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Sex and New Religions
Sex and New Religions Oxford Handbooks Online Sex and New Religions Megan Goodwin The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements: Volume II Edited by James R. Lewis and Inga Tøllefsen Print Publication Date: Jun 2016 Subject: Religion, New Religions Online Publication Date: Jul 2016 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190466176.013.22 Abstract and Keywords New religions have historically been sites of sexual experimentation, and popular imaginings of emergent and unconventional religions usually include the assumption that members engage in transgressive sexual practices. It is surprising, then, that so few scholars of new religions have focused on sexuality. In this chapter, I consider the role of sexual practice, sexual allegations, and sexuality studies in the consideration of new religions. I propose that sex both shapes and haunts new religions. Because sexuality studies attends to embodied difference and the social construction of sexual pathology, the field can and should inform theoretically rigorous scholarship of new religious movements. Keywords: Sex, sexuality, gender, heteronormativity, cults, sex abuse, moral panic WE all know what happens in a cult. The word itself carries connotations of sexual intrigue, impropriety, even abuse (Winston 2009). New Religious Movements (NRMs) have historically been sites of sexual experimentation, and popular imaginings of emergent and unconventional religions usually include the assumption that members engage in transgressive sexual practices. It is surprising, then, that so few NRM scholars have focused on sexuality.1 In this chapter, I consider the role of sexual practice, sexual allegations, and sexuality studies in the consideration of NRMs. I propose the following. Sex shapes new religions. NRMs create space for unconventional modes of sexual practices and gender presentations. -
Barker, Eileen. "Denominationalization Or Death
Barker, Eileen. "Denominationalization or Death? Comparing Processes of Change within the Jesus Fellowship Church and the Children of God aka The Family International." The Demise of Religion: How Religions End, Die, or Dissipate. By Michael Stausberg, Stuart A. Wright and Carole M. Cusack. London,: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. 99–118. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 2 Oct. 2021. <http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350162945.ch-006>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 2 October 2021, 18:58 UTC. Copyright © Michael Stausberg, Stuart A. Wright, Carole M. Cusack, and contributors 2020. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. 6 Denominationalization or Death? Comparing Processes of Change within the Jesus Fellowship Church and the Children of God aka The Family International Eileen Barker This is an account of the apparently impending demise of two new religious movements (NRMs) which were part of the Jesus movement that was spreading across North America and western Europe in the late 1960s. Both movements were evangelical in nature; both had a charismatic preacher as its founder; and both believed from their inception in following the lifestyle of the early Christians as described in the Acts of the Apostles.1 One of the movements began in the small village of Bugbrooke, a few miles southwest of Northampton in the English Midlands; the other began in Huntington Beach, California. -
Satanism in Finland Satanism in Finland
474 Hjelm Chapter 59 Satanism in Finland Satanism in Finland Titus Hjelm Satanism entered the Finnish public consciousness in the mid-1980s. Per- haps not surprisingly, the first people who were interested in and concerned about Satanism were Pentecostalist Christians, namely the Finnish preacher/ prophet Leo Meller. Meller’s book Rock (1986) “exposed” the “satanic” content of contemporary rock and Heavy Metal music, very much in line with the con- temporary discussions in the USA. Although little discussed in the mainstream media at the time, Meller’s role set an example for later religious commenta- tors who posed and were received as experts on Satanism. Whereas the public attention generated by Meller and others denouncing the “satanic” popular culture of the times was regarded more or less sceptically or even with mild amusement in the media, Satanism acquired a more sinister image in the early 1990s with the church burnings and homicides connected to Satanists in Norway. Mainstream newspapers discussed the possibility of satanic cults in Finland and some murders were linked − no matter how tenu- ously − to an allegedly satanic motivation (Hjelm 2005a). The reality of Satanism was finally “proven” in the public eye when some people, namely the Finnish rock singer Kauko Röyhkä, publicly professed to be practising Satanists. Finnish Satanism in the Early 1990s Some anti-Satanist commentators (such as the abovementioned Leo Meller) have suggested that satanic ritual groups existed in Finland already in the 1970s, but this allegation hardly stands the test of critical scrutiny. There may, however, have been magical/occult groups or individuals in Finland at that time, but there is no knowledge of explicitly satanic involvement by any of these. -
