DOCSLIB.ORG

Download Download

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Download Download International Journal for the Study of New Religions 5.2 (2014) 189–192 ISSN 2041-9511 (print) ISSN 2041-952X (online) doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v5i2.26144 Book Reviews Handbook of New Religions and Cultural Production, edited by Carole M. Cusack and Alex Norman. Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion, 2012. 790+xxxpp. Hb. €224/$298. ISBN-13: 9789004221871. Reviewed by Eileen Barker, London School of Economics, E.Barker@LSE. ac.uk Keywords New Religions, Cultural Production, Cultural Studies The editors of this book open by telling us that its production was a Her- culean task. I would not question that claim for one second. Well over 800 pages and heavy enough to impede taking it on a train journey, let alone an airplane, it contains 30 full-length chapters and 47 illustrations. The con- tributors, both familiar and unfamiliar to scholars of religion, range from seasoned emeritus professor to young doctoral student and hail from North America, Europe, New Zealand, and, predominantly, Australia. The book is not about new religions and about cultural productions as those familiar with the senior editor’s excellent Invented Religions: Imagina- tion, Fiction and Faith might assume from a quick glance at the title. It is about the cultural productions of new religions. Furthermore, it is made clear that these are not just incidental by-products but innovations that can be seen as being in some way integral to the spiritual growth of the movement. It is admitted that such contributions could cover a far wider span, but among the examples with which we are presented are music, architecture, food, art, books, films, and video games. The concept of new religions is not actually defined; not all the movements are religious according to most conventional understandings of the term (Discordianism and “the sacred Chao” embrace a pretty unorthodox understanding; Scientology’s religious credentials have long been questioned in various quarters; Graham St John and Chiara Bal- dini argue that, while psytrance (psychedelic trance) is not an identifiable new religious movement, its cultural products, such as Portugal’s Boom festi- val, “are heterotopian religio-spiritual enclaves in a highly optimised, and yet © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2015, Office 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield, S1 2BX 190 Book Reviews rarely consensual, techno-mystical movement” (522). As for the “newness” of the movements, some of those included in the book have been around for a century or more, but it could be argued that the main focus is on cul- tural contributions that they produced in their formative years when they were more obviously new—however, Elisha McIntyre’s description of “Mol- lywood” productions, concentrates on the place of humour in twenty-first century Mormon films. The scope of the volume might be indicated by reporting that it is divided into nine parts, each part containing three or four chapters: (1) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons); (2) the Theosophical Soci- ety; (3) Anthroposophy; (4) the work of Gurdjieff; (5) modern Paganism; (6) Afro-Carribean Religions; (7) new religious techniques and technologies; (8) new universal religions (Baha’i, Caodism, Sufism and the Hare Krishna movement, ISKCON); and (9) modern Christian offshoots (Queer Theol- ogy; the Deep Sea Canoe Movement and “Visible Religion”). All the chapters provide not only a discussion about cultural products but also a succinct and useful introduction to the movements themselves. It is impossible to do justice to the variety that we are offered, but whilst it would be impracticable to cover all the chapters here, that does not mean that they are not all worth reading. Although, for purely personal interests I found some more absorbing than others, I found no bad apples. Let me select just a few brief examples to offer an introductory taster. One of the most widely innovative founders of a new religion was Rudolph Steiner, whose Anthroposophy celebrated the “wisdom of Man” (as opposed to Theosophy’s celebration of the “wisdom of God”). All his cultural produc- tions exemplified Steiner’s “spiritual science,” and the book’s editors, together with Liselotte Frisk, give us three complementary accounts of his undoubted genius, which embraced politics, banking, diet, medicine, costume, poetry, literature, drama, painting, sculpture, and dance (Eurythmy)—as well as the now-over-900-worldwide Waldorf Schools that reflect his educational ideas (described by Frisk), the Bio-dynamic agriculture widely adopted by vintners (as related by Norman), and distinctive architecture (particularly the first, then second, Goetheanum in the small Swiss town of Dornach explored by Cusack). A completely different but equally prolific founder was L. Ron Hubbard whose cultural productions included hundreds of books of science fiction. It is not entirely clear that Hubbard’s literature (apart, of course, from that spe- cifically about the techniques and beliefs of Dianetics and Scientology) result from LRH’s spiritual