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Behavior modification
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Jump to: navigation, search
For the journal, see Behavior Modification (journal).
Behavior modificationis the traditional term for the use of empirically demonstrated behavior change techniquesto increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors, such as altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcementof adaptive behaviorand/or the reduction of behavior through its extinction, punishmentand/or satiation. It is similar to operant conditioningbut with the absence of the antecedent. Behavior modification is now known as Applied behavior analysis(ABA) which is more analytical than it used to be.
Contents [hide]
1Description
2Some areas of effectiveness
3Behavior modification in job performance
4Criticism
5See also
6References
Description[edit]
The first use of the term behavior modification appears to have been by Edward Thorndikein 1911. His article Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learningmakes frequent use of the term "modifying behavior".[1]Through early research in the 1940s and the 1950s the term was used by Joseph Wolpe's research group.[2]The experimental tradition in clinical psychology used it to refer to psycho-therapeutic techniques derived from empirical research.[3]It has since come to refer mainly to techniques for increasing adaptive behavior through reinforcement and decreasing maladaptive behavior through extinction or punishment (with emphasis on the former). Behavior modification is a form of Behavior therapynow known as Applied behavior analysis. Emphasizing the empirical roots of behavior modification, some authors consider it to be broader in scope and to subsume the other two categories of behavior change methods.[4]
In recent years, the concept of punishmenthas had many critics, though these criticisms tend not to apply to negative punishment (time-outs) and usually apply to the addition of some aversive event. The use of positive punishment by board certified behavior analysts is restricted to extreme circumstances when all other forms of treatment have failed and when the behavior to be modified is a danger to the person or to others (see professional practice of behavior analysis). In clinical settings positive punishment is usually restricted to using a spray bottle filled with water as an aversive event. When misused, more aversive punishment can lead to affective (emotional) disorders, as well as to the receiver of the punishment increasingly trying to avoid the punishment (i.e., "not get caught").
Behavior modification—quite similar to operant conditioning(except antecedents are either absent or assumed)—relies on the following:
Reinforcement (Positive and Negative)
Punishment (Positive and Negative)
Extinction
Shaping
Fading
Chaining
Some areas of effectiveness[edit]
Functional behavior assessmentforms the core of applied behavior analysis. Many techniques in this therapy are specific techniques aimed at specific issues. Interventions based on behavior analytic/modification principles have been extremely effective in developing evidence-based treatments.[5]
In addition to the above, a growing list of research-based interventions from the behavioral paradigm exist. With children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), one study showed that over a several year period, children in the behavior modification group had half the number of felony arrests as children in the medication group.[6][7]These findings have yet to be replicated, but are considered encouraging for the use of behavior modification for children with ADHD. There is strong and consistent evidence that behavioral treatments are effective for treating ADHD. A recent meta-analysisfound that the use of behavior modification for ADHD resulted in effect sizes in between group studies (.83), pre-post studies (.70), within group studies (2.64), and single subject studies (3.78) indicating behavioral treatments are highly effective.[8]
Behavior modification programs form the core of many residential treatment facilityprograms. They have shown success in reducing recidivism for adolescents with conduct problems and adult offenders. One particular program that is of interest is teaching-family homes(see Teaching Family Model), which is based on a social learning model that emerged from radical behaviorism. These particular homes use a family style approach to residential treatment, which has been carefully replicated over 700 times.[9]Recent efforts have seen a push for the inclusion of more behavior modification programs in residential re-entry programs in the U.S. to aid prisoners in re-adjusting after release.
One area that has repeatedly shown effectiveness has been the work of behavioristsworking in the area of community reinforcement for addictions.[10]Another area of research that has been strongly supported has been behavioral activation for depression.[11]
One way of giving positive reinforcement in behavior modification is in providing compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation; a ratio of five compliments for every one complaint is generally seen as being effectivein altering behavior in a desired manner[12]and even in producing stable marriages.[13]
Of notable interest is that the right behavioral intervention can have profound system effects. For example, Forgatch and DeGarmo (2007) found that with mothers who were recently divorced, a standard round of parent management training(programs based on social learning principles that teaches rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior combined with communication skills) could help elevate the divorced mother out of poverty.[14]In addition, parent management training programs, sometimes referred to as behavioral parent training programs, have shown relative cost effectiveness for their efforts[15]for the treatment of conduct disorder. Thus, such intervention can have profound effects on socializing the child in a relatively cost effective fashion and help get the parent out of poverty. This level of effect is often looked for and valued by those who practice behavioral engineeringand results of this type have caused the Association for Behavior Analysis International to take a position that those receiving treatment have a right to effective treatment [16]and a right to effective education.[17]
Behavior modification in job performance[edit]
The use of positive reinforcement to change behavior has many applications to organizational training. An assessment called performance audit is conducted first, to determine the problems or behaviors that can be modified for more efficient job performance. A program of positive reinforcement is then introduced to reward employees for displaying the desired behaviors, such as reducing errors or production time per unit. Punishment or reprimands are not used: although these may temporarily eliminate an undesirable behavior, they may leave in its place anxiety, hostility and anger. Providing positive reinforcement is much more effective in improving employee productivity and behavior.[18]
Criticism[edit]
Behavior modification is critiqued in person-centered psychotherapeutic approaches such as Rogerian Counselingand Re-evaluation Counseling,[19]which involve "connecting with the human qualities of the person to promote healing", while behaviorism is "denigrating to the human spirit".[20]B.F. Skinnerargues in Beyond Freedom and Dignitythat unrestricted reinforcement is what led to the "feeling of freedom", thus removal of aversive events allows people to "feel freer".[21]Further criticism extends to the presumption that behavior increases only when it is reinforced. This premise is at odds with research conducted by Albert Banduraat Stanford University. His findings indicate that violent behavior is imitated, without being reinforced, in studies conducted with children watching films showing various individuals "beating the daylights out of Bobo". Bandura believes that human personality and learning is the result of the interaction between environment, behavior and psychological process. There is evidence, however, that imitation is a class of behavior that can be learned just like anything else. Children have been shown to imitate behavior that they have never displayed before and are never reinforced for, after being taught to imitate in general.[22]
Several people have criticized the level of training required to perform behavior modification procedures, especially those that are restrictive or use aversives, aversion therapy, or punishmentprotocols. Some desire to limit such restrictive procedures only to licensed psychologists or licensed counselors. Once licensed for this group, post-licensed certification in behavior modification is sought to show scope of competence in the area through groups like the World Association for Behavior Analysis.[23]Still others desire to create an independent practice of behavior analysis through licensure to offer consumers choices between proven techniques and unproven ones (see Professional practice of behavior analysis). Level of training and consumer protection remain of critical importance in applied behavior analysisand behavior modification.
See also[edit]
Applied behavior analysis
Behavior therapy
Behavior management
Cognitive behavioral therapy
John B. Watson
Ivan Pavlov
Sociology
Covert conditioning
Classical conditioning
Life coaching
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^Thorndike, E.L. (1911). Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learning. Animal Intelligence(New York: The McMillian Company).
2.Jump up ^Wolpe, J. (1968). "Psychotheraphy by Reciprocal Inhibition". Conditional Reflex3(4): 234–240. doi:10.1007/BF03000093.
3.Jump up ^In Bachrach, A. J., ed. (1962). Experimental Foundations of Clinical Psychology. New York: Basic Books. pp. 3–25.
4.Jump up ^Martin, G.; Pear, J. (2007). Behavior modification: What it is and how to do it(Eighth ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-194227-1.
5.Jump up ^O'Donohue, W.; Ferguson, K. E. (2006). "Evidence-Based Practice in Psychology and Behavior Analysis". The Behavior Analyst Today7(3): 335–52. doi:10.1037/h0100155.
6.Jump up ^Satterfield, J. H.; Satterfield, B. T.; Schell, A. M. (1987). "Therapeutic interventions to prevent delinquency in hyperactive boys". Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry26(1): 56–64. doi:10.1097/00004583-198701000-00012.
7.Jump up ^Satterfield, J. H.; Schell, A. (1997). "A prospective study of hyperactive boys with conduct problems and normal boys: Adolescent and adult criminality". Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry36(12): 1726–35. doi:10.1097/00004583-199712000-00021.
8.Jump up ^Fabianoa, G. A.; Pelham Jr., W. E.; Colesb, E. K.; Gnagya, E. M.; Chronis-Tuscanoc, A.; O'Connora, B. C. (2008). "A meta-analysis of behavioral treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder". Clinical Psychology Review29(2): 129–40. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2008.11.001. PMID 19131150.
9.Jump up ^Dean L. Fixsen, Karen A. Blasé, Gary D. Timbers and Montrose M. Wolf (2007) In Search of Program Implementation: 792 Replications of the Teaching-Family Model. Behavior Analyst TodayVolume 8, No. 1, pp. 96–106 Behavior Analyst Online
10.Jump up ^Milford, J.L.; Austin, J.L.; Smith, J.E. (2007). Community Reinforcement and the Dissemination of Evidence-based Practice: Implications for Public Policy. IJBCT, 3(1), pp. 77–87 [1])
11.Jump up ^Spates, R.C.; Pagoto, S.; Kalata, A. (2006). A Qualitative and Quantitative Review of Behavioral Activation Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. The Behavior Analyst Today, 7(4), pp. 508–17 [2]
12.Jump up ^Kirkhart, Robert; Kirkhart, Evelyn (1972). "The Bruised Self: Mending in the Early Years". In Yamamoto, Kaoru. The Child and His Image: Self Concept in the Early Years. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-12571-5.
13.Jump up ^Gottman, J.M.; Levenson, R.W. (1999). "What predicts change in marital interaction over time? A study of alternative models". Family Process38(2): 143–58. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.1999.00143.x.
14.Jump up ^Forgatch, M.; DeGarmo (2007). "Accelerating recovery from poverty: Prevention effects for recently separated mothers". Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention4(4): 681–72. doi:10.1037/h0100400.
15.Jump up ^Olchowski, A.E.; Foster, E.M.; Webster-Stratton, C.H. (2007). Implementing Behavioral Intervention Components in a Cost-Effective Manner: Analysis of the Incredible Years Program. Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention, Vol. 3(4) and Vol. 4(1), Combined Edition, pp. 284–304.
16.Jump up ^ABA:I
17.Jump up ^ABA:I
18.Jump up ^Schultz, Duane; Schultz, Sydney Ellen (2010). Psychology and Work Today. New York: Prentice Hall. pp. 201–202. ISBN 978-0-205-68358-1.
19.Jump up ^http://www.rc.org/
20.Jump up ^Holland, J.L. (1976). "A new synthesis for an old method and a new analysis of some old phenomena". The Counseling Psychologist6: 12–15. doi:10.1177/001100007600600303.
21.Jump up ^Skinner, B. F. (1974). Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
22.Jump up ^D. Baer, R.F.; Peterson, J.A. Sherman Psychological Modeling: Conflicting Theories, 2006[incomplete short citation]
23.Jump up ^http://www.baojournal.com/WCBA/WCBA.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior_modification
Behavior modification
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the journal, see Behavior Modification (journal).
Behavior modificationis the traditional term for the use of empirically demonstrated behavior change techniquesto increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors, such as altering an individual's behaviors and reactions to stimuli through positive and negative reinforcementof adaptive behaviorand/or the reduction of behavior through its extinction, punishmentand/or satiation. It is similar to operant conditioningbut with the absence of the antecedent. Behavior modification is now known as Applied behavior analysis(ABA) which is more analytical than it used to be.
Contents [hide]
1Description
2Some areas of effectiveness
3Behavior modification in job performance
4Criticism
5See also
6References
Description[edit]
The first use of the term behavior modification appears to have been by Edward Thorndikein 1911. His article Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learningmakes frequent use of the term "modifying behavior".[1]Through early research in the 1940s and the 1950s the term was used by Joseph Wolpe's research group.[2]The experimental tradition in clinical psychology used it to refer to psycho-therapeutic techniques derived from empirical research.[3]It has since come to refer mainly to techniques for increasing adaptive behavior through reinforcement and decreasing maladaptive behavior through extinction or punishment (with emphasis on the former). Behavior modification is a form of Behavior therapynow known as Applied behavior analysis. Emphasizing the empirical roots of behavior modification, some authors consider it to be broader in scope and to subsume the other two categories of behavior change methods.[4]
In recent years, the concept of punishmenthas had many critics, though these criticisms tend not to apply to negative punishment (time-outs) and usually apply to the addition of some aversive event. The use of positive punishment by board certified behavior analysts is restricted to extreme circumstances when all other forms of treatment have failed and when the behavior to be modified is a danger to the person or to others (see professional practice of behavior analysis). In clinical settings positive punishment is usually restricted to using a spray bottle filled with water as an aversive event. When misused, more aversive punishment can lead to affective (emotional) disorders, as well as to the receiver of the punishment increasingly trying to avoid the punishment (i.e., "not get caught").
Behavior modification—quite similar to operant conditioning(except antecedents are either absent or assumed)—relies on the following:
Reinforcement (Positive and Negative)
Punishment (Positive and Negative)
Extinction
Shaping
Fading
Chaining
Some areas of effectiveness[edit]
Functional behavior assessmentforms the core of applied behavior analysis. Many techniques in this therapy are specific techniques aimed at specific issues. Interventions based on behavior analytic/modification principles have been extremely effective in developing evidence-based treatments.[5]
In addition to the above, a growing list of research-based interventions from the behavioral paradigm exist. With children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD), one study showed that over a several year period, children in the behavior modification group had half the number of felony arrests as children in the medication group.[6][7]These findings have yet to be replicated, but are considered encouraging for the use of behavior modification for children with ADHD. There is strong and consistent evidence that behavioral treatments are effective for treating ADHD. A recent meta-analysisfound that the use of behavior modification for ADHD resulted in effect sizes in between group studies (.83), pre-post studies (.70), within group studies (2.64), and single subject studies (3.78) indicating behavioral treatments are highly effective.[8]
Behavior modification programs form the core of many residential treatment facilityprograms. They have shown success in reducing recidivism for adolescents with conduct problems and adult offenders. One particular program that is of interest is teaching-family homes(see Teaching Family Model), which is based on a social learning model that emerged from radical behaviorism. These particular homes use a family style approach to residential treatment, which has been carefully replicated over 700 times.[9]Recent efforts have seen a push for the inclusion of more behavior modification programs in residential re-entry programs in the U.S. to aid prisoners in re-adjusting after release.
One area that has repeatedly shown effectiveness has been the work of behavioristsworking in the area of community reinforcement for addictions.[10]Another area of research that has been strongly supported has been behavioral activation for depression.[11]
One way of giving positive reinforcement in behavior modification is in providing compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation; a ratio of five compliments for every one complaint is generally seen as being effectivein altering behavior in a desired manner[12]and even in producing stable marriages.[13]
Of notable interest is that the right behavioral intervention can have profound system effects. For example, Forgatch and DeGarmo (2007) found that with mothers who were recently divorced, a standard round of parent management training(programs based on social learning principles that teaches rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior combined with communication skills) could help elevate the divorced mother out of poverty.[14]In addition, parent management training programs, sometimes referred to as behavioral parent training programs, have shown relative cost effectiveness for their efforts[15]for the treatment of conduct disorder. Thus, such intervention can have profound effects on socializing the child in a relatively cost effective fashion and help get the parent out of poverty. This level of effect is often looked for and valued by those who practice behavioral engineeringand results of this type have caused the Association for Behavior Analysis International to take a position that those receiving treatment have a right to effective treatment [16]and a right to effective education.[17]
Behavior modification in job performance[edit]
The use of positive reinforcement to change behavior has many applications to organizational training. An assessment called performance audit is conducted first, to determine the problems or behaviors that can be modified for more efficient job performance. A program of positive reinforcement is then introduced to reward employees for displaying the desired behaviors, such as reducing errors or production time per unit. Punishment or reprimands are not used: although these may temporarily eliminate an undesirable behavior, they may leave in its place anxiety, hostility and anger. Providing positive reinforcement is much more effective in improving employee productivity and behavior.[18]
Criticism[edit]
Behavior modification is critiqued in person-centered psychotherapeutic approaches such as Rogerian Counselingand Re-evaluation Counseling,[19]which involve "connecting with the human qualities of the person to promote healing", while behaviorism is "denigrating to the human spirit".[20]B.F. Skinnerargues in Beyond Freedom and Dignitythat unrestricted reinforcement is what led to the "feeling of freedom", thus removal of aversive events allows people to "feel freer".[21]Further criticism extends to the presumption that behavior increases only when it is reinforced. This premise is at odds with research conducted by Albert Banduraat Stanford University. His findings indicate that violent behavior is imitated, without being reinforced, in studies conducted with children watching films showing various individuals "beating the daylights out of Bobo". Bandura believes that human personality and learning is the result of the interaction between environment, behavior and psychological process. There is evidence, however, that imitation is a class of behavior that can be learned just like anything else. Children have been shown to imitate behavior that they have never displayed before and are never reinforced for, after being taught to imitate in general.[22]
Several people have criticized the level of training required to perform behavior modification procedures, especially those that are restrictive or use aversives, aversion therapy, or punishmentprotocols. Some desire to limit such restrictive procedures only to licensed psychologists or licensed counselors. Once licensed for this group, post-licensed certification in behavior modification is sought to show scope of competence in the area through groups like the World Association for Behavior Analysis.[23]Still others desire to create an independent practice of behavior analysis through licensure to offer consumers choices between proven techniques and unproven ones (see Professional practice of behavior analysis). Level of training and consumer protection remain of critical importance in applied behavior analysisand behavior modification.
See also[edit]
Applied behavior analysis
Behavior therapy
Behavior management
Cognitive behavioral therapy
John B. Watson
Ivan Pavlov
Sociology
Covert conditioning
Classical conditioning
Life coaching
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^Thorndike, E.L. (1911). Provisional Laws of Acquired Behavior or Learning. Animal Intelligence(New York: The McMillian Company).
2.Jump up ^Wolpe, J. (1968). "Psychotheraphy by Reciprocal Inhibition". Conditional Reflex3(4): 234–240. doi:10.1007/BF03000093.
3.Jump up ^In Bachrach, A. J., ed. (1962). Experimental Foundations of Clinical Psychology. New York: Basic Books. pp. 3–25.
4.Jump up ^Martin, G.; Pear, J. (2007). Behavior modification: What it is and how to do it(Eighth ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-194227-1.
5.Jump up ^O'Donohue, W.; Ferguson, K. E. (2006). "Evidence-Based Practice in Psychology and Behavior Analysis". The Behavior Analyst Today7(3): 335–52. doi:10.1037/h0100155.
6.Jump up ^Satterfield, J. H.; Satterfield, B. T.; Schell, A. M. (1987). "Therapeutic interventions to prevent delinquency in hyperactive boys". Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry26(1): 56–64. doi:10.1097/00004583-198701000-00012.
7.Jump up ^Satterfield, J. H.; Schell, A. (1997). "A prospective study of hyperactive boys with conduct problems and normal boys: Adolescent and adult criminality". Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry36(12): 1726–35. doi:10.1097/00004583-199712000-00021.
8.Jump up ^Fabianoa, G. A.; Pelham Jr., W. E.; Colesb, E. K.; Gnagya, E. M.; Chronis-Tuscanoc, A.; O'Connora, B. C. (2008). "A meta-analysis of behavioral treatments for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder". Clinical Psychology Review29(2): 129–40. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2008.11.001. PMID 19131150.
9.Jump up ^Dean L. Fixsen, Karen A. Blasé, Gary D. Timbers and Montrose M. Wolf (2007) In Search of Program Implementation: 792 Replications of the Teaching-Family Model. Behavior Analyst TodayVolume 8, No. 1, pp. 96–106 Behavior Analyst Online
10.Jump up ^Milford, J.L.; Austin, J.L.; Smith, J.E. (2007). Community Reinforcement and the Dissemination of Evidence-based Practice: Implications for Public Policy. IJBCT, 3(1), pp. 77–87 [1])
11.Jump up ^Spates, R.C.; Pagoto, S.; Kalata, A. (2006). A Qualitative and Quantitative Review of Behavioral Activation Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder. The Behavior Analyst Today, 7(4), pp. 508–17 [2]
12.Jump up ^Kirkhart, Robert; Kirkhart, Evelyn (1972). "The Bruised Self: Mending in the Early Years". In Yamamoto, Kaoru. The Child and His Image: Self Concept in the Early Years. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-12571-5.
13.Jump up ^Gottman, J.M.; Levenson, R.W. (1999). "What predicts change in marital interaction over time? A study of alternative models". Family Process38(2): 143–58. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.1999.00143.x.
14.Jump up ^Forgatch, M.; DeGarmo (2007). "Accelerating recovery from poverty: Prevention effects for recently separated mothers". Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention4(4): 681–72. doi:10.1037/h0100400.
15.Jump up ^Olchowski, A.E.; Foster, E.M.; Webster-Stratton, C.H. (2007). Implementing Behavioral Intervention Components in a Cost-Effective Manner: Analysis of the Incredible Years Program. Journal of Early and Intensive Behavior Intervention, Vol. 3(4) and Vol. 4(1), Combined Edition, pp. 284–304.
16.Jump up ^ABA:I
17.Jump up ^ABA:I
18.Jump up ^Schultz, Duane; Schultz, Sydney Ellen (2010). Psychology and Work Today. New York: Prentice Hall. pp. 201–202. ISBN 978-0-205-68358-1.
19.Jump up ^http://www.rc.org/
20.Jump up ^Holland, J.L. (1976). "A new synthesis for an old method and a new analysis of some old phenomena". The Counseling Psychologist6: 12–15. doi:10.1177/001100007600600303.
21.Jump up ^Skinner, B. F. (1974). Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
22.Jump up ^D. Baer, R.F.; Peterson, J.A. Sherman Psychological Modeling: Conflicting Theories, 2006[incomplete short citation]
23.Jump up ^http://www.baojournal.com/WCBA/WCBA.html
[show]
v·
t·
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Cognitive behavioral therapy(list)
[show]
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Psychotherapy
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NDL: 00576688
Categories: Behaviorism
Behavior modification
Behavior
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Useand Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior_modification
Indoctrination
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Indoctrination is the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or a professional methodology (see doctrine).[1] Indoctrination is a critical component in the transfer of cultures, customs, and traditions from one generation to the next.
Some distinguish indoctrination from education, claiming that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned.[2] As such the term may be used pejoratively or as a buzz word, often in the context of political opinions, theology, religious dogma or anti-religious convictions. The term is closely linked to socialization; however, in common discourse, indoctrination is sometimes associated with negative connotations, while socialization refers to cultural or educational learning.
Contents [hide]
1 Religious/Antireligious
2 Military
3 Information security
4 Criticism
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Religious/Antireligious[edit]
Religious indoctrination, the original sense of indoctrination, refers to a process of imparting doctrine in an authoritative way, as in catechism. Most religious groups among the revealed religions instruct new members in the principles of the religion; this is now not usually referred to as indoctrination by the religions themselves, in part because of the negative connotations the word has acquired. Mystery religions require a period of indoctrination before granting access to esoteric knowledge. (cf. Information security)
As a pejorative term, indoctrination implies forcibly or coercively causing people to act and think on the basis of a certain ideology.[3] Some secular critics believe that all religions indoctrinate their adherents, as children, and the accusation is made in the case of religious extremism.[4] Sects such as Scientology use personality tests and peer pressures to indoctrinate new members.[5] Some religions have commitment ceremonies for children 13 years and younger, such as Bar Mitzvah, Confirmation, and Shichi-Go-San. In Buddhism, temple boys are encouraged to follow the faith while young.[citation needed] Critics of religion, such as Richard Dawkins, maintain that the children of religious parents are often unfairly indoctrinated.[6]
However, due to the policy of state atheism in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the USSR in the 20th century, many citizens in those countries were subject to a government-sponsored program of atheistic indoctrination, specifically Marxist–Leninist atheism.[7][8] Sabrina P. Ramet, a professor of political science, documented that "from kindergarten onward children are indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism" and "to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home."[9] Similarly, in the former Soviet Union, the period of "science education Soviet schools is used as a vehicle for atheistic indoctrination", with teachers having instructions to prepare their course "so as to conduct anti-religious educations at all times" since officials felt that little Marxist-Leninist atheistic indoctrination was done by "even the most atheistic parents."[10] To this end, "to promote anti-religious propaganda, some Soviet universities (Kiev, for example) have opened permanent departments on the history and theory of atheism", which served to "prepare and distribute antireligious pamphlets and present public lectures".[10] In 1964, the Soviet Union made the class Osnovy nauchnogo ateizma (Fundamentals of Scientific Atheism) mandatory for all university students.[11]
Military[edit]
Main article: Recruit training
The initial psychological preparation of soldiers during training is referred to (non-pejoratively) as indoctrination.[citation needed]
Information security[edit]
In the field of information security, indoctrination is the initial briefing and instructions given before a person is granted access to secret information.[12]
Criticism[edit]
Noam Chomsky remarks, "For those who stubbornly seek freedom around the world, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the propaganda system to which we are subjected and in which all too often we serve as unwilling or unwitting instruments."[13]
See also[edit]
Portal icon Psychology portal
Behavior modification
Brainwashing
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Funk and Wagnalls: "To instruct in doctrines; esp., to teach partisan or sectarian dogmas"; I.A. Snook, ed. 1972. Concepts of Indoctrination (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul).
2.Jump up ^ Wilson, J., 1964. "Education and indoctrination", in T.H.B. Hollins, ed. Aims in Education: the philosophic approach(Manchester University Press).
3.Jump up ^ See OED, indoctrination.
4.Jump up ^ Harris, Sam (2011). The moral landscape. Simon and Schuster.
5.Jump up ^ See Scientology beliefs and practices.
6.Jump up ^ Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. New York: Bantam Books, 2006. Print. Pp. 25, 28, 206, 367.
7.Jump up ^ Jacques, Edwin E. (1995). The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present. McFarland. p. 447. ISBN 0899509320. "This Marxist-Leninist class revolution, therefore, demanded an atheistic indoctrination of the working masses and the elimination of all religious convictions."
8.Jump up ^ Franzmann, Manuel (2006). Religiosität in der säkularisierten Welt. Springer-Verlag. p. 89. "However, another conspicuous result of our comparison is that some Eastern European countries, in spite of decades of atheist indoctrination, have a considerable percentage of believers in God - Albania for instance, whose Communist rulers once claimed it was the world's first totally atheist country, or Russia, where the percentage of believers surged in the late eighties and rose dramatically once again in the course of the nineties."
9.Jump up ^ Ramet, Sabrina P. (1990). Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies. Duke University Press. pp. 232–233. ISBN 0822310473. "From kindergarten onward children are indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism and trained to hate and distrust foreigners and to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home."
10.^ Jump up to: a b Witt, Nicholas De (1961). Education and Professional Employment in the U.S.S.R. National Academies. p. 121.
11.Jump up ^ Thrower, James (1983). Marxist-Leninist "scientific Atheism" and the Study of Religion and Atheism in the USSR. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 143–144. ISBN 9027930600. "In 1959, a new course, entitled Osnovy nauchnogo ateizma (Fundamentals of Scientific Atheism) was introduced into the curriculum of all higher educational institutions, including the universities."
12.Jump up ^ The National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual defines indoctrination as "the initial security instructions/briefing given a person prior to granting access to classified information."
13.Jump up ^ Chomsky, Noam. "Propaganda, American Style". Retrieved 2007-06-29.
External links[edit]
Look up indoctrination in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Students for Academic Freedom
Habermas and the Problem of Indoctrination Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education
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Indoctrination
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Indoctrination is the process of inculcating ideas, attitudes, cognitive strategies or a professional methodology (see doctrine).[1] Indoctrination is a critical component in the transfer of cultures, customs, and traditions from one generation to the next.
Some distinguish indoctrination from education, claiming that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned.[2] As such the term may be used pejoratively or as a buzz word, often in the context of political opinions, theology, religious dogma or anti-religious convictions. The term is closely linked to socialization; however, in common discourse, indoctrination is sometimes associated with negative connotations, while socialization refers to cultural or educational learning.
Contents [hide]
1 Religious/Antireligious
2 Military
3 Information security
4 Criticism
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Religious/Antireligious[edit]
Religious indoctrination, the original sense of indoctrination, refers to a process of imparting doctrine in an authoritative way, as in catechism. Most religious groups among the revealed religions instruct new members in the principles of the religion; this is now not usually referred to as indoctrination by the religions themselves, in part because of the negative connotations the word has acquired. Mystery religions require a period of indoctrination before granting access to esoteric knowledge. (cf. Information security)
As a pejorative term, indoctrination implies forcibly or coercively causing people to act and think on the basis of a certain ideology.[3] Some secular critics believe that all religions indoctrinate their adherents, as children, and the accusation is made in the case of religious extremism.[4] Sects such as Scientology use personality tests and peer pressures to indoctrinate new members.[5] Some religions have commitment ceremonies for children 13 years and younger, such as Bar Mitzvah, Confirmation, and Shichi-Go-San. In Buddhism, temple boys are encouraged to follow the faith while young.[citation needed] Critics of religion, such as Richard Dawkins, maintain that the children of religious parents are often unfairly indoctrinated.[6]
However, due to the policy of state atheism in the People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the USSR in the 20th century, many citizens in those countries were subject to a government-sponsored program of atheistic indoctrination, specifically Marxist–Leninist atheism.[7][8] Sabrina P. Ramet, a professor of political science, documented that "from kindergarten onward children are indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism" and "to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home."[9] Similarly, in the former Soviet Union, the period of "science education Soviet schools is used as a vehicle for atheistic indoctrination", with teachers having instructions to prepare their course "so as to conduct anti-religious educations at all times" since officials felt that little Marxist-Leninist atheistic indoctrination was done by "even the most atheistic parents."[10] To this end, "to promote anti-religious propaganda, some Soviet universities (Kiev, for example) have opened permanent departments on the history and theory of atheism", which served to "prepare and distribute antireligious pamphlets and present public lectures".[10] In 1964, the Soviet Union made the class Osnovy nauchnogo ateizma (Fundamentals of Scientific Atheism) mandatory for all university students.[11]
Military[edit]
Main article: Recruit training
The initial psychological preparation of soldiers during training is referred to (non-pejoratively) as indoctrination.[citation needed]
Information security[edit]
In the field of information security, indoctrination is the initial briefing and instructions given before a person is granted access to secret information.[12]
Criticism[edit]
Noam Chomsky remarks, "For those who stubbornly seek freedom around the world, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the propaganda system to which we are subjected and in which all too often we serve as unwilling or unwitting instruments."[13]
See also[edit]
Portal icon Psychology portal
Behavior modification
Brainwashing
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Funk and Wagnalls: "To instruct in doctrines; esp., to teach partisan or sectarian dogmas"; I.A. Snook, ed. 1972. Concepts of Indoctrination (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul).
2.Jump up ^ Wilson, J., 1964. "Education and indoctrination", in T.H.B. Hollins, ed. Aims in Education: the philosophic approach(Manchester University Press).
3.Jump up ^ See OED, indoctrination.
4.Jump up ^ Harris, Sam (2011). The moral landscape. Simon and Schuster.
5.Jump up ^ See Scientology beliefs and practices.
6.Jump up ^ Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. New York: Bantam Books, 2006. Print. Pp. 25, 28, 206, 367.
7.Jump up ^ Jacques, Edwin E. (1995). The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present. McFarland. p. 447. ISBN 0899509320. "This Marxist-Leninist class revolution, therefore, demanded an atheistic indoctrination of the working masses and the elimination of all religious convictions."
8.Jump up ^ Franzmann, Manuel (2006). Religiosität in der säkularisierten Welt. Springer-Verlag. p. 89. "However, another conspicuous result of our comparison is that some Eastern European countries, in spite of decades of atheist indoctrination, have a considerable percentage of believers in God - Albania for instance, whose Communist rulers once claimed it was the world's first totally atheist country, or Russia, where the percentage of believers surged in the late eighties and rose dramatically once again in the course of the nineties."
9.Jump up ^ Ramet, Sabrina P. (1990). Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies. Duke University Press. pp. 232–233. ISBN 0822310473. "From kindergarten onward children are indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism and trained to hate and distrust foreigners and to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home."
10.^ Jump up to: a b Witt, Nicholas De (1961). Education and Professional Employment in the U.S.S.R. National Academies. p. 121.
11.Jump up ^ Thrower, James (1983). Marxist-Leninist "scientific Atheism" and the Study of Religion and Atheism in the USSR. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 143–144. ISBN 9027930600. "In 1959, a new course, entitled Osnovy nauchnogo ateizma (Fundamentals of Scientific Atheism) was introduced into the curriculum of all higher educational institutions, including the universities."
12.Jump up ^ The National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual defines indoctrination as "the initial security instructions/briefing given a person prior to granting access to classified information."
13.Jump up ^ Chomsky, Noam. "Propaganda, American Style". Retrieved 2007-06-29.
External links[edit]
Look up indoctrination in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Students for Academic Freedom
Habermas and the Problem of Indoctrination Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education
Library resources about
Indoctrination
Resources in your library
[show]
v ·
t ·
e
Media manipulation
[show]
v ·
t ·
e
Propaganda techniques
[show]
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e
Psychological manipulation
[show]
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t ·
e
Conformity
Categories: Mind control methods
Propaganda techniques
Social psychology
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoctrination
Mind control
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Brainwashing)
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Mind control (disambiguation).
"Brainwash" redirects here. For other uses, see Brainwash (disambiguation).
Mind control (also known as brainwashing, reeducation, coercive persuasion, thought control, or thought reform) is a theoretical indoctrination process which results in "an impairment of autonomy, an inability to think independently, and a disruption of beliefs and affiliations. In this context, brainwashing refers to the involuntary reeducation of basic beliefs and values".[1]
Theories of brainwashing and of mind control were originally developed to explain how totalitarian regimes appeared to systematically indoctrinate prisoners of war through propaganda and torture techniques. These theories were later expanded and modified by psychologists including Margaret Singer and Philip Zimbardo to explain a wider range of phenomena, especially conversions to new religious movements (NRMs). The suggestion that NRMs use mind control techniques has resulted in scientific and legal debate;[2] with Eileen Barker, James Richardson, and other scholars, as well as legal experts, rejecting at least the popular understanding of the concept.[3]
Newer theories have been proposed by scholars including: Robert Cialdini, Robert Jay Lifton, Daniel Romanovsky, Kathleen Taylor, and Benjamin Zablocki. The concept of mind control is sometimes involved in legal cases, especially regarding child custody; and is also a major theme in both science fiction and in criticism of modern corporate culture.
Contents [hide]
1 The Korean War and brainwashing 1.1 Origin of the concept
1.2 Korean War Brainwashing Debunked
1.3 CIA mind control program
2 New religious movements 2.1 Theories of mind control and religious conversion 2.1.1 Margaret Singer and the APA
2.2 Debate over mind control theories as applied to NRMs
3 Other areas and studies
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
The Korean War and brainwashing[edit]
See also: Thought reform in the People's Republic of China
Origin of the concept[edit]
The Oxford English Dictionary records the earliest known English-language usage of brainwashing in an article by newspaperman Edward Hunter, in Miami News, published on 7 October 1950. Hunter, an outspoken anticommunist and said to be a CIA agent working undercover as a journalist, wrote a series of books and articles on the theme of Chinese brainwashing, and the word brainwashing quickly became a stock phrase in Cold War headlines.[4][5]
The Chinese term 洗腦 (xǐ năo, literally "wash brain")[6] was originally used to describe methodologies of coercive persuasion used under the Maoist government in China, which aimed to transform individuals with a reactionary imperialist mindset into "right-thinking" members of the new Chinese social system.[7] The term punned on the Taoist custom of "cleansing/washing the heart/mind" (洗心, xǐ xīn) before conducting certain ceremonies or entering certain holy places.[8]
Hunter and those who picked up the Chinese term used it to explain why, during the Korean War (1950-1953), some American prisoners of war cooperated with their Chinese captors, even in a few cases defecting to the enemy side.[9] British radio operator Robert W. Ford[10][11] and British army Colonel James Carne also claimed that the Chinese subjected them to brainwashing techniques during their war-era imprisonment.[12]
The U.S. military and government laid charges of "brainwashing" in an effort to undermine detailed confessions made by military personnel to war crimes, including biological warfare.[13] After Chinese radio broadcasts claimed to quote Frank Schwable, Chief of Staff of the First Marine Air Wing admitting to participating in germ warfare, United Nations commander Gen. Mark W. Clark asserted: "Whether these statements ever passed the lips of these unfortunate men is doubtful. If they did, however, too familiar are the mind-annihilating methods of these Communists in extorting whatever words they want .... The men themselves are not to blame, and they have my deepest sympathy for having been used in this abominable way."[14]
In the 1950s many American movies were filmed that featured brainwashing of POWs, including The Rack, The Bamboo Prison, Toward the Unknown, and The Fearmakers. Fraser A. Sherman comments: "The possibility that advanced psychological techniques could reprogram people's minds became a permanent part of pop culture." Forbidden Area told the story of Soviet secret agents who had been brainwashed (through classical conditioning) by their own government so they wouldn't reveal their true identities. In 1962 The Manchurian Candidate "put brainwashing front and center" and featured a plot by the Soviet government to take over the United States by use of a brainwashed presidential candidate.[15][16]
The concept of brainwashing became associated with the research of Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov; which mostly involved dogs, not humans, as subjects.[17] In The Manchurian Candidate the head brainwasher is Dr. Yen Lo, of the Pavlov Institute.[18]
Korean War Brainwashing Debunked[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War.
