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THESIS the Question of Violence in New Religious Movements

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THESIS the Question of Violence in New Religious Movements THESIS The Question of Violence in New Religious Movements: A Meta-Analysis of Aggregates By Craig Skrumedi Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies of the University of Ottawa in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Peter Beyer University of Ottawa Ottawa, Ontario 2017 © Craig Skrumedi, Ottawa, Canada, 2017 Table of Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements vi Chapter 1: Introduction and Methodological Approach 1 Defining the Problem Chapter 2: New Religious Movements as Social Movements 17 Ideology, Resources and Mobilization Chapter 3: Social Identity Theory and New Religions 26 Self Esteem Charismatic Leadership and Narcissism How Endogenous and Exogenous Variables Can Lead to Violence Chapter 4: New Religious Movements That Display Violent Behaviour 41 Peoples’ Temple/Jonestown The Order of the Solar Temple Aum Shinrikyo Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God The Branch Davidians Rajneeshpuram The Church of the Lamb of God Heaven's Gate Early Scientology Chapter 5: Non-Violent New Religious Movements 200 Early Unification Church Sikh Dharma/3HO – Happy, Healthy, Holy Chen Tao Church Universal and Triumphant Concerned Christians Conclusion 245 Chart A: Aggregates within NRMs that Become Violent 253 Chart B: Aggregates within NRMs that Remain Non-Violent 258 Bibliography 266 Appendix I: Violent New Religious Movements – Compiled Aggregates 281 Appendix I Non-Violent New Religious Movements – Compiled Aggregates 283 ii Abstract This thesis provides a systematic comparison and analysis on violent and non- violent new religious movements. The purpose of using a meta-analysis as the methodological tool for this research project is that it offers a systematic presentation and synthesis of the characteristics and findings from academic studies that exist on each new religious movement. Of importance is that each study, from the fields of sociology, social psychology and religious studies offers differing truths about each of the NRMs as they each only examine certain characteristics. As these disciplines have a high level of theories, this project utilizes a “measure driven” approach, “in which iterative searches and new computerized search techniques are used to increase the range of publications found (and thus the range of possible analyses) and to traverse time and disciplinary boundaries” (Roelfs et al 2013: 75). This analysis pools together all existing facts to provide a larger estimate of the "unknown common truths" about each movement and provide a fuller picture of the movements and their leaders. By combining studies of new religious movements that are prone to violence with studies of new religious movements that remain peaceful, this meta-analysis will increase the sample size and the power to study effects that may lead to the answer: why do some new religious movements become violent. The general consensus among the research literature has distilled three salient aggregates associated with new religious groups that have become violent: a) each group possessed an apocalyptic worldview; b) each group maintained an organizational structure predicated on charismatic leadership and authority whereby a potent connection between the charismatic leader and devotee was forged; and c) each group iii established firm social boundaries demarcating the separation between the group and the wider social milieu resulting in social isolation. However, though these attributes were present in and common to all the groups that became violent, they continue to remain insufficient and fail to adequately illustrate why certain new religions become violent. The most notable cases of NRMs that have been mobilized to violence that are analyzed include: the Peoples' Temple, The Order of the Solar Temple, Aum Shinrikyo, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, the Branch Davidians, Rajneeshpuaram, The Church of the Lamb of God, Heaven's Gate and Scientology. These religious movements are compared and analyzed in relation to groups that have not become violent: the early Unification Church, Sikh Dharma/3HO, Chen Tao, Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT), and Concerned Christians. By analyzing fourteen individual movements that demonstrate the three central aggregates found specifically in violent movements, hopefully this meta-analysis has overcome the problem of small sample sizes, in order to better detect internal and external effects that can explain why some NRMs become violent. iv Acknowledgements This thesis would not exist if not for the persistence and support of Ruby Ramji, Peter Beyer and Mavis Fenn. Thank you. v Chapter 1 Introduction and Methodological Approach Defining the Problem New religious movements (NRMs) have surfaced through American history and became prominent in the 1960s, but did not become a centre of public attention until the murder-suicides at Jonestown took place. New religious movements are based on charismatic authority: what the leader says is “the source of authority” for the group (McGuire 1997: 136). New religious movements may claim to be completely new, in terms of belief and practice, while others claim to be much older than the historical religions of the world. What makes them “new” is that they characteristically are formed from a plurality of prevailing cultural values. NRMs put forward alternate worldviews and practices: they stress “real social change will emerge through their movement by the transformation of individuals” (McGuire 1997: 182). Their syncretic hybrid nature includes new interpretations of old traditions, and aim to transform society. In general, new religious movements can be grouped into five subsets: 1) groups that are connected to Asian traditions, including worldviews and devotional practices such as meditation; 2) groups that are related to the American human potential movement; 3) groups that synthesis elements of past western esoteric traditions such as Theosophy and alternative medicines; 4) groups that believe salvation comes from extraterrestrial contact; and 5) movements that revive occult traditions. Most new religions fit into more than one subgroup: they are products of an “ongoing synthesis of different religious traditions and elements of the religious and the secular worlds” (Cowan and Bromley 2015: 4). New religious movements tend to require unlimited allegiance and loyalty. 1 These social movements have high levels of commitment, which requires a form of sacrifice on the part of the individual: this sacrifice can come in the form of money, time, severance of family ties, relinquishing personal space and a commitment to daily ritual practices such as celibacy, vegetarianism or communal living. Members are resocialized “into a new identity consistent with the group’s beliefs and values” (McGuire 1997: 84). These individual sacrifices, made to the group, create mental and physical boundaries between the group members and the outside world (generating a “we” versus “them” viewpoint), where the in-group is deemed to be “good or superior and outside is evil or degraded” (McGuire 1997: 84). Numerous studies have endeavoured to unravel the puzzling complexities behind new religious movements that erupt in violence. This foundational research has invariably had to address the most persistent of questions - why do certain new religious movements become violent while others do not? Or to frame the question somewhat differently, under what conditions do new religious movements become violent? Although various aggregates have been identified in different academic fields of studies (sociological studies, social psychology and religious studies), they have not been examined and analyzed in a larger and more meaningful way. This thesis will examine the aggregates of the more popular new religious movements, through a systematic comparison of the literature available, to determine what factors are missing from those that don't become violent, to better understand the reasons why some become violent. The general consensus among the research literature has distilled three salient aggregates associated with new religious groups that have become violent: a) each group possessed an apocalyptic worldview; b) each group maintained an organizational 2 structure predicated on charismatic leadership and authority whereby a potent connection between the charismatic leader and devotee was forged; and c) each group established firm social boundaries demarcating the separation between the group and the wider social milieu resulting in social isolation. However, though these attributes were present in and common to all the groups that became violent, they continue to remain insufficient and fail to adequately illustrate why certain new religions become violent. Why are these characteristics deemed insufficient by scholars? The dominant critical observation points to other new religious movements that satisfy the above cluster of aggregates but nevertheless remain non-violent. The problem with this critical observation - it only offers a cursory understanding of those aggregates at a generalized level of analysis, or it focuses on one or two aggregates within other NRMs to discredit the whole. This generalized level of abstraction presents contradictory findings and outcomes, i.e., some NRMs that meet the above criteria become violent while others do not. However, two critical strategies are needed to flesh out the attendant nuances within
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