beliefs rather than the latter being a reflection of the © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2015 Book Reviews 191 former. An interesting argument is made, however, by Adam Possamai and Alphia Possamai-Inesedy that, in line with the cultural logic of late capital- ism as described by the Frankfurt school, the skills of efficiency developed in the promotion of Scientology have also been employed in the promotion of Hubbard’s other, non-Scientological products. According to Graham Harvey, to identify Paganism merely as a nature reli- gion is to risk ignoring the fact that the “central, defining activity of Pagan religiosity is the performance of rituals of human relationship with a world that can be defined as ‘nature’ ” (399). Harvey’s informative chapter explores the context within which one of several Pagan cultural productions has devel- oped into the competitive performance events that lead to the award of the Druidic “Bardic Chairs.” These, with their blend of poetry, story-telling and music-making can, he argues, be recognized both as expressions of Paganism and as contributions to the wider society. ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, commonly referred to as the Hare Krishna movement) has nearly 100 restaurants around the globe and devotees can be found distributing free meals as part of their Food for Life program to victims in dangerous war zones, the homeless on street corners, and students on university campuses. Ben Zeller persuasively demonstrates the centrality of its theology of food for ISKCON: growing, cooking, distributing and consuming prasadam, the specially selected and prepared ingredients that have been offered to Krishna. He also describes how this becomes “food substantiated into grace” (683). Such distribution and the many cookbooks that ISKCON has produced have, arguably, con- tributed to the growing acceptability and even popularity of a vegetarian diet. Turning to music (which, of course, is another of ISKCON’s cultural pro- ductions), Kenneth Granholm explores connections between the symphonic metal band Therion and Dragon Rouge, a “Left-Hand Path magic order” founded in Sweden in 1990, which Granholm characterizes as “a specific combination of three distinct discourses: individualism as an ideology; the goal of self-deification; and an antinomian stance” (564). He draws on Christopher Partridge’s concept of “occulture” (itself a development of Colin Campbell’s notion of the cultic milieu), which involves the dissemination of esoteric material as part of popular culture. For those of us more familiar with the classics, this chapter provides a steep-curve educational introduction to heavy metal. In the end, Granholm’s conclusion would seem to be that while some, though by no means all of the members of Therion were members of Dragon Rouge, most, though not all, of the Therion lyrics could more accu- rately be described as having been drawn from and/or contributing to wider © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2015 192 Book Reviews occulture. Although all that “reggaes is not Rasta” (497), and “most consumers of the Rasta-reggae culture had only an elementary understanding of the theo- logical by-product of reggae music” (501), a far closer connection is spelled out between Rastafarianism and Reggae music, particularly as exemplified by Bob Marley, whose lyrics were rich in both biblical and political injunctions and, Nathaniel Samuel Murrell and Justin Snider tell us, singing Marley’s songs one can find oneself “in the theological consciousness zone of the roots- reggae of Rastafari” (517). A somewhat different fusion of “ethno-theology” and politics from that found in Reggae is disclosed in Jaap Timmer’s description of books and a film emanating from the Deep Sea Canoe Movement (DSCM), which is to be found among the To’abaita speakers on the Solomon Island of Malaita. Followers believe that they are descendants of biblical kings, brought on the Ark to the Pacific and that the Lost Temple of Israel lies hidden in the island’s mountainous interior. Whilst it is unclear that the documentary film has had much influence, Timmer’s analysis suggests that the books have played a significant role in raising such questions as how Malaitans might gain inde- pendence and access modernity, whilst, through the Israel connection, dif- ferentiating members of the DSCM from adherents of traditional Christian churches and more recent Muslim converts. On several occasions during the reading of this book I found myself Goog- ling to find out more about particular groups and/or their products. To admit this is undoubtedly a confession of my ignorance, but it is certainly not a complaint that the reader was not given enough information. It is an affir- mation that this is a thoroughly stimulating collection of essays. Whatever conclusions one might reach about the various movements and the cultural products to which we are introduced, one cannot but be left marvelling at the imaginative and inventive creativity of the human species.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Christian Church and the New Religious Movements: Towards Theological Understanding John A
    THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND THE NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS: TOWARDS THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING JOHN A. SALIBA, S.J. University of Detroit OR MORE than a decade Western society, in particular the United FStates of America,1 has seen the rise and proliferation of religious and spiritual groups which the public has undiscerningly and indiscriminately labeled "cults." Many of the adherents of these new groups have come from the background of the traditional Christian churches. Most of them, by abandoning the beliefs and practices of their forefathers, have passed a negative judgment on the Christian Church and its relevance to contemporary life. The so-called cults have often been in the public eye because of the legal actions and Congressional investigations instigated by anticult organizations. Anguished parents, whose children have be­ come cult members, have turned to self-styled déprogrammera who have at times operated outside both civil and moral law. Yet the mainline Christian response to the new religions can, with few exceptions, be categorized as one of neglect and apathy. Though the churches have made extensive efforts to come to grips with the cultural upheavals of the mid-1960's,2 their attempts to meet the challenge of the cults have, on the whole, been slow, sporadic, and superficial. Many Christians, theologians included, have failed to grasp the significance of the new religious movements, which are already leaving an impact on society at large and on Christianity itself. It is unfortunate that we still lack a systematic treatment of the theological implications of these movements. The only concerted Christian response has come from evangelical Christianity, which has directed a considerable amount of literature3 to 1 See The Spiritual Community Guide (San Rafael, Calif.: Spiritual Community, 1978) and Gordon Melton, The Encyclopedia of American Religions 2 (Wilmington, N.C.: McGrath, 1978).
    [Show full text]
  • Is the Bahá'í Faith a World Religion?
    Published in the Journal of Bahá’í Studies Vol. 6, number 1 (1994) © Association for Bahá’í ™ Studies 1994 Is the Bahá’í Faith a World Religion?1 Seena Fazel Abstract This article will explore some of the issues involved in the sociological analysis of the status of the Bahá’í Faith. It will endeavor to present criteria for the labels “world religion” and “new religious movement,” as well as explore to what extent the Bahá’í Faith fulfils these criteria. It will attempt to demonstrate that the Bahá’í Faith is best categorized as a “world religion.” In a statement to the United Nations Commission on Palestine in 1947, Shoghi Effendi stated that the Bahá’í Faith “can be regarded in no other light than a world religion” (“Faith of Bahá’u’lláh” 219). However, today, despite the increasing expansion and influence of the Bahá’í Faith since Shoghi Effendi made that statement, its status outside the Bahá’í community remains controversial. In academic circles, it has shed the label of a sect of Islam,2 but there is no consensus about its present standing. A 1992 textbook on the world’s religions describes the problem: The question of how to “place” Bahaism is a little problematic. Although it originated as a sectarian movement within Shi‘ite Islam, there is now no sense in which Bahá’ís would regard themselves as Muslims, nor would they be recognized as such by any branch of Islam. Bahá’ís themselves have for some time now proclaimed their faith to be a “world religion” on a par with Islam, Christianity, and other established creeds.
    [Show full text]
  • Visualizing the Transition out of High-Demand Religions
    LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations Spring April 2017 Visualizing the Transition Out of High-Demand Religions Summer Anne Myers Loyola Marymount University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Religion Commons Recommended Citation Myers, Summer Anne, "Visualizing the Transition Out of High-Demand Religions" (2017). LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations. 321. https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/321 This Research Projects is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Running Head: VISUALIZING RELIGIOUS TRANSITIONS Visualizing the Transition out of High Demand Religions by Summer Myers A research paper presented to the Faculty of the Department of Marital and Family Therapy Loyola Marymount University In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Marital and Family Therapy May 9, 2017 VISUALIZING RELIGIOUS TRANSITIONS i Signature Page VISUALIZING RELIGIOUS TRANSITIONS i Abstract This research uses a questionnaire and a bridge drawing directive to explore the lived experience of transitioning out of a high-demand religion. Subjects include disaffiliated Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Fundamentalist Protestants who were recruited through a dedicated website via limited promotion in online communities for disaffiliates. Visual and textual responses are analyzed through qualitative coding, with additional analysis performed on the artwork using Hays and Lyons’ (1981) bridge drawing criteria.