In 1956, after reexamining the concept of brainwashing following the Korean War, the U.S. Army published a report entitled Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War which called brainwashing a "popular misconception."[19] The report states "exhaustive research of several government agencies failed to reveal even one conclusively documented case of 'brainwashing' of an American prisoner of war in Korea."[20]
US POW's captured by North Korea were brutalized with starvation, beatings, forced death marches, exposure to extremes of temperature, binding in stress positions, and withholding of medical care, but the abuse had no relation to indoctrination "in which [North Korea was] not particularly interested."[21] In contrast American POW's in the custody of North Korea's Chinese Communist allies did face a concerted interrogation and indoctrination program. However, "systematic, physical torture was not employed in connection with interrogation or indoctrination," the report states.[22]
The "most insidious" and effective Chinese technique according to the US Army Report was a convivial display of false friendship, which persuaded some GI's to make anti-American statements, and in a few isolated cases, refuse repatriation and remain in China:
"[w]hen an American soldier was captured by the Chinese, he was given a vigorous handshake and a pat on the back. The enemy 'introduced' himself as a friend of the 'workers' of America . . . in many instances the Chinese did not search the American captives, but frequently offered them American cigarettes. This display of friendship caught most Americans totally off-guard and they never recovered from the initial impression made by the Chinese. . . . [A]fter the initial contact with the enemy, some Americans seemed to believe that the enemy was sincere and harmless. They relaxed and permitted themselves to be lulled into a well-disguised trap [of cooperating with] the cunning enemy." [22]
Two academic studies of the repatriation of American prisoners of war by Robert Jay Lifton[23] and by Edgar Schein[24][25] concluded that brainwashing (called "thought reform" by Lifton and "coercive persuasion" by Schein), if it occurred, had at best a transient effect. In 1961, they both published books expanding on these findings. Schein published Coercive Persuasion[25] and Lifton published Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism.[26]
CIA mind control program[edit]
Main article: Project MKUltra
In 1999, forensic psychologist Dick Anthony concluded that the CIA had invented the concept of "brainwashing" as a propaganda strategy to undercut communist claims that American POWs in Korean communist camps had voluntarily expressed sympathy for communism. He argued that the books of Edward Hunter (whom he identified as a secret CIA "psychological warfare specialist" passing as a journalist) pushed the CIA brainwashing theory onto the general public. Succumbing to their own propaganda, for twenty years starting in the early 1950s, the CIA and the Defense Department conducted secret research (notably including Project MKULTRA) in an attempt to develop practical brainwashing techniques; the results are unknown. (See also Sidney Gottlieb.)[27][28]
New religious movements[edit]
In the 1970s, the anti-cult movement applied mind control theories to explain seemingly sudden and dramatic religious conversions to various new religious movements (NRM's).[29][30][31] The media was quick to follow suit,[32] and social scientists sympathetic to the anti-cult movement, who were usually psychologists, developed more sophisticated models of brainwashing.[30] While some psychologists were receptive to these theories, sociologists were for the most part skeptical of their ability to explain conversion to NRMs.[33]
Theories of mind control and religious conversion[edit]
Over the years various theories of conversion and member retention have been proposed that link mind control to some new religious movements (NRMs), particularly those religious movements referred to as "cults" by their critics. Philip Zimbardo discusses mind control as "the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes",[34] and he suggests that any human being is susceptible to such manipulation.[35]
Margaret Singer and the APA[edit]
Margaret Singer, who also spent time studying the political brainwashing of Korean prisoners of war, in her book Cults in Our Midst, describes six conditions which would create an atmosphere in which thought reform is possible.[36][37]
In 1983, the American Psychological Association (APA) asked Singer to chair a taskforce called the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC) to investigate whether brainwashing or "coercive persuasion" did indeed play a role in recruitment by such movements. Before the taskforce had submitted its final report, the APA submitted on 10 February 1987 an amicus curiæ brief in an ongoing court case related to brainwashing. Although the amicus curiæ brief written by the APA denies the credibility of the brainwashing theory, the APA submitted the brief under "intense pressure by a consortium of pro-religion scholars (a.k.a. NRM scholars)".[38] The brief repudiated Singer's theories on "coercive persuasion" and suggested that brainwashing theories were without empirical proof.[39] Afterward the APA filed a motion to withdraw its signature from the brief, since Singer's final report had not been completed.[40]
On 11 May 1987, the APA's Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) rejected the DIMPAC report because the report "lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur", and concluded that "after much consideration, BSERP does not believe that we have sufficient information available to guide us in taking a position on this issue."[41] Benjamin Zablocki and Alberto Amitrani interpreted the APA's response as meaning that there was no unanimous decision on the issue either way, suggesting also that Singer retained the respect of the psychological community after the incident.[38][42]
Two critical letters from external reviewers Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi and Jeffery D. Fisher accompanied the rejection memo. The letters criticized "brainwashing" as an unrecognized theoretical concept and Singer's reasoning as so flawed that it was "almost ridiculous."[43] After her findings were rejected, Singer sued the APA in 1992 for "defamation, frauds, aiding and abetting and conspiracy" and lost.[44] After that time U.S. courts consistently rejected testimonies about mind control and manipulation, stating that such theories were not part of accepted mainline science according to the Frye Standard of 1923.[45]
Debate over mind control theories as applied to NRMs[edit]
James Richardson observes that if the new religious movements (NRMs) had access to powerful brainwashing techniques, one would expect that NRMs would have high growth rates, yet in fact most have not had notable success in recruitment. Most adherents participate for only a short time, and the success in retaining members is limited.[46] For this and other reasons, sociologists of religion including David Bromley and Anson Shupe consider the idea that "cults" are brainwashing American youth to be "implausible."[47] In addition, Thomas Robbins, Massimo Introvigne, Lorne Dawson, Gordon Melton, Marc Galanter, and Saul Levine, amongst other scholars researching NRMs, have argued and established to the satisfaction of courts, relevant professional associations and scientific communities that there exists no generally accepted scientific theory, based upon methodologically sound research, that supports the brainwashing theories as advanced by the anti-cult movement.[48]
Benjamin Zablocki responds that it's obvious that brainwashing occurs, at least to any objective observer; but that it isn't "a process that is directly observable."[49] The "real sociological issue", he states, is whether "brainwashing occurs frequently enough to be considered an important social problem".[50] Zablocki disagrees with scholars like Richardson, stating that Richardson's observation is flawed. According to Zablocki, Richardson misunderstands brainwashing, conceiving of it as a recruiting process, instead of a retaining process.[51] Zablocki adds that the sheer number of former cult leaders and members who attest to brainwashing in interviews (performed in accordance with guidelines of the National Institute of Mental Health and National Science Foundation) is too large to be a result of anything other than a genuine phenomenon.[52]
Zablocki also points out that in the two most prestigious journals dedicated to the sociology of religion, the number of articles "supporting the brainwashing perspective" have been zero, while over one hundred such articles have been published in other journals "marginal to the field".[53] From this fact, Zablocki concludes that the concept brainwashing has been blacklisted unfairly from the field of sociology of religion.[3][50][53][54]
Eileen Barker criticizes mind control theories because they function to justify costly interventions such as deprogramming or exit counseling.[citation needed] She has also criticized some mental health professionals, including Singer, for accepting expert witness jobs in court cases involving NRMs.[55] Her 1984 book, The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?[56] describes the religious conversion process to the Unification Church (whose members are sometimes informally referred to as "Moonies") which had been one of the best known groups said to practice brainwashing.[57][58] Barker spent close to seven years studying Unification Church members. She interviewed in depth and/or gave probing questionnaires to church members, ex-members, "non-joiners," and control groups of uninvolved people from similar backgrounds, as well as parents, spouses, and friends of members. She also attended numerous Unification Church workshops and communal facilities.[59] Barker writes that she rejects the "brainwashing" theory as an explanation for conversion to the Unification Church, because, as she wrote, it explains neither the many people who attended a recruitment meeting and did not become members, nor the voluntary disaffiliation of members.[60][61][62][63]
Other areas and studies[edit]
Joost Meerloo, a Dutch psychiatrist, was an early leading proponent of the concept of brainwashing. His view was influenced by his experiences during the German occupation of his country in the Second World War and his work with the Dutch government and the American military in the interrogation of accused Nazi war criminals. He later emigrated to the United States and taught at Columbia University.[64] His best-selling 1956 book, The Rape of the Mind, concludes by saying: "The modern techniques of brainwashing and menticide-those perversions of psychology-can bring almost any man into submission and surrender. Many of the victims of thought control, brainwashing, and menticide that we have talked about were strong men whose minds and wills were broken and degraded. But although the totalitarians use their knowledge of the mind for vicious and unscrupulous purposes, our democratic society can and must use its knowledge to help man to grow, to guard his freedom, and to understand himself." ("Menticide" is a neologism coined by Meerloo meaning: "Killing of the mind.")[65]
In Italy there has been controversy over the concept of plagio, a crime consisting in an absolute psychological—and eventually physical—domination of a person. The effect of such domination is the annihilation of the subject's freedom and self-determination and the consequent negation of his or her personality. The crime of plagio has rarely been prosecuted in Italy, and only one person was ever convicted. In 1981, Italy the Court found the concept to be imprecise, lacking coherence, and liable to arbitrary application.[66]
By the twenty-first century, the concept of brainwashing had spread to other fields and was being applied "with some success" in criminal defense, child custody, and child sexual abuse cases. In some cases "one parent is accused of brainwashing the child to reject the other parent, and in child sex abuse cases where one parent is accused of brainwashing the child to make sex abuse accusations against the other parent" (possibly resulting in or causing parental alienation[67]).[68][69]
In his 2000 book, Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism, Robert Lifton applied his original ideas about thought reform to Aum Shinrikyo and the War on Terrorism, concluding that in this context thought reform was possible without violence or physical coercion. He also pointed out that in their efforts against terrorism Western governments were also using some mind control techniques, including thought-terminating clichés.[70]
In 2003 Dick Anthony asserted in the Washington Post that "no reasonable person would question that there are situations where people can be influenced against their best interests, but those arguments are evaluated on the basis of fact, not bogus expert testimony."[69] Dismissing the idea of mind control, he has defended NRMs, and argued that involvement in such movements may often have beneficial, rather than harmful effects: "There's a large research literature published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part the effects seem to be positive in any way that's measurable."[71]
In her 2004 book, Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control, neuroscientist and physiologist Kathleen Taylor put forth the theory that the neurological basis for reasoning and cognition in the brain and the self itself are changeable. She describes the physiology behind neurological pathways which include webs of neurons containing dendrites, axons, and synapses; and explains that certain brains with more rigid pathways will be less susceptible to new information or creative stimuli. She uses neurological science to demonstrate that brainwashed individuals have more rigid pathways, and that that rigidity can make it unlikely that the individual will rethink situations or be able to later reorganize these pathways.[72] She explains that repetition is an integral part of brainwashing techniques because connections between neurons become stronger when exposed to incoming signals of frequency and intensity.[73] She argues that people in their teenage years and early twenties are more susceptible to persuasion.Taylor explains that brain activity in the temporal lobe, the region responsible for artistic creativity, also causes spiritual experiences in a process known as lability.[73][74][75][76]
In his 2007 book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, social psychologist Robert Cialdini argues that mind control is possible through the covert exploitation of the unconscious rules that underlie and facilitate healthy human social interactions. He states that common social rules can be used to prey upon the unwary. Using categories, he offers specific examples of both mild and extreme mind control—both one on one and in groups—notes the conditions under which each social rule is most easily exploited for false ends, and offers suggestions on how to resist such methods.[77]
In 2009 historian Daniel Romanovsky wrote about what he called "Nazi brainwashing" of the people of Belarus by the occupying Germans during the Second World War, which took place through both mass propaganda and intense re-education, especially in schools. He notes that very soon most people had adopted the Nazi view of the Jews, that they were an inferior race and were closely tied to the Soviet government, views that had not been at all common before the occupation.[78]
Mind control has often been an important theme in science fiction and fantasy stories. Terry O'Brien comments: "Mind control is such a powerful image that if hypnotism did not exist, then something similar would have to have been invented: the plot device is too useful for any writer to ignore. The fear of mind control is equally as powerful an image."[79] A subgenre is "corporate mind control", in which a future society is run by one or more business corporations which dominate society using advertising and mass media to control the population's thoughts and feelings.[80]
Modern corporations are said to practice mind control to create a work force which shares the same common values and culture.[81] Critics have linked "corporate brainwashing" with globalization, saying that corporations are attempting to create a world-wide monocultural network of producers, consumers, and managers.[82] In his 1992 book, Democracy in an Age of Corporate Colonization, Stanley A. Deetz says that modern "self awareness" and "self improvement" programs provide corporations with even more effective tools to control the minds of employees than traditional brainwashing.[83] Modern educational systems have also been criticized, by both the left and the right, for contributing to corporate brainwashing.[84]
See also[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Mind control
Look up mind control in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Hypnosis
Indoctrination
List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
Mind control in popular culture
MKULTRA (a covert CIA research program)
Political abuse of psychiatry
Psychological manipulation
Psychological warfare
Unethical human experimentation in the United States
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Kowal, D. M. (2000). Brainwashing. In A. E. LOVE (Ed.) , Encyclopedia of psychology, vol. 1 (pp. 463-464). American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/10516-173
2.Jump up ^ Wright, Stuart (December 1997). "Media Coverage of Unconventional Religion: Any "Good News" for Minority Faiths?". Review of Religious Research 39 (2): 101–115. doi:10.2307/3512176.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Melton, J. Gordon (10 December 1999). "Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory". CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 5 September 2009. "Since the late 1980s, though a significant public belief in cult-brainwashing remains, the academic community-including scholars from psychology, sociology, and religious studies-have shared an almost unanimous consensus that the coercive persuasion/brainwashing thesis proposed by Margaret Singer and her colleagues in the 1980s is without scientific merit."
4.Jump up ^ Weiner, T. (2008, Jul 06). Remembering brainwashing. New York Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/433897982?accountid=13380
5.Jump up ^ Marks, John (1979). "8. Brainwashing". The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-8129-0773-6. Retrieved 2008-12-30. "In September 1950, the Miami News published an article by Edward Hunter titled '"Brain-Washing" Tactics Force Chinese into Ranks of Communist Party.' It was the first printed use in any language of the term "brainwashing," Hunter, a CIA propaganda operator who worked under cover as a journalist, turned out a steady stream of books and articles on the subject."
6.Jump up ^ Chinese English Dictionary
7.Jump up ^ Taylor, Kathleen (2006). Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-19-920478-6. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
8.Jump up ^ Note: 心 can mean "heart", "mind" or "centre" depending on context. For example, 心脏病 means Cardiovascular disease, but 心理医生 means psychologist, and 市中心 means Central business district.
9.Jump up ^ Browning, Michael (2003-03-14). "Was Kidnapped Utah Teen Brainwashed?". Palm Beach Post (Palm Beach). ISSN 1528-5758. "During the Korean War, captured American soldiers were subjected to prolonged interrogations and harangues by their captors, who often worked in relays and used the "good-cop, bad-cop" approach, alternating a brutal interrogator with a gentle one. It was all part of "Xi Nao," washing the brain. The Chinese and Koreans were making valiant attempts to convert the captives to the communist way of thought."
10.Jump up ^ Ford RC (1990). Captured in Tibet. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-581570-X.
11.Jump up ^ Ford RC (1997). Wind Between the Worlds: Captured in Tibet. SLG Books. ISBN 0-9617066-9-4.
12.Jump up ^ New York Times: "Red Germ Charges Cite 2 U.S. Marines," 23 February 1954, accessed 16 February 2012.
13.Jump up ^ Stephen Endicott and Edward Hagerman, The United States and Biological Warfare: Secrets From the Early Cold War (Indiana University Press, 1998)
14.Jump up ^ New York Times: "Clark Denounces Germ War Charges", 24 February 1953, accessed 16 February 2012.
15.Jump up ^ Screen Enemies of the American Way: Political Paranoia About Nazis, Communists, Saboteurs, Terrorists and Body Snatching Aliens in Film and Television, Fraser A. Sherman, McFarland, 13 December 2010.
16.Jump up ^ Seed, David (2004). Brainwashing: A Study in Cold War Demonology. Kent State University Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-87338-813-9.
17.Jump up ^ Judicial Policy Making and the Modern State: How the Courts Reformed America's Prisons, Malcolm M. Feeley, Edward L. Rubin, Cambridge University Press, 28 March 2000, page 268.
18.Jump up ^ Asian Diaspora and East-West Modernity, Sheng-mei Ma, Purdue University Press, 2012, page 129.
19.Jump up ^ U.S Department of the Army (15 May 1956). Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War. (Pamphlet number 30-101 ed.). U.S Gov't Printing Office. pp. 17 & 51.
20.Jump up ^ (Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War 1956, p. 51)
21.Jump up ^ (Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War 1956, p. 15)North Koreans considered US POWs illegal invaders and asserted they were not protected by the Geneva Conventions.
22.^ Jump up to: a b (Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War 1956, p. 37)
23.Jump up ^ Lifton, Robert J. (April 1954). "Home by Ship: Reaction Patterns of American Prisoners of War Repatriated from North Korea". American Journal of Psychiatry 110 (10): 732–739. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.110.10.732. PMID 13138750. Retrieved 2008-03-30. Cited in Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism
24.Jump up ^ Schein, Edgar (May 1956). "The Chinese Indoctrination Program for Prisoners of War: A Study of Attempted Brainwashing". Psychiatry 19 (2): 149–172. PMID 13323141. Cited in Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism
25.^ Jump up to: a b Schein, Edgar H. (1971). Coercive Persuasion: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of the "Brainwashing" of American Civilian Prisoners by the Chinese Communists. New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-00613-1.
26.Jump up ^ Lifton, RJ (1989) [1961]. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism; a Study of "Brainwashing" in China. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4253-2.
27.Jump up ^ Anthony, Dick (1999). "Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie". Social Justice Research 12 (4): 421–456. doi:10.1023/A:1022081411463.
28.Jump up ^ "Chapter 3, part 4: Supreme Court Dissents Invoke the Nuremberg Code: CIA and DOD Human Subjects Research Scandals". Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments Final Report. Retrieved 24 August 2005. "MKUltra, began in 1950 and was motivated largely in response to alleged Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean uses of mind-control techniques on U.S. prisoners of war in Korea."
29.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (1999-12-10). "Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory". CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 2009-06-15. "In the United States at the end of the 1970s, brainwashing emerged as a popular theoretical construct around which to understand what appeared to be a sudden rise of new and unfamiliar religious movements during the previous decade, especially those associated with the hippie street-people phenomenon."
30.^ Jump up to: a b Bromley, David G. (1998). "Brainwashing". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
31.Jump up ^ Barker, Eileen: New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction. London: Her Majesty's Stationery office, 1989.
32.Jump up ^ Wright, Stewart A. (1997). "Media Coverage of Unconventional Religion: Any 'Good News' for Minority Faiths?". Review of Religious Research (Review of Religious Research, Vol. 39, No. 2) 39 (2): 101–115. doi:10.2307/3512176. JSTOR 3512176.
33.Jump up ^ Barker, Eileen (1986). "Religious Movements: Cult and Anti-Cult Since Jonestown". Annual Review of Sociology 12: 329–346. doi:10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.001553.
34.Jump up ^ Zimbardo, Philip G. (November 2002). "Mind Control: Psychological Reality or Mindless Rhetoric?". Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved 2008-12-30. "Mind control is the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes. It is neither magical nor mystical, but a process that involves a set of basic social psychological principles. Conformity, compliance, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, guilt and fear arousal, modeling and identification are some of the staple social influence ingredients well studied in psychological experiments and field studies. In some combinations, they create a powerful crucible of extreme mental and behavioral manipulation when synthesized with several other real-world factors, such as charismatic, authoritarian leaders, dominant ideologies, social isolation, physical debilitation, induced phobias, and extreme threats or promised rewards that are typically deceptively orchestrated, over an extended time period in settings where they are applied intensively. A body of social science evidence shows that when systematically practiced by state-sanctioned police, military or destructive cults, mind control can induce false confessions, create converts who willingly torture or kill 'invented enemies,' and engage indoctrinated members to work tirelessly, give up their money—and even their lives—for 'the cause.'"
35.Jump up ^ Zimbardo, P (1997). "What messages are behind today's cults?". Monitor on Psychology: 14.
36.Jump up ^ Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, Margaret Thaler Singer, Jossey-Bass, publisher, April 2003, ISBN 0-7879-6741-6
37.Jump up ^ Clarke, P. and R.M.H.F.P. Clarke. 2004. Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements: Taylor & Francis. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=DouBAgAAQBAJ.
38.^ Jump up to: a b Zablocki, Benjamin (2001). Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. U of Toronto Press. p. 168. ISBN 0-8020-8188-6.
39.Jump up ^ CESNUR — APA Brief in the Molko Case. "The methodology of Drs. Singer and Benson has been repudiated by the scientific community... The hypotheses advanced by Singer comprised little more than uninformed speculation, based on skewed data... The coercive persuasion theory...is not a meaningful scientific concept. ... The theories of Drs. Singer and Benson are not new to the scientific community. After searching scrutiny, the scientific community has repudiated the assumptions, methodologies, and conclusions of Drs. Singer and Benson. The validity of the claim that, absent physical force or threats, "systematic manipulation of the social influences" can coercively deprive individuals of free will lacks any empirical foundation and has never been confirmed by other research. The specific methods by which Drs. Singer and Benson have arrived at their conclusions have also been rejected by all serious scholars in the field."
40.Jump up ^ "Motion of the American Psychological Association to Withdraw as Amicus Curiae" www.cult education.com
41.Jump up ^ American Psychological Association Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) (1987-05-11). "Memorandum". CESNUR: APA Memo of 1987 with Enclosures. CESNUR Center for Studies on New Religion. Retrieved 2008-11-18. "BSERP thanks the Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control for its service but is unable to accept the report of the Task Force. In general, the report lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur."
42.Jump up ^ Amitrani, Alberto; Di Marzio R (2001). "Blind, or just don't want to see? Mind Control in New Religious Movements and the American Psychological Association". Cultic Studies Review.
43.Jump up ^ "APA memo and two enclosures", CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Religions
44.Jump up ^ Case No. 730012-8 Margaret Singer v. American Psychological Association. CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Religions
45.Jump up ^ Anthony, D. and Robbins, T. (1992), Law, social science and the "brainwashing" exception to the first amendment. Behav. Sci. Law, 10: 5–29.
46.Jump up ^ Richardson, James T. (June 1985). "The active vs. passive convert: paradigm conflict in conversion/recruitment research". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 24, No. 2) 24 (2): 163–179. doi:10.2307/1386340. JSTOR 1386340.
47.Jump up ^ Brainwashing by Religious Cults
48.Jump up ^ Richardson, James T. 2009. "Religion and The Law" in The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Peter Clarke. (ed) Oxford Handbooks Online. p. 426
49.Jump up ^ Allen, Charlotte (December 1998). "Brainwashed! Scholars of Cults Accuse Each Other of Bad Faith". Lingua Franca. linguafranca.com. Archived from the original on 2000-12-03. Retrieved 2014-06-16.
50.^ Jump up to: a b Zablocki, Benjamin. (October 1997). "THE BLACKLISTING OF A CONCEPT: THE STRANGE HISTORY OF THE BRAINWASHING CONJECTURE IN THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION". Nova religio 1 (1): 96–121. doi:10.1525/nr.1997.1.1.96.
51.Jump up ^ Zablocki, Benjamin (2001). Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. U of Toronto Press. p. 176. ISBN 0-8020-8188-6.
52.Jump up ^ Zablocki, Benjamin (2001). Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. U of Toronto Press. pp. 194–201. ISBN 0-8020-8188-6.
53.^ Jump up to: a b Zablocki, Benjamin. (April 1998). "TReply to Bromley". Nova religio 1 (2): 267–271. doi:10.1525/nr.1998.1.2.267.
54.Jump up ^ Phil Zuckerman. Invitation to the Sociology of Religion. Psychology Press, 24 July 2003 p. 28
55.Jump up ^ Barker, Eileen (1995). "The Scientific Study of Religion? You Must Be Joking!". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 34, No. 3) 34 (3): 287–310. doi:10.2307/1386880. JSTOR 1386880.
56.Jump up ^ Eileen Barker, The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, United Kingdom, ISBN 0-631-13246-5.
57.Jump up ^ Moon’s death marks end of an era, Eileen Barker, CNN, 3 September 2012, Although Moon is likely to be remembered for all these things – mass weddings, accusations of brainwashing, political intrigue and enormous wealth – he should also be remembered as creating what was arguably one of the most comprehensive and innovative theologies embraced by a new religion of the period.
58.Jump up ^ Hyung-Jin Kim (2 September 2012). "Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon dies at 92". USA Today. ISSN 0734-7456. Retrieved 2 September 2012. "The Rev. Sun Myung Moon was a self-proclaimed messiah who built a global business empire. He called both North Korean leaders and American presidents his friends, but spent time in prisons in both countries. His followers around the world cherished him, while his detractors accused him of brainwashing recruits and extracting money from worshippers."
59.Jump up ^ Review, William Rusher, National Review, 19 December 1986.
60.Jump up ^ NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS - SOME PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION George Chryssides, Diskus, 1997.
61.Jump up ^ The Market for Martyrs, Laurence Iannaccone, George Mason University, 2006, "One of the most comprehensive and influential studies was The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing? by Eileen Barker (1984). Barker could find no evidence that Moonie recruits were ever kidnapped, confined, or coerced. Participants at Moonie retreats were not deprived of sleep; the lectures were not “trance-inducing”; and there was not much chanting, no drugs or alcohol, and little that could be termed “frenzy” or “ecstatic” experience. People were free to leave, and leave they did. Barker’s extensive enumerations showed that among the recruits who went so far as to attend two-day retreats (claimed to beMoonie’s most effective means of “brainwashing”), fewer than 25% joined the group for more than a week and only 5% remained full-time members one year later. And, of course, most contacts dropped out before attending a retreat. Of all those who visited a Moonie centre at least once, not one in two-hundred remained in the movement two years later. With failure rates exceeding 99.5%, it comes as no surprise that full-time Moonie membership in the U.S. never exceeded a few thousand. And this was one of the most New Religious Movements of the era!"
62.Jump up ^ Oakes, Len "By far the best study of the conversion process is Eileen Barker’s The Making of a Moonie [...]" from Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities, 1997, ISBN 0-8156-0398-3
63.Jump up ^ Storr, Anthony Dr. Feet of clay: a study of gurus 1996 ISBN 0-684-83495-2
64.Jump up ^ The Oxford Handbook of Propaganda Studies, Jonathan Auerbach, Russ Castronovo, Oxford University Press, 2014, page 114
65.Jump up ^ *Meerloo, Joost (1956). "The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing". World Publishing Company.
66.Jump up ^ Alessandro Usai “Profili penali dei condizionamenti mentali, Milano, 1996 ISBN 88-14-06071-1.
67.Jump up ^ Warshak, R. A. (2010). Divorce Poison: How to Protect Your Family from Bad-mouthing and Brainwashing. New York: Harper Collins.
68.Jump up ^ Richardson, James T. Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 2004, p. 16, ISBN 978-0-306-47887-1.
69.^ Jump up to: a b Oldenburg, Don (2003-11-21). "Stressed to Kill: The Defense of Brainwashing; Sniper Suspect's Claim Triggers More Debate", Washington Post, reproduced in Defence Brief, issue 269, published by Steven Skurka & Associates
70.Jump up ^ Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism, Owl Books, 2000.
71.Jump up ^ Sipchen, Bob (1988-11-17). "Ten Years After Jonestown, the Battle Intensifies Over the Influence of 'Alternative' Religions", Los Angeles Times
72.Jump up ^ Szimhart, Joseph (July–August 2005). "Thoughts on thought control". Skeptical Inquirer (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) 29 (4): 56–57.
73.^ Jump up to: a b Le Fanu, James (20 December 2004). "Make up your mind". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group Limited). Retrieved 2008-11-02.
74.Jump up ^ Hawkes, Nigel (27 November 2004). "Brainwashing by Kathleen Taylor". The Times (London: Times Newspapers Ltd). Retrieved 2008-11-02.
75.Jump up ^ Caterson, Simon (2 May 2007). "Hell to pay when man bites God". The Australian. p. 4.
76.Jump up ^ Taylor, Kathleen Eleanor (December 2004). Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control. Oxford University Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-19-280496-9. Retrieved 2009-07-30. "Your susceptibility to brainwashing (and other forms of influence) has much to do with the state of your brain. This will depend in part on your genes: research suggests that prefrontal function is substantially affected by genetics. Low educational achievement, dogmatism, stress, and other factors which affect prefrontal function encourage simplistic, black-and-white thinking. If you have neglected your neurons, failed to stimulate your synapses, obstinately resisted new experiences, or harmed your prefrontal cortex with drugs (including alcohol), lack of sleep, rollercoaster emotions, or chronic stress, you may well be susceptible to the totalist charms of the next charismatic you meet. This is why so many young people baffle their more phlegmatic elders by joining cults, developing obsessions with fashions and celebrities, and forming intense attachments to often unsuitable role models."
77.Jump up ^ Cialdini, Robert B. (2007). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. London: Collins. pp. epilogue. ISBN 0-06-124189-X.
78.Jump up ^ Nazi Europe and the Final Solution, David Bankier, Israel Gutman, Berghahn Books, 2009, page 282-285.
79.Jump up ^ Terry O'Brien in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 1, Gary Westfahl editor, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005.
80.Jump up ^ Per Schelde, Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films, NYU Press, 1 July 1994, pages 169-175
81.Jump up ^ Exploring Leadership: Individual, Organizational, and Societal Perspectives, Richard Bolden, Beverley Hawkins, Jonathan Gosling, Scott Taylor,Oxford University Press, 30 June 2011, page 95.
82.Jump up ^ The Rise of the Anti-corporate Movement: Corporations and the People who Hate Them, Evan Osborne, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, page 14
83.Jump up ^ Democracy in an Age of Corporate Colonization: Developments in Communication and the Politics of Everyday Life, Stanley Deetz, SUNY Press, 1 January 1992, page 257.
84.Jump up ^ More Money Than Brains: Why School Sucks, College is Crap, & Idiots Think They're Right, Laura Penny, McClelland & Stewart, 20 April 2010, page 63.
Further reading[edit]
Begich, N. (2006). Controlling the Human Mind. Anchorage, AK: Earth Pulse Press. ISBN 1-890693-54-5.
Dunne, Matthew W. (2013). A Cold War State of Mind: Brainwashing and Postwar American Society. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. Trans. Konrad Kellen & Jean Lerner. New York: Knopf, 1965. New York: Random House/ Vintage, 1973.
Langone, M.D. (1993). Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-31321-2.
Lifton, R.J. (1989). Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4253-2.
Meerloo, Joost (1956). "The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing". World Publishing Company.
Pollini, F. Night (formerly banned novel about brainwashing of American POWs in Korea). Olympia Press, Paris, 1960
Singer M et al. (1986-11-01). "Report of the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC report)". American Psychological Association. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
Streatfeild, D. (2008). Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control. New York: Picador. ISBN 0-312-42792-1.
Zablocki, B. (1997). "The Blacklisting of a Concept. The Strange History of the Brainwashing Conjecture in the Sociology of Religion". Nova Religio 1 (1): 96–121. doi:10.1525/nr.1997.1.1.96.
Zablocki, B (1998). "Exit Cost Analysis: A New Approach to the Scientific Study of Brainwashing" (PDF). Nova Religio 2 (1): 216–249. doi:10.1525/nr.1998.1.2.216. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
Zimbardo, P. (2002-11-01). "Mind Control: Psychological Reality or Mindless Rhetoric?". Monitor on Psychology.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_control
Mind control
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Brainwashing)
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses, see Mind control (disambiguation).
"Brainwash" redirects here. For other uses, see Brainwash (disambiguation).
Mind control (also known as brainwashing, reeducation, coercive persuasion, thought control, or thought reform) is a theoretical indoctrination process which results in "an impairment of autonomy, an inability to think independently, and a disruption of beliefs and affiliations. In this context, brainwashing refers to the involuntary reeducation of basic beliefs and values".[1]
Theories of brainwashing and of mind control were originally developed to explain how totalitarian regimes appeared to systematically indoctrinate prisoners of war through propaganda and torture techniques. These theories were later expanded and modified by psychologists including Margaret Singer and Philip Zimbardo to explain a wider range of phenomena, especially conversions to new religious movements (NRMs). The suggestion that NRMs use mind control techniques has resulted in scientific and legal debate;[2] with Eileen Barker, James Richardson, and other scholars, as well as legal experts, rejecting at least the popular understanding of the concept.[3]
Newer theories have been proposed by scholars including: Robert Cialdini, Robert Jay Lifton, Daniel Romanovsky, Kathleen Taylor, and Benjamin Zablocki. The concept of mind control is sometimes involved in legal cases, especially regarding child custody; and is also a major theme in both science fiction and in criticism of modern corporate culture.
Contents [hide]
1 The Korean War and brainwashing 1.1 Origin of the concept
1.2 Korean War Brainwashing Debunked
1.3 CIA mind control program
2 New religious movements 2.1 Theories of mind control and religious conversion 2.1.1 Margaret Singer and the APA
2.2 Debate over mind control theories as applied to NRMs
3 Other areas and studies
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
The Korean War and brainwashing[edit]
See also: Thought reform in the People's Republic of China
Origin of the concept[edit]
The Oxford English Dictionary records the earliest known English-language usage of brainwashing in an article by newspaperman Edward Hunter, in Miami News, published on 7 October 1950. Hunter, an outspoken anticommunist and said to be a CIA agent working undercover as a journalist, wrote a series of books and articles on the theme of Chinese brainwashing, and the word brainwashing quickly became a stock phrase in Cold War headlines.[4][5]
The Chinese term 洗腦 (xǐ năo, literally "wash brain")[6] was originally used to describe methodologies of coercive persuasion used under the Maoist government in China, which aimed to transform individuals with a reactionary imperialist mindset into "right-thinking" members of the new Chinese social system.[7] The term punned on the Taoist custom of "cleansing/washing the heart/mind" (洗心, xǐ xīn) before conducting certain ceremonies or entering certain holy places.[8]
Hunter and those who picked up the Chinese term used it to explain why, during the Korean War (1950-1953), some American prisoners of war cooperated with their Chinese captors, even in a few cases defecting to the enemy side.[9] British radio operator Robert W. Ford[10][11] and British army Colonel James Carne also claimed that the Chinese subjected them to brainwashing techniques during their war-era imprisonment.[12]
The U.S. military and government laid charges of "brainwashing" in an effort to undermine detailed confessions made by military personnel to war crimes, including biological warfare.[13] After Chinese radio broadcasts claimed to quote Frank Schwable, Chief of Staff of the First Marine Air Wing admitting to participating in germ warfare, United Nations commander Gen. Mark W. Clark asserted: "Whether these statements ever passed the lips of these unfortunate men is doubtful. If they did, however, too familiar are the mind-annihilating methods of these Communists in extorting whatever words they want .... The men themselves are not to blame, and they have my deepest sympathy for having been used in this abominable way."[14]
In the 1950s many American movies were filmed that featured brainwashing of POWs, including The Rack, The Bamboo Prison, Toward the Unknown, and The Fearmakers. Fraser A. Sherman comments: "The possibility that advanced psychological techniques could reprogram people's minds became a permanent part of pop culture." Forbidden Area told the story of Soviet secret agents who had been brainwashed (through classical conditioning) by their own government so they wouldn't reveal their true identities. In 1962 The Manchurian Candidate "put brainwashing front and center" and featured a plot by the Soviet government to take over the United States by use of a brainwashed presidential candidate.[15][16]
The concept of brainwashing became associated with the research of Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov; which mostly involved dogs, not humans, as subjects.[17] In The Manchurian Candidate the head brainwasher is Dr. Yen Lo, of the Pavlov Institute.[18]
Korean War Brainwashing Debunked[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War.