Gary Shepherd CV April 2013
CURRICULUM VITA April, 2013 PROFESSIONAL IDENTIFICATION 1. ACADEMIC AFFILIATION Gary Shepherd Oakland University Department of Sociology and Anthropology Professor of Sociology Emeritus 2. EDUCATION Degree Institution Date Field Ph.D. Michigan State University 1976 Sociology M.A. The University of Utah 1971 Sociology B.A. The University of Utah l969 Sociology FACULTY TEACHING APPOINTMENTS 1. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Part-Time Instructor (Department of Sociology; School of Social Work), 1974-1976. 2. OAKLAND UNIVERSITY Rank and Date of Appointment: Visiting Assistant Professor, 8/15/76 - 8/14/77 Assistant Professor, 8/15/77 Dates of Reappointment: Assistant Professor, 8/15/81 Assistant Professor, 8/15/79 Rank and Date of Promotion: Associate Professor With Tenure, 8/15/83 Full Professor With Tenure, 4/6/95 Professor Emeritus, 9/15/09 Interim Director, The Honors College, 2010-2011 COURSES TAUGHT 1. Introduction to Sociology (SOC 100) 2. Introduction to Social Science Research Methods (SOC 202) 3. Social Statistics (SOC 203) 4. Self and Society (SOC 206) 5. Social Stratification (SOC 301) 6. Sociology of Religion (SOC 305) 7. Sociology of The Family (SOC 335) 8. Moral Socialization (SOC 338) 9. Sociology of New Religious Movements (SOC 392) 10. Sociological Theory (SOC 400) 11. Honors College Freshman Colloquium (HC100) 2 SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES 1. PUBLISHED BOOKS: Shepherd, Gary and Gordon Shepherd. Binding Heaven and Earth: Patriarchal Blessings in the Prophetic Development of Early Mormonism. The Penn State University Press, 2012. Shepherd, Gordon and Gary Shepherd. Talking with The Children of God: Prophecy and Transformation in a Radical Religious Group. The University of Illinois Press, 2010. -
Do You Believe in the Lord and Saviour Cthulhu?
Do you believe in the Lord and Saviour Cthulhu? The application of Lovecraft and his Cthulhu Mythos in Western Esotericism Nadine Eekhout s1526804 M.A. Davidsen 2018-2019 MA Theology and Religious Studies thesis 09-07-2019 1 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 H.P Lovecraft: Writer or Prophet? .................................................................................... 3 1.2 Introduction to Cthulhu Mythos ...................................................................................... 5 1.3 Introduction Fiction-based Religions ............................................................................... 7 1.4 Lovecraftian Magick: From Fiction to Magick ................................................................ 10 2. Method ................................................................................................................................ 12 3. Analyzing the Man, the Mythos and the Magick ............................................................... 15 3.1 Adaptations of Lovecraftian magick into an existing religious frame….……….……………..15 3.1.1 The Church of Satan: Cthulhu versus Satan .......................................................... 15 3.1.2 Temple of Set ....................................................................................................... 16 3.1.3 Grant’s Typhonian Order ..................................................................................... -
Dr. Roy Murphy
US THE WHO, WHAT & WHY OF MANKIND Dr. Roy Murphy Visit us online at arbium.com An Arbium Publishing Production Copyright © Dr. Roy Murphy 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner. Nor can it be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition including this condition being imposed on a subsequent purchaser. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover design created by Mike Peers Visit online at www.mikepeers.com First Edition – 2013 ISBN 978-0-9576845-0-8 eBook-Kindle ISBN 978-0-9576845-1-5 eBook-PDF Arbium Publishing The Coach House 7, The Manor Moreton Pinkney Northamptonshire NN11 3SJ United Kingdom Printed in the United Kingdom Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici 863233150197864103023970580457627352658564321742494688920065350330360792390 084562153948658394270318956511426943949625100165706930700026073039838763165 193428338475410825583245389904994680203886845971940464531120110441936803512 987300644220801089521452145214347132059788963572089764615613235162105152978 885954490531552216832233086386968913700056669227507586411556656820982860701 449731015636154727292658469929507863512149404380292309794896331535736318924 980645663415740757239409987619164078746336039968042012469535859306751299283 295593697506027137110435364870426383781188694654021774469052574773074190283 -
