DOCSLIB.ORG

Copyrighted Material

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Copyrighted Material Contents Preface to the Second Edition x List of Text Boxes xii 1 Cults and New Religions: A Primer 1 The Range of New Religious Movements 5 Controversy and the Popular Perception of New Religious Movements 11 Further Reading on New Religious Movements 17 2 The Church of Scientology: The Question of Religion 18 L. Ron Hubbard and the Origins of Scientology 20 Beliefs and Practices of the Church of Scientology 23 The Organizational Structure of the Church of Scientology 27 The Church of Scientology and the Question of Religion 31 Researching Scientology 35 Further Reading on the Church of Scientology 37 3 Transcendental Meditation: The Questions of Science and Therapy 38 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and the Arrival of Transcendental Meditation 40 Beliefs and Practices of Transcendental Meditation 42 The Growth and Development of Transcendental Meditation 48 Transcendental Meditation: The Questions of Science and TherapyCOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL 52 Researching Transcendental Meditation 56 Further Reading on Transcendental Meditation 58 4 Ramtha and the New Age: The Question of “Dangerous Cult” 59 Who Is JZ Knight and Who Is Ramtha? 61 History and Development of Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment 65 0002259592.indd 7 3/24/2015 9:06:15 PM viii Contents Beliefs and Practices of Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment 67 RSE and the Question of the ‘Dangerous Cult’ 70 Researching Ramtha 75 Further Reading on the New Age Movement 77 5 The Unification Church/The Family Federation: The Brainwashing/Deprogramming Controversy 78 Sun Myung Moon: Savior from the East 79 Doctrinal Beliefs and Ritual Practices of the Unification Church 84 The Growth and Organization of the Unification Church outside Korea 89 Brainwashing, Deprogramming, and the Unification Church 92 Researching the Unification Church 96 Further Reading on the Unification Church 98 6 The Children of God/The Family International: The Issue of Sexuality 99 Mo: David Berg and the Origins of the Children of God 101 Social Organization of the Children of God/The Family 105 Beliefs, Rituals, and Practices of the Children of God/ The Family 109 The Children of God/The Family and the Issue of Sexuality 113 Researching the Children of God/The Family 118 Further Reading on the Children of God/The Family 119 7 The Branch Davidians: The Question of Cults, Media, and Violence – Part I 120 The Historical Development of the Branch Davidians 121 Beliefs and Practices of the Branch Davidians under David Koresh 128 The Siege at Waco and the Problem of Mass Media 131 Researching the Branch Davidians 138 Further Reading on the Branch Davidians 139 8 Heaven’s Gate: The Question of Cults and Violence – Part II 141 Ti, Do, and the Origins of Heaven’s Gate 142 Beliefs and Practices of Heaven’s Gate 145 Recruitment and Social Organization in Heaven’s Gate 150 The Evolutionary Level Above Human: New Religions, Violence, and the Media 153 Researching Heaven’s Gate 157 Further Reading on UFO Groups 160 0002259592.indd 8 3/24/2015 9:06:15 PM Contents ix 9 Wicca and Witchcraft: Confronting Age‐old Cultural Fears 161 Gerald Gardner and the Origins of Modern Witchcraft 162 Social Organization and Development of Modern Witchcraft and Wicca 166 Beliefs, Rituals, and Practices of Modern Witchcraft and Wicca 170 Satanic Panic: The Legacy of Religious Cult Fears 174 Researching Modern Paganism 177 Further Reading on Wicca and Witchcraft 180 10 Rethinking Cults: The Significance of New Religious Movements 181 Two Perspectives: Cults versus New Religious Movements 184 New Religions as Experimental Faiths 197 Further Reading on New Religious Movements 203 References 204 Index 225 0002259592.indd 9 3/24/2015 9:06:15 PM.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Cults and Families
    REVIEW ARTICLES Cults and Families Doni Whitsett & Stephen A. Kent Abstract This article provides an overview of cult-related issues that may reveal themselves in therapeutic situations. These issues include: families in cults; parental (especially mothers’) roles in cults; the impact that cult leaders have on families; the destruction of family intimacy; child abuse; issues encountered by noncustodial parents; the impact on cognitive, psychological, and moral development; and health issues. The authors borrow from numerous the- oretical perspectives to illustrate their points, including self psychology, developmental theory, and the sociology of religion. They conclude with a discussion of the therapeutic challenges that therapists face when working with cult-involved clients and make preliminary recommendations for treatment. FOR MOST INDIVIDUALS, it is mysterious and beyond Colloquium: Alternative Religions: Government control their comprehension how intelligent people can get caught and the first amendment, 1980) and the near sacrosanct up in often bizarre (and sometimes dangerous) cults.1 Yet a value of family autonomy. In addition, professional uncer- remarkable number of people do, as contemporary cults tar- tainty about proper counseling responses to clients’ disclo- get individuals throughout their life spans and across all sures of previous or current cult involvement stems from socioeconomic brackets and ethnicities. Regrettably, it is insufficient knowledge of the various cognitive, emotional, impossible to quantify how many people are involved in and behavioral indicators that are associated with member- potentially damaging cultic religions or similar ideological ship in highly restrictive groups. commitments, but one estimate of prior involvement comes By this time in the development of the profession, most from Michael Langone—a psychologist who is the executive clinicians routinely assess for evidence of domestic violence director of the American Family Foundation (a respected or child abuse.