In 1956, after reexamining the concept of brainwashing following the Korean War, the U.S. Army published a report entitled Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination, and Exploitation of Prisoners of War which called brainwashing a "popular misconception."[19] The report states "exhaustive research of several government agencies failed to reveal even one conclusively documented case of 'brainwashing' of an American prisoner of war in Korea."[20]
US POW's captured by North Korea were brutalized with starvation, beatings, forced death marches, exposure to extremes of temperature, binding in stress positions, and withholding of medical care, but the abuse had no relation to indoctrination "in which [North Korea was] not particularly interested."[21] In contrast American POW's in the custody of North Korea's Chinese Communist allies did face a concerted interrogation and indoctrination program. However, "systematic, physical torture was not employed in connection with interrogation or indoctrination," the report states.[22]
The "most insidious" and effective Chinese technique according to the US Army Report was a convivial display of false friendship, which persuaded some GI's to make anti-American statements, and in a few isolated cases, refuse repatriation and remain in China:
"[w]hen an American soldier was captured by the Chinese, he was given a vigorous handshake and a pat on the back. The enemy 'introduced' himself as a friend of the 'workers' of America . . . in many instances the Chinese did not search the American captives, but frequently offered them American cigarettes. This display of friendship caught most Americans totally off-guard and they never recovered from the initial impression made by the Chinese. . . . [A]fter the initial contact with the enemy, some Americans seemed to believe that the enemy was sincere and harmless. They relaxed and permitted themselves to be lulled into a well-disguised trap [of cooperating with] the cunning enemy." [22]
Two academic studies of the repatriation of American prisoners of war by Robert Jay Lifton[23] and by Edgar Schein[24][25] concluded that brainwashing (called "thought reform" by Lifton and "coercive persuasion" by Schein), if it occurred, had at best a transient effect. In 1961, they both published books expanding on these findings. Schein published Coercive Persuasion[25] and Lifton published Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism.[26]
CIA mind control program[edit]
Main article: Project MKUltra
In 1999, forensic psychologist Dick Anthony concluded that the CIA had invented the concept of "brainwashing" as a propaganda strategy to undercut communist claims that American POWs in Korean communist camps had voluntarily expressed sympathy for communism. He argued that the books of Edward Hunter (whom he identified as a secret CIA "psychological warfare specialist" passing as a journalist) pushed the CIA brainwashing theory onto the general public. Succumbing to their own propaganda, for twenty years starting in the early 1950s, the CIA and the Defense Department conducted secret research (notably including Project MKULTRA) in an attempt to develop practical brainwashing techniques; the results are unknown. (See also Sidney Gottlieb.)[27][28]
New religious movements[edit]
In the 1970s, the anti-cult movement applied mind control theories to explain seemingly sudden and dramatic religious conversions to various new religious movements (NRM's).[29][30][31] The media was quick to follow suit,[32] and social scientists sympathetic to the anti-cult movement, who were usually psychologists, developed more sophisticated models of brainwashing.[30] While some psychologists were receptive to these theories, sociologists were for the most part skeptical of their ability to explain conversion to NRMs.[33]
Theories of mind control and religious conversion[edit]
Over the years various theories of conversion and member retention have been proposed that link mind control to some new religious movements (NRMs), particularly those religious movements referred to as "cults" by their critics. Philip Zimbardo discusses mind control as "the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes",[34] and he suggests that any human being is susceptible to such manipulation.[35]
Margaret Singer and the APA[edit]
Margaret Singer, who also spent time studying the political brainwashing of Korean prisoners of war, in her book Cults in Our Midst, describes six conditions which would create an atmosphere in which thought reform is possible.[36][37]
In 1983, the American Psychological Association (APA) asked Singer to chair a taskforce called the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC) to investigate whether brainwashing or "coercive persuasion" did indeed play a role in recruitment by such movements. Before the taskforce had submitted its final report, the APA submitted on 10 February 1987 an amicus curiæ brief in an ongoing court case related to brainwashing. Although the amicus curiæ brief written by the APA denies the credibility of the brainwashing theory, the APA submitted the brief under "intense pressure by a consortium of pro-religion scholars (a.k.a. NRM scholars)".[38] The brief repudiated Singer's theories on "coercive persuasion" and suggested that brainwashing theories were without empirical proof.[39] Afterward the APA filed a motion to withdraw its signature from the brief, since Singer's final report had not been completed.[40]
On 11 May 1987, the APA's Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) rejected the DIMPAC report because the report "lacks the scientific rigor and evenhanded critical approach necessary for APA imprimatur", and concluded that "after much consideration, BSERP does not believe that we have sufficient information available to guide us in taking a position on this issue."[41] Benjamin Zablocki and Alberto Amitrani interpreted the APA's response as meaning that there was no unanimous decision on the issue either way, suggesting also that Singer retained the respect of the psychological community after the incident.[38][42]
Two critical letters from external reviewers Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi and Jeffery D. Fisher accompanied the rejection memo. The letters criticized "brainwashing" as an unrecognized theoretical concept and Singer's reasoning as so flawed that it was "almost ridiculous."[43] After her findings were rejected, Singer sued the APA in 1992 for "defamation, frauds, aiding and abetting and conspiracy" and lost.[44] After that time U.S. courts consistently rejected testimonies about mind control and manipulation, stating that such theories were not part of accepted mainline science according to the Frye Standard of 1923.[45]
Debate over mind control theories as applied to NRMs[edit]
James Richardson observes that if the new religious movements (NRMs) had access to powerful brainwashing techniques, one would expect that NRMs would have high growth rates, yet in fact most have not had notable success in recruitment. Most adherents participate for only a short time, and the success in retaining members is limited.[46] For this and other reasons, sociologists of religion including David Bromley and Anson Shupe consider the idea that "cults" are brainwashing American youth to be "implausible."[47] In addition, Thomas Robbins, Massimo Introvigne, Lorne Dawson, Gordon Melton, Marc Galanter, and Saul Levine, amongst other scholars researching NRMs, have argued and established to the satisfaction of courts, relevant professional associations and scientific communities that there exists no generally accepted scientific theory, based upon methodologically sound research, that supports the brainwashing theories as advanced by the anti-cult movement.[48]
Benjamin Zablocki responds that it's obvious that brainwashing occurs, at least to any objective observer; but that it isn't "a process that is directly observable."[49] The "real sociological issue", he states, is whether "brainwashing occurs frequently enough to be considered an important social problem".[50] Zablocki disagrees with scholars like Richardson, stating that Richardson's observation is flawed. According to Zablocki, Richardson misunderstands brainwashing, conceiving of it as a recruiting process, instead of a retaining process.[51] Zablocki adds that the sheer number of former cult leaders and members who attest to brainwashing in interviews (performed in accordance with guidelines of the National Institute of Mental Health and National Science Foundation) is too large to be a result of anything other than a genuine phenomenon.[52]
Zablocki also points out that in the two most prestigious journals dedicated to the sociology of religion, the number of articles "supporting the brainwashing perspective" have been zero, while over one hundred such articles have been published in other journals "marginal to the field".[53] From this fact, Zablocki concludes that the concept brainwashing has been blacklisted unfairly from the field of sociology of religion.[3][50][53][54]
Eileen Barker criticizes mind control theories because they function to justify costly interventions such as deprogramming or exit counseling.[citation needed] She has also criticized some mental health professionals, including Singer, for accepting expert witness jobs in court cases involving NRMs.[55] Her 1984 book, The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?[56] describes the religious conversion process to the Unification Church (whose members are sometimes informally referred to as "Moonies") which had been one of the best known groups said to practice brainwashing.[57][58] Barker spent close to seven years studying Unification Church members. She interviewed in depth and/or gave probing questionnaires to church members, ex-members, "non-joiners," and control groups of uninvolved people from similar backgrounds, as well as parents, spouses, and friends of members. She also attended numerous Unification Church workshops and communal facilities.[59] Barker writes that she rejects the "brainwashing" theory as an explanation for conversion to the Unification Church, because, as she wrote, it explains neither the many people who attended a recruitment meeting and did not become members, nor the voluntary disaffiliation of members.[60][61][62][63]
Other areas and studies[edit]
Joost Meerloo, a Dutch psychiatrist, was an early leading proponent of the concept of brainwashing. His view was influenced by his experiences during the German occupation of his country in the Second World War and his work with the Dutch government and the American military in the interrogation of accused Nazi war criminals. He later emigrated to the United States and taught at Columbia University.[64] His best-selling 1956 book, The Rape of the Mind, concludes by saying: "The modern techniques of brainwashing and menticide-those perversions of psychology-can bring almost any man into submission and surrender. Many of the victims of thought control, brainwashing, and menticide that we have talked about were strong men whose minds and wills were broken and degraded. But although the totalitarians use their knowledge of the mind for vicious and unscrupulous purposes, our democratic society can and must use its knowledge to help man to grow, to guard his freedom, and to understand himself." ("Menticide" is a neologism coined by Meerloo meaning: "Killing of the mind.")[65]
In Italy there has been controversy over the concept of plagio, a crime consisting in an absolute psychological—and eventually physical—domination of a person. The effect of such domination is the annihilation of the subject's freedom and self-determination and the consequent negation of his or her personality. The crime of plagio has rarely been prosecuted in Italy, and only one person was ever convicted. In 1981, Italy the Court found the concept to be imprecise, lacking coherence, and liable to arbitrary application.[66]
By the twenty-first century, the concept of brainwashing had spread to other fields and was being applied "with some success" in criminal defense, child custody, and child sexual abuse cases. In some cases "one parent is accused of brainwashing the child to reject the other parent, and in child sex abuse cases where one parent is accused of brainwashing the child to make sex abuse accusations against the other parent" (possibly resulting in or causing parental alienation[67]).[68][69]
In his 2000 book, Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism, Robert Lifton applied his original ideas about thought reform to Aum Shinrikyo and the War on Terrorism, concluding that in this context thought reform was possible without violence or physical coercion. He also pointed out that in their efforts against terrorism Western governments were also using some mind control techniques, including thought-terminating clichés.[70]
In 2003 Dick Anthony asserted in the Washington Post that "no reasonable person would question that there are situations where people can be influenced against their best interests, but those arguments are evaluated on the basis of fact, not bogus expert testimony."[69] Dismissing the idea of mind control, he has defended NRMs, and argued that involvement in such movements may often have beneficial, rather than harmful effects: "There's a large research literature published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part the effects seem to be positive in any way that's measurable."[71]
In her 2004 book, Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control, neuroscientist and physiologist Kathleen Taylor put forth the theory that the neurological basis for reasoning and cognition in the brain and the self itself are changeable. She describes the physiology behind neurological pathways which include webs of neurons containing dendrites, axons, and synapses; and explains that certain brains with more rigid pathways will be less susceptible to new information or creative stimuli. She uses neurological science to demonstrate that brainwashed individuals have more rigid pathways, and that that rigidity can make it unlikely that the individual will rethink situations or be able to later reorganize these pathways.[72] She explains that repetition is an integral part of brainwashing techniques because connections between neurons become stronger when exposed to incoming signals of frequency and intensity.[73] She argues that people in their teenage years and early twenties are more susceptible to persuasion.Taylor explains that brain activity in the temporal lobe, the region responsible for artistic creativity, also causes spiritual experiences in a process known as lability.[73][74][75][76]
In his 2007 book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, social psychologist Robert Cialdini argues that mind control is possible through the covert exploitation of the unconscious rules that underlie and facilitate healthy human social interactions. He states that common social rules can be used to prey upon the unwary. Using categories, he offers specific examples of both mild and extreme mind control—both one on one and in groups—notes the conditions under which each social rule is most easily exploited for false ends, and offers suggestions on how to resist such methods.[77]
In 2009 historian Daniel Romanovsky wrote about what he called "Nazi brainwashing" of the people of Belarus by the occupying Germans during the Second World War, which took place through both mass propaganda and intense re-education, especially in schools. He notes that very soon most people had adopted the Nazi view of the Jews, that they were an inferior race and were closely tied to the Soviet government, views that had not been at all common before the occupation.[78]
Mind control has often been an important theme in science fiction and fantasy stories. Terry O'Brien comments: "Mind control is such a powerful image that if hypnotism did not exist, then something similar would have to have been invented: the plot device is too useful for any writer to ignore. The fear of mind control is equally as powerful an image."[79] A subgenre is "corporate mind control", in which a future society is run by one or more business corporations which dominate society using advertising and mass media to control the population's thoughts and feelings.[80]
Modern corporations are said to practice mind control to create a work force which shares the same common values and culture.[81] Critics have linked "corporate brainwashing" with globalization, saying that corporations are attempting to create a world-wide monocultural network of producers, consumers, and managers.[82] In his 1992 book, Democracy in an Age of Corporate Colonization, Stanley A. Deetz says that modern "self awareness" and "self improvement" programs provide corporations with even more effective tools to control the minds of employees than traditional brainwashing.[83] Modern educational systems have also been criticized, by both the left and the right, for contributing to corporate brainwashing.[84]
See also[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Mind control
Look up mind control in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Hypnosis
Indoctrination
List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
Mind control in popular culture
MKULTRA (a covert CIA research program)
Political abuse of psychiatry
Psychological manipulation
Psychological warfare
Unethical human experimentation in the United States
References[edit]
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39.Jump up ^ CESNUR — APA Brief in the Molko Case. "The methodology of Drs. Singer and Benson has been repudiated by the scientific community... The hypotheses advanced by Singer comprised little more than uninformed speculation, based on skewed data... The coercive persuasion theory...is not a meaningful scientific concept. ... The theories of Drs. Singer and Benson are not new to the scientific community. After searching scrutiny, the scientific community has repudiated the assumptions, methodologies, and conclusions of Drs. Singer and Benson. The validity of the claim that, absent physical force or threats, "systematic manipulation of the social influences" can coercively deprive individuals of free will lacks any empirical foundation and has never been confirmed by other research. The specific methods by which Drs. Singer and Benson have arrived at their conclusions have also been rejected by all serious scholars in the field."
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54.Jump up ^ Phil Zuckerman. Invitation to the Sociology of Religion. Psychology Press, 24 July 2003 p. 28
55.Jump up ^ Barker, Eileen (1995). "The Scientific Study of Religion? You Must Be Joking!". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 34, No. 3) 34 (3): 287–310. doi:10.2307/1386880. JSTOR 1386880.
56.Jump up ^ Eileen Barker, The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing?, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, United Kingdom, ISBN 0-631-13246-5.
57.Jump up ^ Moon’s death marks end of an era, Eileen Barker, CNN, 3 September 2012, Although Moon is likely to be remembered for all these things – mass weddings, accusations of brainwashing, political intrigue and enormous wealth – he should also be remembered as creating what was arguably one of the most comprehensive and innovative theologies embraced by a new religion of the period.
58.Jump up ^ Hyung-Jin Kim (2 September 2012). "Unification Church founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon dies at 92". USA Today. ISSN 0734-7456. Retrieved 2 September 2012. "The Rev. Sun Myung Moon was a self-proclaimed messiah who built a global business empire. He called both North Korean leaders and American presidents his friends, but spent time in prisons in both countries. His followers around the world cherished him, while his detractors accused him of brainwashing recruits and extracting money from worshippers."
59.Jump up ^ Review, William Rusher, National Review, 19 December 1986.
60.Jump up ^ NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS - SOME PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION George Chryssides, Diskus, 1997.
61.Jump up ^ The Market for Martyrs, Laurence Iannaccone, George Mason University, 2006, "One of the most comprehensive and influential studies was The Making of a Moonie: Choice or Brainwashing? by Eileen Barker (1984). Barker could find no evidence that Moonie recruits were ever kidnapped, confined, or coerced. Participants at Moonie retreats were not deprived of sleep; the lectures were not “trance-inducing”; and there was not much chanting, no drugs or alcohol, and little that could be termed “frenzy” or “ecstatic” experience. People were free to leave, and leave they did. Barker’s extensive enumerations showed that among the recruits who went so far as to attend two-day retreats (claimed to beMoonie’s most effective means of “brainwashing”), fewer than 25% joined the group for more than a week and only 5% remained full-time members one year later. And, of course, most contacts dropped out before attending a retreat. Of all those who visited a Moonie centre at least once, not one in two-hundred remained in the movement two years later. With failure rates exceeding 99.5%, it comes as no surprise that full-time Moonie membership in the U.S. never exceeded a few thousand. And this was one of the most New Religious Movements of the era!"
62.Jump up ^ Oakes, Len "By far the best study of the conversion process is Eileen Barker’s The Making of a Moonie [...]" from Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities, 1997, ISBN 0-8156-0398-3
63.Jump up ^ Storr, Anthony Dr. Feet of clay: a study of gurus 1996 ISBN 0-684-83495-2
64.Jump up ^ The Oxford Handbook of Propaganda Studies, Jonathan Auerbach, Russ Castronovo, Oxford University Press, 2014, page 114
65.Jump up ^ *Meerloo, Joost (1956). "The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing". World Publishing Company.
66.Jump up ^ Alessandro Usai “Profili penali dei condizionamenti mentali, Milano, 1996 ISBN 88-14-06071-1.
67.Jump up ^ Warshak, R. A. (2010). Divorce Poison: How to Protect Your Family from Bad-mouthing and Brainwashing. New York: Harper Collins.
68.Jump up ^ Richardson, James T. Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers 2004, p. 16, ISBN 978-0-306-47887-1.
69.^ Jump up to: a b Oldenburg, Don (2003-11-21). "Stressed to Kill: The Defense of Brainwashing; Sniper Suspect's Claim Triggers More Debate", Washington Post, reproduced in Defence Brief, issue 269, published by Steven Skurka & Associates
70.Jump up ^ Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism, Owl Books, 2000.
71.Jump up ^ Sipchen, Bob (1988-11-17). "Ten Years After Jonestown, the Battle Intensifies Over the Influence of 'Alternative' Religions", Los Angeles Times
72.Jump up ^ Szimhart, Joseph (July–August 2005). "Thoughts on thought control". Skeptical Inquirer (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) 29 (4): 56–57.
73.^ Jump up to: a b Le Fanu, James (20 December 2004). "Make up your mind". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group Limited). Retrieved 2008-11-02.
74.Jump up ^ Hawkes, Nigel (27 November 2004). "Brainwashing by Kathleen Taylor". The Times (London: Times Newspapers Ltd). Retrieved 2008-11-02.
75.Jump up ^ Caterson, Simon (2 May 2007). "Hell to pay when man bites God". The Australian. p. 4.
76.Jump up ^ Taylor, Kathleen Eleanor (December 2004). Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control. Oxford University Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-19-280496-9. Retrieved 2009-07-30. "Your susceptibility to brainwashing (and other forms of influence) has much to do with the state of your brain. This will depend in part on your genes: research suggests that prefrontal function is substantially affected by genetics. Low educational achievement, dogmatism, stress, and other factors which affect prefrontal function encourage simplistic, black-and-white thinking. If you have neglected your neurons, failed to stimulate your synapses, obstinately resisted new experiences, or harmed your prefrontal cortex with drugs (including alcohol), lack of sleep, rollercoaster emotions, or chronic stress, you may well be susceptible to the totalist charms of the next charismatic you meet. This is why so many young people baffle their more phlegmatic elders by joining cults, developing obsessions with fashions and celebrities, and forming intense attachments to often unsuitable role models."
77.Jump up ^ Cialdini, Robert B. (2007). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. London: Collins. pp. epilogue. ISBN 0-06-124189-X.
78.Jump up ^ Nazi Europe and the Final Solution, David Bankier, Israel Gutman, Berghahn Books, 2009, page 282-285.
79.Jump up ^ Terry O'Brien in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders, Volume 1, Gary Westfahl editor, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005.
80.Jump up ^ Per Schelde, Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films, NYU Press, 1 July 1994, pages 169-175
81.Jump up ^ Exploring Leadership: Individual, Organizational, and Societal Perspectives, Richard Bolden, Beverley Hawkins, Jonathan Gosling, Scott Taylor,Oxford University Press, 30 June 2011, page 95.
82.Jump up ^ The Rise of the Anti-corporate Movement: Corporations and the People who Hate Them, Evan Osborne, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, page 14
83.Jump up ^ Democracy in an Age of Corporate Colonization: Developments in Communication and the Politics of Everyday Life, Stanley Deetz, SUNY Press, 1 January 1992, page 257.
84.Jump up ^ More Money Than Brains: Why School Sucks, College is Crap, & Idiots Think They're Right, Laura Penny, McClelland & Stewart, 20 April 2010, page 63.
Further reading[edit]
Begich, N. (2006). Controlling the Human Mind. Anchorage, AK: Earth Pulse Press. ISBN 1-890693-54-5.
Dunne, Matthew W. (2013). A Cold War State of Mind: Brainwashing and Postwar American Society. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. Trans. Konrad Kellen & Jean Lerner. New York: Knopf, 1965. New York: Random House/ Vintage, 1973.
Langone, M.D. (1993). Recovery from Cults: Help for Victims of Psychological and Spiritual Abuse. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-31321-2.
Lifton, R.J. (1989). Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-4253-2.
Meerloo, Joost (1956). "The Rape of the Mind: The Psychology of Thought Control, Menticide, and Brainwashing". World Publishing Company.
Pollini, F. Night (formerly banned novel about brainwashing of American POWs in Korea). Olympia Press, Paris, 1960
Singer M et al. (1986-11-01). "Report of the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Techniques of Persuasion and Control (DIMPAC report)". American Psychological Association. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
Streatfeild, D. (2008). Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control. New York: Picador. ISBN 0-312-42792-1.
Zablocki, B. (1997). "The Blacklisting of a Concept. The Strange History of the Brainwashing Conjecture in the Sociology of Religion". Nova Religio 1 (1): 96–121. doi:10.1525/nr.1997.1.1.96.
Zablocki, B (1998). "Exit Cost Analysis: A New Approach to the Scientific Study of Brainwashing" (PDF). Nova Religio 2 (1): 216–249. doi:10.1525/nr.1998.1.2.216. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
Zimbardo, P. (2002-11-01). "Mind Control: Psychological Reality or Mindless Rhetoric?". Monitor on Psychology.
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Christian countercult movement
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The Christian countercult movement is a social movement of certain Protestant evangelical and fundamentalist[1] and other Christian ministries ("discernment ministries"[2]) and individual activists who oppose religious sects they consider "cults".[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 History 2.1 Precursors and pioneers
2.2 Mid twentieth century apologists
2.3 Walter Martin
3 Other technical terminology
4 Apologetics
5 Worldwide organizations 5.1 Protestant
5.2 Catholic
5.3 Orthodox
6 Contextual missiology
7 Variations and models
8 Prominent advocates 8.1 People
8.2 Organizations
9 See also
10 References 10.1 Primary sources
10.2 History and critical assessments
11 External links
Overview[edit]
Christian countercult activism stems mainly from evangelicalism or fundamentalism. The countercult movement asserts that particular Christian sects whose beliefs they deem to be partially or wholly not in accordance with the Bible are erroneous. It also states that a religious sect can be considered a cult if its beliefs involve a denial of what they view as any of the essential Christian teachings such as salvation, the Trinity, Jesus himself as a person, the ministry and miracles of Jesus, his crucifixion, his resurrection, the Second Coming and the Rapture.[4][5][6]
Countercult ministries often concern themselves with religious sects that consider themselves Christian but hold beliefs thought to contradict the Bible, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Unification Church, Christian Science, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Anti-Catholic movements have lead Protestants to classify Catholicism as a cult. John Highham described anti-Catholicism as "the most luxuriant, tenacious tradition of paranoiac agitation in American history".[7] Some also denounce non-Christian religions such as Islam, Wicca, Paganism, New Age groups, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions.
Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionary or apologetic purpose.[8] It presents a rebuttal by emphasizing the teachings of the Bible against the beliefs of non-fundamental Christian sects. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelize to followers of cults.[9][10][11] Some Christians also share concerns similar to those of the secular anti-cult movement.[12][13]
The movement publishes its views through a variety of media including books, magazines, and newsletters, radio broadcasting; audio and videocassette production, direct mail appeals, proactive evangelistic encounters, professional and avocational Internet Websites, as well as lecture series, training workshops and counter cult conferences.[1]
History[edit]
Precursors and pioneers[edit]
Christians have applied theological criteria to assess the teachings of non-orthodox movements throughout church history.[14][15][16] The Apostles themselves were involved in challenging the doctrines and claims of various teachers. The Apostle Paul wrote an entire epistle, Galatians, antagonistic to the teachings of a Jewish sect that claimed adherence to the teachings of both Jesus and Moses (cf. Acts 15: & Gal. 1:6-10). The Apostle John devoted his first Epistle to countering early proto-gnostic cults that had arisen in the first century, all claiming to be "Christian" (1 Jn. 2:19).[citation needed]
The early Church in the post-apostolic period was much more involved in "defending its frontiers against alternative soteriologies — either by defining its own position with greater and greater exactness, or by attacking other religions, and particularly the Hellenistic mysteries."[17] In fact, a good deal of the early Christian literature is devoted to the exposure and refutation of unorthodox theology, mystery religions and Gnostic groups.[18][19] Irenaeus, Tertullian and Hippolytus of Rome were among the greatest early Christian apologists who engaged in critical analyses of unorthodox theology, Greco-Roman pagan religions, and Gnostic groups.[20][21][22]
In the Protestant traditions some of the earliest writings opposing unorthodox groups like Swedenborg's teachings, can be traced back to John Wesley, Alexander Campbell and Princeton Theological Seminary theologians like Charles Hodge and B. B. Warfield.[23][24] The first known usage of the term "cult" by a Protestant apologist to denote a group is heretical or unorthodox is in Anti-Christian Cults by A. H. Barrington, published in 1898.[25]
Quite a few of the pioneering apologists were Baptist pastors, like I. M. Haldeman, or participants in the Plymouth Brethren, like William C. Irvine and Sydney Watson.[26] Watson wrote a series of didactic novels like Escaped from the Snare: Christian Science,[27] Bewitched by Spiritualism,[28] and The Gilded Lie, as warnings of the dangers posed by cultic groups. Watson's use of fiction to counter the cults has been repeated by later novelists like Frank E. Peretti.[29][30]
The early twentieth century apologists generally applied the words "heresy" and "sects" to groups like the Christadelphians, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Spiritualists, and Theosophists. This was reflected in several chapters contributed to the multi-volume work released in 1915 The Fundamentals, where apologists criticised the teachings of Charles Taze Russell, Mary Baker Eddy, the Mormons and Spiritualists.[31][32][33][34]
Mid twentieth century apologists[edit]
Since at least the 1940s, the approach of traditional Christians was to apply the meaning of cult such that it included those religious groups who use other scriptures beside the Bible or have teachings and practices deviating from traditional Christian teachings and practices. Some examples of sources (with published dates where known) that documented this approach are:
The Missionary Faces Isms, by John C. Mattes, pub. 1937 (Board of American Missions of the United Lutheran Church in America).
Heresies Ancient and Modern, by J.Oswald Sanders, pub.1948 (Marshall Morgan & Scott, London/Zondervan, Grand Rapids).
Sanders, J. Oswald (1973). Cults and isms (Revised ed. ed.). London: Lakeland. ISBN 978-0551004580.
Baalen, Jan Karel van (1962). The chaos of cults; a study of present-day isms. (4th rev. and enl. ed. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0802832788.
Heresies Exposed, by W.C. Irvine, pub. 1917, 1921, 1975 (Loizeaux Brothers).
Confusion of Tongues, by C.W. Ferguson, pub. 1928 (Doran & Co).
Isms New and Old, by Julius Bodensieck.
Some Latter-Day Religions, by G.H.Combs.
One of the first prominent counter-cult apologists was Jan Karel van Baalen (1890–1968), an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. His book, The Chaos of Cults, which was first published in 1938, became a classic in the field as it was repeatedly revised and updated until 1962.[35]
Walter Martin[edit]
Historically, one of the most important protagonists of the movement was Walter Martin (1928–89), whose numerous books include the 1955 The Rise of the Cults: An Introductory Guide to the Non-Christian Cults and the 1965 The Kingdom of the Cults: An Analysis of Major Cult Systems in the Present Christian Era, which continues to be influential. He became well known in conservative Christian circles through a radio program, "The Bible Answer Man", currently hosted by Hank Hanegraaff.
In The Rise of the Cults[36] Martin gave the following definition of a cult:
By cultism we mean the adherence to doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity and which yet claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources. Cultism, in short, is any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith.
As Martin's definition suggests, the countercult ministries concentrate on non-traditional groups that claim to be Christian, so chief targets have been The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (i.e., "Mormons"), Jehovah's Witnesses, Armstrongism, Christian Science and the Unification Church, but also smaller groups like the Swedenborgian Church[37]
Various other conservative Christian leaders—among them John Ankerberg and Norman Geisler—have emphasized themes similar to Martin's.[38][39] Perhaps more importantly, numerous other well-known conservative Christian leaders as well as many conservative pastors have accepted Martin's definition of a cult as well as his understanding of the groups to which he gave that label. Dave Breese[40] summed up this kind of definition[41] in these words:
A cult is a religious perversion. It is a belief and practice in the world of religion which calls for devotion to a religious view or leader centered in false doctrine. It is an organized heresy. A cult may take many forms but it is basically a religious movement which distorts or warps orthodox faith to the point where truth becomes perverted into a lie. A cult is impossible to define except against the absolute standard of the teaching of Holy Scripture.
Other technical terminology[edit]
Since the 1980s the term "new religions" or "new religious movements" has slowly entered into Evangelical usage alongside the word "cult". Some book titles use both terms.[42][43][44]
The acceptance of these alternatives to the word "cult" in Evangelicalism reflects, in part, the wider usage of such language in the sociology of religion.[45]
Apologetics[edit]
The term "countercult apologetics" first appeared in Protestant Evangelical literature as a self-designation in the late 1970s and early 1980s in articles by Ronald Enroth and David Fetcho, and by Walter Martin in Martin Speaks Out on the Cults.[46] A mid-1980s debate about apologetic methodology between Ronald Enroth and J. Gordon Melton, led the latter to place more emphasis in his publications on differentiating the Christian countercult from the secular anti-cult.[47] Eric Pement urged Melton to adopt the label "Christian countercult",[48] and since the early 1990s the terms has entered into popular usage and is recognised by sociologists such as Douglas Cowan.[49]
The only existing umbrella organization within the countercult movement in the USA is the EMNR (Evangelical Ministries to New Religions) founded in 1982 which has the evangelical Lausanne Covenant as governing document and which stresses mission, scholarship, accountability and networking.
Worldwide organizations[edit]
While the greatest number of countercult ministries are found in the USA, ministries exist in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Ethiopia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine. A comparison between the methods employed in the USA and other nations discloses some similarities in emphasis, but also other nuances in emphasis. The similarities are that globally these ministries share a common concern about the evangelization of people in cults and new religions. There is also often a common thread of comparing orthodox doctrines and biblical passages with the teachings of the groups under examination. However, in some of the European and southern hemisphere contexts, confrontational methods of engagement are not always relied on, and dialogical approaches are sometimes advocated.
A group of organizations which originated within the context of established religion is working in more general fields of cult-awareness, especially in Europe. Their leaders are theologians, and they are often social ministries affiliated to big churches.
Protestant[edit]
Berlin-based Pfarramt für Sekten- und Weltanschauungsfragen[50] ("Parish Office for Sects and World Views.") headed by Lutheran Pastor Thomas Gandow[51]
Swiss "Evangelische Informationsstelle Kirchen-Sekten-Religionen" (Protestant Reformed Zwinglian Information Service on Churches, Sects and Religions) headed by Zwinglian Parson Georg Schmid[52]
Catholic[edit]
Sekten und Weltanschauungen in Sachsen (Sects and ideologies in Saxony)[53]
Weltanschauungen und religiöse Gruppierungen ("Worldviews and religious groups") of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Linz, Austria[54]
GRIS (Gruppo di ricerca e informazione socio-religiosa), Italy[55]
Orthodox[edit]
Synodic Committee about Heresies of Greek Orthodox Church[56]
Center of Ireneus of Lyon in Russia.
Contextual missiology[edit]
The phenomena of "cults" has also entered into the discourses of Christian missions and theology of religions. An initial step in this direction occurred in 1980 when the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization convened a mini-consultation in Thailand. From that consultation a position paper was produced.[57] The issue was revisited at the Lausanne Forum in 2004 with another paper.[58] The latter paper adopts a different methodology to that advocated in 1980.
In the 1990s discussions in academic missions and theological journals indicate that another trajectory is emerging which reflects the influence of contextual missions theory. Advocates of this approach maintain that apologetics as a tool needs to be retained, but do not favour a confrontational style of engagement.[59]
Variations and models[edit]
Countercult apologetics has several variations and methods employed in analysing and responding to cults. The different nuances in countercult apologetics have been discussed by John A. Saliba and Philip Johnson.[60]
The dominant method is the emphasis on detecting unorthodox or heretical doctrines and contrasting those with orthodox interpretations of the Bible and early creedal documents. Some apologists, such as Francis J. Beckwith, have emphasised a philosophical approach, pointing out logical, epistemological and metaphysical problems within the teachings of a particular group.[61] Another approach involves former members of cultic groups recounting their spiritual autobiographies, which highlight experiences of disenchantment with the group, unanswered questions and doubts about commitment to the group, culminating in the person's conversion to Evangelical Christianity.[62]
Apologists like Dave Hunt in Peace, Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust and Hal Lindsey in The Terminal Generation have tended to interpret the phenomena of cults as part of the burgeoning evidence of signs that Christ's Second Advent is close at hand.[63] Both Hunt, and Constance Cumbey, have applied a conspiracy model to interpreting the emergence of New Age spirituality and linking that to speculations about fulfilled prophecies heralding Christ's reappearance.[64]
Prominent advocates[edit]
People[edit]
Constance Cumbey
Douglas Groothuis
Dave Hunt
Greg Koukl
J. P. Moreland, Biola University
Norman Geisler
Bob and Gretchen Passantino
Ronald Enroth, evangelical Christian author of books about "cults" and new religious movements.
Texe Marrs
Walter Martin Late Baptist minister who was the host of the Bible Answer Man radio broadcast and the president of the Christian Research Institute. He often used his show to promote arguments against Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and other movements.
Organizations[edit]
Answers in Action,[65] Bob and Gretchen Passantino
Apologetics resource center,[66] by Craig Branch
Apologetics Press, [67] current Executive Director Dr. Dave Miller
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) founded by Matt Slick
Christian Research Institute (CRI) founded by Walter Martin
Cult Awareness and Information Centre[68] founded by the late Jan Groenveld
Dialog Center International founded by Johannes Aagaard
EMNR Evangelical Ministries to New Religions,[69] an umbrella group for ministries to the cults and new religions
Midwest Christian Outreach
Mormonism Research Ministry (Bill McKeever)
Personal Freedom Outreach
Spiritual Counterfeits Project, president Tal Brooke
Stand To Reason, founded by Greg Koukl and Melinda Penner
Utah Lighthouse Ministry (Jerald & Sandra Tanner)
Watchman Fellowship, founder David Henke, president James K. Walker[70]
See also[edit]
Portal icon Religion portal
Anti-cult movement
References[edit]
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2008)
1.^ Jump up to: a b Cowan, D.E. 2003. Bearing False Witness?: An Introduction to the Christian Countercult: Praeger.
2.Jump up ^ Robert M. Bowman, Orthodoxy and Heresy: A Biblical Guide to Doctrinal Discernment, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1992, pp. 10, 106-107, & 123-124.