Satanism, Sometimes Called ‘Devil-Worship’, Is Thought by Some to Be a Religion That Exists for the Sole Purpose of Opposing and Rebelling Against God
SatanSataniiiissssmmmm Satanism, sometimes called ‘Devil-worship’, is thought by some to be a religion that exists for the sole purpose of opposing and rebelling against God. Most Satanists reject that definition. They say that Satanism is a self-religion that encourages the development of “self” and has little interest in opposing Christianity. Nevertheless, the reality is that Satanists encourage blasphemy, vehemently oppose Christian doctrine and practice and judge Christians to be corrupt and hypocritical. Satanism should not be confused with Paganism, which is a nature-worshipping religion that has no concept of Satan in its theology. God Satan is the god of the Satanists. Some prefer to call him Set (Set was an ancient Egyptian deity) because, they claim, the concept of Satan was invented by the Christian church to frighten followers into submission. They would say that Satan, as a Christian understands him, does not exist. Instead they think of Set as a deity who can be approached as a friend and who, like the serpent in Genesis 3, dispenses knowledge (the Black Flame) to those who strive for it. Some say that Set is a real being, an incorporeal entity and Lord of this world. Others consider him to be merely the archetypal rebel, the ultimate male principle, a figure representing pride, self-interest and self-gratification; the driving force in human evolution. They do not require belief in a personal being called Satan. They merely use the idea of Satan and the rebellious, offensive and provocative symbolism associated with him to encourage self-interest and individualism and promote opposition to institutional religion and the Christian culture. -
Contemporary Religious Satanism: a Critical Anthology, Ashgate: Farnham—Burlington
Book Reviews / ARIES () – Jesper Aagaard Petersen (ed.), Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology, Ashgate: Farnham—Burlington . xii + pp. ISBN: - ---. After a plethora of monographs and anthologies about the so-called Satanism Scare, research on actual Satanism has finally gotten off the ground. Contem- porary Religious Satanism is the first larger collection of articles on the topic in English, and several more are presently on their way. Discussing definitions in his introduction, Jesper Aa. Petersen proposes to supplant a theological focus on Satanic beliefs with a discursive approach focus- ing on self-designation as a Satanist (a “speech-act”). Expanding on Colin Campbell’s notion of a “cultic milieu”, Petersen then isolates a “Satanic milieu” within it, which contains rationalist, esoteric and reactive sub-groups. He further identifies a dual process of dis-embedding and re-embedding, where “Satan” has become a floating signifier put to use in discursive battles. Most of this has subsequently been developed considerably in Petersen’s highly recom- mendable doctoral dissertation (defended in September ). In chapter one, Graham Harvey analyzes the Satanism of the Church of Satan (CoS) and the Temple of Set (ToS) as forms of self-spirituality (Paul Heelas’ characterization of the New Age movement), the shared basic project being to break free from socialization and return to our authentic nature. Based on a survey he conducted among UK ToS members in , Harvey observes that ‘Satanists like to project a sinister façade, but are actually very little different to their neighbors’ (p. ). This is probably quite true in many cases but is not—it is worth stressing—a general rule: Harvey bases his conclusions on a questionnaire with merely eleven respondents. -
The Demise of Religion: How Religions End, Die, Or Dissipate
Stausberg, Michael, Stuart A. Wright, and Carole M. Cusack. "Index." The Demise of Religion: How Religions End, Die, or Dissipate. London,: Bloomsbury Academic, 2020. 201–206. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 24 Sep. 2021. <>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 24 September 2021, 05:57 UTC. Copyright © Michael Stausberg, Stuart A. Wright, Carole M. Cusack, and contributors 2020. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. Index abuse 9, 19, 72, 76–9, 105, 110–11, 121– atheism 138 32, 157, 161–2. See also violence Aum Shinrikyō 7–8, 17, 22–3, 25, 27, of children 9, 104, 109–11, 115 n. 31, 49–60, 61 n. 6, 62 n. 10–11, 158, 162, 166 166, 187 sexual 9–10, 23, 67, 71, 104, 109–11, Austin, J. L. 43–4 120, 127, 162–3, 166, 169 Australia 24, 32, 157 spiritual 121, 128–32 authoritarianism 121, 123, 155, 170, 177 of weakness (abus de faiblesse) 157, 167–8, 170 Bainbridge, William Sims 13, 22, 57, African American 162. See also 108 nationalism, black bigotry 143 Agonshū 52 birth control 107 Aleph 23, 50, 54–6, 59, 61 n. 8 Bahai 5 America. See United States baptism 99, 101, 148 Amerindian 162 Baptist 32–3, 99–101 Amour et Misericorde 158, 168–70 Barker, Eileen 9, 89–90, 96, 104, 107–8, Amsterdam, Peter 105, 108 177–8 Ancient and Mystic Order of the Rosy Barltrop, Mabel. See Octavia Cross (AMORC) 179 Bedford 83, 89–90, 92 Ancient Egypt 21, 162, 164 Bellah, Robert 91 Anglicanism 8, 94. -