    [Show full text]
  • Challenging Apostasy
    This article was downloaded by: [Yale University Library] On: 29 June 2013, At: 02:07 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Religion Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rrel20 Challenging apostasy: Responses to Moojan Momen's ‘Marginality and Apostasy in the Baha’i Community’ Michael Stausberg European Editor a , Denis MacEoin b , Sen McGlinn c , Eric Stetson Executive Director d , Frederick Glaysher e & Moojan Momen f a Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, Universitet i Bergen, Postboks 7805, Bergen, N-5020, Norway E-mail: b E-mail: c E-mail: d The Christian Universalist Association, E-mail: http:// www.christianuniversalist.org e E-mail: http://www.fglaysher.com f E-mail: Published online: 22 Feb 2011. To cite this article: Michael Stausberg European Editor , Denis MacEoin , Sen McGlinn , Eric Stetson Executive Director , Frederick Glaysher & Moojan Momen (2008): Challenging apostasy: Responses to Moojan Momen's ‘Marginality and Apostasy in the Baha’i Community’, Religion, 38:4, 384-393 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.religion.2008.08.009 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date.
    [Show full text]
  • The Articulation Between Evolutionism and Creationism in New Religious Movements: Two South American Case Studies[1]
    Revista del CESLA ISSN: 1641-4713 ISSN: 2081-1160 [email protected] Uniwersytet Warszawski Polonia The articulation between evolutionism and creationism in New Religious Movements: Two South American case studies[1] de Lima Campanha, Vitor The articulation between evolutionism and creationism in New Religious Movements: Two South American case [1] studies Revista del CESLA, vol. 26, 2020 Uniwersytet Warszawski, Polonia Available in: https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=243364810005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.36551/2081-1160.2020.26.179-194 PDF generated from XML JATS4R by Redalyc Project academic non-profit, developed under the open access initiative Debate e articulation between evolutionism and creationism in New Religious Movements: Two South American case studies[1] La articulación entre evolucionismo y creacionismo en los Nuevos Movimientos Religiosos: dos estudios de caso sudamericanos Vitor de Lima Campanha [email protected] Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Brasil hp://orcid.org/0000-0002-9546-1859 Abstract: e purpose of this article is to demonstrate how certain religious perspectives Revista del CESLA, vol. 26, 2020 present nuances between the concepts of creation and evolution. Public debate Uniwersytet Warszawski, Polonia characterizes them as polarized concepts. Yet, contemporary religious movements resignify them and create arrangements in which biological evolution and creation Received: 03 March 2020 by the intervention of higher beings are presented in a continuum. It begins with a Accepted: 12 June 2020 brief introduction on the relations and reframing of scientific concepts in the New DOI: https:// Religious Movements and New Age thinking. en we have two case studies which doi.org/10.36551/2081-1160.2020.26.179-194allow us to analyze this evolution-creation synthesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Researching New Religious Movements
    Researching New Religious Movements ‘The most important “first” that this book achieves is its bold questioning of the whole intellectual apparatus of the sociology of religion as it has been applied to the understanding of the new religious movements. I am confident that Elisabeth Arweck’s study will quickly become required reading in the sociology of new religious movements.’ Professor David Martin, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics, University of London ‘Powerful and original . it succeeds triumphantly in being at the same time an important, high-quality academic study and a book for our times.’ Professor David Marsland, Professorial Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Buckingham New religious movements such as Scientology, Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Unification Church (Moonies) are now well established in mainstream cul- tural consciousness. However, responses to these ‘cult’ groups still tend to be overwhelmingly negative, characterized by the furious reactions that they evoke from majority interests. Modern societies need to learn how to respond to such movements and how to interpret their benefits and dangers. Researching New Religious Movements provides a fresh look at the history and development of ‘anti-cult’ groups and the response of main- stream churches to these new movements. In this unique reception study, Elisabeth Arweck traces the path of scholarship of new religious move- ments, exploring the development of research in this growing field. She con- siders academic and media interventions on both sides, with special emphasis on the problems of objectivity inherent in terminologies of ‘sects’, ‘cults’, and ‘brainwashing’. Ideal for students and researchers, this much- needed book takes the debate over new religious movements to a more sophisticated level.