3.Jump up ^ Douglas E Cowan author. Bearing False Witness? Introduction to the Christian Counter Cult. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0275974596
4.Jump up ^ Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, rev.ed. Santa Ana: Vision House, 1978, pp. 11-12.
5.Jump up ^ Richard Abanes, Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions,Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, p. 33.
6.Jump up ^ H. Wayne House & Gordon Carle, Doctrine Twisting: How Core Biblical Truths are Distorted, Downers Grove: IVP, 2003.
7.Jump up ^ Jenkins, Philip (1 April 2003). The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice. Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-19-515480-1.
8.Jump up ^ Garry W. Trompf,"Missiology, Methodology and the Study of New Religious Movements," Religious Traditions Volume 10, 1987, pp. 95-106.
9.Jump up ^ Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev.ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003, pp.479-493.
10.Jump up ^ Ronald Enroth ed. Evangelising the Cults, Milton Keynes: Word, 1990.
11.Jump up ^ Norman L Geisler & Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997.
12.Jump up ^ Paul R. Martin, Cult Proofing Your Kids, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993.
13.Jump up ^ Joel A. MacCollam, Carnival of Souls: Religious Cults and Young People, New York: Seabury Press, 1979.
14.Jump up ^ Saliba, Understanding New Religious Movements, pp.45-74.
15.Jump up ^ Harold O. J. Brown, Heresies: The Image of Christ in the Mirror of Heresy and Orthodoxy from the Apostles to the Present, Garden City: Doubleday, 1984.
16.Jump up ^ J.W.C.Wand, The Four Great Heresies:Nestorian, Eutychian, Apollinarian, Arian, London: A.R.Mowbray, 1955.
17.Jump up ^ Eric J. Sharpe, Comparative Religion: A History, London: Duckworth, 1975, p. 9
18.Jump up ^ Brown, Heresies, pp.38-69.
19.Jump up ^ Ronald H. Nash, Christianity and the Hellenistic World, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984, pp.213-224.
20.Jump up ^ Avery Dulles, A History of Apologetics, Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1999, pp. 22-58.
21.Jump up ^ J.K.S.Reid, Christian Apologetics, Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans, 1970, pp. 36-53.
22.Jump up ^ Bengt Hagglund, History of Theology, trans. Gene J. Lund, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1968, pp.31-105.
23.Jump up ^ Richard G. Kyle, The Religious Fringe: A History of Alternative Religions in America, Downers Grove: IVP, 1993.
24.Jump up ^ Philip Jenkins, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
25.Jump up ^ A.H.Barrington, Anti-Christian Cults, Milwaukee:Young Churchman/London:Sampson Low, Marston, 1898.
26.Jump up ^ J. Gordon Melton,"The counter-cult monitoring movement in historical perspective," in Challenging Religion: Essays in Honour of Eileen Barker, edited by James A. Beckford & James T. Richardson, Routledge, London, 2003, pp. 102–113.
27.Jump up ^ Sydney Watson, Escaped from the Snare: Christian Science, London:William Nichoson & Sons, no date.
28.Jump up ^ Sydney Watson, The Lure of a Soul: Bewitched by Spiritualism, London: W. Nicholson & Sons, no date.
29.Jump up ^ Frank E. Peretti, This Present Darkness, Westchester: Crossway,1986.
30.Jump up ^ James R. Lewis, "Works of Darkness: Occult Fascination in the Novels of Frank Peretti" in Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, James R. Lewis ed. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996, pp.339-350.
31.Jump up ^ William G. Moorehead, ‘Millennial Dawn A Counterfeit of Christianity’, in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, Volume 7. Chicago: Testimony Publishing.
32.Jump up ^ Maurice E. Wilson, ‘Eddyism, Commonly Called “Christian Science”, in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, Volume 9. Chicago: Testimony Publishing.
33.Jump up ^ R. G. McNiece, ‘Mormonism: Its Origin, Characteristics, and Doctrines’, in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, Volume 8. Chicago: Testimony Publishing.
34.Jump up ^ Algernon J. Pollock, ‘Modern Spiritualism Briefly Tested By Scripture’, in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, Volume 10. Chicago: Testimony Publishing.
35.Jump up ^ J.K.van Baalen, The Chaos of Cults, 4th rev.ed.Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing, 1962.
36.Jump up ^ Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1955, pp. 11-12.
37.Jump up ^ Each of these movements are treated in separate chapters in Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev. ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003.
38.Jump up ^ John Ankerberg & John Weldon, Cult Watch,Eugene: Harvest House, 1991, pp. i-x.
39.Jump up ^ Geisler & Rhodes, When Cultists Ask, pp. 10-11.
40.Jump up ^ Dave Breese, Know the Marks of Cults, Wheaton: Victor, 1975, 14.
41.Jump up ^ Compare this definition with heresy.
42.Jump up ^ Richard Abanes, Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family, Wheaton: Crossway, 1998.
43.Jump up ^ Ronald Enroth ed. A Guide to New Religious Movements, Downers Grove: IVP, 2005.
44.Jump up ^ Ron Rhodes, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.
45.Jump up ^ On sociological understandings see for example Eileen Barker, New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1989. George D. Chryssides, Exploring New Religions, London & New York: Cassell, 1999.Jacob Needleman & George Baker ed. Understanding the New Religions, New York: Seabury Press, 1981. Mikael Rothstein & Reender Kranenborg ed. New Religions in a Postmodern World, Aarhus, Denmark: Aargus University Press, 2003.
46.Jump up ^ Ronald M. Enroth, "Cult/Counter-cult", Eternity, November 1977, pp.18-22 & 32-35. David Fetcho, "Disclosing the Unknown God: Evangelism to the New Religions", Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements Volume 6, number 4 December 1982 p.8. Walter R. Martin, Martin Speaks Out On The Cults, rev. ed. Ventura: Vision House, 1983,pp.124-125.
47.Jump up ^ Ronald M. Enroth and J. Gordon Melton, Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails, Elgin: Brethren, 1985, pp. 25-30.
48.Jump up ^ Eric Pement, ‘Comments on the Directory’ in Keith Edward Tolbert and Eric Pement, The 1993 Directory of Cult Research Organizations,Trenton: American Religions Center, 1993, p. x.
49.Jump up ^ Douglas E. Cowan, Bearing False Witness? An Introduction ot the Christian Countercult, Westport: Praeger, 2003.
50.Jump up ^ Pfarramt für Sekten- und Weltanschauungsfragen - Index
51.Jump up ^ Pfarramt für Sekten- und Weltanschauungsfragen - Pfarrer Gandow
52.Jump up ^ Relinfo
53.Jump up ^ Sekten in Sachsen
54.Jump up ^ Sekten & Gruppierungen
55.Jump up ^ www.gris.org
56.Jump up ^ http://www.ecclesia.gr/greek/holySynod/commitees/heresies/omades.html
57.Jump up ^ The Thailand Report on New Religious Movements
58.Jump up ^ Religious and Non-Religious Spirituality in the Western World
59.Jump up ^ Irving Hexham, Stephen Rost & John W. Morehead ed. Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004.Gordon R. Lewis, "Our Mission Responsibility to New Religious Movements" International Journal of Frontier Missions Volume 15, number 3 July–September 1998,p. 116.
60.Jump up ^ Saliba, Understanding New Religious Movements, pp.212-223. Philip Johnson, "Apologetics, Mission and New Religious Movements: A Holistic Approach," Sacred Tribes Journal, Volume 1, number 1 Fall 2002 5-220.
61.Jump up ^ Francis J. Beckwith & Stephen E. Parrish, See the gods fall, Joplin: College Press, 1997. Francis J. Beckwith, Carl Mosser & Paul Owen ed. The New Mormon Challenge, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.
62.Jump up ^ James R. Adair & Ted Miller ed. Escape from Darkness, Wheaton: Victor, 1982.Chris Elkins, Heavenly Deception, Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1980. Joe Hewitt, I Was Raised a Jehovah's Witness, Denver: Accent Books, 1979. Latayne C. Scott, Ex-Mormons: Why We Left, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990.
63.Jump up ^ Dave Hunt, Peace, Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust: The New Age Movement in Prophecy, Eugene: Harvest House, 1983. Hal Lindsey, The Terminal Generation, Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell, 1976.
64.Jump up ^ Constance E. Cumbey, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, Shreveport: Huntington House, 1983. Evaluated in Elliot Miller, A Crash Course on the New Age Movement, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989, pp. 193-206. John A. Saliba, Christian Responses to the New Age Movement: A Critical Assessment, London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1999, pp.58-63.
65.Jump up ^ Answers In Action - Truth Brings Light
66.Jump up ^ Apologetics Resource Center (ARC) - Birmingham, AL
67.Jump up ^ About Apologetics Press.org
68.Jump up ^ Cult Help and Information - Home
69.Jump up ^ Welcome to EMNR On-Line
70.Jump up ^ Moore, Waveney Ann (September 17, 2003), "Fundamental advice", St. Petersburg Times
Primary sources[edit]
Abanes, Richard, Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family, Crossway Books, Wheaton, 1998.
Ankerberg, John and John Weldon, Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Harvest House, Eugene, 1999.
Enroth, Ronald (ed)., A Guide to New Religious Movements, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2005.
Geisler, Norman L. and Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask, Baker, Grand Rapids, 1997
House, H.Wayne, Charts of Cults, Sects and Religious Movements, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2000.
LeBar, James J. Cults, Sects, and the New Age, Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, 1989.
Martin, Walter R. The Kingdom of the Cults, edited by Ravi Zacharias, Bethany, Bloomington, 2003
McDowell, Josh and Don Stewart, Handbook of Today's Religions, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1992
Rhodes, Ron, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2001
Sire, James W. Scripture Twisting: Twenty Ways the Cults Misread the Bible, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1980.
Sire, James W. The Universe Next Door 4th ed., InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2004.
Tucker, Ruth A. Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions and the New Age Movement, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2004.
Vatican Report on Sects, Cults and New Religious Movements, St. Paul Publications, Sydney, 1988.
History and critical assessments[edit]
Cowan, Douglas E. Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult (Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut & London, 2003).
Enroth, Ronald M. and J. Gordon Melton, Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails (Brethren Press, Elgin, 1985).
Jenkins, Philip, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History (Oxford University Press, New York, 2000).
Johnson, Philip, "Apologetics, Mission, and New Religious Movements: A Holistic Approach," Sacred Tribes: Journal of Christian Missions to New Religious Movements, 1 (1) (2002)
Melton, J. Gordon., "The counter-cult monitoring movement in historical perspective," in Challenging Religion: Essays in Honour of Eileen Barker, edited by James A. Beckford & James T. Richardson, (Routledge, London, 2003), pp. 102–113.
Saliba, John A., Understanding New Religious Movements, 2nd edition (Alta Mira Press, Walnut Creek, Lanham, New York & Oxford, 2003).
External links[edit]
Apologetics Index; The counter-cult movement
Douglas E. Cowan: Christian Countercult Website Profiles
CESNUR: Overview of Christian Countercult movement by Douglas E. Cowan
Counter Cult Movement at Religious Tolerance
Jeff Lindsay's discussion of cults from an LDS perspective
Article: Anti-"Minority Religion" Groups with "Big Religion" Ties
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_countercult_movement
Christian countercult movement
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The Christian countercult movement is a social movement of certain Protestant evangelical and fundamentalist[1] and other Christian ministries ("discernment ministries"[2]) and individual activists who oppose religious sects they consider "cults".[3]
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 History 2.1 Precursors and pioneers
2.2 Mid twentieth century apologists
2.3 Walter Martin
3 Other technical terminology
4 Apologetics
5 Worldwide organizations 5.1 Protestant
5.2 Catholic
5.3 Orthodox
6 Contextual missiology
7 Variations and models
8 Prominent advocates 8.1 People
8.2 Organizations
9 See also
10 References 10.1 Primary sources
10.2 History and critical assessments
11 External links
Overview[edit]
Christian countercult activism stems mainly from evangelicalism or fundamentalism. The countercult movement asserts that particular Christian sects whose beliefs they deem to be partially or wholly not in accordance with the Bible are erroneous. It also states that a religious sect can be considered a cult if its beliefs involve a denial of what they view as any of the essential Christian teachings such as salvation, the Trinity, Jesus himself as a person, the ministry and miracles of Jesus, his crucifixion, his resurrection, the Second Coming and the Rapture.[4][5][6]
Countercult ministries often concern themselves with religious sects that consider themselves Christian but hold beliefs thought to contradict the Bible, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Unification Church, Christian Science, and Jehovah's Witnesses. Anti-Catholic movements have lead Protestants to classify Catholicism as a cult. John Highham described anti-Catholicism as "the most luxuriant, tenacious tradition of paranoiac agitation in American history".[7] Some also denounce non-Christian religions such as Islam, Wicca, Paganism, New Age groups, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions.
Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionary or apologetic purpose.[8] It presents a rebuttal by emphasizing the teachings of the Bible against the beliefs of non-fundamental Christian sects. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelize to followers of cults.[9][10][11] Some Christians also share concerns similar to those of the secular anti-cult movement.[12][13]
The movement publishes its views through a variety of media including books, magazines, and newsletters, radio broadcasting; audio and videocassette production, direct mail appeals, proactive evangelistic encounters, professional and avocational Internet Websites, as well as lecture series, training workshops and counter cult conferences.[1]
History[edit]
Precursors and pioneers[edit]
Christians have applied theological criteria to assess the teachings of non-orthodox movements throughout church history.[14][15][16] The Apostles themselves were involved in challenging the doctrines and claims of various teachers. The Apostle Paul wrote an entire epistle, Galatians, antagonistic to the teachings of a Jewish sect that claimed adherence to the teachings of both Jesus and Moses (cf. Acts 15: & Gal. 1:6-10). The Apostle John devoted his first Epistle to countering early proto-gnostic cults that had arisen in the first century, all claiming to be "Christian" (1 Jn. 2:19).[citation needed]
The early Church in the post-apostolic period was much more involved in "defending its frontiers against alternative soteriologies — either by defining its own position with greater and greater exactness, or by attacking other religions, and particularly the Hellenistic mysteries."[17] In fact, a good deal of the early Christian literature is devoted to the exposure and refutation of unorthodox theology, mystery religions and Gnostic groups.[18][19] Irenaeus, Tertullian and Hippolytus of Rome were among the greatest early Christian apologists who engaged in critical analyses of unorthodox theology, Greco-Roman pagan religions, and Gnostic groups.[20][21][22]
In the Protestant traditions some of the earliest writings opposing unorthodox groups like Swedenborg's teachings, can be traced back to John Wesley, Alexander Campbell and Princeton Theological Seminary theologians like Charles Hodge and B. B. Warfield.[23][24] The first known usage of the term "cult" by a Protestant apologist to denote a group is heretical or unorthodox is in Anti-Christian Cults by A. H. Barrington, published in 1898.[25]
Quite a few of the pioneering apologists were Baptist pastors, like I. M. Haldeman, or participants in the Plymouth Brethren, like William C. Irvine and Sydney Watson.[26] Watson wrote a series of didactic novels like Escaped from the Snare: Christian Science,[27] Bewitched by Spiritualism,[28] and The Gilded Lie, as warnings of the dangers posed by cultic groups. Watson's use of fiction to counter the cults has been repeated by later novelists like Frank E. Peretti.[29][30]
The early twentieth century apologists generally applied the words "heresy" and "sects" to groups like the Christadelphians, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Spiritualists, and Theosophists. This was reflected in several chapters contributed to the multi-volume work released in 1915 The Fundamentals, where apologists criticised the teachings of Charles Taze Russell, Mary Baker Eddy, the Mormons and Spiritualists.[31][32][33][34]
Mid twentieth century apologists[edit]
Since at least the 1940s, the approach of traditional Christians was to apply the meaning of cult such that it included those religious groups who use other scriptures beside the Bible or have teachings and practices deviating from traditional Christian teachings and practices. Some examples of sources (with published dates where known) that documented this approach are:
The Missionary Faces Isms, by John C. Mattes, pub. 1937 (Board of American Missions of the United Lutheran Church in America).
Heresies Ancient and Modern, by J.Oswald Sanders, pub.1948 (Marshall Morgan & Scott, London/Zondervan, Grand Rapids).
Sanders, J. Oswald (1973). Cults and isms (Revised ed. ed.). London: Lakeland. ISBN 978-0551004580.
Baalen, Jan Karel van (1962). The chaos of cults; a study of present-day isms. (4th rev. and enl. ed. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0802832788.
Heresies Exposed, by W.C. Irvine, pub. 1917, 1921, 1975 (Loizeaux Brothers).
Confusion of Tongues, by C.W. Ferguson, pub. 1928 (Doran & Co).
Isms New and Old, by Julius Bodensieck.
Some Latter-Day Religions, by G.H.Combs.
One of the first prominent counter-cult apologists was Jan Karel van Baalen (1890–1968), an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. His book, The Chaos of Cults, which was first published in 1938, became a classic in the field as it was repeatedly revised and updated until 1962.[35]
Walter Martin[edit]
Historically, one of the most important protagonists of the movement was Walter Martin (1928–89), whose numerous books include the 1955 The Rise of the Cults: An Introductory Guide to the Non-Christian Cults and the 1965 The Kingdom of the Cults: An Analysis of Major Cult Systems in the Present Christian Era, which continues to be influential. He became well known in conservative Christian circles through a radio program, "The Bible Answer Man", currently hosted by Hank Hanegraaff.
In The Rise of the Cults[36] Martin gave the following definition of a cult:
By cultism we mean the adherence to doctrines which are pointedly contradictory to orthodox Christianity and which yet claim the distinction of either tracing their origin to orthodox sources or of being in essential harmony with those sources. Cultism, in short, is any major deviation from orthodox Christianity relative to the cardinal doctrines of the Christian faith.
As Martin's definition suggests, the countercult ministries concentrate on non-traditional groups that claim to be Christian, so chief targets have been The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (i.e., "Mormons"), Jehovah's Witnesses, Armstrongism, Christian Science and the Unification Church, but also smaller groups like the Swedenborgian Church[37]
Various other conservative Christian leaders—among them John Ankerberg and Norman Geisler—have emphasized themes similar to Martin's.[38][39] Perhaps more importantly, numerous other well-known conservative Christian leaders as well as many conservative pastors have accepted Martin's definition of a cult as well as his understanding of the groups to which he gave that label. Dave Breese[40] summed up this kind of definition[41] in these words:
A cult is a religious perversion. It is a belief and practice in the world of religion which calls for devotion to a religious view or leader centered in false doctrine. It is an organized heresy. A cult may take many forms but it is basically a religious movement which distorts or warps orthodox faith to the point where truth becomes perverted into a lie. A cult is impossible to define except against the absolute standard of the teaching of Holy Scripture.
Other technical terminology[edit]
Since the 1980s the term "new religions" or "new religious movements" has slowly entered into Evangelical usage alongside the word "cult". Some book titles use both terms.[42][43][44]
The acceptance of these alternatives to the word "cult" in Evangelicalism reflects, in part, the wider usage of such language in the sociology of religion.[45]
Apologetics[edit]
The term "countercult apologetics" first appeared in Protestant Evangelical literature as a self-designation in the late 1970s and early 1980s in articles by Ronald Enroth and David Fetcho, and by Walter Martin in Martin Speaks Out on the Cults.[46] A mid-1980s debate about apologetic methodology between Ronald Enroth and J. Gordon Melton, led the latter to place more emphasis in his publications on differentiating the Christian countercult from the secular anti-cult.[47] Eric Pement urged Melton to adopt the label "Christian countercult",[48] and since the early 1990s the terms has entered into popular usage and is recognised by sociologists such as Douglas Cowan.[49]
The only existing umbrella organization within the countercult movement in the USA is the EMNR (Evangelical Ministries to New Religions) founded in 1982 which has the evangelical Lausanne Covenant as governing document and which stresses mission, scholarship, accountability and networking.
Worldwide organizations[edit]
While the greatest number of countercult ministries are found in the USA, ministries exist in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Ethiopia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Sweden, and Ukraine. A comparison between the methods employed in the USA and other nations discloses some similarities in emphasis, but also other nuances in emphasis. The similarities are that globally these ministries share a common concern about the evangelization of people in cults and new religions. There is also often a common thread of comparing orthodox doctrines and biblical passages with the teachings of the groups under examination. However, in some of the European and southern hemisphere contexts, confrontational methods of engagement are not always relied on, and dialogical approaches are sometimes advocated.
A group of organizations which originated within the context of established religion is working in more general fields of cult-awareness, especially in Europe. Their leaders are theologians, and they are often social ministries affiliated to big churches.
Protestant[edit]
Berlin-based Pfarramt für Sekten- und Weltanschauungsfragen[50] ("Parish Office for Sects and World Views.") headed by Lutheran Pastor Thomas Gandow[51]
Swiss "Evangelische Informationsstelle Kirchen-Sekten-Religionen" (Protestant Reformed Zwinglian Information Service on Churches, Sects and Religions) headed by Zwinglian Parson Georg Schmid[52]
Catholic[edit]
Sekten und Weltanschauungen in Sachsen (Sects and ideologies in Saxony)[53]
Weltanschauungen und religiöse Gruppierungen ("Worldviews and religious groups") of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Linz, Austria[54]
GRIS (Gruppo di ricerca e informazione socio-religiosa), Italy[55]
Orthodox[edit]
Synodic Committee about Heresies of Greek Orthodox Church[56]
Center of Ireneus of Lyon in Russia.
Contextual missiology[edit]
The phenomena of "cults" has also entered into the discourses of Christian missions and theology of religions. An initial step in this direction occurred in 1980 when the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization convened a mini-consultation in Thailand. From that consultation a position paper was produced.[57] The issue was revisited at the Lausanne Forum in 2004 with another paper.[58] The latter paper adopts a different methodology to that advocated in 1980.
In the 1990s discussions in academic missions and theological journals indicate that another trajectory is emerging which reflects the influence of contextual missions theory. Advocates of this approach maintain that apologetics as a tool needs to be retained, but do not favour a confrontational style of engagement.[59]
Variations and models[edit]
Countercult apologetics has several variations and methods employed in analysing and responding to cults. The different nuances in countercult apologetics have been discussed by John A. Saliba and Philip Johnson.[60]
The dominant method is the emphasis on detecting unorthodox or heretical doctrines and contrasting those with orthodox interpretations of the Bible and early creedal documents. Some apologists, such as Francis J. Beckwith, have emphasised a philosophical approach, pointing out logical, epistemological and metaphysical problems within the teachings of a particular group.[61] Another approach involves former members of cultic groups recounting their spiritual autobiographies, which highlight experiences of disenchantment with the group, unanswered questions and doubts about commitment to the group, culminating in the person's conversion to Evangelical Christianity.[62]
Apologists like Dave Hunt in Peace, Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust and Hal Lindsey in The Terminal Generation have tended to interpret the phenomena of cults as part of the burgeoning evidence of signs that Christ's Second Advent is close at hand.[63] Both Hunt, and Constance Cumbey, have applied a conspiracy model to interpreting the emergence of New Age spirituality and linking that to speculations about fulfilled prophecies heralding Christ's reappearance.[64]
Prominent advocates[edit]
People[edit]
Constance Cumbey
Douglas Groothuis
Dave Hunt
Greg Koukl
J. P. Moreland, Biola University
Norman Geisler
Bob and Gretchen Passantino
Ronald Enroth, evangelical Christian author of books about "cults" and new religious movements.
Texe Marrs
Walter Martin Late Baptist minister who was the host of the Bible Answer Man radio broadcast and the president of the Christian Research Institute. He often used his show to promote arguments against Jehovah's Witnesses, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and other movements.
Organizations[edit]
Answers in Action,[65] Bob and Gretchen Passantino
Apologetics resource center,[66] by Craig Branch
Apologetics Press, [67] current Executive Director Dr. Dave Miller
Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (CARM) founded by Matt Slick
Christian Research Institute (CRI) founded by Walter Martin
Cult Awareness and Information Centre[68] founded by the late Jan Groenveld
Dialog Center International founded by Johannes Aagaard
EMNR Evangelical Ministries to New Religions,[69] an umbrella group for ministries to the cults and new religions
Midwest Christian Outreach
Mormonism Research Ministry (Bill McKeever)
Personal Freedom Outreach
Spiritual Counterfeits Project, president Tal Brooke
Stand To Reason, founded by Greg Koukl and Melinda Penner
Utah Lighthouse Ministry (Jerald & Sandra Tanner)
Watchman Fellowship, founder David Henke, president James K. Walker[70]
See also[edit]
Portal icon Religion portal
Anti-cult movement
References[edit]
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (February 2008)
1.^ Jump up to: a b Cowan, D.E. 2003. Bearing False Witness?: An Introduction to the Christian Countercult: Praeger.
2.Jump up ^ Robert M. Bowman, Orthodoxy and Heresy: A Biblical Guide to Doctrinal Discernment, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1992, pp. 10, 106-107, & 123-124.
3.Jump up ^ Douglas E Cowan author. Bearing False Witness? Introduction to the Christian Counter Cult. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0275974596
4.Jump up ^ Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, rev.ed. Santa Ana: Vision House, 1978, pp. 11-12.
5.Jump up ^ Richard Abanes, Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions,Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, p. 33.
6.Jump up ^ H. Wayne House & Gordon Carle, Doctrine Twisting: How Core Biblical Truths are Distorted, Downers Grove: IVP, 2003.
7.Jump up ^ Jenkins, Philip (1 April 2003). The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice. Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-19-515480-1.
8.Jump up ^ Garry W. Trompf,"Missiology, Methodology and the Study of New Religious Movements," Religious Traditions Volume 10, 1987, pp. 95-106.
9.Jump up ^ Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev.ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003, pp.479-493.
10.Jump up ^ Ronald Enroth ed. Evangelising the Cults, Milton Keynes: Word, 1990.
11.Jump up ^ Norman L Geisler & Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997.
12.Jump up ^ Paul R. Martin, Cult Proofing Your Kids, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993.
13.Jump up ^ Joel A. MacCollam, Carnival of Souls: Religious Cults and Young People, New York: Seabury Press, 1979.
14.Jump up ^ Saliba, Understanding New Religious Movements, pp.45-74.
15.Jump up ^ Harold O. J. Brown, Heresies: The Image of Christ in the Mirror of Heresy and Orthodoxy from the Apostles to the Present, Garden City: Doubleday, 1984.
16.Jump up ^ J.W.C.Wand, The Four Great Heresies:Nestorian, Eutychian, Apollinarian, Arian, London: A.R.Mowbray, 1955.
17.Jump up ^ Eric J. Sharpe, Comparative Religion: A History, London: Duckworth, 1975, p. 9
18.Jump up ^ Brown, Heresies, pp.38-69.
19.Jump up ^ Ronald H. Nash, Christianity and the Hellenistic World, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984, pp.213-224.
20.Jump up ^ Avery Dulles, A History of Apologetics, Eugene: Wipf & Stock, 1999, pp. 22-58.
21.Jump up ^ J.K.S.Reid, Christian Apologetics, Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans, 1970, pp. 36-53.
22.Jump up ^ Bengt Hagglund, History of Theology, trans. Gene J. Lund, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1968, pp.31-105.
23.Jump up ^ Richard G. Kyle, The Religious Fringe: A History of Alternative Religions in America, Downers Grove: IVP, 1993.
24.Jump up ^ Philip Jenkins, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
25.Jump up ^ A.H.Barrington, Anti-Christian Cults, Milwaukee:Young Churchman/London:Sampson Low, Marston, 1898.
26.Jump up ^ J. Gordon Melton,"The counter-cult monitoring movement in historical perspective," in Challenging Religion: Essays in Honour of Eileen Barker, edited by James A. Beckford & James T. Richardson, Routledge, London, 2003, pp. 102–113.
27.Jump up ^ Sydney Watson, Escaped from the Snare: Christian Science, London:William Nichoson & Sons, no date.
28.Jump up ^ Sydney Watson, The Lure of a Soul: Bewitched by Spiritualism, London: W. Nicholson & Sons, no date.
29.Jump up ^ Frank E. Peretti, This Present Darkness, Westchester: Crossway,1986.
30.Jump up ^ James R. Lewis, "Works of Darkness: Occult Fascination in the Novels of Frank Peretti" in Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, James R. Lewis ed. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996, pp.339-350.
31.Jump up ^ William G. Moorehead, ‘Millennial Dawn A Counterfeit of Christianity’, in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, Volume 7. Chicago: Testimony Publishing.
32.Jump up ^ Maurice E. Wilson, ‘Eddyism, Commonly Called “Christian Science”, in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, Volume 9. Chicago: Testimony Publishing.
33.Jump up ^ R. G. McNiece, ‘Mormonism: Its Origin, Characteristics, and Doctrines’, in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, Volume 8. Chicago: Testimony Publishing.
34.Jump up ^ Algernon J. Pollock, ‘Modern Spiritualism Briefly Tested By Scripture’, in The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth, Volume 10. Chicago: Testimony Publishing.
35.Jump up ^ J.K.van Baalen, The Chaos of Cults, 4th rev.ed.Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing, 1962.
36.Jump up ^ Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1955, pp. 11-12.
37.Jump up ^ Each of these movements are treated in separate chapters in Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev. ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003.
38.Jump up ^ John Ankerberg & John Weldon, Cult Watch,Eugene: Harvest House, 1991, pp. i-x.
39.Jump up ^ Geisler & Rhodes, When Cultists Ask, pp. 10-11.
40.Jump up ^ Dave Breese, Know the Marks of Cults, Wheaton: Victor, 1975, 14.
41.Jump up ^ Compare this definition with heresy.
42.Jump up ^ Richard Abanes, Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family, Wheaton: Crossway, 1998.
43.Jump up ^ Ronald Enroth ed. A Guide to New Religious Movements, Downers Grove: IVP, 2005.
44.Jump up ^ Ron Rhodes, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001.
45.Jump up ^ On sociological understandings see for example Eileen Barker, New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1989. George D. Chryssides, Exploring New Religions, London & New York: Cassell, 1999.Jacob Needleman & George Baker ed. Understanding the New Religions, New York: Seabury Press, 1981. Mikael Rothstein & Reender Kranenborg ed. New Religions in a Postmodern World, Aarhus, Denmark: Aargus University Press, 2003.
46.Jump up ^ Ronald M. Enroth, "Cult/Counter-cult", Eternity, November 1977, pp.18-22 & 32-35. David Fetcho, "Disclosing the Unknown God: Evangelism to the New Religions", Update: A Quarterly Journal on New Religious Movements Volume 6, number 4 December 1982 p.8. Walter R. Martin, Martin Speaks Out On The Cults, rev. ed. Ventura: Vision House, 1983,pp.124-125.
47.Jump up ^ Ronald M. Enroth and J. Gordon Melton, Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails, Elgin: Brethren, 1985, pp. 25-30.
48.Jump up ^ Eric Pement, ‘Comments on the Directory’ in Keith Edward Tolbert and Eric Pement, The 1993 Directory of Cult Research Organizations,Trenton: American Religions Center, 1993, p. x.
49.Jump up ^ Douglas E. Cowan, Bearing False Witness? An Introduction ot the Christian Countercult, Westport: Praeger, 2003.
50.Jump up ^ Pfarramt für Sekten- und Weltanschauungsfragen - Index
51.Jump up ^ Pfarramt für Sekten- und Weltanschauungsfragen - Pfarrer Gandow
52.Jump up ^ Relinfo
53.Jump up ^ Sekten in Sachsen
54.Jump up ^ Sekten & Gruppierungen
55.Jump up ^ www.gris.org
56.Jump up ^ http://www.ecclesia.gr/greek/holySynod/commitees/heresies/omades.html
57.Jump up ^ The Thailand Report on New Religious Movements
58.Jump up ^ Religious and Non-Religious Spirituality in the Western World
59.Jump up ^ Irving Hexham, Stephen Rost & John W. Morehead ed. Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2004.Gordon R. Lewis, "Our Mission Responsibility to New Religious Movements" International Journal of Frontier Missions Volume 15, number 3 July–September 1998,p. 116.
60.Jump up ^ Saliba, Understanding New Religious Movements, pp.212-223. Philip Johnson, "Apologetics, Mission and New Religious Movements: A Holistic Approach," Sacred Tribes Journal, Volume 1, number 1 Fall 2002 5-220.
61.Jump up ^ Francis J. Beckwith & Stephen E. Parrish, See the gods fall, Joplin: College Press, 1997. Francis J. Beckwith, Carl Mosser & Paul Owen ed. The New Mormon Challenge, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.
62.Jump up ^ James R. Adair & Ted Miller ed. Escape from Darkness, Wheaton: Victor, 1982.Chris Elkins, Heavenly Deception, Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1980. Joe Hewitt, I Was Raised a Jehovah's Witness, Denver: Accent Books, 1979. Latayne C. Scott, Ex-Mormons: Why We Left, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990.
63.Jump up ^ Dave Hunt, Peace, Prosperity and the Coming Holocaust: The New Age Movement in Prophecy, Eugene: Harvest House, 1983. Hal Lindsey, The Terminal Generation, Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell, 1976.
64.Jump up ^ Constance E. Cumbey, The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, Shreveport: Huntington House, 1983. Evaluated in Elliot Miller, A Crash Course on the New Age Movement, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989, pp. 193-206. John A. Saliba, Christian Responses to the New Age Movement: A Critical Assessment, London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1999, pp.58-63.
65.Jump up ^ Answers In Action - Truth Brings Light
66.Jump up ^ Apologetics Resource Center (ARC) - Birmingham, AL
67.Jump up ^ About Apologetics Press.org
68.Jump up ^ Cult Help and Information - Home
69.Jump up ^ Welcome to EMNR On-Line
70.Jump up ^ Moore, Waveney Ann (September 17, 2003), "Fundamental advice", St. Petersburg Times
Primary sources[edit]
Abanes, Richard, Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family, Crossway Books, Wheaton, 1998.
Ankerberg, John and John Weldon, Encyclopedia of Cults and New Religions, Harvest House, Eugene, 1999.
Enroth, Ronald (ed)., A Guide to New Religious Movements, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2005.
Geisler, Norman L. and Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask, Baker, Grand Rapids, 1997
House, H.Wayne, Charts of Cults, Sects and Religious Movements, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2000.
LeBar, James J. Cults, Sects, and the New Age, Our Sunday Visitor, Huntington, 1989.
Martin, Walter R. The Kingdom of the Cults, edited by Ravi Zacharias, Bethany, Bloomington, 2003
McDowell, Josh and Don Stewart, Handbook of Today's Religions, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1992
Rhodes, Ron, The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2001
Sire, James W. Scripture Twisting: Twenty Ways the Cults Misread the Bible, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1980.
Sire, James W. The Universe Next Door 4th ed., InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 2004.
Tucker, Ruth A. Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions and the New Age Movement, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2004.
Vatican Report on Sects, Cults and New Religious Movements, St. Paul Publications, Sydney, 1988.
History and critical assessments[edit]
Cowan, Douglas E. Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult (Praeger Publishers, Westport, Connecticut & London, 2003).
Enroth, Ronald M. and J. Gordon Melton, Why Cults Succeed Where The Church Fails (Brethren Press, Elgin, 1985).
Jenkins, Philip, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History (Oxford University Press, New York, 2000).
Johnson, Philip, "Apologetics, Mission, and New Religious Movements: A Holistic Approach," Sacred Tribes: Journal of Christian Missions to New Religious Movements, 1 (1) (2002)
Melton, J. Gordon., "The counter-cult monitoring movement in historical perspective," in Challenging Religion: Essays in Honour of Eileen Barker, edited by James A. Beckford & James T. Richardson, (Routledge, London, 2003), pp. 102–113.
Saliba, John A., Understanding New Religious Movements, 2nd edition (Alta Mira Press, Walnut Creek, Lanham, New York & Oxford, 2003).
External links[edit]
Apologetics Index; The counter-cult movement
Douglas E. Cowan: Christian Countercult Website Profiles
CESNUR: Overview of Christian Countercult movement by Douglas E. Cowan
Counter Cult Movement at Religious Tolerance
Jeff Lindsay's discussion of cults from an LDS perspective
Article: Anti-"Minority Religion" Groups with "Big Religion" Ties
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Psychology of religion
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Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to religious traditions, as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The science attempts to accurately describe the details, origins, and uses of religious beliefs and behaviors. Although the psychology of religion first arose as a self-conscious discipline as recently as the late 19th century, all three of these tasks have a history going back many centuries before that.[1]
Many areas of religion remain unexplored by psychology. While religion and spirituality play a role in many people’s lives, it is uncertain how they lead to outcomes that are at times positive, and at other times negative. Thus, the pathways and outcomes that underlie these associations (and sometimes causations) need additional research. Continued dialogue between psychology and theology may foster greater understanding and benefit both fields.