Cults and New Religions: a Brief History
Cults and New Religions WILEY BLACKWELL BRIEF HISTORIES OF RELIGION SERIES This series offers brief, accessible, and lively accounts of key topics within theology and religion. Each volume presents both academic and general readers with a selected history of topics which have had a profound effect on religious and cultural life. The word “history” is, therefore, understood in its broadest cultural and social sense. The volumes are based on serious scholarship but they are written engagingly and in terms readily understood by general readers. Other topics in the series: Published Heaven Alister E. McGrath Heresy G. R. Evans Death Douglas J. Davies Saints Lawrence S. Cunningham Christianity Carter Lindberg Dante Peter S. Hawkins Love Carter Lindberg Christian Mission Dana L. Robert Christian Ethics Michael Banner Jesus W. Barnes Tatum Shinto John Breen and Mark Teeuwen Paul Robert Paul Seesengood Apocalypse Martha Himmelfarb Islam, 2nd edition Tamara Sonn The Reformation Kenneth G. Appold Utopias Howard P. Segal Spirituality, 2nd edition Philip Sheldrake Cults and New Religions, 2nd edition Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley Cults and New Religions A Brief History Second Edition Douglas E. Cowan Renison College, University of Waterloo and David G. Bromley Virignia Commonwealth University This edition first published 2015 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Edition history: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. (1e, 2008) Registered Office John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148‐5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley‐blackwell. -
Ageing in New Religions: the Varieties of Later Experiences
Eileen Barker Ageing in new religions: the varieties of later experiences Article (Published version) (Refereed) Original citation: Barker, Eileen (2011) Ageing in new religions: the varieties of later experiences. Diskus, 12 . pp. 1-23. ISSN 0967-8948 © 2011 The Author This version available at: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/50871/ Available in LSE Research Online: July 2013 LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk) of the LSE Research Online website. The Journal of the British Association for the Study of Religions (www.basr.ac.uk) ISSN: 0967-8948 Diskus 12 (2011): 1-23 http://www.basr.ac.uk/diskus/diskus12/Barker.pdf Ageing in New Religions: The Varieties of Later Experiences1 Eileen Barker London School of Economics / Inform [email protected] ABSTRACT In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s and 1980s a wide variety of new religions became visible in the West, attracting young converts who often dropped out of college or gave up their careers to work long hours for the movements with little or no pay. -
The Encyclopedia of New Religions Bibliography
The Encyclopedia of New Religions Bibliography The following bibliography has been constructed to enable readers to explore selected topics in greater depth. Rather than present a long uncategorized list, which would have been unhelpful and potentially confusing, the classification of literature mirrors the format of the book. (Classifying new religions and spiritualities is a notoriously difficult problem, and it should not be thought that groups that have been bracketed together do not have important differences.) In a few instances a movement may be relevant to more than one section; hence readers are advised to look in other sections if they cannot instantly locate the sought material. Anyone who compiles a bibliography on new spiritualities has to make choices, since there is a vast array of literature available. While endeavouring to include a good range of material and viewpoints, we have omitted material that we consider to be badly inaccurate or misleading. However, some religious movements have been virtually neglected by writers and hence the material indicated below is the best available. For some groups there is virtually no literature apart from their own writings. While we have aimed to incorporate material on the grounds of accessibility, quality, up-to-dateness, popularity and prominence, inclusion here does not necessarily imply endorsement by the editor or individual authors. At the end of each section a selection of websites has been provided. However, it should be noted that, whilst these were all available at the time of writing, and whilst we believe them to be relatively reliable, unlike books, websites can literally disappear overnight.