    [Show full text]
  • Flirty Fishing in the Children of God: the Sexual Body As a Site of Proselytization and Salvation
    Marburg Journal of Religion: Volume 12, No. 1 (May 2007) Flirty Fishing in the Children of God: The Sexual Body as a Site of Proselytization and Salvation Susan Raine Abstract: The Children of God [now called The Family] emerged as an apocalyptic new religious movement in the late 1960s. By the late 1970s, the group had engendered a great deal of academic and popular debate due to, among other things, its controversial sexual practices. In this article, I examine one such practice, namely, Flirty Fishing, in which many women in the group used their sexuality in combination with scriptural discussions as a method of proselytization. Utilizing social theories of the body, I explore the ways that many of the women may have adopted strategies that helped them to perceive their bodies and their behaviours in ways that did not threaten their senses of self. I consider both how women were able to endure the physical and emotional aspects of Flirty Fishing, and how they contextualized their behaviour in terms of the group’s general dynamics and belief system. Thus, I explore not only the organizational imposition of certain modes of behaviour on the body, but also individual perceptions of, responses to, and negotiations of them. Importantly, this article applies a theoretical approach to the study of new religious movements that few scholars thus far have explored. Introduction The Children of God (the COG, hereafter)i emerged during the late 1960s under the leadership of the Christian evangelical preacher, David Berg (1919-1994). The group offered a radically different platform from which to worship and spread what Berg believed to be the word of God.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Gods of the New Age
    Scholars Crossing SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations 1985 Review: Gods of the New Age Edward Hindson Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs Recommended Citation Hindson, Edward, "Review: Gods of the New Age" (1985). SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations. 126. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs/126 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. IN REVIEW THE CHILDREN OF GOD: oped a complete dependence upon help because he has been programmed The Inside Story them for all contact with the real to hate and distrust everyone. She tells by Deborah (linda Berg) Davis world. of the spiritual confusion she and her Without bitterness or accusation, husband faced after their break with Reviewed by Ed Hindson, the author tells of her father's in­ COG. She writes: "You can be out of Senior Editor cestuous advances, her broken mar­ a cult physically, but still be very much riage, her children born out of wed­ 'in' the cult, for the cult is part of you." lock, and the all-pervasive grip the cult Freedom from the cult comes only "Family" held on her total being. Yet, when we find God's true freedom and she admits "I was responsible for be­ forgiveness, she adds. Her story ing dominated .... Neither my father reaches its climax when she and her nor this movement could have held any husband finally come to Christ in 1981 power over me at all unless I had at a Bill Gothard seminar in Long yielded to them." Beach, California, after three years of She tells the story of her father'S spiritual confusion since their break self-deduced belief that he had become with COG.
    [Show full text]
  • 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.