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 History 2.1 William James
2.2 Other early theorists 2.2.1 G.W.F. Hegel
2.2.2 Sigmund Freud
2.2.3 Carl Jung
2.2.4 Alfred Adler
2.2.5 Gordon Allport
2.2.6 Erik H. Erikson
2.2.7 Erich Fromm
2.2.8 Rudolf Otto
2.3 Modern thinkers 2.3.1 Allen Bergin
2.3.2 Robert Emmons
2.3.3 Kenneth Pargament
2.3.4 James Hillman
2.3.5 Julian Jaynes
3 Hypotheses on the role of religion 3.1 Secularization
3.2 Religious transformation
3.3 Cultural divide
4 Psychometric approaches to religion 4.1 Religious orientations and religious dimensions
4.2 Questionnaires to assess religious experience
5 Developmental approaches to religion
6 Religion and prayer
7 Religion and ritual
8 Religion and health 8.1 Religion and physical health
8.2 Religion and personality
8.3 Religion and mental health
8.4 Religion and prejudice
9 Evolutionary psychology of religion
10 Religion and drugs 10.1 James H. Leuba
10.2 Drug-induced religious experiences
11 Religion and meditation
12 Controversy
13 Other views
14 Religion and psychotherapy
15 Pastoral psychology
16 See also
17 References
18 Bibliography 18.1 Further reading
19 External links
Overview[edit]
The challenge for the psychology of religion is essentially threefold: (1) to provide a thoroughgoing description of the objects of investigation, whether they be shared religious content (e.g., a tradition's ritual observances) or individual experiences, attitudes, or conduct; (2) to account in psychological terms for the rise of such phenomena; and (3) to clarify the outcomes—the fruits, as William James put it—of these phenomena, for individuals and for the larger society.[1]
The first, descriptive task naturally requires a clarification of one's terms, above all, the word religion. Historians of religion have long underscored the problematic character of this term, noting that its usage over the centuries has changed in significant ways, generally in the direction of reification.[2] The early psychologists of religion were fully aware of these difficulties, typically acknowledging that the definitions they were choosing to use were to some degree arbitrary.[3] With the rise of positivistic trends in psychology over the course of the 20th century, especially the demand that all phenomena be measured, psychologists of religion developed a multitude of scales, most of them developed for use with Protestant Christians.[4] Factor analysis was also brought into play by both psychologists and sociologists of religion, in an effort to establish a fixed core of dimensions and a corresponding set of scales. The justification and adequacy of these efforts, especially in the light of constructivist and other postmodern viewpoints, remains a matter of debate.
In the last several decades, especially among clinical psychologists, a preference for the terms "spirituality" and "spiritual" has emerged, along with efforts to distinguish them from "religion" and "religious." Especially in the United States, "religion" has for many become associated with sectarian institutions and their obligatory creeds and rituals, thus giving the word a negative cast; "spirituality," in contrast, is positively constructed as deeply individual and subjective, as a universal capacity to apprehend and accord one's life with higher realities.[5] In fact, "spirituality" has likewise undergone an evolution in the West, from a time when it was essentially a synonym for religion in its original, subjective meaning.[6] Pargament (1997) suggests that rather than limiting the usage of “religion” to functional terms, a search for meaning, or substantive terms, anything related to the sacred, we can consider the interplay of these two vantage points. He proposes that religion can be considered the process of searching for meaning in relationship with the sacred.[7] Today, efforts are ongoing to "operationalize" these terms, with little regard for their history in their Western context, and with the apparent realist assumption that underlying them are fixed qualities identifiable by means of empirical procedures.[8]
History[edit]
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (January 2012)
William James[edit]
American psychologist and philosopher William James (1842–1910) is regarded by most psychologists of religion as the founder of the field.[9] He served as president of the American Psychological Association, and wrote one of the first psychology textbooks. In the psychology of religion, James' influence endures. His Varieties of Religious Experience is considered to be the classic work in the field, and references to James' ideas are common at professional conferences.
James distinguished between institutional religion and personal religion. Institutional religion refers to the religious group or organization, and plays an important part in a society's culture. Personal religion, in which the individual has mystical experience, can be experienced regardless of the culture. James was most interested in understanding personal religious experience.
In studying personal religious experiences, James made a distinction between healthy-minded and sick-souled religiousness. Individuals predisposed to healthy-mindedness tend to ignore the evil in the world and focus on the positive and the good. James used examples of Walt Whitman and the "mind-cure" religious movement to illustrate healthy-mindedness in The Varieties of Religious Experience. In contrast, individuals predisposed to having a sick-souled religion are unable to ignore evil and suffering, and need a unifying experience, religious or otherwise, to reconcile good and evil. James included quotations from Leo Tolstoy and John Bunyan to illustrate the sick soul.
William James' hypothesis of pragmatism stems from the efficacy of religion. If an individual believes in and performs religious activities, and those actions happen to work, then that practice appears the proper choice for the individual. However, if the processes of religion have little efficacy, then there is no rationality for continuing the practice.
Other early theorists[edit]
G.W.F. Hegel[edit]
Hegel (1770-1831) described all systems of religion, philosophy, and social science as expressions of the basic urge of consciousness to learn about itself and its surroundings, and record its findings and hypotheses. Thus, religion is only a form of that search for knowledge, within which humans record various experiences and reflections. Others, compiling and categorizing these writings in various ways, form the consolidated worldview as articulated by that religion, philosophy, social science, etc. His work The Phenomenology of Spirit was a study of how various types of writing and thinking draw from and re-combine with the individual and group experiences of various places and times, influencing the current forms of knowledge and worldviews that are operative in a population. This activity is the functioning of an incomplete group mind, where each individual is accessing the recorded wisdom of others. His works often include detailed descriptions of the psychological motivations involved in thought and behavior, e.g., the struggle of a community or nation to know itself and thus correctly govern itself. In Hegel's system, Religion is one of the major repositories of wisdom to be used in these struggles, representing a huge body of recollections from humanity's past in various stages of its development.
Sigmund Freud[edit]
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) gave explanations of the genesis of religion in his various writings. In Totem and Taboo, he applied the idea of the Oedipus complex (involving unresolved sexual feelings of, for example, a son toward his mother and hostility toward his father) and postulated its emergence in the primordial stage of human development.
Group photo 1909 in front of Clark University. Front row: Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, Carl Jung. Back row: Abraham Brill, Ernest Jones, Sándor Ferenczi.
In Moses and Monotheism, Freud reconstructed biblical history in accordance with his general theory. His ideas were also developed in The Future of an Illusion. When Freud spoke of religion as an illusion, he maintained that it is a fantasy structure from which a man must be set free if he is to grow to maturity.
Freud views the idea of God as being a version of the father image, and religious belief as at bottom infantile and neurotic. Authoritarian religion, Freud believed, is dysfunctional and alienates man from himself.
Carl Jung[edit]
The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (1875–1961) adopted a very different posture, one that was more sympathetic to religion and more concerned with a positive appreciation of religious symbolism. Jung considered the question of the existence of God to be unanswerable by the psychologist and adopted a kind of agnosticism.[10]
Jung postulated, in addition to the personal unconscious (roughly adopting Freud's concept), the collective unconscious, which is the repository of human experience and which contains "archetypes" (i.e. basic images that are universal in that they recur regardless of culture). The irruption of these images from the unconscious into the realm of consciousness he viewed as the basis of religious experience and often of artistic creativity. Some of Jung's writings have been devoted to elucidating some of the archetypal symbols, and include his work in comparative mythology.
Alfred Adler[edit]
Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler (1870–1937), who parted ways with Freud, emphasised the role of goals and motivation in his Individual Psychology. One of Adler's most famous ideas is that we try to compensate for inferiorities that we perceive in ourselves. A lack of power often lies at the root of feelings of inferiority. One way that religion enters into this picture is through our beliefs in God, which are characteristic of our tendency to strive for perfection and superiority. For example, in many religions God is considered to be perfect and omnipotent, and commands people likewise to be perfect. If we, too, achieve perfection, we become one with God. By identifying with God in this way, we compensate for our imperfections and feelings of inferiority.
Our ideas about God are important indicators of how we view the world. According to Adler, these ideas have changed over time, as our vision of the world – and our place in it – has changed. Consider this example that Adler offers: the traditional belief that people were placed deliberately on earth as God's ultimate creation is being replaced with the idea that people have evolved by natural selection. This coincides with a view of God not as a real being, but as an abstract representation of nature's forces. In this way our view of God has changed from one that was concrete and specific to one that is more general. From Adler's vantage point, this is a relatively ineffective perception of God because it is so general that it fails to convey a strong sense of direction and purpose.
An important thing for Adler is that God (or the idea of God) motivates people to act, and that those actions do have real consequences for ourselves and for others. Our view of God is important because it embodies our goals and directs our social interactions.
Compared to science, another social movement, religion is more efficient because it motivates people more effectively. According to Adler, only when science begins to capture the same religious fervour, and promotes the welfare of all segments of society, will the two be more equal in peoples' eyes.
Gordon Allport[edit]
In his classic book The Individual and His Religion (1950), Gordon Allport (1897–1967) illustrates how people may use religion in different ways.[11] He makes a distinction between Mature religion and Immature religion. Mature religious sentiment is how Allport characterized the person whose approach to religion is dynamic, open-minded, and able to maintain links between inconsistencies. In contrast, immature religion is self-serving and generally represents the negative stereotypes that people have about religion. More recently, this distinction has been encapsulated in the terms "intrinsic religion", referring to a genuine, heartfelt devout faith, and "extrinsic religion", referring to a more utilitarian use of religion as a means to an end, such as church attendance to gain social status. These dimensions of religion were measured on the Religious Orientation Scale of Allport and Ross (1967). A third form of religious orientation has been described by Daniel Batson. This refers to treatment of religion as an open-ended search (Batson, Schoenrade & Ventis, 1993). More specifically, it has been seen by Batson as comprising a willingness to view religious doubts in a positive manner, acceptance that religious orientation can change and existential complexity, the belief that one's religious beliefs should be shaped from personal crises that one has experienced in one's life. Batson refers to extrinsic, intrinsic and quest respectively as Religion-as-means, religion-as-end and religion-as-quest, and measures these constructs on the Religious Life Inventory (Batson, Schoenrade & Ventis, 1993).
Erik H. Erikson[edit]
Erik Erikson (1902–1994) is best known for his theory of psychological development, which has its roots in the psychoanalytic importance of identity in personality. His biographies of Gandhi and Martin Luther reveal Erikson's positive view of religion. He considered religions to be important influences in successful personality development because they are the primary way that cultures promote the virtues associated with each stage of life. Religious rituals facilitate this development. Erikson's theory has not benefited from systematic empirical study, but it remains an influential and well-regarded theory in the psychological study of religion.
Erich Fromm[edit]
The American scholar Erich Fromm (1900–1980) modified the Freudian theory and produced a more complex account of the functions of religion. In his book Psychoanalysis and Religion he responded to Freud's theories by explaining that part of the modification is viewing the Oedipus complex as based not so much on sexuality as on a "much more profound desire", namely, the childish desire to remain attached to protecting figures. The right religion, in Fromm's estimation, can, in principle, foster an individual's highest potentialities, but religion in practice tends to relapse into being neurotic.[12]
According to Fromm, humans have a need for a stable frame of reference. Religion apparently fills this need. In effect, humans crave answers to questions that no other source of knowledge has an answer to, which only religion may seem to answer. However, a sense of free will must be given in order for religion to appear healthy. An authoritarian notion of religion appears detrimental.[13]
Rudolf Otto[edit]
Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) was a German Protestant theologian and scholar of comparative religion. Otto's most famous work, The Idea of the Holy (published first in 1917 as Das Heilige), defines the concept of the holy as that which is numinous. Otto explained the numinous as a "non-rational, non-sensory experience or feeling whose primary and immediate object is outside the self." It is a mystery (Latin: mysterium tremendum) that is both fascinating (fascinans) and terrifying at the same time; A mystery that causes trembling and fascination, attempting to explain that inexpressible and perhaps supernatural emotional reaction of wonder drawing us to seemingly ordinary and/or religious experiences of grace. This sense of emotional wonder appears evident at the root of all religious experiences. Through this emotional wonder, we suspend our rational mind for non-rational possibilities.
It also sets a paradigm for the study of religion that focuses on the need to realise the religious as a non-reducible, original category in its own right. This paradigm was under much attack between approximately 1950 and 1990 but has made a strong comeback since then.
Modern thinkers[edit]
Autobiographal accounts of 20th century psychology of religion as a field have been supplied by numerous modern psychologists of religion, primarily based in Europe, but also by several US-based psychologists such as Ralph W. Hood and Donald Capps.[14]
Allen Bergin[edit]
Allen Bergin is noted for his 1980 paper "Psychotherapy and Religious Values," which is known as a landmark in scholarly acceptance that religious values do, in practice, influence psychotherapy.[15][16] He received the Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge award from the American Psychological Association in 1989 and was cited as challenging "psychological orthodoxy to emphasize the importance of values and religion in therapy."[17]
Robert Emmons[edit]
Robert Emmons offered a theory of "spiritual strivings" in his 1999 book, The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns.[18] With support from empirical studies, Emmons argued that spiritual strivings foster personality integration because they exist at a higher level of the personality.
Kenneth Pargament[edit]
Kenneth Pargament is noted for his book Psychology of Religion and Coping (1997; see article),[19] as well as for a 2007 book on religion and psychotherapy, and a sustained research program on religious coping. He is professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University (Ohio, USA), and has published more than 100 papers on the subject of religion and spirituality in psychology. Pargament led the design of a questionnaire called the "RCOPE" to measure Religious Coping strategies.[20] Pargament has distinguished between three types of styles for coping with stress:[21] 1) Collaborative, in which people co-operate with God to deal with stressful events; 2) Deferring, in which people leave everything to God; and 3) Self-directed, in which people do not rely on God and try exclusively to solve problems by their own efforts. He also describes four major stances toward religion that have been adopted by psychotherapists in their work with clients, which he calls the religiously rejectionist, exclusivist, constructivist, and pluralist stances.[19][22]
James Hillman[edit]
James Hillman, at the end of his book Re-Visioning Psychology, reverses James' position of viewing religion through psychology, urging instead that we view psychology as a variety of religious experience. He concludes: "Psychology as religion implies imagining all psychological events as effects of Gods in the soul.[23]"
Julian Jaynes[edit]
Julian Jaynes, primarily in his book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, proposed that religion (and some other psychological phenomena such as hypnosis and schizophrenia) is a remnant of a relatively recent time in human development, prior to the advent of consciousness. Jaynes hypothesized that hallucinated verbal commands helped non-conscious early man to perform tasks promoting human survival. Starting about 10,000 BCE, selective pressures favored the hallucinated verbal commands for social control, and they came to be perceived as an external, rather than internal, voice commanding the person to take some action. These were hence often explained as originating from invisible gods, spirits, ancestors, etc.[24]
Hypotheses on the role of religion[edit]
There are three primary hypotheses on the role of religion in the modern world.
Secularization[edit]
The first hypothesis, secularization, holds that science and technology will take the place of religion.[25] Secularization supports the separation of religion from politics, ethics, and psychology. Taking this position even further, Taylor explains that secularization denies transcendence, divinity, and rationality in religious beliefs.[26]
Religious transformation[edit]
Challenges to the secularization hypothesis led to significant revisions, resulting in the religious transformation hypothesis.[27] This perspective holds that general trends towards individualism and social disintegration will produce changes in religion, making religious practice more individualized and spiritually focused.[28] This in turn is expected to produce more spiritual seeking, although not exclusive to religious institutions.[29] Eclecticism, which draws from multiple religious/spiritual systems and New Age movements are also predicted to result.[30][31]
Cultural divide[edit]
In response to the religious transformation hypothesis, Ronald Inglehart piloted the renewal of the secularization hypothesis. His argument hinges on the premise that religion develops to fill the human need for security. Therefore the development of social and economic security in Europe explains its corresponding secularization due to a lack of need for religion.[32] However, religion continues in the third world where social and economic insecurity are rampant. The overall effect is expected to be a growing cultural disparity.[33]
The idea that religiosity arises from the human need for security has also been furthered by studies examining religious beliefs as a compensatory mechanism of control. These studies are motivated by the idea that people are invested in maintaining beliefs in order and structure to prevent beliefs in chaos and randomness [34][35]
In the experimental setting, researchers have also tested compensatory control in regard to individuals’ perceptions of external systems, such as religion or government. For example, Kay and colleagues [36] found that in a laboratory setting, individuals are more likely to endorse broad external systems (e.g., religion or sociopolitical systems) that impose order and control on their lives when they are induced with lowered levels of personal control. In this study, researchers suggest that when a person’s personal control is lessened, their motivation to believe in order is threatened, resulting in compensation of this threat through adherence to other external sources of control.
Psychometric approaches to religion[edit]
Since the 1960s psychologists of religion have used the methodology of psychometrics to assess ways in which a person may be religious. An example is the Religious Orientation Scale of Allport and Ross,[37] which measures how respondents stand on intrinsic and extrinsic religion as described by Allport. More recent questionnaires include the Age-Universal I-E Scale of Gorsuch and Venable,[38] the Religious Life Inventory of Batson, Schoenrade and Ventis,[39] and the Spiritual Experiences Index-Revised of Genia.[40] The first provides an age-independent measure of Allport and Ross's two religious orientations. The second measures three forms of religious orientation: religion as means (intrinsic), religion as end (extrinsic), and religion as quest. The third assesses spiritual maturity using two factors: Spiritual Support and Spiritual Openness.
Religious orientations and religious dimensions[edit]
Some questionnaires, such as the Religious Orientation Scale, relate to different religious orientations, such as intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness, referring to different motivations for religious allegiance. A rather different approach, taken, for example, by Glock and Stark (1965), has been to list different dimensions of religion rather than different religious orientations, which relates to how an individual may manifest different forms of being religious. (More on Stark's work can be found in the article on Sociology of Religion.) Glock and Stark's famous typology described five dimensions of religion – the doctrinal, the intellectual, the ethical-consequential, the ritual, and the experiential. In later work these authors subdivided the ritual dimension into devotional and public ritual, and also clarified that their distinction of religion along multiple dimensions was not identical to distinguishing religious orientations. Although some psychologists of religion have found it helpful to take a multidimensional approach to religion for the purpose of psychometric scale design, there has been, as Wulff (1997) explains, considerable controversy about whether religion should really be seen as multidimensional.
Questionnaires to assess religious experience[edit]
What we call religious experiences can differ greatly. Some reports exist of supernatural happenings that it would be difficult to explain from a rational, scientific point of view. On the other hand, there also exist the sort of testimonies that simply seem to convey a feeling of peace or oneness – something which most of us, religious or not, may possibly relate to. In categorizing religious experiences it is perhaps helpful to look at them as explicable through one of two theories: the Objectivist thesis or the Subjectivist thesis.
An objectivist would argue that the religious experience is a proof of God's existence. However, others have criticised the reliability of religious experiences. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes asked how it was possible to tell the difference between talking to God in a dream, and dreaming about talking to God.[41]
The Subjectivist view argues that it is not necessary to think of religious experiences as evidence for the existence of an actual being whom we call God. From this point of view, the important thing is the experience itself and the effect that it has on the individual.[42]
Developmental approaches to religion[edit]
Main articles: James W. Fowler and Stages of faith development
Many have looked at stage models, like those of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, to explain how children develop ideas about God and religion in general.
The most well known stage model of spiritual or religious development is that of James W. Fowler, a developmental psychologist at the Candler School of Theology, in his Stages of Faith.[43] He follows Piaget and Kohlberg and has proposed a holistic staged development of faith (or spiritual development) across the lifespan.
The book-length study contains a framework and ideas which have generated a good deal of response from those interested in religion[who?], so it appears to have face validity. James Fowler proposes six stages of faith development: 1. Intuitive-projective 2. Symbolic Literal 3. Synthetic Conventional 4. Individuating 5. Paradoxical (conjunctive) 6. Universalising. Although there is evidence that children up to the age of twelve years do tend to be in the first two of these stages[citation needed], adults over the age of sixty-one show considerable variation in displays of qualities of Stages 3 and beyond[citation needed], most adults remaining in Stage 3 (Synthetic Conventional). Fowler's model has generated some empirical studies, and fuller descriptions of this research (and of these six stages) can be found in Wulff (1991).
Fowler's scientific research has been criticized for methodological weaknesses. Of Fowler's six stages, only the first two found empirical support[citation needed], and these were heavily based upon Piaget's stages of cognitive development. The tables and graphs in the book were presented in such a way that the last four stages appeared to be validated, but the requirements of statistical verification of the stages were not met. His study was not published in a journal, so was not peer-reviewed. Other critics[who?] of Fowler have questioned whether his ordering of the stages really reflects his own commitment to a rather liberal Christian Protestant outlook, as if to say that people who adopt a similar viewpoint to Fowler are at higher stages of faith development. Nevertheless, the concepts Fowler introduced seemed to hit home with those in the circles of academic religion[who?], and have been an important starting point for various theories and subsequent studies[citation needed].
Other theorists in developmental psychology have suggested that religiosity comes naturally to young children. Specifically, children may have a natural-born conception of mind-body dualism, which lends itself to beliefs that the mind may live on after the body dies. In addition, children have a tendency to see agency and human design where there is not, and prefer a creationist explanation of the world even when raised by parents who do not.[44][45]
Researchers have also investigated attachment system dynamics as a predictor of the religious conversion experience throughout childhood and adolescence. One hypothesis is the correspondence hypothesis,[46] which posits that individuals with secure parental attachment are more likely to experience a gradual conversion experience. Under the correspondence hypothesis, internal working models of a person’s attachment figure is thought to perpetuate his or her perception of God as a secure base. Another hypothesis relating attachment style to the conversion experience is the compensation hypothesis,[47] which states that individuals with insecure attachments are more likely to have a sudden conversion experience as they compensate for their insecure attachment relationship by seeking a relationship with God. Researchers have tested these hypotheses using longitudinal studies and individuals’ self narratives of their conversation experience. For example, one study investigating attachment styles and adolescent conversions at Young Life religious summer camps resulted in evidence supporting the correspondence hypothesis through analysis of personal narratives and a prospective longitudinal follow-up of Young Life campers, with mixed results for the compensation hypothesis.[48]
Religion and prayer[edit]
Religious practice oftentimes manifests itself in some form of prayer. Recent studies have focused specifically on the effects of prayer on health. Measures of prayer and the above measures of spirituality evaluate different characteristics and should not be considered synonymous.
Prayer is fairly prevalent in the United States. About 75% of the United States reports praying at least once a week.[49] However, the practice of prayer is more prevalent and practiced more consistently among Americans who perform other religious practices.[50] There are four primary types of prayer in the West. Poloma and Pendleton,[51][52] utilized factor analysis to delineate these four types of prayer: meditative (more spiritual, silent thinking), ritualistic (reciting), petitionary (making requests to God), and colloquial (general conversing with God). Further scientific study of prayer using factor analysis has revealed three dimensions of prayer.[53] Ladd and Spilka’s first factor was awareness of self, inward reaching. Their second and third factors were upward reaching (toward God) and outward reaching (toward others). This study appears to support the contemporary model of prayer as connection (whether to the self, higher being, or others).
Dein and Littlewood (2008) suggest that an individual’s prayer life can be viewed on a spectrum ranging from immature to mature. A progression on the scale is characterized by a change in the perspective of the purpose of prayer. Rather than using prayer as a means of changing the reality of a situation, a more mature individual will use prayer to request assistance in coping with immutable problems and draw closer to God or others. This change in perspective has been shown to be associated with an individual’s passage through adolescence.[54]
Prayer appears to have health implications. Empirical studies suggest that mindfully reading and reciting the Psalms (from scripture) can help a person calm down and focus.[55][56] Prayer is also positively correlated with happiness and religious satisfaction (Poloma & Pendleton, 1989, 1991). A study conducted by Franceis, Robbins, Lewis, and Barnes (2008) investigated the relationship between self-reported prayer frequency and measures of psychoticism and neuroticism according to the abbreviated form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-A). The study included a sample size of 2306 students attending Protestant and Catholic schools in the highly religious culture of Northern Ireland. The data shows a negative correlation between prayer frequency and psychoticism. The data also shows that, in Catholic students, frequent prayer has a positive correlation to neuroticism scores.[57] Ladd and McIntosh (2008) suggest that prayer-related behaviors, such as bowing the head and clasping the hands together in an almost fetal position, are suggestive of “social touch” actions. Prayer in this manner may prepare an individual to carry out positive pro-social behavior after praying, due to factors such as increased blood flow to the head and nasal breathing.[58] Overall, slight health benefits have been found fairly consistently across studies.[59]
Three main pathways to explain this trend have been offered: placebo effect, focus and attitude adjustment, and activation of healing processes.[60] These offerings have been expanded by Breslan and Lewis (2008) who have constructed a five pathway model between prayer and health with the following mediators: physiological, psychological, placebo, social support, and spiritual. The spiritual mediator is a departure from the rest in that its potential for empirical investigation is not currently feasible. Although the conceptualizations of chi, the universal mind, divine intervention, and the like breach the boundaries of scientific observation, they are included in this model as possible links between prayer and health so as to not unnecessarily exclude the supernatural from the broader conversation of psychology and religion.[61] (However, whether the activation of healing processes explanation is supernatural or biological, or even both, is beyond the scope of this study and this article.)
Religion and ritual[edit]
Another significant form of religious practice is ritual.[62] Religious rituals encompass a wide array of practices, but can be defined as the performance of similar actions and vocal expressions based on prescribed tradition and cultural norms.[63] Examples include the Jewish Bar Mitzvah, Christian Holy Eucharist, Hindu Puja, and Muslim Salat and Hajj.
Scheff suggests that ritual provides catharsis, emotional purging, through distancing.[64] This emotional distancing enables an individual to experience feelings with an amount of separation, and thus less intensity. However, the conception of religious ritual as an interactive process has since matured and become more scientifically established. From this view, ritual offers a means to catharsis through behaviors that foster connection with others, allowing for emotional expression.[65] This focus on connection contrasts to the separation that seems to underlie Scheff’s view.
Additional research suggests the social component of ritual. For instance, findings suggest that ritual performance indicates group commitment and prevents the uncommitted from gaining membership benefits.[66] Ritual may aid in emphasizing moral values that serve as group norms and regulate societies.[67] It may also strengthen commitment to moral convictions and likelihood of upholding these social expectations.[68] Thus, performance of rituals may foster social group stability.
Religion and health[edit]
Main article: Impacts of religion on health
See also: Handbook of Religion and Health and Religion and happiness
There is considerable literature on the relationship between religion and health. More than 3000 empirical studies have examined relationships between religion and health, including more than 1200 in the 20th century,[69] and more than 2000 additional studies between 2000 and 2009.[70]
Psychologists consider that there are various ways in which religion may benefit both physical and mental health, including encouraging healthy lifestyles, providing social support networks and encouraging an optimistic outlook on life; prayer and meditation may also help to benefit physiological functioning.[71] The journal "American Psychologist" published important papers on this topic in 2003.[72] Haber, Jacob and Spangler have considered how different dimensions of religiosity may relate to health benefits in different ways.[73]
Religion and physical health[edit]
Some studies indicate that religiosity appears to positively correlate with physical health.[74] For instance, mortality rates are lower among people who frequently attend religious events and consider themselves both religious and spiritual.[75] One possibility is that religion provides physical health benefits indirectly. Church attendees present with lower rates of alcohol consumption and improvement in mood, which is associated with better physical health.[76] Kenneth Pargament is a major contributor to the theory of how individuals may use religion as a resource in coping with stress, His work seems to show the influence of attribution theory. Additional evidence suggests that this relationship between religion and physical health may be causal.[77] Religion may reduce likelihood of certain diseases. Studies suggest that it guards against cardiovascular disease by reducing blood pressure, and also improves immune system functioning.[78] Similar studies have been done investigating religious emotions and health. Although religious emotions, such as humility, forgiveness, and gratitude confer health benefits, it is unclear if religious people cultivate and experience those emotions more frequently than non-religious peoples.[79]
However, randomized controlled trials of intercessory prayer have not yielded significant effects on health. These trials have compared personal, focused, committed and organized intercessory prayer with those interceding holding some belief that they are praying to God or a god versus any other intervention. A Cochrane collaboration review of these trials concluded that 1) results were equivocal, 2) evidence does not support a recommendation either in favor or against the use of intercessory prayer and 3) any resources available for future trials should be used to investigate other questions in health research.[80] In a case-control study done following 5,286 Californians over a 28-year period in which variables were controlled for (i.e. age, race/ethnicity, gender, education level), participants who went to church on a frequent basis (defined as attending a religious service once a week or more) were 36% less likely to die during that period.[81] However, this can be partly be attributed to a better lifestyle since religious people tend to drink and smoke less and eat a healthier diet.
Another study detailing the connection between religion and physical health was done in Israel as a prospective cohort case study. In a study done of almost 4,000 Israelis, over 16 years (beginning in 1970), death rates were compared between the experimental group (people belonging to 11 religious kibbutzim) versus the control group (people belonging to secular kibbutzim). Some determining factors for the groups included the date the kibbutz was created, geography of the different groups, and the similarity in age. It was determined that “belonging to a religious collective was associated with a strong protective effect".[82] Not only do religious people tend to exhibit healthier lifestyles, they also have a strong support system that secular people would not normally have. A religious community can provide support especially through a stressful life event such as the death of a loved one or illness. There is the belief that a higher power will provide healing and strength through the rough times which also can explain the lower mortality rate of religious people vs. secular people.
Religion and personality[edit]
Main article: Religion and personality
Some studies have examined whether there is a “religious personality.” Research suggests that people who identify as religious are more likely to be high on agreeableness and conscientiousness, and low on psychoticism, but unrelated to other Big Five traits. However, people endorsing fundamentalist religious beliefs are more likely to be low on Openness.[83] Similarly, people who identify as spiritual are more likely to be high on Extraversion and Openness, although this varied based on the type of spirituality endorsed.[84]
Religion and mental health[edit]
Evidence suggests that religiosity can be a pathway to both mental health and mental disorder. For example, religiosity is positively associated with mental disorders that involve an excessive amount of self-control and negatively associated with mental disorders that involve a lack of self-control.[85] Other studies have found indications of mental health among both the religious and the secular. For instance, Vilchinsky & Kravetz found negative correlations with psychological distress among religious and secular subgroups of Jewish students.[86] In addition, intrinsic religiosity has been inversely related to depression in the elderly, while extrinsic religiosity has no relation or even a slight positive relation to depression.[87] [88]
The link between religion and mental health may be due to the guiding framework or social support that it offers to individuals.[89] By these routes, religion has the potential to offer security and significance in life, as well as valuable human relationships, to foster mental health. Some theorists have suggested that the benefits of religion and religiosity are accounted for by the social support afforded by membership in a religious group.[90]
Religion may also provide coping skills to deal with stressors, or demands perceived as straining. Pargament’s three primary styles of religious coping are 1) self-directing, characterized by self-reliance and acknowledgement of God, 2) deferring, in which a person passively attributes responsibility to God, and 3) collaborative, which involves an active partnership between the individual and God and is most commonly associated with positive adjustment.[91][92] This model of religious coping has been criticized for its over-simplicity and failure to take into account other factors, such as level of religiosity, specific religion, and type of stressor.[93] Additional work by Pargament involves a detailed delineation of positive and negative forms of religious coping, captured in the BREIF-RCOPE questionnaire which have been linked to a range of positive and negative psychological outcomes.[94][95]
Spirituality has been ascribed many different definitions in different contexts, but a general definition is: an individual’s search for meaning and purpose in life. Spirituality is distinct from organized religion in that spirituality does not necessarily need a religious framework. That is, one does not necessarily need to follow certain rules, guidelines or practices to be spiritual, but an organized religion often has some combination of these in place. People who report themselves to be spiritual people may not observe any specific religious practices or traditions.[96] Studies have shown a negative relationship between spiritual well-being and depressive symptoms. In one study, those who were assessed to have a higher spiritual quality of life on a spiritual well-being scale had less depressive symptoms.[97] Cancer and AIDS patients who were more spiritual had lower depressive symptoms than religious patients. Spirituality shows beneficial effects possibly because it speaks to one’s ability to intrinsically find meaning in life, strength, and inner peace, which is especially important for very ill patients.[96] Studies have reported beneficial effects of spirituality on the lives of patients with schizophrenia, major depression, and other psychotic disorders. Schizophrenic patients were less likely to be re-hospitalized if families encouraged religious practice, and in depressed patients who underwent religiously based interventions, their symptoms improved faster than those who underwent secular interventions. Furthermore, a few cross-sectional studies have shown that more religiously involved people had less instance of psychosis.[98]
Religion and prejudice[edit]
To investigate the salience of religious beliefs in establishing group identity, researchers have also conducted studies looking at religion and prejudice. Some studies have shown that greater religious attitudes may be significant predictors of negative attitudes towards racial or social outgroups.[99][100] These effects are often conceptualized under the framework of intergroup bias, where religious individuals favor members of their ingroup (ingroup favoritism) and exhibit disfavor towards members of their outgroup (outgroup derogation). Evidence supporting religious intergroup bias has been supported in multiple religious groups, including non-Christian groups, and is thought to reflect the role of group dynamics in religious identification. Many studies regarding religion and prejudice implement religious priming both in the laboratory and in naturalistic settings [101][102] with evidence supporting the perpetuation of ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation in individuals who are high in religiosity.
Evolutionary psychology of religion[edit]
Main article: Evolutionary psychology of religion
Evolutionary psychology is based on the hypothesis that, just like the cardiac, pulmonary, urinary, and immune systems, cognition has a functional structure with a genetic basis, and therefore appeared through natural selection. Like other organs and tissues, this functional structure should be universally shared among humans and should solve important problems of survival and reproduction. Evolutionary psychologists seek to understand cognitive processes by understanding the survival and reproductive functions they might serve.
Pascal Boyer is one of the leading figures in the cognitive psychology of religion, a new field of inquiry that is less than fifteen years old, which accounts for the psychological processes that underlie religious thought and practice. In his book Religion Explained, Boyer shows that there is no simple explanation for religious consciousness. Boyer is mainly concerned with explaining the various psychological processes involved in the acquisition and transmission of ideas concerning the gods. Boyer builds on the ideas of cognitive anthropologists Dan Sperber and Scott Atran, who first argued that religious cognition represents a by-product of various evolutionary adaptations, including folk psychology, and purposeful violations of innate expectations about how the world is constructed (for example, bodiless beings with thoughts and emotions) that make religious cognitions striking and memorable.
Religious persons acquire religious ideas and practices through social exposure. The child of a Zen Buddhist will not become an evangelical Christian or a Zulu warrior without the relevant cultural experience. While mere exposure does not cause a particular religious outlook (a person may have been raised a Roman Catholic but leave the church), nevertheless some exposure seems required – this person will never invent Roman Catholicism out of thin air. Boyer says cognitive science can help us to understand the psychological mechanisms that account for these manifest correlations and in so doing enable us to better understand the nature of religious belief and practice. To the extent that the mechanisms controlling the acquisitions and transmission of religious concepts rely on human brains, the mechanisms are open to computational analysis. All thought is computationally structured, including religious thought. So presumably, computational approaches can shed light on the nature and scope of religious cognition[citation needed].
Boyer moves outside the leading currents in mainstream cognitive psychology and suggests that we can use evolutionary biology to unravel the relevant mental architecture. Our brains are, after all, biological objects, and the best naturalistic account of their development in nature is Darwin's theory of evolution. To the extent that mental architecture exhibits intricate processes and structures, it is plausible to think that this is the result of evolutionary processes working over vast periods of time. Like all biological systems, the mind is optimised to promote survival and reproduction in the evolutionary environment. On this view all specialised cognitive functions broadly serve those reproductive ends.
For Steven Pinker the universal propensity toward religious belief is a genuine scientific puzzle. He thinks that adaptationist explanations for religion do not meet the criteria for adaptations. An alternative explanation is that religious psychology is a by-product of many parts of the mind that evolved for other purposes.