    [Show full text]
  • Lucifer Over Luxor: Archaeology, Egyptology, and Occultism in Kenneth Anger’S Magick Lantern Cycle
    Doyle White, E 2016 Lucifer Over Luxor: Archaeology, Egyptology, and Occultism in Kenneth Anger’s Magick Lantern Cycle. Present Pasts, 7(1): 2, pp. 1–10, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/pp.73 RESEARCH PAPER Lucifer Over Luxor: Archaeology, Egyptology, and Occultism in Kenneth Anger’s Magick Lantern Cycle Ethan Doyle White* One of the great figureheads of American experimental cinema, Kenneth Anger (b.1927), is internationally renowned for his pioneering work, recognisable for its blend of homoerotica, popular and classical music, and dark, symbolist imagery. A follower of Thelema, the religion of infamous British occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), Anger’s work is imbued with occult themes and undercurrents rarely comprehen- sible to the non-initiated viewer. In exploring these esoteric ideas, Anger makes use of archaeology and heritage in his short filmsEaux d’Artifice (1953) and Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954–66), as well as in the lost films The Love That Whirls (1949) and Thelema Abbey (1955), which utilize such disparate elements as Aztec human sacrifice and putative Renaissance Satanism. However, this theme only reaches its apex in Lucifer Rising (1980), an exploration of Thelemic theology filmed at such sites as Avebury, Luxor, and Karnak, which reflects and propagates the Thelemic view of the past—an ‘alternative archaeology’ rooted in Crowley’s own fascination with Egyptomania. This paper seeks to explore Anger’s use of the past and place it in its proper context of twentieth-century Western esotericism. Kenneth Anger (b.1927) is one of the foremost figures of through the transformation of individual consciousness American experimental cinema, an artist who produced via artistic mediums (Hughes 2011: 12).
    [Show full text]
  • The Emergence of Modern Hinduism
    1 Introduction Rethinking Religious Change in Nineteenth-Century South Asia For millennia, one of the most consistent characteristics of Hindu traditions has been variation. Scholarly work on contemporary Hinduism and its premodern antecedents ably captures this complexity, paying attention to a wide spectrum of ideologies, practices, and positions of authority. Studies of religion in ancient India stress doctrinal variation in the period, when ideas about personhood, liberation, the efficacy of ritual, and deities were all contested in a variety of texts and con- texts. Scholarship on contemporary Hinduism grapples with a vast array of rituals, styles of leadership, institutions, cultural settings, and social formations. However, when one turns to the crucial period of the nineteenth century, this complexity fades, with scholars overwhelmingly focusing their attention on leaders and move- ments that can be considered under the rubric “reform Hinduism.” The result has been an attenuated nineteenth-century historiography of Hinduism and a unilin- eal account of the emergence of modern Hinduism. Narratives about the emergence of modern Hinduism in the nineteenth century are consistent in their presumptions, form, and content. Important aspects of these narratives are familiar to students who have read introductory texts on Hinduism, and to scholars who write and teach those texts. At the risk of present- ing a caricature of these narratives, here are their most basic characteristics. The historical backdrop includes discussions of colonialism, Christian missions, and long- standing Hindu traditions. The cast of characters is largely the same in every account, beginning with Rammohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj, moving on to Dayananda Saraswati and the Arya Samaj, and ending with Swami Vivekananda’s “muscular” Hinduism.