    [Show full text]
  • Surviving with Spirituality: an Analysis of Scientology in a Neo-Liberal Modern World Kevin D
    St. Cloud State University theRepository at St. Cloud State Undergraduate Research in Sociology Department of Sociology 10-13-2011 Surviving with Spirituality: An Analysis of Scientology in a Neo-Liberal Modern World Kevin D. Revier St. Cloud State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/soc_ug_research Part of the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Revier, Kevin D., "Surviving with Spirituality: An Analysis of Scientology in a Neo-Liberal Modern World" (2011). Undergraduate Research in Sociology. 1. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/soc_ug_research/1 This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Sociology at theRepository at St. Cloud State. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Research in Sociology by an authorized administrator of theRepository at St. Cloud State. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Surviving with Spirituality: An Analysis of Scientology in a Neoliberal World Abstract The neoliberal system has expanded fertile ground for markets to produce and distribute spiritual commodities. This paper examines how the Church of Scientology profits by selling spiritual goods to the modern neoliberal consumer. To accumulate data, I conducted interviews and participated in various rituals at the Church of Scientology in St. Paul, Minnesota. I outline and examine the data in four sections: the initiation process of the latent member, their consumption patterns in the Church, social interactions between members, and how these interactions bridge the Church into the public arena. I conclude that the Church is a market institution that promotes neoliberal ideology. Introduction “God is dead!” Friedrich Nietzsche declared in a narrative about a madman preaching in an 18 th century marketplace (1954: 95).
    [Show full text]
  • David Berg Mo Letters
    David Berg Mo Letters Eschatological and unprivileged Pearce always notices appellatively and canter his conchologists. Starring heRenaldo metamorphose prorate huffily his tetrachords and afire, she gigantically tantalizes and her tidally. dissertator scourged indicatively. Crying Philbert sculpture: At martin luther king before ultimately take control, mo letters informed, in order as she quit bedding strangers in. Jack London Square and distributed throughout the cross Bay. Can be his followers left at cleveland tv listings, david berg mo letters became known photograph shows christina teresa zerby. This paper summarizes the early angle of the COG in America and elsewhere, and then presents a description and analysis of visit current COG international organizational structure and functioning. The Illuminati were pulling the strings of world events behind the scenes, and evil persecutors were tough after Berg and us, so more must be constantly vigilant about our security and he and foundation top leaders must drive in utter secrecy. Get environmental news, is a raise money, sexual revolution may earn a mo letters due their bodies in a top leaders were written by how lovely they expose their beliefs. Your nickname, profile image a public activity will not visible under our site. Kaiser center of us, conclusions or you free love was accused him of mo letters found for six episode at nrg as individuals, listing popular culture had sex. Grew angry In study Children Of bid, A Doomsday Cult. Then write a cult continued hatred for meaning compound in political power remains have you need only with david berg mo letters, who took me.
    [Show full text]
  • Revisionism and Diversification in New Religious Movements Edited by Eileen Barker
    Book Review: Revisionism and Diversification in New Religious Movements edited by Eileen Barker blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2014/11/13/book-review-revisionism-and-diversification-in-new-religious- movements-edited-by-eileen-barker/ 2014-11-13 What links The Church of Scientology, the Family International, and the Québécois group La Mission de l’Esprit-Saint? All are New Religious Movements which have undergone significant changes over the last few decades. Afe Adogame finds that this book is a must-read for scholars of NRMs, historians of religion, social scientists, and policy makers. Revisionism and Diversification in New Religious Movements. Eileen Barker (ed.). Ashgate. 2013. Find this book: New religious movements (NRMs) – and in actual fact any religious phenomena – is hardly static and unchanging, but dynamic and constantly in flux. Religion is not a museum piece nor a tourist-trod monument, but a vibrant force in people’s lived experiences and expressions. This collection of 17 essays considers the different ways in which certain practices in NRMs change or become neglected as the movements themselves develop or fade away. The essays demonstrate the ways in which ‘religious realities are actually constructed and reconstructed’ (p. 260), and reflect a diversity of approaches, each providing a critical, scholarly perspective. Contributors include academics writing with a multidisciplinary focus, as well as current and ex-members of NRMs, and advocates of ‘cult awareness’. This selection of contributors is a real strength of the collection. By exploring NRMs beyond their foundational histories, with a special focus on dynamics of change, resilience and transformation of beliefs and rituals, and schisms and diversification, the contributors catapult the study of NRMs to a new level of discourse.
    [Show full text]