Religion and drugs[edit]
James H. Leuba[edit]
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The American psychologist James H. Leuba (1868–1946), in A Psychological Study of Religion, accounts for mystical experience psychologically and physiologically, pointing to analogies with certain drug-induced experiences. Leuba argued forcibly for a naturalistic treatment of religion, which he considered to be necessary if religious psychology were to be looked at scientifically. Shamans all over the world and in different cultures have traditionally used drugs, especially psychedelics, for their religious experiences. In these communities the absorption of drugs leads to dreams (visions) through sensory distortion.
William James was also interested in mystical experiences from a drug-induced perspective, leading him to make some experiments with nitrous oxide and even peyote. He concludes that while the revelations of the mystic hold true, they hold true only for the mystic; for others they are certainly ideas to be considered, but hold no claim to truth without personal experience of such.
Drug-induced religious experiences[edit]
See main article entheogen on the use of psychoactive substances in a religious or shamanic context.
The drugs used by religious communities for their hallucinogenic effects were adopted for explicit and implicit religious functions and purposes. The drugs were and are reported to enhance religious experience through visions and a distortion of the sensory perception (like in dreams in a state of sleep).
Cannabis, which grows all over the world except in very cold climates, is used in religious practices in Indian and African communities
Certain psychedelic mushrooms are used by Indians in Latin America, especially in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico[citation needed] The chief species is Psilocybe mexicana, of which the active principles are psilocin and its derivative psilocybin, in their chemical composition and activity not unlike LSD (D-lysergic acid diethylamide); the latter is synthesized from the alkaloids (principally ergotamine and ergonovine) that are constituents of ergot, a growth present in grasses affected by the disease also called ergot. Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) is another mushroom having hallucinogenic properties that has not been thoroughly studied. Fly agaric is mildly toxic at high dosages and is said to have, in addition to its hallucinogenic properties, the ability to increase strength and endurance.[citation needed] It is said also to be a soporific. Fly agaric may be extremely important, since it may have been the natural source of the ritual soma drink of the ancient Hindus and the comparable haoma used by the Zoroastrians. However most researchers point toward ephedra as the main ingredient of Soma.[103][104] Henry Falk stated that "there is no need to look for a plant other than Ephedra, the one plant used to this day by the Parsis." [105] Ephedra is both a stimulant and a thermogenic; its biological effects are due to its ephedrine and pseudoephedrine content.[106] These compounds stimulate the brain and also body metabolism.
Peyote used by some Indian communities of Mexico. The chief active principle of peyote is an alkaloid called mescaline. Like psilocin and psilocybin, mescaline is reputed to produce visions and other evidences of a mystical nature. Despite claims of missionaries and some government agents that peyote – from the Nahuatl word peyotl ("divine messenger") – is a degenerative and dangerous drug, there appears to be no evidence of this among the members of the Native American Church, a North American Indian cult that uses peyote in its chief religious ceremony. Peyote, like most other hallucinogenic drugs, is not considered to be addictive and, far from being a destructive influence, is reputed by cultists and some observers to promote morality and ethical behaviour among the Indians who use it ritually.
Ayahuasca, caapi, or yajé, is produced from the stem bark of the vines Banisteriopsis caapi and B. inebrians. Indians who use it claim that its virtues include healing powers and the power to induce clairvoyance, among others. This drink has been certified by investigators to produce remarkable effects, often involving the sensation of flying. The effects are thought to be attributable to the action of harmine, a very stable indole that is the active principle in the plant. While the Indians themselves attribute the properties of the drink Ayahuasca to B. caapi, this is not the common scientific view; the MAOIs present in the B. caapi instead allow the extremely psychedelic ingredients in other plants added to the brew, noticeably plants containing DMT, to be activated and produce an intense experience.
Kava drink, prepared from the roots of Piper methysticum, a species of pepper, and seemingly more of a hypnotic-narcotic than a hallucinogen, is used both socially and ritually in the South Pacific, especially in Polynesia.
Iboga, a stimulant and hallucinogen derived from the root bark of the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga is used within the Bwiti religion in Central Africa. The active ingredient in T. iboga is ibogaine, a drug that has been studied for its use in treating addiction.
Coca, source of cocaine, has had both ritual and social use chiefly in Peru.
Datura, one species of which is the jimsonweed, is used by native peoples in North and South America; the active principle, however, is highly toxic and dangerous. A drink prepared from the shrub *Mimosa hostilis, which is said to produce glorious visions in warriors before battle, is used ritually in the ajuca ceremony of the Jurema cult in eastern Brazil.
Salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family of plants, is a hallucinogen used by Mazatec shamans for "spiritual journeys" during healing.
Religion and meditation[edit]
The large variety of meditation techniques shares the common goal of shifting attention away from habitual or customary modes of thinking and perception, in order to permit experiencing in a different way. Many religious and spiritual traditions that employ meditation assert that the world most of us know is an illusion. This illusion is said to be created by our habitual mode of separating, classifying and labelling our perceptual experiences. Meditation is empirical in that it involves direct experience. However it is also subjective in that the meditative state can be directly known only by the experiencer, and may be difficult or impossible to fully describe in words. Meditation can induce an altered state of consciousness characterised by a loss of awareness of extraneous stimuli, one-pointed attention to the meditation object to the exclusion of all other thoughts, and feelings of bliss.[107]
Controversy[edit]
Many psychologists reject religion. For instance, Sigmund Freud viewed religion as an illusion, a sign of psychological neurosis. Additionally Eric Fromm’s humanistic psychology centers on man and rejects authoritarian religion.[108] However, religious scholars and psychologists advocating the study of religion have contested such views. Paul Vitz critiqued Fromm’s self-centered approach to psychology and labeled humanist psychology as a religion, unsupported by scientific inquiry.[109] Reber asserted that exclusion of the study of religion only limits psychology’s understanding of human behavior.[110] Others argue that a psychological study of human personality necessitates, at minimum, an acknowledgment of the impact religion has on many humans.[111]
Other views[edit]
A 2012 paper suggested that psychiatric conditions associated with psychotic spectrum symptoms may be possible explanations for revelatory driven experiences and activities such as those of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Saint Paul.[112]
Religion and psychotherapy[edit]
Various forms of explicitly religious psychotherapies that maintain the traditional psychological framework have recently become more prevalent. Clients’ religious beliefs are increasingly being considered in psychotherapy with the goal of improving service and effectiveness of treatment.[113] A resulting development was theistic psychotherapy. Conceptually, it consists of theological principles, a theistic view of personality, and a theistic view of psychotherapy.[114] Following an explicit minimizing strategy, therapists attempt to minimize conflict by acknowledging their religious views while being respectful of client’s religious views.[115] This opens up the potential for therapists to directly utilize religious practices and principles in therapy, such as prayer, forgiveness, and grace.
Pastoral psychology[edit]
One application of the psychology of religion is in pastoral psychology, the use of psychological findings to improve the pastoral care provided by pastors and other clergy, especially in how they support ordinary members of their congregations. Pastoral psychology is also concerned with improving the practice of chaplains in healthcare and in the military. One major concern of pastoral psychology is to improve the practice of pastoral counseling. Pastoral psychology is a topic of interest for professional journals such as Pastoral Psychology, Journal of Psychology and Christianity, and Journal of Psychology and Theology. In 1984, Thomas Oden severely criticized mid-20th century pastoral care and the pastoral psychology that guided it as having entirely abandoned its classical/traditional sources, and having become overwhelmingly dominated by modern psychological influences from Freud, Rogers, and others.[116] More recently, others have described pastoral psychology as a field that experiences a tension between psychology and theology.[117]
See also[edit]
Altered state of consciousness
Cognitive science of religion
Issues in Science and Religion
Journals for the Psychology of religion
Magical thinking
Neurotheology
Philosophy of religion
Religion and personality
Religiosity
Social Evolution
Sociology of religion
Attachment theory and psychology of religion
Transpersonal psychology
References[edit]
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2.Jump up ^ Smith, W. C. (1963). The Meaning and End of Religion: A New Approach to the Religious Traditions of Mankind. New York: Macmillan.
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Levin, J. (2001). God, Faith and Spirituality: Exploring the Spirituality-Health Connection. New York: Wiley
Paloutzian, R. F. & Park, C. L. (2005). Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
Saroglou, V. (Ed). (2014). Religion, Personality, and Social Behavior. New York: Psychology Press.
Miller & Thoresen (2003) American Psychologist
Powell, L.H., Shahabi, L. & Thoresen, C. (2003). Religion and spirituality.
Links to physical health. American Psychologist. 58 pp36–52Wulff, D. M., Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary (2nd ed), New York, Wiley, 1997.
Further reading[edit]
Aziz, Robert (1990). C.G. Jung's Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity (10 ed.). The State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-0166-9.
Bendeck Sotillos, S. (Ed.). (2013). Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion. Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom. ISBN 978-1-936597-20-8.
Fontana, D., Psychology, Religion and Spirituality, Oxford, Blackwell, 2003.
Fuller, A. R. (1994). Psychology & religion: Eight points of view (3rd ed.). Lanham, MD: Littlefield Adams. ISBN 0-8226-3036-2.
Hood, R. W. Jr., Spilka, B., Hunsberger, B., & Gorsuch, R. (1996). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach. New York: Guilford. ISBN 1-57230-116-3
Jones, David., The Psychology of Jesus. Valjean Press: Nashville. ISBN 978-09820757-2-2
Kugelmann, Robert., Psychology and Catholicism: Contested Boundaries, Cambridge University Press, 2011 ISBN 1-107-00608-2
Levin, J., God, Faith and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Health Connection, New York, Wiley, 2001.
Loewenthal, K. M., Psychology of Religion: A Short Introduction, Oxford, Oneworld, 2000.
McNamara, R. (Ed.) (2006), Where God and Science Meet [3 Volumes]: How Brain and Evolutionary Studies Alter Our Understanding of Religion. Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
Paloutzian, R. (1996). Invitation to the Psychology of Religion, 2nd Ed. New York: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 0-205-14840-9.
Meissner, W., Psychoanalysis and Religious Experience, London and New Haven, Yale University Press, 1984.
Roberts, T. B., and Hruby, P. J. (1995–2002). Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments An Entheogen Chrestomathy. Online archive. [1]
Tsakiridis, George. Evagrius Ponticus and Cognitive Science: A Look at Moral Evil and the Thoughts. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2010.
Wulff, D. M. (1997). Psychology of religion: Classic and contemporary (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley. ISBN 0-471-03706-0.
External links[edit]
Religiosity and Emotion
Psychology of religion pages
International Association for the Psychology of Religion
Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature by William James
Psychology of Religious Doubt
Psychology of religion in Germany
International Association for the Scientific Study of Religion
Centre for Psychology of Religion
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Psychology of religion
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Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to religious traditions, as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The science attempts to accurately describe the details, origins, and uses of religious beliefs and behaviors. Although the psychology of religion first arose as a self-conscious discipline as recently as the late 19th century, all three of these tasks have a history going back many centuries before that.[1]
Many areas of religion remain unexplored by psychology. While religion and spirituality play a role in many people’s lives, it is uncertain how they lead to outcomes that are at times positive, and at other times negative. Thus, the pathways and outcomes that underlie these associations (and sometimes causations) need additional research. Continued dialogue between psychology and theology may foster greater understanding and benefit both fields.
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 History 2.1 William James
2.2 Other early theorists 2.2.1 G.W.F. Hegel
2.2.2 Sigmund Freud
2.2.3 Carl Jung
2.2.4 Alfred Adler
2.2.5 Gordon Allport
2.2.6 Erik H. Erikson
2.2.7 Erich Fromm
2.2.8 Rudolf Otto
2.3 Modern thinkers 2.3.1 Allen Bergin
2.3.2 Robert Emmons
2.3.3 Kenneth Pargament
2.3.4 James Hillman
2.3.5 Julian Jaynes
3 Hypotheses on the role of religion 3.1 Secularization
3.2 Religious transformation
3.3 Cultural divide
4 Psychometric approaches to religion 4.1 Religious orientations and religious dimensions
4.2 Questionnaires to assess religious experience
5 Developmental approaches to religion
6 Religion and prayer
7 Religion and ritual
8 Religion and health 8.1 Religion and physical health
8.2 Religion and personality
8.3 Religion and mental health
8.4 Religion and prejudice
9 Evolutionary psychology of religion
10 Religion and drugs 10.1 James H. Leuba
10.2 Drug-induced religious experiences
11 Religion and meditation
12 Controversy
13 Other views
14 Religion and psychotherapy
15 Pastoral psychology
16 See also
17 References
18 Bibliography 18.1 Further reading
19 External links
Overview[edit]
The challenge for the psychology of religion is essentially threefold: (1) to provide a thoroughgoing description of the objects of investigation, whether they be shared religious content (e.g., a tradition's ritual observances) or individual experiences, attitudes, or conduct; (2) to account in psychological terms for the rise of such phenomena; and (3) to clarify the outcomes—the fruits, as William James put it—of these phenomena, for individuals and for the larger society.[1]
The first, descriptive task naturally requires a clarification of one's terms, above all, the word religion. Historians of religion have long underscored the problematic character of this term, noting that its usage over the centuries has changed in significant ways, generally in the direction of reification.[2] The early psychologists of religion were fully aware of these difficulties, typically acknowledging that the definitions they were choosing to use were to some degree arbitrary.[3] With the rise of positivistic trends in psychology over the course of the 20th century, especially the demand that all phenomena be measured, psychologists of religion developed a multitude of scales, most of them developed for use with Protestant Christians.[4] Factor analysis was also brought into play by both psychologists and sociologists of religion, in an effort to establish a fixed core of dimensions and a corresponding set of scales. The justification and adequacy of these efforts, especially in the light of constructivist and other postmodern viewpoints, remains a matter of debate.
In the last several decades, especially among clinical psychologists, a preference for the terms "spirituality" and "spiritual" has emerged, along with efforts to distinguish them from "religion" and "religious." Especially in the United States, "religion" has for many become associated with sectarian institutions and their obligatory creeds and rituals, thus giving the word a negative cast; "spirituality," in contrast, is positively constructed as deeply individual and subjective, as a universal capacity to apprehend and accord one's life with higher realities.[5] In fact, "spirituality" has likewise undergone an evolution in the West, from a time when it was essentially a synonym for religion in its original, subjective meaning.[6] Pargament (1997) suggests that rather than limiting the usage of “religion” to functional terms, a search for meaning, or substantive terms, anything related to the sacred, we can consider the interplay of these two vantage points. He proposes that religion can be considered the process of searching for meaning in relationship with the sacred.[7] Today, efforts are ongoing to "operationalize" these terms, with little regard for their history in their Western context, and with the apparent realist assumption that underlying them are fixed qualities identifiable by means of empirical procedures.[8]
History[edit]
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (January 2012)
William James[edit]
American psychologist and philosopher William James (1842–1910) is regarded by most psychologists of religion as the founder of the field.[9] He served as president of the American Psychological Association, and wrote one of the first psychology textbooks. In the psychology of religion, James' influence endures. His Varieties of Religious Experience is considered to be the classic work in the field, and references to James' ideas are common at professional conferences.
James distinguished between institutional religion and personal religion. Institutional religion refers to the religious group or organization, and plays an important part in a society's culture. Personal religion, in which the individual has mystical experience, can be experienced regardless of the culture. James was most interested in understanding personal religious experience.
In studying personal religious experiences, James made a distinction between healthy-minded and sick-souled religiousness. Individuals predisposed to healthy-mindedness tend to ignore the evil in the world and focus on the positive and the good. James used examples of Walt Whitman and the "mind-cure" religious movement to illustrate healthy-mindedness in The Varieties of Religious Experience. In contrast, individuals predisposed to having a sick-souled religion are unable to ignore evil and suffering, and need a unifying experience, religious or otherwise, to reconcile good and evil. James included quotations from Leo Tolstoy and John Bunyan to illustrate the sick soul.
William James' hypothesis of pragmatism stems from the efficacy of religion. If an individual believes in and performs religious activities, and those actions happen to work, then that practice appears the proper choice for the individual. However, if the processes of religion have little efficacy, then there is no rationality for continuing the practice.
Other early theorists[edit]
G.W.F. Hegel[edit]
Hegel (1770-1831) described all systems of religion, philosophy, and social science as expressions of the basic urge of consciousness to learn about itself and its surroundings, and record its findings and hypotheses. Thus, religion is only a form of that search for knowledge, within which humans record various experiences and reflections. Others, compiling and categorizing these writings in various ways, form the consolidated worldview as articulated by that religion, philosophy, social science, etc. His work The Phenomenology of Spirit was a study of how various types of writing and thinking draw from and re-combine with the individual and group experiences of various places and times, influencing the current forms of knowledge and worldviews that are operative in a population. This activity is the functioning of an incomplete group mind, where each individual is accessing the recorded wisdom of others. His works often include detailed descriptions of the psychological motivations involved in thought and behavior, e.g., the struggle of a community or nation to know itself and thus correctly govern itself. In Hegel's system, Religion is one of the major repositories of wisdom to be used in these struggles, representing a huge body of recollections from humanity's past in various stages of its development.
Sigmund Freud[edit]
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) gave explanations of the genesis of religion in his various writings. In Totem and Taboo, he applied the idea of the Oedipus complex (involving unresolved sexual feelings of, for example, a son toward his mother and hostility toward his father) and postulated its emergence in the primordial stage of human development.
Group photo 1909 in front of Clark University. Front row: Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, Carl Jung. Back row: Abraham Brill, Ernest Jones, Sándor Ferenczi.
In Moses and Monotheism, Freud reconstructed biblical history in accordance with his general theory. His ideas were also developed in The Future of an Illusion. When Freud spoke of religion as an illusion, he maintained that it is a fantasy structure from which a man must be set free if he is to grow to maturity.
Freud views the idea of God as being a version of the father image, and religious belief as at bottom infantile and neurotic. Authoritarian religion, Freud believed, is dysfunctional and alienates man from himself.
Carl Jung[edit]
The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung (1875–1961) adopted a very different posture, one that was more sympathetic to religion and more concerned with a positive appreciation of religious symbolism. Jung considered the question of the existence of God to be unanswerable by the psychologist and adopted a kind of agnosticism.[10]
Jung postulated, in addition to the personal unconscious (roughly adopting Freud's concept), the collective unconscious, which is the repository of human experience and which contains "archetypes" (i.e. basic images that are universal in that they recur regardless of culture). The irruption of these images from the unconscious into the realm of consciousness he viewed as the basis of religious experience and often of artistic creativity. Some of Jung's writings have been devoted to elucidating some of the archetypal symbols, and include his work in comparative mythology.
Alfred Adler[edit]
Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler (1870–1937), who parted ways with Freud, emphasised the role of goals and motivation in his Individual Psychology. One of Adler's most famous ideas is that we try to compensate for inferiorities that we perceive in ourselves. A lack of power often lies at the root of feelings of inferiority. One way that religion enters into this picture is through our beliefs in God, which are characteristic of our tendency to strive for perfection and superiority. For example, in many religions God is considered to be perfect and omnipotent, and commands people likewise to be perfect. If we, too, achieve perfection, we become one with God. By identifying with God in this way, we compensate for our imperfections and feelings of inferiority.
Our ideas about God are important indicators of how we view the world. According to Adler, these ideas have changed over time, as our vision of the world – and our place in it – has changed. Consider this example that Adler offers: the traditional belief that people were placed deliberately on earth as God's ultimate creation is being replaced with the idea that people have evolved by natural selection. This coincides with a view of God not as a real being, but as an abstract representation of nature's forces. In this way our view of God has changed from one that was concrete and specific to one that is more general. From Adler's vantage point, this is a relatively ineffective perception of God because it is so general that it fails to convey a strong sense of direction and purpose.
An important thing for Adler is that God (or the idea of God) motivates people to act, and that those actions do have real consequences for ourselves and for others. Our view of God is important because it embodies our goals and directs our social interactions.
Compared to science, another social movement, religion is more efficient because it motivates people more effectively. According to Adler, only when science begins to capture the same religious fervour, and promotes the welfare of all segments of society, will the two be more equal in peoples' eyes.
Gordon Allport[edit]
In his classic book The Individual and His Religion (1950), Gordon Allport (1897–1967) illustrates how people may use religion in different ways.[11] He makes a distinction between Mature religion and Immature religion. Mature religious sentiment is how Allport characterized the person whose approach to religion is dynamic, open-minded, and able to maintain links between inconsistencies. In contrast, immature religion is self-serving and generally represents the negative stereotypes that people have about religion. More recently, this distinction has been encapsulated in the terms "intrinsic religion", referring to a genuine, heartfelt devout faith, and "extrinsic religion", referring to a more utilitarian use of religion as a means to an end, such as church attendance to gain social status. These dimensions of religion were measured on the Religious Orientation Scale of Allport and Ross (1967). A third form of religious orientation has been described by Daniel Batson. This refers to treatment of religion as an open-ended search (Batson, Schoenrade & Ventis, 1993). More specifically, it has been seen by Batson as comprising a willingness to view religious doubts in a positive manner, acceptance that religious orientation can change and existential complexity, the belief that one's religious beliefs should be shaped from personal crises that one has experienced in one's life. Batson refers to extrinsic, intrinsic and quest respectively as Religion-as-means, religion-as-end and religion-as-quest, and measures these constructs on the Religious Life Inventory (Batson, Schoenrade & Ventis, 1993).
Erik H. Erikson[edit]
Erik Erikson (1902–1994) is best known for his theory of psychological development, which has its roots in the psychoanalytic importance of identity in personality. His biographies of Gandhi and Martin Luther reveal Erikson's positive view of religion. He considered religions to be important influences in successful personality development because they are the primary way that cultures promote the virtues associated with each stage of life. Religious rituals facilitate this development. Erikson's theory has not benefited from systematic empirical study, but it remains an influential and well-regarded theory in the psychological study of religion.
Erich Fromm[edit]
The American scholar Erich Fromm (1900–1980) modified the Freudian theory and produced a more complex account of the functions of religion. In his book Psychoanalysis and Religion he responded to Freud's theories by explaining that part of the modification is viewing the Oedipus complex as based not so much on sexuality as on a "much more profound desire", namely, the childish desire to remain attached to protecting figures. The right religion, in Fromm's estimation, can, in principle, foster an individual's highest potentialities, but religion in practice tends to relapse into being neurotic.[12]
According to Fromm, humans have a need for a stable frame of reference. Religion apparently fills this need. In effect, humans crave answers to questions that no other source of knowledge has an answer to, which only religion may seem to answer. However, a sense of free will must be given in order for religion to appear healthy. An authoritarian notion of religion appears detrimental.[13]
Rudolf Otto[edit]
Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) was a German Protestant theologian and scholar of comparative religion. Otto's most famous work, The Idea of the Holy (published first in 1917 as Das Heilige), defines the concept of the holy as that which is numinous. Otto explained the numinous as a "non-rational, non-sensory experience or feeling whose primary and immediate object is outside the self." It is a mystery (Latin: mysterium tremendum) that is both fascinating (fascinans) and terrifying at the same time; A mystery that causes trembling and fascination, attempting to explain that inexpressible and perhaps supernatural emotional reaction of wonder drawing us to seemingly ordinary and/or religious experiences of grace. This sense of emotional wonder appears evident at the root of all religious experiences. Through this emotional wonder, we suspend our rational mind for non-rational possibilities.
It also sets a paradigm for the study of religion that focuses on the need to realise the religious as a non-reducible, original category in its own right. This paradigm was under much attack between approximately 1950 and 1990 but has made a strong comeback since then.
Modern thinkers[edit]
Autobiographal accounts of 20th century psychology of religion as a field have been supplied by numerous modern psychologists of religion, primarily based in Europe, but also by several US-based psychologists such as Ralph W. Hood and Donald Capps.[14]
Allen Bergin[edit]
Allen Bergin is noted for his 1980 paper "Psychotherapy and Religious Values," which is known as a landmark in scholarly acceptance that religious values do, in practice, influence psychotherapy.[15][16] He received the Distinguished Professional Contributions to Knowledge award from the American Psychological Association in 1989 and was cited as challenging "psychological orthodoxy to emphasize the importance of values and religion in therapy."[17]
Robert Emmons[edit]
Robert Emmons offered a theory of "spiritual strivings" in his 1999 book, The Psychology of Ultimate Concerns.[18] With support from empirical studies, Emmons argued that spiritual strivings foster personality integration because they exist at a higher level of the personality.
Kenneth Pargament[edit]
Kenneth Pargament is noted for his book Psychology of Religion and Coping (1997; see article),[19] as well as for a 2007 book on religion and psychotherapy, and a sustained research program on religious coping. He is professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University (Ohio, USA), and has published more than 100 papers on the subject of religion and spirituality in psychology. Pargament led the design of a questionnaire called the "RCOPE" to measure Religious Coping strategies.[20] Pargament has distinguished between three types of styles for coping with stress:[21] 1) Collaborative, in which people co-operate with God to deal with stressful events; 2) Deferring, in which people leave everything to God; and 3) Self-directed, in which people do not rely on God and try exclusively to solve problems by their own efforts. He also describes four major stances toward religion that have been adopted by psychotherapists in their work with clients, which he calls the religiously rejectionist, exclusivist, constructivist, and pluralist stances.[19][22]
James Hillman[edit]
James Hillman, at the end of his book Re-Visioning Psychology, reverses James' position of viewing religion through psychology, urging instead that we view psychology as a variety of religious experience. He concludes: "Psychology as religion implies imagining all psychological events as effects of Gods in the soul.[23]"
Julian Jaynes[edit]
Julian Jaynes, primarily in his book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, proposed that religion (and some other psychological phenomena such as hypnosis and schizophrenia) is a remnant of a relatively recent time in human development, prior to the advent of consciousness. Jaynes hypothesized that hallucinated verbal commands helped non-conscious early man to perform tasks promoting human survival. Starting about 10,000 BCE, selective pressures favored the hallucinated verbal commands for social control, and they came to be perceived as an external, rather than internal, voice commanding the person to take some action. These were hence often explained as originating from invisible gods, spirits, ancestors, etc.[24]
Hypotheses on the role of religion[edit]
There are three primary hypotheses on the role of religion in the modern world.
Secularization[edit]
The first hypothesis, secularization, holds that science and technology will take the place of religion.[25] Secularization supports the separation of religion from politics, ethics, and psychology. Taking this position even further, Taylor explains that secularization denies transcendence, divinity, and rationality in religious beliefs.[26]
Religious transformation[edit]
Challenges to the secularization hypothesis led to significant revisions, resulting in the religious transformation hypothesis.[27] This perspective holds that general trends towards individualism and social disintegration will produce changes in religion, making religious practice more individualized and spiritually focused.[28] This in turn is expected to produce more spiritual seeking, although not exclusive to religious institutions.[29] Eclecticism, which draws from multiple religious/spiritual systems and New Age movements are also predicted to result.[30][31]
Cultural divide[edit]
In response to the religious transformation hypothesis, Ronald Inglehart piloted the renewal of the secularization hypothesis. His argument hinges on the premise that religion develops to fill the human need for security. Therefore the development of social and economic security in Europe explains its corresponding secularization due to a lack of need for religion.[32] However, religion continues in the third world where social and economic insecurity are rampant. The overall effect is expected to be a growing cultural disparity.[33]
The idea that religiosity arises from the human need for security has also been furthered by studies examining religious beliefs as a compensatory mechanism of control. These studies are motivated by the idea that people are invested in maintaining beliefs in order and structure to prevent beliefs in chaos and randomness [34][35]
In the experimental setting, researchers have also tested compensatory control in regard to individuals’ perceptions of external systems, such as religion or government. For example, Kay and colleagues [36] found that in a laboratory setting, individuals are more likely to endorse broad external systems (e.g., religion or sociopolitical systems) that impose order and control on their lives when they are induced with lowered levels of personal control. In this study, researchers suggest that when a person’s personal control is lessened, their motivation to believe in order is threatened, resulting in compensation of this threat through adherence to other external sources of control.
Psychometric approaches to religion[edit]
Since the 1960s psychologists of religion have used the methodology of psychometrics to assess ways in which a person may be religious. An example is the Religious Orientation Scale of Allport and Ross,[37] which measures how respondents stand on intrinsic and extrinsic religion as described by Allport. More recent questionnaires include the Age-Universal I-E Scale of Gorsuch and Venable,[38] the Religious Life Inventory of Batson, Schoenrade and Ventis,[39] and the Spiritual Experiences Index-Revised of Genia.[40] The first provides an age-independent measure of Allport and Ross's two religious orientations. The second measures three forms of religious orientation: religion as means (intrinsic), religion as end (extrinsic), and religion as quest. The third assesses spiritual maturity using two factors: Spiritual Support and Spiritual Openness.
Religious orientations and religious dimensions[edit]
Some questionnaires, such as the Religious Orientation Scale, relate to different religious orientations, such as intrinsic and extrinsic religiousness, referring to different motivations for religious allegiance. A rather different approach, taken, for example, by Glock and Stark (1965), has been to list different dimensions of religion rather than different religious orientations, which relates to how an individual may manifest different forms of being religious. (More on Stark's work can be found in the article on Sociology of Religion.) Glock and Stark's famous typology described five dimensions of religion – the doctrinal, the intellectual, the ethical-consequential, the ritual, and the experiential. In later work these authors subdivided the ritual dimension into devotional and public ritual, and also clarified that their distinction of religion along multiple dimensions was not identical to distinguishing religious orientations. Although some psychologists of religion have found it helpful to take a multidimensional approach to religion for the purpose of psychometric scale design, there has been, as Wulff (1997) explains, considerable controversy about whether religion should really be seen as multidimensional.
Questionnaires to assess religious experience[edit]
What we call religious experiences can differ greatly. Some reports exist of supernatural happenings that it would be difficult to explain from a rational, scientific point of view. On the other hand, there also exist the sort of testimonies that simply seem to convey a feeling of peace or oneness – something which most of us, religious or not, may possibly relate to. In categorizing religious experiences it is perhaps helpful to look at them as explicable through one of two theories: the Objectivist thesis or the Subjectivist thesis.
An objectivist would argue that the religious experience is a proof of God's existence. However, others have criticised the reliability of religious experiences. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes asked how it was possible to tell the difference between talking to God in a dream, and dreaming about talking to God.[41]
The Subjectivist view argues that it is not necessary to think of religious experiences as evidence for the existence of an actual being whom we call God. From this point of view, the important thing is the experience itself and the effect that it has on the individual.[42]
Developmental approaches to religion[edit]
Main articles: James W. Fowler and Stages of faith development
Many have looked at stage models, like those of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg, to explain how children develop ideas about God and religion in general.
The most well known stage model of spiritual or religious development is that of James W. Fowler, a developmental psychologist at the Candler School of Theology, in his Stages of Faith.[43] He follows Piaget and Kohlberg and has proposed a holistic staged development of faith (or spiritual development) across the lifespan.
The book-length study contains a framework and ideas which have generated a good deal of response from those interested in religion[who?], so it appears to have face validity. James Fowler proposes six stages of faith development: 1. Intuitive-projective 2. Symbolic Literal 3. Synthetic Conventional 4. Individuating 5. Paradoxical (conjunctive) 6. Universalising. Although there is evidence that children up to the age of twelve years do tend to be in the first two of these stages[citation needed], adults over the age of sixty-one show considerable variation in displays of qualities of Stages 3 and beyond[citation needed], most adults remaining in Stage 3 (Synthetic Conventional). Fowler's model has generated some empirical studies, and fuller descriptions of this research (and of these six stages) can be found in Wulff (1991).
Fowler's scientific research has been criticized for methodological weaknesses. Of Fowler's six stages, only the first two found empirical support[citation needed], and these were heavily based upon Piaget's stages of cognitive development. The tables and graphs in the book were presented in such a way that the last four stages appeared to be validated, but the requirements of statistical verification of the stages were not met. His study was not published in a journal, so was not peer-reviewed. Other critics[who?] of Fowler have questioned whether his ordering of the stages really reflects his own commitment to a rather liberal Christian Protestant outlook, as if to say that people who adopt a similar viewpoint to Fowler are at higher stages of faith development. Nevertheless, the concepts Fowler introduced seemed to hit home with those in the circles of academic religion[who?], and have been an important starting point for various theories and subsequent studies[citation needed].
Other theorists in developmental psychology have suggested that religiosity comes naturally to young children. Specifically, children may have a natural-born conception of mind-body dualism, which lends itself to beliefs that the mind may live on after the body dies. In addition, children have a tendency to see agency and human design where there is not, and prefer a creationist explanation of the world even when raised by parents who do not.[44][45]
Researchers have also investigated attachment system dynamics as a predictor of the religious conversion experience throughout childhood and adolescence. One hypothesis is the correspondence hypothesis,[46] which posits that individuals with secure parental attachment are more likely to experience a gradual conversion experience. Under the correspondence hypothesis, internal working models of a person’s attachment figure is thought to perpetuate his or her perception of God as a secure base. Another hypothesis relating attachment style to the conversion experience is the compensation hypothesis,[47] which states that individuals with insecure attachments are more likely to have a sudden conversion experience as they compensate for their insecure attachment relationship by seeking a relationship with God. Researchers have tested these hypotheses using longitudinal studies and individuals’ self narratives of their conversation experience. For example, one study investigating attachment styles and adolescent conversions at Young Life religious summer camps resulted in evidence supporting the correspondence hypothesis through analysis of personal narratives and a prospective longitudinal follow-up of Young Life campers, with mixed results for the compensation hypothesis.[48]
Religion and prayer[edit]
Religious practice oftentimes manifests itself in some form of prayer. Recent studies have focused specifically on the effects of prayer on health. Measures of prayer and the above measures of spirituality evaluate different characteristics and should not be considered synonymous.
Prayer is fairly prevalent in the United States. About 75% of the United States reports praying at least once a week.[49] However, the practice of prayer is more prevalent and practiced more consistently among Americans who perform other religious practices.[50] There are four primary types of prayer in the West. Poloma and Pendleton,[51][52] utilized factor analysis to delineate these four types of prayer: meditative (more spiritual, silent thinking), ritualistic (reciting), petitionary (making requests to God), and colloquial (general conversing with God). Further scientific study of prayer using factor analysis has revealed three dimensions of prayer.[53] Ladd and Spilka’s first factor was awareness of self, inward reaching. Their second and third factors were upward reaching (toward God) and outward reaching (toward others). This study appears to support the contemporary model of prayer as connection (whether to the self, higher being, or others).
Dein and Littlewood (2008) suggest that an individual’s prayer life can be viewed on a spectrum ranging from immature to mature. A progression on the scale is characterized by a change in the perspective of the purpose of prayer. Rather than using prayer as a means of changing the reality of a situation, a more mature individual will use prayer to request assistance in coping with immutable problems and draw closer to God or others. This change in perspective has been shown to be associated with an individual’s passage through adolescence.[54]
Prayer appears to have health implications. Empirical studies suggest that mindfully reading and reciting the Psalms (from scripture) can help a person calm down and focus.[55][56] Prayer is also positively correlated with happiness and religious satisfaction (Poloma & Pendleton, 1989, 1991). A study conducted by Franceis, Robbins, Lewis, and Barnes (2008) investigated the relationship between self-reported prayer frequency and measures of psychoticism and neuroticism according to the abbreviated form of the Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-A). The study included a sample size of 2306 students attending Protestant and Catholic schools in the highly religious culture of Northern Ireland. The data shows a negative correlation between prayer frequency and psychoticism. The data also shows that, in Catholic students, frequent prayer has a positive correlation to neuroticism scores.[57] Ladd and McIntosh (2008) suggest that prayer-related behaviors, such as bowing the head and clasping the hands together in an almost fetal position, are suggestive of “social touch” actions. Prayer in this manner may prepare an individual to carry out positive pro-social behavior after praying, due to factors such as increased blood flow to the head and nasal breathing.[58] Overall, slight health benefits have been found fairly consistently across studies.[59]
Three main pathways to explain this trend have been offered: placebo effect, focus and attitude adjustment, and activation of healing processes.[60] These offerings have been expanded by Breslan and Lewis (2008) who have constructed a five pathway model between prayer and health with the following mediators: physiological, psychological, placebo, social support, and spiritual. The spiritual mediator is a departure from the rest in that its potential for empirical investigation is not currently feasible. Although the conceptualizations of chi, the universal mind, divine intervention, and the like breach the boundaries of scientific observation, they are included in this model as possible links between prayer and health so as to not unnecessarily exclude the supernatural from the broader conversation of psychology and religion.[61] (However, whether the activation of healing processes explanation is supernatural or biological, or even both, is beyond the scope of this study and this article.)
