HUMAN SACRED Irving Hexham Karla Poewe University of Calgary ~~ ~~o~!~~~ i~G~oup New York London Explorations: Contemporary Perspectives on Religion First published 1997 by Westview Press Published 2018 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 1997 Taylor & Francis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopy- ing and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for iden- tification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hexham, Irving. New religions as global cultures : making the human sacred I by Irving Hexham & Karla Poewe. p. em. - (Explorations) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8133-2507-2 (he) -ISBN 0-8133-2508-0 (pb) 1. Cults-History-20th century. 2. Cults-Study and teaching- History-20th century. 3. Anti-cult movements-History-20th century. 4. Religion and culture-History-20th century. 5. Religion and sociology. I. Poewe, Karla 0. II. Title. III. Series: Explorations (Boulder, Colo.) BP603.H48 1997 291.046-dc21 96-51758 CIP ISBN 13: 978-0-8133-2508-8 (pbk) Contents Foreword, Rodney Stark Xl Preface XV 1 The Great Anti-cult Crusade "Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! A-Crusading We Will Go!" 2 The Importance of van Baalen, 2 Walter Martin's Ad Hominem Arguments, 3 The New Age Crusade, 4 Anti-cult Literature: A Critique of the Critiques, 5 Charismatics as the New Enemy, 6 Brainwashing, 8 The Question of Deprogramming, 11 Jonestown and the Case Against New Religions, 12 The Waco Tragedy, 13 The Solar Temple and Terror in Tokyo, 14 Cause for Concern? 15 Judgment in Berlin, 15 The Anti-cult Network, 17 How Many People Are Cult Members? 18 Conclusion, 19 Key Terms, 20 2 From Cults to New Religions and Global Culture 27 Defining Cults, 27 Theology and Prejudice, 29 Theological Definitions of "Cult," 30 Academic Definitions: Weber and Troeltsch, 31 From Sect to Denomination, 34 Sociological Definitions of "Cult;' 34 Stark and Bainbridge's Criticism of Ideal Types, 35 Redefining "Church," "Sect;' and "Cult;' 36 Contemporary and New Religious Movements, 36 Key Terms, 37 vi Contents 3 New Religions as Global Cultures 41 Global Cultures and Religious Traditions, 41 The Empirical Roots of a Theory, 42 The Global Dynamics of Religious Cultures, 43 Charismatic Christianity as a Global Culture, 44 New Religions and Global Culture, 46 The European Origins of New Religions, 47 America's Contribution, 49 New Religions in Asia, 50 Africa's New Religions, 52 Global Religions and Spiritual Experiences, 54 Iconic Leadership, 55 Key Terms, 56 4 New Religions and Primal Experiences 59 Primal Experiences and the Global, 59 Frequency of Primal Experiences, 61 Primal Experiences and Shamanism, 62 The Issue of Mental Health, 63 Okinawan Shamans, 64 Primal Experiences and Religious Leaders, 65 The Significance of Failure and the Uniformity of Experience, 66 Shamans and Spirit Possession, 67 Peripheral Amoral and Central Moral Religions, 68 Box Myths and Shuman Religions, 69 Box-Myth-Making and the Founder of Omoto, 70 Helena Blavatsky and Mythmaking, 71 How Myths Are Made: A Brief Example, 73 Conclusion, 75 Key Terms, 76 5 Myths and Mythological Fragments 79 Primal Experiences and Myth, 79 Defining "Myth'' Meaningfully, 81 Myth and Reality, 82 Pseudoscientific Myths, 84 Myths of Prophecy and Fate, 85 Healing Myths, 88 Myths of Decline and Transformation, 89 Toward a New Central Mythology, 92 The Nineteenth-Century Roots of Evolutionary Mythology, 93 Contents Vll The Evolutionary Mythology of New Religions, 94 Key Terms, 96 6 Yogic and Abramic Religions 99 Yogic Religions, 100 Karma, 101 Rebirth, 101 Samsara, Maya, Dharma, and Moksha, 102 Astrology, 103 The Meaning of Yoga, 104 The Guru, 106 The Abramic Tradition, 107 The Doctrine of Creation, 107 The Fall, 108 Redemption, 109 The Importance of Faith, 110 Creation, Fall, Redemption, and New Religions, 111 Types of Eschatology, 112 The Effects of Eschatology, 113 Eschatology and Charismatic Gifts, 113 The Search for Community, 114 Prophetic Leadership, 115 Conclusion, 116 Key Terms, 116 7 The Membership Process 121 Experience, Myth, and Ideology, 121 Joining a New Religion: The Shuman Process, 122 Our Theory of Conversion to New Religions, 130 The Globality of Personal Reorganization, 132 Variations in New Religious Movements, 134 The Conversion State of the Individual, 135 Preconversion Conditions and the Search for Integration, 136 Personal Reorganization Redefined, 138 Key Terms, 139 8 New Religions: New Visions 141 The Effect of Conversion, 142 Understanding New Religions, 142 The Language of Faith, 143 Rationality and Basic Assumptions, 144 Vlll Contents The Discarded Image, 145 Science and Reason, 146 Overview of the Changes to Modernity, 147 From Modernity to Postmodernism, 149 Veneration of the Past, 151 Christianity and the Implications of Technological Change, 152 Mormonism: A New Religion Based on a New Mythology, 153 The Myth of Modernity: A Summation, 154 Some Differences Between Christianity and New Religions, 154 Conclusion, 156 Key Terms, 158 9 How Dangerous Are New Religions? 