    [Show full text]
  • Anton Lavey's Satanic Philosophy: an Analysis
    Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies Volume 9 Number 1 Fall 2018 Article 4 2018 Anton Lavey's Satanic Philosophy: An Analysis Gabriel Andrade University of Zulia Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal Recommended Citation Andrade, Gabriel "Anton Lavey's Satanic Philosophy: An Analysis." Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies 9, no. 1 (2018): 28-42. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/imwjournal/vol9/ iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ANDRADE: SATANIC PHILOSOPHY 28 GABRIEL ANDRADE received his B.A., Master's and PhD degree from University of Zulia (Venezuela). He taught at that same institution for more than ten years. He has also taught in the College of the Marshall Islands (RePublic of the Marshall Islands), Xavier University School of Medicine (Aruba), and is now Assistant Professor of Ethics and Behavioral Science at St Matthew's University School of Medicine (Cayman Islands). He has written many books in SPanish- language presses, mostly focusing on PhilosoPhy and the Social Sciences. 29 INTERMOUNTAIN WEST JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES Gabriel Andrade ANTON LAVEY’S SATANIC PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS THE SATANIC MYSTIQUE The history of Satanism goes back to at least 2500 years. Yet, only in the seventeenth century, was
    [Show full text]
  • Egoism, the 'Cult of Man' and the New Age Movement
    Free Inquiry In Creative Sociology Volume 30 No. 2 November 2002 177 EGOISM, THE 'CULT OF MAN' AND THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT Gayle K. Berardi, University of Southern Colorado, and Thomas W. Segady, Stephen F. Austin State University Time, events, or the unaided individual ac­ charismatic or even paternalistic patterns tion of the mind will sometimes undermine (Mitchell1974). In contrast to the private be­ or destroy an opinion without any outward liefs and practices of those belonging to the sign of change ... No conspiracy has been New Age, Jacobs (1989 5) has further ar­ formed to make war on it, but its followers gued that widespread membership in alter­ one by one noiselessly secede. As its oppo­ native religions represents • ... the desire to nents remain mute or only interchange their ei<perience both the ideal family and the fa­ thoughts by stealth, they are themselves thering of a protective and loving male au­ unaware for a long period that a great revo­ thority figure." As opposed to more formally lution has actually been effected. based alternative religions, the New Age is also characterized by an amorphous body of This quote from Tocqueville's Democracy regular, sustainable, and even fully identifi­ in America is heralded by Marilyn Ferguson able communication. The lack of leadership, in her book The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980) absence of prescribed public ritual, and rou­ as the expression of the shibboleth and so­ tinized patterns of communication have led cial consequence of a new, loosely organized several observers to conclude that efforts to "spiritual revolution." This "silent conspiracy" capture the full range of meanings imputed of religious values and beliefs would soon to the New Age Movement is futile.
    [Show full text]
  • Birth of the Báb
    352 | Birth of the Báb on the head as a mark of cleansing and to mark the References start of a new life in the church. For much of Christian Gaskin, Ina May. Spiritual Midwifery. 4th ed. Sum- history, baptism was performed as soon after the birth mertown, TN: Book Publishing Company, 2002. as possible, in case the baby died, in the belief that the Klassen, Pamela. Blessed Events: Religion and act rids the baby of original sin and ensures entry into Homebirth in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton heaven. However, many Protestant traditions (Menno- University Press, 2001. nites, Baptists, Adventists) practice adult or “believ- Knodel, Natalie. The Thanksgiving of Women after er’s” baptism. In these traditions, an adult must decide Childbirth, commonly called the Churching of to be baptized and baptism by full water immersion Women. 1995. http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mikef/ is more likely to be practiced. Undergoing adult bap- church.html#intro. tism is considered part of the experience of being Leboyer, Frederick. Birth Without Violence. Rev. ed. “born again” into the Christian faith. For infants, these Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions/Bear and Com- churches are likely to offer prayers for the baby’s safe pany, 2002. arrival and future health; a service of dedication might Schott, Judith, and Alix Henley. Culture, Religion be held in which the baby is brought to church a few and Childbearing in a Multiracial Society: A weeks after birth to be welcomed into the community. Handbook for Health Professionals. London: Some Hindu families welcome the baby into the Butterworths Heinemann, 1997.
    [Show full text]
  • New Religious Movements and the Problem of Extremism in Modern Russia Veronika V
    BYU Law Review Volume 2004 | Issue 2 Article 6 5-1-2004 New Religious Movements and the Problem of Extremism in Modern Russia Veronika V. Kravchouk Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, New Religious Movements Commons, and the Religion Law Commons Recommended Citation Veronika V. Kravchouk, New Religious Movements and the Problem of Extremism in Modern Russia, 2004 BYU L. Rev. 507 (2004). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/lawreview/vol2004/iss2/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Brigham Young University Law Review at BYU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in BYU Law Review by an authorized editor of BYU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. KRA-FIN 7/3/2004 1:09 PM New Religious Movements and the Problem of Extremism in Modern Russia Veronika V. Kravchouk∗ I. INTRODUCTION The liberal transition-era policies of the early 1990s following the dissolution of Communism led to the emergence of new foreign and domestic religious movements previously unknown in Russia. The dynamic proliferation of new religious movements and the demands of social, economic, and cultural transition have confronted the government with new and diverse pressures. These increased pressures on the Russian government have been especially poignant as the government has adopted legislation to address extremist activity and regulation of new religious movements.1 Appropriately
    [Show full text]