Religion and ritual[edit]
Another significant form of religious practice is ritual.[62] Religious rituals encompass a wide array of practices, but can be defined as the performance of similar actions and vocal expressions based on prescribed tradition and cultural norms.[63] Examples include the Jewish Bar Mitzvah, Christian Holy Eucharist, Hindu Puja, and Muslim Salat and Hajj.
Scheff suggests that ritual provides catharsis, emotional purging, through distancing.[64] This emotional distancing enables an individual to experience feelings with an amount of separation, and thus less intensity. However, the conception of religious ritual as an interactive process has since matured and become more scientifically established. From this view, ritual offers a means to catharsis through behaviors that foster connection with others, allowing for emotional expression.[65] This focus on connection contrasts to the separation that seems to underlie Scheff’s view.
Additional research suggests the social component of ritual. For instance, findings suggest that ritual performance indicates group commitment and prevents the uncommitted from gaining membership benefits.[66] Ritual may aid in emphasizing moral values that serve as group norms and regulate societies.[67] It may also strengthen commitment to moral convictions and likelihood of upholding these social expectations.[68] Thus, performance of rituals may foster social group stability.
Religion and health[edit]
Main article: Impacts of religion on health
See also: Handbook of Religion and Health and Religion and happiness
There is considerable literature on the relationship between religion and health. More than 3000 empirical studies have examined relationships between religion and health, including more than 1200 in the 20th century,[69] and more than 2000 additional studies between 2000 and 2009.[70]
Psychologists consider that there are various ways in which religion may benefit both physical and mental health, including encouraging healthy lifestyles, providing social support networks and encouraging an optimistic outlook on life; prayer and meditation may also help to benefit physiological functioning.[71] The journal "American Psychologist" published important papers on this topic in 2003.[72] Haber, Jacob and Spangler have considered how different dimensions of religiosity may relate to health benefits in different ways.[73]
Religion and physical health[edit]
Some studies indicate that religiosity appears to positively correlate with physical health.[74] For instance, mortality rates are lower among people who frequently attend religious events and consider themselves both religious and spiritual.[75] One possibility is that religion provides physical health benefits indirectly. Church attendees present with lower rates of alcohol consumption and improvement in mood, which is associated with better physical health.[76] Kenneth Pargament is a major contributor to the theory of how individuals may use religion as a resource in coping with stress, His work seems to show the influence of attribution theory. Additional evidence suggests that this relationship between religion and physical health may be causal.[77] Religion may reduce likelihood of certain diseases. Studies suggest that it guards against cardiovascular disease by reducing blood pressure, and also improves immune system functioning.[78] Similar studies have been done investigating religious emotions and health. Although religious emotions, such as humility, forgiveness, and gratitude confer health benefits, it is unclear if religious people cultivate and experience those emotions more frequently than non-religious peoples.[79]
However, randomized controlled trials of intercessory prayer have not yielded significant effects on health. These trials have compared personal, focused, committed and organized intercessory prayer with those interceding holding some belief that they are praying to God or a god versus any other intervention. A Cochrane collaboration review of these trials concluded that 1) results were equivocal, 2) evidence does not support a recommendation either in favor or against the use of intercessory prayer and 3) any resources available for future trials should be used to investigate other questions in health research.[80] In a case-control study done following 5,286 Californians over a 28-year period in which variables were controlled for (i.e. age, race/ethnicity, gender, education level), participants who went to church on a frequent basis (defined as attending a religious service once a week or more) were 36% less likely to die during that period.[81] However, this can be partly be attributed to a better lifestyle since religious people tend to drink and smoke less and eat a healthier diet.
Another study detailing the connection between religion and physical health was done in Israel as a prospective cohort case study. In a study done of almost 4,000 Israelis, over 16 years (beginning in 1970), death rates were compared between the experimental group (people belonging to 11 religious kibbutzim) versus the control group (people belonging to secular kibbutzim). Some determining factors for the groups included the date the kibbutz was created, geography of the different groups, and the similarity in age. It was determined that “belonging to a religious collective was associated with a strong protective effect".[82] Not only do religious people tend to exhibit healthier lifestyles, they also have a strong support system that secular people would not normally have. A religious community can provide support especially through a stressful life event such as the death of a loved one or illness. There is the belief that a higher power will provide healing and strength through the rough times which also can explain the lower mortality rate of religious people vs. secular people.
Religion and personality[edit]
Main article: Religion and personality
Some studies have examined whether there is a “religious personality.” Research suggests that people who identify as religious are more likely to be high on agreeableness and conscientiousness, and low on psychoticism, but unrelated to other Big Five traits. However, people endorsing fundamentalist religious beliefs are more likely to be low on Openness.[83] Similarly, people who identify as spiritual are more likely to be high on Extraversion and Openness, although this varied based on the type of spirituality endorsed.[84]
Religion and mental health[edit]
Evidence suggests that religiosity can be a pathway to both mental health and mental disorder. For example, religiosity is positively associated with mental disorders that involve an excessive amount of self-control and negatively associated with mental disorders that involve a lack of self-control.[85] Other studies have found indications of mental health among both the religious and the secular. For instance, Vilchinsky & Kravetz found negative correlations with psychological distress among religious and secular subgroups of Jewish students.[86] In addition, intrinsic religiosity has been inversely related to depression in the elderly, while extrinsic religiosity has no relation or even a slight positive relation to depression.[87] [88]
The link between religion and mental health may be due to the guiding framework or social support that it offers to individuals.[89] By these routes, religion has the potential to offer security and significance in life, as well as valuable human relationships, to foster mental health. Some theorists have suggested that the benefits of religion and religiosity are accounted for by the social support afforded by membership in a religious group.[90]
Religion may also provide coping skills to deal with stressors, or demands perceived as straining. Pargament’s three primary styles of religious coping are 1) self-directing, characterized by self-reliance and acknowledgement of God, 2) deferring, in which a person passively attributes responsibility to God, and 3) collaborative, which involves an active partnership between the individual and God and is most commonly associated with positive adjustment.[91][92] This model of religious coping has been criticized for its over-simplicity and failure to take into account other factors, such as level of religiosity, specific religion, and type of stressor.[93] Additional work by Pargament involves a detailed delineation of positive and negative forms of religious coping, captured in the BREIF-RCOPE questionnaire which have been linked to a range of positive and negative psychological outcomes.[94][95]
Spirituality has been ascribed many different definitions in different contexts, but a general definition is: an individual’s search for meaning and purpose in life. Spirituality is distinct from organized religion in that spirituality does not necessarily need a religious framework. That is, one does not necessarily need to follow certain rules, guidelines or practices to be spiritual, but an organized religion often has some combination of these in place. People who report themselves to be spiritual people may not observe any specific religious practices or traditions.[96] Studies have shown a negative relationship between spiritual well-being and depressive symptoms. In one study, those who were assessed to have a higher spiritual quality of life on a spiritual well-being scale had less depressive symptoms.[97] Cancer and AIDS patients who were more spiritual had lower depressive symptoms than religious patients. Spirituality shows beneficial effects possibly because it speaks to one’s ability to intrinsically find meaning in life, strength, and inner peace, which is especially important for very ill patients.[96] Studies have reported beneficial effects of spirituality on the lives of patients with schizophrenia, major depression, and other psychotic disorders. Schizophrenic patients were less likely to be re-hospitalized if families encouraged religious practice, and in depressed patients who underwent religiously based interventions, their symptoms improved faster than those who underwent secular interventions. Furthermore, a few cross-sectional studies have shown that more religiously involved people had less instance of psychosis.[98]
Religion and prejudice[edit]
To investigate the salience of religious beliefs in establishing group identity, researchers have also conducted studies looking at religion and prejudice. Some studies have shown that greater religious attitudes may be significant predictors of negative attitudes towards racial or social outgroups.[99][100] These effects are often conceptualized under the framework of intergroup bias, where religious individuals favor members of their ingroup (ingroup favoritism) and exhibit disfavor towards members of their outgroup (outgroup derogation). Evidence supporting religious intergroup bias has been supported in multiple religious groups, including non-Christian groups, and is thought to reflect the role of group dynamics in religious identification. Many studies regarding religion and prejudice implement religious priming both in the laboratory and in naturalistic settings [101][102] with evidence supporting the perpetuation of ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation in individuals who are high in religiosity.
Evolutionary psychology of religion[edit]
Main article: Evolutionary psychology of religion
Evolutionary psychology is based on the hypothesis that, just like the cardiac, pulmonary, urinary, and immune systems, cognition has a functional structure with a genetic basis, and therefore appeared through natural selection. Like other organs and tissues, this functional structure should be universally shared among humans and should solve important problems of survival and reproduction. Evolutionary psychologists seek to understand cognitive processes by understanding the survival and reproductive functions they might serve.
Pascal Boyer is one of the leading figures in the cognitive psychology of religion, a new field of inquiry that is less than fifteen years old, which accounts for the psychological processes that underlie religious thought and practice. In his book Religion Explained, Boyer shows that there is no simple explanation for religious consciousness. Boyer is mainly concerned with explaining the various psychological processes involved in the acquisition and transmission of ideas concerning the gods. Boyer builds on the ideas of cognitive anthropologists Dan Sperber and Scott Atran, who first argued that religious cognition represents a by-product of various evolutionary adaptations, including folk psychology, and purposeful violations of innate expectations about how the world is constructed (for example, bodiless beings with thoughts and emotions) that make religious cognitions striking and memorable.
Religious persons acquire religious ideas and practices through social exposure. The child of a Zen Buddhist will not become an evangelical Christian or a Zulu warrior without the relevant cultural experience. While mere exposure does not cause a particular religious outlook (a person may have been raised a Roman Catholic but leave the church), nevertheless some exposure seems required – this person will never invent Roman Catholicism out of thin air. Boyer says cognitive science can help us to understand the psychological mechanisms that account for these manifest correlations and in so doing enable us to better understand the nature of religious belief and practice. To the extent that the mechanisms controlling the acquisitions and transmission of religious concepts rely on human brains, the mechanisms are open to computational analysis. All thought is computationally structured, including religious thought. So presumably, computational approaches can shed light on the nature and scope of religious cognition[citation needed].
Boyer moves outside the leading currents in mainstream cognitive psychology and suggests that we can use evolutionary biology to unravel the relevant mental architecture. Our brains are, after all, biological objects, and the best naturalistic account of their development in nature is Darwin's theory of evolution. To the extent that mental architecture exhibits intricate processes and structures, it is plausible to think that this is the result of evolutionary processes working over vast periods of time. Like all biological systems, the mind is optimised to promote survival and reproduction in the evolutionary environment. On this view all specialised cognitive functions broadly serve those reproductive ends.
For Steven Pinker the universal propensity toward religious belief is a genuine scientific puzzle. He thinks that adaptationist explanations for religion do not meet the criteria for adaptations. An alternative explanation is that religious psychology is a by-product of many parts of the mind that evolved for other purposes.
Religion and drugs[edit]
James H. Leuba[edit]
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The American psychologist James H. Leuba (1868–1946), in A Psychological Study of Religion, accounts for mystical experience psychologically and physiologically, pointing to analogies with certain drug-induced experiences. Leuba argued forcibly for a naturalistic treatment of religion, which he considered to be necessary if religious psychology were to be looked at scientifically. Shamans all over the world and in different cultures have traditionally used drugs, especially psychedelics, for their religious experiences. In these communities the absorption of drugs leads to dreams (visions) through sensory distortion.
William James was also interested in mystical experiences from a drug-induced perspective, leading him to make some experiments with nitrous oxide and even peyote. He concludes that while the revelations of the mystic hold true, they hold true only for the mystic; for others they are certainly ideas to be considered, but hold no claim to truth without personal experience of such.
Drug-induced religious experiences[edit]
See main article entheogen on the use of psychoactive substances in a religious or shamanic context.
The drugs used by religious communities for their hallucinogenic effects were adopted for explicit and implicit religious functions and purposes. The drugs were and are reported to enhance religious experience through visions and a distortion of the sensory perception (like in dreams in a state of sleep).
Cannabis, which grows all over the world except in very cold climates, is used in religious practices in Indian and African communities
Certain psychedelic mushrooms are used by Indians in Latin America, especially in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico[citation needed] The chief species is Psilocybe mexicana, of which the active principles are psilocin and its derivative psilocybin, in their chemical composition and activity not unlike LSD (D-lysergic acid diethylamide); the latter is synthesized from the alkaloids (principally ergotamine and ergonovine) that are constituents of ergot, a growth present in grasses affected by the disease also called ergot. Amanita muscaria (fly agaric) is another mushroom having hallucinogenic properties that has not been thoroughly studied. Fly agaric is mildly toxic at high dosages and is said to have, in addition to its hallucinogenic properties, the ability to increase strength and endurance.[citation needed] It is said also to be a soporific. Fly agaric may be extremely important, since it may have been the natural source of the ritual soma drink of the ancient Hindus and the comparable haoma used by the Zoroastrians. However most researchers point toward ephedra as the main ingredient of Soma.[103][104] Henry Falk stated that "there is no need to look for a plant other than Ephedra, the one plant used to this day by the Parsis." [105] Ephedra is both a stimulant and a thermogenic; its biological effects are due to its ephedrine and pseudoephedrine content.[106] These compounds stimulate the brain and also body metabolism.
Peyote used by some Indian communities of Mexico. The chief active principle of peyote is an alkaloid called mescaline. Like psilocin and psilocybin, mescaline is reputed to produce visions and other evidences of a mystical nature. Despite claims of missionaries and some government agents that peyote – from the Nahuatl word peyotl ("divine messenger") – is a degenerative and dangerous drug, there appears to be no evidence of this among the members of the Native American Church, a North American Indian cult that uses peyote in its chief religious ceremony. Peyote, like most other hallucinogenic drugs, is not considered to be addictive and, far from being a destructive influence, is reputed by cultists and some observers to promote morality and ethical behaviour among the Indians who use it ritually.
Ayahuasca, caapi, or yajé, is produced from the stem bark of the vines Banisteriopsis caapi and B. inebrians. Indians who use it claim that its virtues include healing powers and the power to induce clairvoyance, among others. This drink has been certified by investigators to produce remarkable effects, often involving the sensation of flying. The effects are thought to be attributable to the action of harmine, a very stable indole that is the active principle in the plant. While the Indians themselves attribute the properties of the drink Ayahuasca to B. caapi, this is not the common scientific view; the MAOIs present in the B. caapi instead allow the extremely psychedelic ingredients in other plants added to the brew, noticeably plants containing DMT, to be activated and produce an intense experience.
Kava drink, prepared from the roots of Piper methysticum, a species of pepper, and seemingly more of a hypnotic-narcotic than a hallucinogen, is used both socially and ritually in the South Pacific, especially in Polynesia.
Iboga, a stimulant and hallucinogen derived from the root bark of the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga is used within the Bwiti religion in Central Africa. The active ingredient in T. iboga is ibogaine, a drug that has been studied for its use in treating addiction.
Coca, source of cocaine, has had both ritual and social use chiefly in Peru.
Datura, one species of which is the jimsonweed, is used by native peoples in North and South America; the active principle, however, is highly toxic and dangerous. A drink prepared from the shrub *Mimosa hostilis, which is said to produce glorious visions in warriors before battle, is used ritually in the ajuca ceremony of the Jurema cult in eastern Brazil.
Salvia divinorum, a member of the sage family of plants, is a hallucinogen used by Mazatec shamans for "spiritual journeys" during healing.
Religion and meditation[edit]
The large variety of meditation techniques shares the common goal of shifting attention away from habitual or customary modes of thinking and perception, in order to permit experiencing in a different way. Many religious and spiritual traditions that employ meditation assert that the world most of us know is an illusion. This illusion is said to be created by our habitual mode of separating, classifying and labelling our perceptual experiences. Meditation is empirical in that it involves direct experience. However it is also subjective in that the meditative state can be directly known only by the experiencer, and may be difficult or impossible to fully describe in words. Meditation can induce an altered state of consciousness characterised by a loss of awareness of extraneous stimuli, one-pointed attention to the meditation object to the exclusion of all other thoughts, and feelings of bliss.[107]
Controversy[edit]
Many psychologists reject religion. For instance, Sigmund Freud viewed religion as an illusion, a sign of psychological neurosis. Additionally Eric Fromm’s humanistic psychology centers on man and rejects authoritarian religion.[108] However, religious scholars and psychologists advocating the study of religion have contested such views. Paul Vitz critiqued Fromm’s self-centered approach to psychology and labeled humanist psychology as a religion, unsupported by scientific inquiry.[109] Reber asserted that exclusion of the study of religion only limits psychology’s understanding of human behavior.[110] Others argue that a psychological study of human personality necessitates, at minimum, an acknowledgment of the impact religion has on many humans.[111]
Other views[edit]
A 2012 paper suggested that psychiatric conditions associated with psychotic spectrum symptoms may be possible explanations for revelatory driven experiences and activities such as those of Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Saint Paul.[112]
Religion and psychotherapy[edit]
Various forms of explicitly religious psychotherapies that maintain the traditional psychological framework have recently become more prevalent. Clients’ religious beliefs are increasingly being considered in psychotherapy with the goal of improving service and effectiveness of treatment.[113] A resulting development was theistic psychotherapy. Conceptually, it consists of theological principles, a theistic view of personality, and a theistic view of psychotherapy.[114] Following an explicit minimizing strategy, therapists attempt to minimize conflict by acknowledging their religious views while being respectful of client’s religious views.[115] This opens up the potential for therapists to directly utilize religious practices and principles in therapy, such as prayer, forgiveness, and grace.
Pastoral psychology[edit]
One application of the psychology of religion is in pastoral psychology, the use of psychological findings to improve the pastoral care provided by pastors and other clergy, especially in how they support ordinary members of their congregations. Pastoral psychology is also concerned with improving the practice of chaplains in healthcare and in the military. One major concern of pastoral psychology is to improve the practice of pastoral counseling. Pastoral psychology is a topic of interest for professional journals such as Pastoral Psychology, Journal of Psychology and Christianity, and Journal of Psychology and Theology. In 1984, Thomas Oden severely criticized mid-20th century pastoral care and the pastoral psychology that guided it as having entirely abandoned its classical/traditional sources, and having become overwhelmingly dominated by modern psychological influences from Freud, Rogers, and others.[116] More recently, others have described pastoral psychology as a field that experiences a tension between psychology and theology.[117]
See also[edit]
Altered state of consciousness
Cognitive science of religion
Issues in Science and Religion
Journals for the Psychology of religion
Magical thinking
Neurotheology
Philosophy of religion
Religion and personality
Religiosity
Social Evolution
Sociology of religion
Attachment theory and psychology of religion
Transpersonal psychology
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Bibliography[edit]
Adler, A., & Jahn, E., Religion and Psychology, Frankfurt, 1933.
Allport, G.W. & Ross, J.M., Personal Religious Orientation and Prejudice, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1967.
Allport, G. W., The individual and his religion, New York, Macmillan, 1950.
Atran, S., In Gods We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion, New York, Oxford University Press, 2002.
Batson, C.D., Schoenrade, P. & Ventis, L., Religion and the Individual, New York, Oxford University Press, 1993.
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Fowler, J. Stages of Faith, Harper and Row, San Francisco, 1971.
Francis, L.J. & Louden, S.H., The Francis-Louden Mystical Orientation Scale: A Study Among Male Anglican Priests, Research in the Scientific Study of Religion, 2000.
Freud, S., The future of an illusion, translated by W.D. Robson-Scott, New York, Liveright, 1928.
Freud, S., Totem and Taboo: Resemblances Between the Psychic Lives of Savages and Neurotics, New-York, Dodd, 1928.
Freud, S., Moses and Monotheism, London, The Hogarth Press and The Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1939.
Fromm, E., Psychoanalysis and Religion, New Haven, Yale University, 1950.
Genia, V., The Spiritual Experience Index: Revision and Reformulation, Review of Religious Research, 38, 344–361, 1997.
Glock, C.Y. & Stark, R., Religion and Society in Tension, Chicago, Rand McNally, 1965.
Gorsuch, R. & Venable, Development of an Age-Universal I-E Scale, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1983.
Haber J., Jacob R., Spangler J.D.C. (2007). "Dimensions of religion and their relationship to health". The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 17 (4): 265–288. doi:10.1080/10508610701572770.
Hill, P. C. & Hood, R., Measures of Religiosity, Birmingham, Alabama, Religious Education Press,1999.
Hill, P. C. & Pargament, K., Advances in the Conceptualisation and Measurement of Spirituality. American Psychologist, 58, p64–74, 2003.
Hood, R. W., The Construction and Preliminary Validation of a Measure of Reported Mystical Experience, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1975.
James, W., The Varieties of Religious Experience, Cambridge, Ma., Harvard University, 1985.
Jung, C. G., Modern Man in Search of a Soul, New York, Harcourt Brace, 1933.
Jung, C. G., Psychology and Religion, Yale University Press, 1962.
Jung, C. G., Psychology and Religion, Yale Univ. Press, 1992.
Jung, C. G., Psychology and Western Religion, Princeton Univ. Press, 1984.
Hood, R. W., The Construction and Preliminary Validation of a Measure of Reported Mystical Experience, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1975.
Leuba, J. H., The Psychology of Religious Mysticism, New York, Harcourt, Brace, 1925.
Leuba, J. H., The Psychological Origin and the Nature of Religion. Wikisource text
Levin, J. (2001). God, Faith and Spirituality: Exploring the Spirituality-Health Connection. New York: Wiley
Paloutzian, R. F. & Park, C. L. (2005). Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
Saroglou, V. (Ed). (2014). Religion, Personality, and Social Behavior. New York: Psychology Press.
Miller & Thoresen (2003) American Psychologist
Powell, L.H., Shahabi, L. & Thoresen, C. (2003). Religion and spirituality.
Links to physical health. American Psychologist. 58 pp36–52Wulff, D. M., Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary (2nd ed), New York, Wiley, 1997.
Further reading[edit]
Aziz, Robert (1990). C.G. Jung's Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity (10 ed.). The State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-0166-9.
Bendeck Sotillos, S. (Ed.). (2013). Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion. Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom. ISBN 978-1-936597-20-8.
Fontana, D., Psychology, Religion and Spirituality, Oxford, Blackwell, 2003.
Fuller, A. R. (1994). Psychology & religion: Eight points of view (3rd ed.). Lanham, MD: Littlefield Adams. ISBN 0-8226-3036-2.
Hood, R. W. Jr., Spilka, B., Hunsberger, B., & Gorsuch, R. (1996). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach. New York: Guilford. ISBN 1-57230-116-3
Jones, David., The Psychology of Jesus. Valjean Press: Nashville. ISBN 978-09820757-2-2
Kugelmann, Robert., Psychology and Catholicism: Contested Boundaries, Cambridge University Press, 2011 ISBN 1-107-00608-2
Levin, J., God, Faith and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Health Connection, New York, Wiley, 2001.
Loewenthal, K. M., Psychology of Religion: A Short Introduction, Oxford, Oneworld, 2000.
McNamara, R. (Ed.) (2006), Where God and Science Meet [3 Volumes]: How Brain and Evolutionary Studies Alter Our Understanding of Religion. Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
Paloutzian, R. (1996). Invitation to the Psychology of Religion, 2nd Ed. New York: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN 0-205-14840-9.
Meissner, W., Psychoanalysis and Religious Experience, London and New Haven, Yale University Press, 1984.
Roberts, T. B., and Hruby, P. J. (1995–2002). Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments An Entheogen Chrestomathy. Online archive. [1]
Tsakiridis, George. Evagrius Ponticus and Cognitive Science: A Look at Moral Evil and the Thoughts. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2010.
Wulff, D. M. (1997). Psychology of religion: Classic and contemporary (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley. ISBN 0-471-03706-0.
External links[edit]
Religiosity and Emotion
Psychology of religion pages
International Association for the Psychology of Religion
Varieties of Religious Experience, a Study in Human Nature by William James
Psychology of Religious Doubt
Psychology of religion in Germany
International Association for the Scientific Study of Religion
Centre for Psychology of Religion
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Sociology of religion
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For the book by Max Weber, see Sociology of Religion (book).
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Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use of both quantitative methods (surveys, polls, demographic and census analysis) and qualitative approaches such as participant observation, interviewing, and analysis of archival, historical and documentary materials.[1]
Modern academic sociology began with the analysis of religion in Émile Durkheim's 1897 study of suicide rates among Catholic and Protestant populations, a foundational work of social research which served to distinguish sociology from other disciplines, such as psychology. The works of Karl Marx and Max Weber emphasized the relationship between religion and the economic or social structure of society. Contemporary debates have centered on issues such as secularization, civil religion, and the cohesiveness of religion in the context of globalization and multiculturalism. The contemporary sociology of religion may also encompass the sociology of irreligion (for instance, in the analysis of secular humanist belief systems).
Sociology of religion is distinguished from the philosophy of religion in that it does not set out to assess the validity of religious beliefs. The process of comparing multiple conflicting dogmas may require what Peter L. Berger has described as inherent "methodological atheism".[2] Whereas the sociology of religion broadly differs from theology in assuming indifference to the supernatural, theorists tend to acknowledge socio-cultural reification of religious practice.
Contents [hide]
1 History and relevance
2 View of religion in classical sociology 2.1 Karl Marx
2.2 Émile Durkheim
2.3 Max Weber
3 Symbolic anthropology and phenomenology
4 Functionalism
5 Rationalism
6 Typology of religious groups
7 Research
8 Secularization and civil religion 8.1 Bryan Wilson
8.2 Ernest Gellner
8.3 Michel Foucault
9 Globalization
10 See also
11 References 11.1 Further reading
11.2 Notes
12 External links
History and relevance[edit]
Classical, seminal sociological theorists of the late 19th and early 20th century such as Durkheim, Weber, and Marx were greatly interested in religion and its effects on society. Like those of Plato and Aristotle from ancient Greece, and Enlightenment philosophers from the 17th through 19th centuries, the ideas posited by these sociologists continue to be examined today. More recent prominent sociologists of religion include Peter L. Berger, Robert N. Bellah, Thomas Luckmann, Rodney Stark, William Sims Bainbridge, Robert Wuthnow, Christian Smith, and Bryan R. Wilson.
View of religion in classical sociology[edit]
Durkheim, Marx, and Weber had very complex and developed theories about the nature and effects of religion. Of these, Durkheim and Weber are often more difficult to understand, especially in light of the lack of context and examples in their primary texts. Religion was considered to be an extremely important social variable in the work of all three.
Karl Marx[edit]
"Marx was the product of the Enlightenment, embracing its call to replace faith by reason and religion by science."[3] Despite his later influence, Karl Marx did not view his work as an ethical or ideological response to nineteenth-century capitalism (as most later commentators have). His efforts were, in his mind, based solely on what can be called applied science. Marx saw himself as doing morally neutral sociology and economic theory for the sake of human development. As Christiano states, "Marx did not believe in science for science's sake…he believed that he was also advancing a theory that would…be a useful tool…[in] effecting a revolutionary upheaval of the capitalist system in favor of socialism." (124) As such, the crux of his arguments was that humans are best guided by reason. Religion, Marx held, was a significant hindrance to reason, inherently masking the truth and misguiding followers.[4] As we will later see, Marx viewed alienation as the heart of social inequality. The antithesis to this alienation is freedom. Thus, to propagate freedom means to present individuals with the truth and give them a choice to accept or deny it. In this, "Marx never suggested that religion ought to be prohibited." (Christiano 126)
Central to Marx's theories was the oppressive economic situation in which he dwelt. With the rise of European industrialism, Marx and his colleague Friedrich Engels witnessed and responded to the growth of what he called "surplus value". Marx's view of capitalism saw rich capitalists getting richer and their workers getting poorer (the gap, the exploitation, was the "surplus value"). Not only were workers getting exploited, but in the process they were being further detached from the products they helped create. By simply selling their work for wages, "workers simultaneously lose connection with the object of labor and become objects themselves. Workers are devalued to the level of a commodity – a thing…" (Ibid 125) From this objectification comes alienation. The common worker is led to believe that he or she is a replaceable tool, and is alienated to the point of extreme discontent. Here, in Marx's eyes, religion enters. Capitalism utilizes our tendency towards religion as a tool or ideological state apparatus to justify this alienation. Christianity teaches that those who gather up riches and power in this life will almost certainly not be rewarded in the next ("it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle...") while those who suffer oppression and poverty in this life, while cultivating their spiritual wealth, will be rewarded in the Kingdom of God. Thus Marx's famous line - "religion is the opium of the people", as it soothes them and dulls their senses to the pain of oppression. Some scholars have recently noted that this is a contradictory (or dialectical) metaphor, referring to religion as both an expression of suffering and a protest against suffering[5]
Émile Durkheim[edit]
Émile Durkheim placed himself in the positivist tradition, meaning that he thought of his study of society as dispassionate and scientific. He was deeply interested in the problem of what held complex modern societies together. Religion, he argued, was an expression of social cohesion.
In the fieldwork that led to his famous Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Durkheim, a secular Frenchman, looked at anthropological data of Indigenous Australians. His underlying interest was to understand the basic forms of religious life for all societies. In Elementary Forms, Durkheim argues that the totems the Aborigines venerate are actually expressions of their own conceptions of society itself. This is true not only for the Aborigines, he argues, but for all societies.
Religion, for Durkheim, is not "imaginary," although he does deprive it of what many believers find essential. Religion is very real; it is an expression of society itself, and indeed, there is no society that does not have religion. We perceive as individuals a force greater than ourselves, which is our social life, and give that perception a supernatural face. We then express ourselves religiously in groups, which for Durkheim makes the symbolic power greater. Religion is an expression of our collective consciousness, which is the fusion of all of our individual consciousnesses, which then creates a reality of its own.
It follows, then, that less complex societies, such as the Australian Aborigines, have less complex religious systems, involving totems associated with particular clans. The more complex a particular society, the more complex the religious system is. As societies come in contact with other societies, there is a tendency for religious systems to emphasize universalism to a greater and greater extent. However, as the division of labor makes the individual seem more important (a subject that Durkheim treats extensively in his famous Division of Labor in Society), religious systems increasingly focus on individual salvation and conscience.
Durkheim's definition of religion, from Elementary Forms, is as follows: "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them." (Marx, introduction) This is a functional definition of religion, meaning that it explains what religion does in social life: essentially, it unites societies. Durkheim defined religion as a clear distinction between the sacred and the profane, in effect this can be paralleled with the distinction between God and humans.
This definition also does not stipulate what exactly may be considered sacred. Thus later sociologists of religion (notably Robert Bellah) have extended Durkheimian insights to talk about notions of civil religion, or the religion of a state. American civil religion, for example, might be said to have its own set of sacred "things": the Flag of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., etc. Other sociologists have taken Durkheim's concept of what religion is in the direction of the religion of professional sports, the military, or of rock music.
Max Weber[edit]
Max Weber published four major texts on religion in a context of economic sociology and his rationalization thesis: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905), The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism (1915), The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism (1915), and Ancient Judaism (1920).
In his sociology, Weber uses the German term "Verstehen" to describe his method of interpretation of the intention and context of human action. Weber is not a positivist – in the sense that he does not believe we can find out "facts" in sociology that can be causally linked. Although he believes some generalized statements about social life can be made, he is not interested in hard positivist claims, but instead in linkages and sequences, in historical narratives and particular cases.
Weber argues for making sense of religious action on its own terms. A religious group or individual is influenced by all kinds of things, he says, but if they claim to be acting in the name of religion, we should attempt to understand their perspective on religious grounds first. Weber gives religion credit for shaping a person's image of the world, and this image of the world can affect their view of their interests, and ultimately how they decide to take action.
For Weber, religion is best understood as it responds to the human need for theodicy and soteriology. Human beings are troubled, he says, with the question of theodicy – the question of how the extraordinary power of a divine god may be reconciled with the imperfection of the world that he has created and rules over. People need to know, for example, why there is undeserved good fortune and suffering in the world. Religion offers people soteriological answers, or answers that provide opportunities for salvation – relief from suffering, and reassuring meaning. The pursuit of salvation, like the pursuit of wealth, becomes a part of human motivation.
Because religion helps to define motivation, Weber believed that religion (and specifically Calvinism) actually helped to give rise to modern capitalism, as he asserted in his most famous and controversial work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
In The Protestant Ethic, Weber argues that capitalism arose in Europe in part because of how the belief in predestination was interpreted by everyday English Puritans. Puritan theology was based on the Calvinist notion that not everyone would be saved; there was only a specific number of the elect who would avoid damnation, and this was based sheerly on God's predetermined will and not on any action you could perform in this life. Official doctrine held that one could not ever really know whether one was among the elect.
Practically, Weber noted, this was difficult psychologically: people were (understandably) anxious to know whether they would be eternally damned or not. Thus Puritan leaders began assuring members that if they began doing well financially in their businesses, this would be one unofficial sign they had God's approval and were among the saved – but only if they used the fruits of their labor well. This along with the rationalism implied by monotheism led to the development of rational bookkeeping and the calculated pursuit of financial success beyond what one needed simply to live – and this is the "spirit of capitalism."[6] Over time, the habits associated with the spirit of capitalism lost their religious significance, and rational pursuit of profit became its own aim.
The Protestant Ethic thesis has been much critiqued, refined, and disputed, but is still a lively source of theoretical debate in sociology of religion. Weber also did considerable work in world religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.
In his magnum opus Economy and Society Weber distinguished three ideal types of religious attitudes:[7]
1. world-flying mysticism2. world-rejecting asceticism3. inner-worldly asceticism
He also separated magic as pre-religious activity.
Symbolic anthropology and phenomenology[edit]
Symbolic anthropology and some versions of phenomenology argue that all humans require reassurance that the world is safe and ordered place - that is, they have a need for ontological security.[8] Therefore, all societies have forms of knowledge that perform this psychological task. The inability of science to offer psychological and emotional comfort explains the presence and influence of non-scientific knowledge in human lives, even in rational world.
Functionalism[edit]
Unlike Symbolic anthropology and phenomenology, functionalism points to the benefits for social organization which non-scientific belief systems provide and which scientific knowledge fails to deliver. Belief systems are seen as encouraging social order and social stability in ways that rationally based knowledge cannot. From this perspective, the existence of non-rational accounts of reality can be explained by the benefits they offer to society.
Rationalism[edit]
Rationalists object to the phenomenological and functionalist approaches, arguing that they fail to understand why believers in systems of non-scientific knowledge do think they tell the truth and that their ideas are right, even though science has shown them to be wrong. We cannot explain forms of knowledge in terms of the beneficial psychological or societal effects that an outside observer may see them as producing. We have to look at the point of view of those who believe in them. People do not believe in God, practice magic, or think that witches cause misfortune because they think they are providing themselves with psychological reassurance, or to achieve greater cohesion for their social groups. They do so because they think their beliefs are correct - that they tell them the truth about the way the world is.
Nineteenth-century rationalist writers, reflecting the evolutionist spirits of their times, tended to explain the lack of rationality and the dominance of false beliefs in pre-modern worlds in terms of the deficient mental equipment of their inhabitants. Such people were seen as possessing pre-logical, or non-rational, mentality. Twentieth-century rationalist thinking generally rejected such a view, reasoning that pre-modern people didn't possess inferior minds, but lacked the social and cultural conditions needed to promote rationalism. Rationalists see the history of modern societies as the rise of scientific knowledge and the subsequent decline of non-rational belief. Some of these beliefs - magic, witchcraft - had disappeared, while others - such as religion - had become marginalized. This rationalist perspective has led to secularization theories of various kinds.
Typology of religious groups[edit]
Main article: Sociological classifications of religious movements
One common typology among sociologists, religious groups are classified as ecclesias, denominations, sects, or cults (now more commonly referred to in scholarship as New Religious Movements). Note that sociologists give these words precise definitions which differ from how they are commonly used. In particular, sociologists use the words 'cult' and 'sect' without negative connotations, even though the popular use of these words is often pejorative.