159 Full Circle, 159 The Problem of Nazi Religion, 160 New Religions or Magical Religions? 161 Magic, Cultural Condition, and Religious Cure, 165 Conclusion, 167 Bibliography 169 About the Book and Authors 187 Index 188 Foreword RODNEY STARK To better appreciate why the authors wrote this book and what readers can hope to learn from them, consider a particular new religion. Like most of these groups, it can be identified as a cult because it displays three typical cultic fea- tures. First, it claims to have extensive new religious truths-a set of unique doc- trines that are very different from those taught by the conventional churches. Second, the source of these new teachings is a young man who claims to have re- ceived them directly from God. Third, the leader requires obedience and encour- ages his followers to abandon their current lives and become full-time members. Understandably, the parents of many of these followers are upset and angry about the exploitation of their children by this self-proclaimed messiah. Their worst fears are confirmed by well-known clergy who issue public warnings about the dangers of this cult and the dangers of all authoritarian religions led by de- luded fanatics. The growing public outcry soon forces the government to act: The leader is crucified between two thieves. This may seem a rather melodramatic introduction, but I intended it to force you to think about the word "cult" and about new religions. All of the world's major, respectable religions, including Christianity, began in obscurity. Each aroused angry opposition. Each would have been classified as a cult according to the three criteria outlined above. The moral of this lesson should now be clear: One person's true faith is an- other's sinful heresy, and there is no easy answer to the question whether cults are dangerous. The pagan priests of ancient Rome thought the Christians were dan- gerous, and from their point of view they were absolutely right. The triumph of Christianity spelled the doom of paganism; in fact most pagan temples were re- modeled into Christian churches or destroyed. Of course most Christians ap- plaud this outcome, believing Christianity was destined to triumph because it is true. But all religious groups, old as well as new, think they are true. They can't all be right. So what's a person to believe? These are issues that lie at the core of this book as it assesses new religious movements around the world. There may be many works on this topic, but this one offers a unique and extremely valuable perspective. The authors have spent years examining new religious movements. They are fully aware of the immense IX X Foreword variety of groups and know the factual and moral complexities involved in char- acterizing them. They wrote this book for students, especially those from Judea-Christian back- grounds. In all times and places, young people are the primary source of converts to new religious movements. Partly for this reason, students have been the targets of a great deal of propaganda on the subject. To pursue this point, let's examine the "cult" section of any bookstore or, better yet, of a religious bookstore. Here we find dozens of books about new religions. Many offer descriptive accounts of new religious groups, their teachings, practices, history, and lifestyles. Some were writ- ten by scholars who were moderately attracted to the group-most new religions attract a fringe of groupies. Others were written by former members, many of whom were out to get even. Still others were written in hopes of making money from sensational revelations about secret rites or other goings-on-and these ac- counts are about as reliable as those about Bigfoot or Elvis in the weeklies sold at supermarket checkout counters.
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