Research[edit]
In prosperous democracies, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion.[9] As the author Stephen Law paraphrases in his book War For the Children's Mind,[10] "The most theistic prosperous democracy, the U.S., is exceptional, but not in the manner Franklin predicted. The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developed democracies, sometimes spectacularly so...The view of the U.S. as a "shining city on the hill" to the rest of the world is falsified when it comes to basic measures of societal health."[11]
The study also notes that it is the more secular, pro-evolution societies that come close to "cultures of life". The authors conclude that the reasonable success of non-religious democracies like Japan, France and Scandinavia has refuted the idea that godless societies suffer disaster. They add "Contradicting these conclusions requires demonstrating a positive link between theism and societal conditions in the first world with a similarly large body of data - a doubtful possibility in view of the observable trends."[11]
BBC news reported on a study that attempted to use mathematical modelling ('nonlinear dynamics') to predict future religious orientations of populations.[12] The study suggests that religion is headed towards 'extinction' in various nations where it has been on the decline: Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. The model considers, not only the changing number of people with certain beliefs, but also attempts to assign utility values of a belief as per each nation.[13][14]
Secularization and civil religion[edit]
Main articles: Secularization and Civil religion
In relation to the processes of rationalization associated with the development of modernity, it was predicted in the works of many classical sociologists that religion would decline.[15] Despite the claims of many classical theorists and sociologists immediately after World War II, many contemporary theorists have critiqued secularisation thesis, arguing that religion has continued to play a vital role in the lives of individuals worldwide. In the United States, in particular, church attendance has remained relatively stable in the past 40 years. In Africa, the emergence of Christianity has occurred at a high rate. While Africa could claim roughly 10 million Christians in 1900, recent estimates put that number closer to 200 million.[16] The rise of Islam as a major world religion, especially its new-found influence in the West, is another significant development. Furthermore, arguments may be presented regarding the concept of civil religion and new world belief systems. In short, presupposed secularization as a decline in religiosity might seem to be a myth, depending on its definition and the definition of its scope. For instance, some sociologists have argued that steady church attendance and personal religious belief may coexist with a decline in the influence of religious authorities on social or political issues. Additionally, the regular attendance or affiliation do not necessarily translate into a behavior according to their doctrinal teachings. In other words, there might be still a growing in numbers of members but it does not mean that all members are faithfully following the rules of pious behaviors expected. In that sense, religion may be seen as declining because its waning ability to influence behavior.
Bryan Wilson[edit]
Wilson is a writer on secularization who is alarmed about the nature of life in a society dominated by scientific knowledge. His work is in the tradition of Max Weber, who saw modern societies as places in which rationality dominates life and thought. Weber saw rationality as concerned with identifying causes and working out technical efficiency, with a focus on how things work and with calculating how they can be made to work more effectively, rather than why they are as they are. According to Weber, such rational worlds are disenchanted. Existential questions about the mysteries of human existence, about who we are and why we are here, have become less and less significant.
Wilson[17] insists that non-scientific systems - and religious ones in particular - have experienced an irreversible decline in influence. He has engaged in a long debate with those who dispute the secularization thesis, some of which argue that the traditional religions, such as church-centered ones, have become displaced by an abundance of non-traditional ones, such as cults and sects of various kinds. Others argue that religion has become an individual, rather than a collective, organized affair. Still others suggest that functional alternatives to traditional religion, such as nationalism and patriotism, have emerged to promote social solidarity. Wilson does accept the presence of a large variety of non-scientific forms of meaning and knowledge, but he argues that this is actually evidence of the decline of religion. The increase in the number and diversity of such systems is proof of the removal of religion from the central structural location that it occupied in pre-modern times.
Ernest Gellner[edit]
Unlike Wilson and Weber, Gellner[18] (1974) acknowledges that there are drawbacks to living in a world whose main form of knowledge is confined to facts we can do nothing about and that provide us with no guidelines on how to live and how to organize ourselves. In this regard, we are worse off than pre-modern people, whose knowledge, while incorrect, at least provided them with prescriptions for living. However, Gellner insists that these disadvantages are far outweighed by the huge technological advances modern societies have experienced as a result of the application of scientific knowledge.
Gellner doesn't claim that non-scientific knowledge is in the process of dying out. For example, he accepts that religions in various forms continue to attract adherents. He also acknowledges that other forms of belief and meaning, such as those provided by art, music, literature, popular culture (a specifically modern phenomenon), drug taking, political protest, and so on are important for many people. Nevertheless, he rejects the relativist interpretation of this situation - that in modernity, scientific knowledge is just one of many accounts of existence, all of which have equal validity. This is because, for Gellner, such alternatives to science are profoundly insignificant since they are technically impotent, as opposed to science. He sees that modern preoccupations with meaning and being as a self-indulgence that is only possible because scientific knowledge has enabled our world to advance so far. Unlike those in pre-modern times, whose overriding priority is to get hold of scientific knowledge in order to begin to develop, we can afford to sit back in the luxury of our well-appointed world and ponder upon such questions because we can take for granted the kind of world science has constructed for us.
Michel Foucault[edit]
Foucault was a post-structuralist who saw human existence as being dependent on forms of knowledge - discourses- that work like languages. Languages/discourses define reality for us. In order to think at all, we are obliged to use these definitions. The knowledge we have about the world is provided for us by the languages and discourses we encounter in the times and places in which we live our lives. Thus, who we are, what we know to be true, and what we think are discursively constructed.
Foucault defined history as the rise and fall of discourses. Social change is about changes in prevailing forms of knowledge. The job of the historian is to chart these changes and identify the reasons for them. Unlike rationalists, however, Foucault saw no element of progress in this process. To Foucault, what is distinctive about modernity is the emergence of discourses concerned with the control and regulation of the body. According to Foucault, the rise of body-centered discourses necessarily involved a process of secularization. Pre-modern discourses were dominated by religion, where things were defined as good and evil, and social life was centered around these concepts. With the emergence of modern urban societies, scientific discourses took over, and medical science was a crucial element of this new knowledge. Modern life because increasingly subject to medical control - the medical gaze, as Foucault called it.
The rise to power of science, and of medicine in particular, coincided with a progressive reduction of the power of religious forms of knowledge. For example, normality and deviance became more of a matter of health and illness than of good and evil, and the physician took over from the priest the role of defining, promoting, and healing deviance.[19]
Globalization[edit]
Main article: Globalization
The sociology of religion continues to grow throughout the world, attempting to understand the relationship between religion and globalization. Two older approaches to globalization include modernization theory, a functionalist derivative, and world systems theory, a Marxist approach. One of the differences between these theories is whether they view capitalism as positive or problematic. However, both assumed that modernization and capitalism would diminish the hold of religion.
To the contrary, as globalization intensified many different cultures started to look into different religions and incorporate different beliefs into society.[15] New interpretations emerged that recognize the tensions. For example, according to Paul James and Peter Mandaville:
“ Religion and globalization have been intertwined with each other since the early empires attempted to extend their reach across what they perceived to be world-space. Processes of globalization carried religious cosmologies – including traditional conceptions of universalism – to the corners of the world, while these cosmologies legitimated processes of globalization. This dynamic of inter-relation has continued to the present, but with changing and sometimes new and intensifying contradictions.[20] ”
See also[edit]
Anthropology of religion
Economics of religion
Issues in Science and Religion
Neurotheology
Political religion
Political science of religion
Psychology of religion
Religious capital
Secular religion
Social psychology
State religion
Theory of religious economy
References[edit]
Further reading[edit]
Bastian, Jean-Pierre (1994). Le Protestantisme en Amérique latine: une approche sio-historique, in series, Histoire et société, no. 27. Genève: Éditions Labor et Fides. 324 p. ISBN 2-8309-0684-5; alternative ISBN on back cover, 2-8309-0687-X
Christiano, Kevin J., et al., (2nd ed., 2008), Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7425-6111-3
Clarke, Peter B. (ed., 2009), The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Oxford/New York. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927979-1* Derrick, Christopher (1967). Trimming the Ark: Catholic Attitudes and the Cult of Change. New York: P.J. Kennedy & Sons. vi, 154 p.
Gellner, Ernest (1974). Legitimation of Belief, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
James, Paul; Mandaville, Peter (2010). Globalization and Culture, Vol. 2: Globalizing Religions. London: Sage Publications.
Marx, Karl. 1844. A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, February.* Swanson, Guy E. (1967). Religion and Regime: a Sociological Account of the Reformation. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press. x, 295 p.
Weber, Max, Sociology of Religion
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Los Angeles: Roxbury Company, 2002. ISBN 1-891487-43-4
Wilson, Bryan (1982). Religion in Sociological Perspective, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://hirr.hartsem.edu/sociology/about_the_field.html
2.Jump up ^ Berger, Peter L. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (1967). Anchor Books 1990 paperback: ISBN 0-385-07305-4
3.Jump up ^ Christiano 2008, p. 124
4.Jump up ^ Settimba, Henry (2009). Testing times : globalisation and investing theology in East Africa. Milton Keynes: Author House. p. 230. ISBN 1-4389-4798-4.
5.Jump up ^ McKinnon, AM. (2005). 'Reading ‘Opium of the People’: Expression, Protest and the Dialectics of Religion'. Critical Sociology, vol 31, no. 1-2, pp. 15-38.[1]
6.Jump up ^ Andrew McKinnon (2010) "Elective Affinities of the Protestant Ethic: Weber and the Chemistry of Capitalism" Sociological Theory vol 28 no. 1. pages 108-126. http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/3035/1/McKinnon_Elective_Affinities_final_non_format.pdf
7.Jump up ^ Pawel Zaleski "Ideal Types in Max Weber's Sociology of Religion: Some Theoretical Inspirations for a Study of the Religious Field", Polish Sociological Review No. 3(171)/2010
8.Jump up ^ Giddens, Anthony (1991). Modernity and sef-identity: self and society in the late modern age, Cambridge, Polity Press.
9.Jump up ^ Law, Stephen (2007). The war for children's minds. 2008: Routledge; New edition. ISBN 978-0-415-42768-5.
10.Jump up ^ Law, 'Keeping the masses in Line' p 159
11.^ Jump up to: a b Journal of Religion and Society, Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies[dead link]
12.Jump up ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197
13.Jump up ^ BBC News - Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says. Based on Daniel Abrams of Northwestern University.
14.Jump up ^ A mathematical model of social group competition with application to the growth of religious non-affiliation
15.^ Jump up to: a b Davie, Grace (2003). Predicting religion: Christian, Peculiar & alternative Future. Ashgate Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-7546-3010-4.
16.Jump up ^ Cragun, Ryan (2008). Introduction To Sociology. Seven Treasures Publications. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-9800707-7-4.
17.Jump up ^ Wilson, Bryan (1982). Religion in Sociological Perspective, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
18.Jump up ^ Gellner, Ernest (1974). Legitimation of Belief, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
19.Jump up ^ Foucault, Michel (1977). The Birth of the Clinic: an archaeology of medical perception, London, Tavistock
20.Jump up ^ James, Paul; Mandaville, Peter (2010). Globalization and Culture, Vol. 2: Globalizing Religions. London: Sage Publications.
External links[edit]
American Sociological Association, Section on Sociology of Religion
Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR)
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
Sociological work of Moisés Espírito Santo[dead link]
Association of Religion Data Archives
Religion resources at Center for the Study of Religion and Society
Hadden: Religion and the Quest for Meaning and Order[dead link]
A test of the Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with cults and sects
Verstehen: Max Weber's Homepage
Associazione Italiana di Sociologia, Sezione Religione
Sociology of Religion Resources
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Sociology of religion
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For the book by Max Weber, see Sociology of Religion (book).
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Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use of both quantitative methods (surveys, polls, demographic and census analysis) and qualitative approaches such as participant observation, interviewing, and analysis of archival, historical and documentary materials.[1]
Modern academic sociology began with the analysis of religion in Émile Durkheim's 1897 study of suicide rates among Catholic and Protestant populations, a foundational work of social research which served to distinguish sociology from other disciplines, such as psychology. The works of Karl Marx and Max Weber emphasized the relationship between religion and the economic or social structure of society. Contemporary debates have centered on issues such as secularization, civil religion, and the cohesiveness of religion in the context of globalization and multiculturalism. The contemporary sociology of religion may also encompass the sociology of irreligion (for instance, in the analysis of secular humanist belief systems).
Sociology of religion is distinguished from the philosophy of religion in that it does not set out to assess the validity of religious beliefs. The process of comparing multiple conflicting dogmas may require what Peter L. Berger has described as inherent "methodological atheism".[2] Whereas the sociology of religion broadly differs from theology in assuming indifference to the supernatural, theorists tend to acknowledge socio-cultural reification of religious practice.
Contents [hide]
1 History and relevance
2 View of religion in classical sociology 2.1 Karl Marx
2.2 Émile Durkheim
2.3 Max Weber
3 Symbolic anthropology and phenomenology
4 Functionalism
5 Rationalism
6 Typology of religious groups
7 Research
8 Secularization and civil religion 8.1 Bryan Wilson
8.2 Ernest Gellner
8.3 Michel Foucault
9 Globalization
10 See also
11 References 11.1 Further reading
11.2 Notes
12 External links
History and relevance[edit]
Classical, seminal sociological theorists of the late 19th and early 20th century such as Durkheim, Weber, and Marx were greatly interested in religion and its effects on society. Like those of Plato and Aristotle from ancient Greece, and Enlightenment philosophers from the 17th through 19th centuries, the ideas posited by these sociologists continue to be examined today. More recent prominent sociologists of religion include Peter L. Berger, Robert N. Bellah, Thomas Luckmann, Rodney Stark, William Sims Bainbridge, Robert Wuthnow, Christian Smith, and Bryan R. Wilson.
View of religion in classical sociology[edit]
Durkheim, Marx, and Weber had very complex and developed theories about the nature and effects of religion. Of these, Durkheim and Weber are often more difficult to understand, especially in light of the lack of context and examples in their primary texts. Religion was considered to be an extremely important social variable in the work of all three.
Karl Marx[edit]
"Marx was the product of the Enlightenment, embracing its call to replace faith by reason and religion by science."[3] Despite his later influence, Karl Marx did not view his work as an ethical or ideological response to nineteenth-century capitalism (as most later commentators have). His efforts were, in his mind, based solely on what can be called applied science. Marx saw himself as doing morally neutral sociology and economic theory for the sake of human development. As Christiano states, "Marx did not believe in science for science's sake…he believed that he was also advancing a theory that would…be a useful tool…[in] effecting a revolutionary upheaval of the capitalist system in favor of socialism." (124) As such, the crux of his arguments was that humans are best guided by reason. Religion, Marx held, was a significant hindrance to reason, inherently masking the truth and misguiding followers.[4] As we will later see, Marx viewed alienation as the heart of social inequality. The antithesis to this alienation is freedom. Thus, to propagate freedom means to present individuals with the truth and give them a choice to accept or deny it. In this, "Marx never suggested that religion ought to be prohibited." (Christiano 126)
Central to Marx's theories was the oppressive economic situation in which he dwelt. With the rise of European industrialism, Marx and his colleague Friedrich Engels witnessed and responded to the growth of what he called "surplus value". Marx's view of capitalism saw rich capitalists getting richer and their workers getting poorer (the gap, the exploitation, was the "surplus value"). Not only were workers getting exploited, but in the process they were being further detached from the products they helped create. By simply selling their work for wages, "workers simultaneously lose connection with the object of labor and become objects themselves. Workers are devalued to the level of a commodity – a thing…" (Ibid 125) From this objectification comes alienation. The common worker is led to believe that he or she is a replaceable tool, and is alienated to the point of extreme discontent. Here, in Marx's eyes, religion enters. Capitalism utilizes our tendency towards religion as a tool or ideological state apparatus to justify this alienation. Christianity teaches that those who gather up riches and power in this life will almost certainly not be rewarded in the next ("it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle...") while those who suffer oppression and poverty in this life, while cultivating their spiritual wealth, will be rewarded in the Kingdom of God. Thus Marx's famous line - "religion is the opium of the people", as it soothes them and dulls their senses to the pain of oppression. Some scholars have recently noted that this is a contradictory (or dialectical) metaphor, referring to religion as both an expression of suffering and a protest against suffering[5]
Émile Durkheim[edit]
Émile Durkheim placed himself in the positivist tradition, meaning that he thought of his study of society as dispassionate and scientific. He was deeply interested in the problem of what held complex modern societies together. Religion, he argued, was an expression of social cohesion.
In the fieldwork that led to his famous Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Durkheim, a secular Frenchman, looked at anthropological data of Indigenous Australians. His underlying interest was to understand the basic forms of religious life for all societies. In Elementary Forms, Durkheim argues that the totems the Aborigines venerate are actually expressions of their own conceptions of society itself. This is true not only for the Aborigines, he argues, but for all societies.
Religion, for Durkheim, is not "imaginary," although he does deprive it of what many believers find essential. Religion is very real; it is an expression of society itself, and indeed, there is no society that does not have religion. We perceive as individuals a force greater than ourselves, which is our social life, and give that perception a supernatural face. We then express ourselves religiously in groups, which for Durkheim makes the symbolic power greater. Religion is an expression of our collective consciousness, which is the fusion of all of our individual consciousnesses, which then creates a reality of its own.
It follows, then, that less complex societies, such as the Australian Aborigines, have less complex religious systems, involving totems associated with particular clans. The more complex a particular society, the more complex the religious system is. As societies come in contact with other societies, there is a tendency for religious systems to emphasize universalism to a greater and greater extent. However, as the division of labor makes the individual seem more important (a subject that Durkheim treats extensively in his famous Division of Labor in Society), religious systems increasingly focus on individual salvation and conscience.
Durkheim's definition of religion, from Elementary Forms, is as follows: "A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden – beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them." (Marx, introduction) This is a functional definition of religion, meaning that it explains what religion does in social life: essentially, it unites societies. Durkheim defined religion as a clear distinction between the sacred and the profane, in effect this can be paralleled with the distinction between God and humans.
This definition also does not stipulate what exactly may be considered sacred. Thus later sociologists of religion (notably Robert Bellah) have extended Durkheimian insights to talk about notions of civil religion, or the religion of a state. American civil religion, for example, might be said to have its own set of sacred "things": the Flag of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., etc. Other sociologists have taken Durkheim's concept of what religion is in the direction of the religion of professional sports, the military, or of rock music.
Max Weber[edit]
Max Weber published four major texts on religion in a context of economic sociology and his rationalization thesis: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905), The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism (1915), The Religion of India: The Sociology of Hinduism and Buddhism (1915), and Ancient Judaism (1920).
In his sociology, Weber uses the German term "Verstehen" to describe his method of interpretation of the intention and context of human action. Weber is not a positivist – in the sense that he does not believe we can find out "facts" in sociology that can be causally linked. Although he believes some generalized statements about social life can be made, he is not interested in hard positivist claims, but instead in linkages and sequences, in historical narratives and particular cases.
Weber argues for making sense of religious action on its own terms. A religious group or individual is influenced by all kinds of things, he says, but if they claim to be acting in the name of religion, we should attempt to understand their perspective on religious grounds first. Weber gives religion credit for shaping a person's image of the world, and this image of the world can affect their view of their interests, and ultimately how they decide to take action.
For Weber, religion is best understood as it responds to the human need for theodicy and soteriology. Human beings are troubled, he says, with the question of theodicy – the question of how the extraordinary power of a divine god may be reconciled with the imperfection of the world that he has created and rules over. People need to know, for example, why there is undeserved good fortune and suffering in the world. Religion offers people soteriological answers, or answers that provide opportunities for salvation – relief from suffering, and reassuring meaning. The pursuit of salvation, like the pursuit of wealth, becomes a part of human motivation.
Because religion helps to define motivation, Weber believed that religion (and specifically Calvinism) actually helped to give rise to modern capitalism, as he asserted in his most famous and controversial work, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
In The Protestant Ethic, Weber argues that capitalism arose in Europe in part because of how the belief in predestination was interpreted by everyday English Puritans. Puritan theology was based on the Calvinist notion that not everyone would be saved; there was only a specific number of the elect who would avoid damnation, and this was based sheerly on God's predetermined will and not on any action you could perform in this life. Official doctrine held that one could not ever really know whether one was among the elect.
Practically, Weber noted, this was difficult psychologically: people were (understandably) anxious to know whether they would be eternally damned or not. Thus Puritan leaders began assuring members that if they began doing well financially in their businesses, this would be one unofficial sign they had God's approval and were among the saved – but only if they used the fruits of their labor well. This along with the rationalism implied by monotheism led to the development of rational bookkeeping and the calculated pursuit of financial success beyond what one needed simply to live – and this is the "spirit of capitalism."[6] Over time, the habits associated with the spirit of capitalism lost their religious significance, and rational pursuit of profit became its own aim.
The Protestant Ethic thesis has been much critiqued, refined, and disputed, but is still a lively source of theoretical debate in sociology of religion. Weber also did considerable work in world religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.
In his magnum opus Economy and Society Weber distinguished three ideal types of religious attitudes:[7]
1. world-flying mysticism2. world-rejecting asceticism3. inner-worldly asceticism
He also separated magic as pre-religious activity.
Symbolic anthropology and phenomenology[edit]
Symbolic anthropology and some versions of phenomenology argue that all humans require reassurance that the world is safe and ordered place - that is, they have a need for ontological security.[8] Therefore, all societies have forms of knowledge that perform this psychological task. The inability of science to offer psychological and emotional comfort explains the presence and influence of non-scientific knowledge in human lives, even in rational world.
Functionalism[edit]
Unlike Symbolic anthropology and phenomenology, functionalism points to the benefits for social organization which non-scientific belief systems provide and which scientific knowledge fails to deliver. Belief systems are seen as encouraging social order and social stability in ways that rationally based knowledge cannot. From this perspective, the existence of non-rational accounts of reality can be explained by the benefits they offer to society.
Rationalism[edit]
Rationalists object to the phenomenological and functionalist approaches, arguing that they fail to understand why believers in systems of non-scientific knowledge do think they tell the truth and that their ideas are right, even though science has shown them to be wrong. We cannot explain forms of knowledge in terms of the beneficial psychological or societal effects that an outside observer may see them as producing. We have to look at the point of view of those who believe in them. People do not believe in God, practice magic, or think that witches cause misfortune because they think they are providing themselves with psychological reassurance, or to achieve greater cohesion for their social groups. They do so because they think their beliefs are correct - that they tell them the truth about the way the world is.
Nineteenth-century rationalist writers, reflecting the evolutionist spirits of their times, tended to explain the lack of rationality and the dominance of false beliefs in pre-modern worlds in terms of the deficient mental equipment of their inhabitants. Such people were seen as possessing pre-logical, or non-rational, mentality. Twentieth-century rationalist thinking generally rejected such a view, reasoning that pre-modern people didn't possess inferior minds, but lacked the social and cultural conditions needed to promote rationalism. Rationalists see the history of modern societies as the rise of scientific knowledge and the subsequent decline of non-rational belief. Some of these beliefs - magic, witchcraft - had disappeared, while others - such as religion - had become marginalized. This rationalist perspective has led to secularization theories of various kinds.
Typology of religious groups[edit]
Main article: Sociological classifications of religious movements
One common typology among sociologists, religious groups are classified as ecclesias, denominations, sects, or cults (now more commonly referred to in scholarship as New Religious Movements). Note that sociologists give these words precise definitions which differ from how they are commonly used. In particular, sociologists use the words 'cult' and 'sect' without negative connotations, even though the popular use of these words is often pejorative.
Research[edit]
In prosperous democracies, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy, and abortion.[9] As the author Stephen Law paraphrases in his book War For the Children's Mind,[10] "The most theistic prosperous democracy, the U.S., is exceptional, but not in the manner Franklin predicted. The United States is almost always the most dysfunctional of the developed democracies, sometimes spectacularly so...The view of the U.S. as a "shining city on the hill" to the rest of the world is falsified when it comes to basic measures of societal health."[11]
The study also notes that it is the more secular, pro-evolution societies that come close to "cultures of life". The authors conclude that the reasonable success of non-religious democracies like Japan, France and Scandinavia has refuted the idea that godless societies suffer disaster. They add "Contradicting these conclusions requires demonstrating a positive link between theism and societal conditions in the first world with a similarly large body of data - a doubtful possibility in view of the observable trends."[11]
BBC news reported on a study that attempted to use mathematical modelling ('nonlinear dynamics') to predict future religious orientations of populations.[12] The study suggests that religion is headed towards 'extinction' in various nations where it has been on the decline: Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland. The model considers, not only the changing number of people with certain beliefs, but also attempts to assign utility values of a belief as per each nation.[13][14]
Secularization and civil religion[edit]
Main articles: Secularization and Civil religion
In relation to the processes of rationalization associated with the development of modernity, it was predicted in the works of many classical sociologists that religion would decline.[15] Despite the claims of many classical theorists and sociologists immediately after World War II, many contemporary theorists have critiqued secularisation thesis, arguing that religion has continued to play a vital role in the lives of individuals worldwide. In the United States, in particular, church attendance has remained relatively stable in the past 40 years. In Africa, the emergence of Christianity has occurred at a high rate. While Africa could claim roughly 10 million Christians in 1900, recent estimates put that number closer to 200 million.[16] The rise of Islam as a major world religion, especially its new-found influence in the West, is another significant development. Furthermore, arguments may be presented regarding the concept of civil religion and new world belief systems. In short, presupposed secularization as a decline in religiosity might seem to be a myth, depending on its definition and the definition of its scope. For instance, some sociologists have argued that steady church attendance and personal religious belief may coexist with a decline in the influence of religious authorities on social or political issues. Additionally, the regular attendance or affiliation do not necessarily translate into a behavior according to their doctrinal teachings. In other words, there might be still a growing in numbers of members but it does not mean that all members are faithfully following the rules of pious behaviors expected. In that sense, religion may be seen as declining because its waning ability to influence behavior.
Bryan Wilson[edit]
Wilson is a writer on secularization who is alarmed about the nature of life in a society dominated by scientific knowledge. His work is in the tradition of Max Weber, who saw modern societies as places in which rationality dominates life and thought. Weber saw rationality as concerned with identifying causes and working out technical efficiency, with a focus on how things work and with calculating how they can be made to work more effectively, rather than why they are as they are. According to Weber, such rational worlds are disenchanted. Existential questions about the mysteries of human existence, about who we are and why we are here, have become less and less significant.
Wilson[17] insists that non-scientific systems - and religious ones in particular - have experienced an irreversible decline in influence. He has engaged in a long debate with those who dispute the secularization thesis, some of which argue that the traditional religions, such as church-centered ones, have become displaced by an abundance of non-traditional ones, such as cults and sects of various kinds. Others argue that religion has become an individual, rather than a collective, organized affair. Still others suggest that functional alternatives to traditional religion, such as nationalism and patriotism, have emerged to promote social solidarity. Wilson does accept the presence of a large variety of non-scientific forms of meaning and knowledge, but he argues that this is actually evidence of the decline of religion. The increase in the number and diversity of such systems is proof of the removal of religion from the central structural location that it occupied in pre-modern times.
Ernest Gellner[edit]
Unlike Wilson and Weber, Gellner[18] (1974) acknowledges that there are drawbacks to living in a world whose main form of knowledge is confined to facts we can do nothing about and that provide us with no guidelines on how to live and how to organize ourselves. In this regard, we are worse off than pre-modern people, whose knowledge, while incorrect, at least provided them with prescriptions for living. However, Gellner insists that these disadvantages are far outweighed by the huge technological advances modern societies have experienced as a result of the application of scientific knowledge.
Gellner doesn't claim that non-scientific knowledge is in the process of dying out. For example, he accepts that religions in various forms continue to attract adherents. He also acknowledges that other forms of belief and meaning, such as those provided by art, music, literature, popular culture (a specifically modern phenomenon), drug taking, political protest, and so on are important for many people. Nevertheless, he rejects the relativist interpretation of this situation - that in modernity, scientific knowledge is just one of many accounts of existence, all of which have equal validity. This is because, for Gellner, such alternatives to science are profoundly insignificant since they are technically impotent, as opposed to science. He sees that modern preoccupations with meaning and being as a self-indulgence that is only possible because scientific knowledge has enabled our world to advance so far. Unlike those in pre-modern times, whose overriding priority is to get hold of scientific knowledge in order to begin to develop, we can afford to sit back in the luxury of our well-appointed world and ponder upon such questions because we can take for granted the kind of world science has constructed for us.
Michel Foucault[edit]
Foucault was a post-structuralist who saw human existence as being dependent on forms of knowledge - discourses- that work like languages. Languages/discourses define reality for us. In order to think at all, we are obliged to use these definitions. The knowledge we have about the world is provided for us by the languages and discourses we encounter in the times and places in which we live our lives. Thus, who we are, what we know to be true, and what we think are discursively constructed.
Foucault defined history as the rise and fall of discourses. Social change is about changes in prevailing forms of knowledge. The job of the historian is to chart these changes and identify the reasons for them. Unlike rationalists, however, Foucault saw no element of progress in this process. To Foucault, what is distinctive about modernity is the emergence of discourses concerned with the control and regulation of the body. According to Foucault, the rise of body-centered discourses necessarily involved a process of secularization. Pre-modern discourses were dominated by religion, where things were defined as good and evil, and social life was centered around these concepts. With the emergence of modern urban societies, scientific discourses took over, and medical science was a crucial element of this new knowledge. Modern life because increasingly subject to medical control - the medical gaze, as Foucault called it.
The rise to power of science, and of medicine in particular, coincided with a progressive reduction of the power of religious forms of knowledge. For example, normality and deviance became more of a matter of health and illness than of good and evil, and the physician took over from the priest the role of defining, promoting, and healing deviance.[19]
Globalization[edit]
Main article: Globalization
The sociology of religion continues to grow throughout the world, attempting to understand the relationship between religion and globalization. Two older approaches to globalization include modernization theory, a functionalist derivative, and world systems theory, a Marxist approach. One of the differences between these theories is whether they view capitalism as positive or problematic. However, both assumed that modernization and capitalism would diminish the hold of religion.
To the contrary, as globalization intensified many different cultures started to look into different religions and incorporate different beliefs into society.[15] New interpretations emerged that recognize the tensions. For example, according to Paul James and Peter Mandaville:
“ Religion and globalization have been intertwined with each other since the early empires attempted to extend their reach across what they perceived to be world-space. Processes of globalization carried religious cosmologies – including traditional conceptions of universalism – to the corners of the world, while these cosmologies legitimated processes of globalization. This dynamic of inter-relation has continued to the present, but with changing and sometimes new and intensifying contradictions.[20] ”
See also[edit]
Anthropology of religion
Economics of religion
Issues in Science and Religion
Neurotheology
Political religion
Political science of religion
Psychology of religion
Religious capital
Secular religion
Social psychology
State religion
Theory of religious economy
References[edit]
Further reading[edit]
Bastian, Jean-Pierre (1994). Le Protestantisme en Amérique latine: une approche sio-historique, in series, Histoire et société, no. 27. Genève: Éditions Labor et Fides. 324 p. ISBN 2-8309-0684-5; alternative ISBN on back cover, 2-8309-0687-X
Christiano, Kevin J., et al., (2nd ed., 2008), Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7425-6111-3
Clarke, Peter B. (ed., 2009), The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Oxford/New York. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-927979-1* Derrick, Christopher (1967). Trimming the Ark: Catholic Attitudes and the Cult of Change. New York: P.J. Kennedy & Sons. vi, 154 p.
Gellner, Ernest (1974). Legitimation of Belief, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
James, Paul; Mandaville, Peter (2010). Globalization and Culture, Vol. 2: Globalizing Religions. London: Sage Publications.
Marx, Karl. 1844. A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, February.* Swanson, Guy E. (1967). Religion and Regime: a Sociological Account of the Reformation. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press. x, 295 p.
Weber, Max, Sociology of Religion
Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Los Angeles: Roxbury Company, 2002. ISBN 1-891487-43-4
Wilson, Bryan (1982). Religion in Sociological Perspective, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Notes[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://hirr.hartsem.edu/sociology/about_the_field.html
2.Jump up ^ Berger, Peter L. The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (1967). Anchor Books 1990 paperback: ISBN 0-385-07305-4
3.Jump up ^ Christiano 2008, p. 124
4.Jump up ^ Settimba, Henry (2009). Testing times : globalisation and investing theology in East Africa. Milton Keynes: Author House. p. 230. ISBN 1-4389-4798-4.
5.Jump up ^ McKinnon, AM. (2005). 'Reading ‘Opium of the People’: Expression, Protest and the Dialectics of Religion'. Critical Sociology, vol 31, no. 1-2, pp. 15-38.[1]
6.Jump up ^ Andrew McKinnon (2010) "Elective Affinities of the Protestant Ethic: Weber and the Chemistry of Capitalism" Sociological Theory vol 28 no. 1. pages 108-126. http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/3035/1/McKinnon_Elective_Affinities_final_non_format.pdf
7.Jump up ^ Pawel Zaleski "Ideal Types in Max Weber's Sociology of Religion: Some Theoretical Inspirations for a Study of the Religious Field", Polish Sociological Review No. 3(171)/2010
8.Jump up ^ Giddens, Anthony (1991). Modernity and sef-identity: self and society in the late modern age, Cambridge, Polity Press.
9.Jump up ^ Law, Stephen (2007). The war for children's minds. 2008: Routledge; New edition. ISBN 978-0-415-42768-5.
10.Jump up ^ Law, 'Keeping the masses in Line' p 159
11.^ Jump up to: a b Journal of Religion and Society, Cross-National Correlations of Quantifiable Societal Health with Popular Religiosity and Secularism in the Prosperous Democracies[dead link]
12.Jump up ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12811197
13.Jump up ^ BBC News - Religion may become extinct in nine nations, study says. Based on Daniel Abrams of Northwestern University.
14.Jump up ^ A mathematical model of social group competition with application to the growth of religious non-affiliation
15.^ Jump up to: a b Davie, Grace (2003). Predicting religion: Christian, Peculiar & alternative Future. Ashgate Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-7546-3010-4.
16.Jump up ^ Cragun, Ryan (2008). Introduction To Sociology. Seven Treasures Publications. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-9800707-7-4.
17.Jump up ^ Wilson, Bryan (1982). Religion in Sociological Perspective, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
18.Jump up ^ Gellner, Ernest (1974). Legitimation of Belief, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
19.Jump up ^ Foucault, Michel (1977). The Birth of the Clinic: an archaeology of medical perception, London, Tavistock
20.Jump up ^ James, Paul; Mandaville, Peter (2010). Globalization and Culture, Vol. 2: Globalizing Religions. London: Sage Publications.
External links[edit]
American Sociological Association, Section on Sociology of Religion
Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR)
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion
Sociological work of Moisés Espírito Santo[dead link]
Association of Religion Data Archives
Religion resources at Center for the Study of Religion and Society
Hadden: Religion and the Quest for Meaning and Order[dead link]
A test of the Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with cults and sects
Verstehen: Max Weber's Homepage
Associazione Italiana di Sociologia, Sezione Religione
Sociology of Religion Resources
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New religious movement
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International Society for Krishna Consciousness member in Moscow
A new religious movement (NRM) is a religious community or spiritual group of modern origins, which has a peripheral place within its nation's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or part of a wider religion, in which case they are distinct from pre-existing denominations. Many scholars studying the sociology of religion prefer to use this term as a neutral alternative to the word cult, which is often considered derogatory.[1][2][3] Scholars continue to try to reach definitions and define boundaries.[4] Scholars have estimated that NRMs now number in the tens of thousands world-wide, with most of their members living in Asia and Africa. Most have only a few members, some have thousands, and only very few have more than one million members.[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Definitions
2 Terminology
3 New religions studies
4 History
5 Joining
6 Opposition
7 NRMs and the media
8 NRMs and globalization
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
Definitions[edit]
Although there is no one criterion or set of criteria for describing a group as a 'new religious movement', use of the term usually requires that the group be both of recent origin and different from existing religions.[4] Some scholars also have a more restricted approach to what counts as 'different from existing religions'. For them, 'difference' applies to a faith that, although it may be seen as part of an existing religion, meets with rejection from that religion for not sharing the same basic creed, or declares itself either separate from the existing religion or even 'the only right' faith. Other scholars expand their measurement of difference, considering religious movements new when, taken from their traditional cultural context, they appear in new places, perhaps in modified forms.
NRMs do not necessarily share a set of particular attributes, but have been "assigned to the fringe of the dominant religious culture", and "exist in a relatively contested space within society as a whole".[6] NRMs vary in terms of leadership; authority; concepts of the individual, family, and gender; teachings; organizational structures; and in other ways. These variations have presented a challenge to social scientists in their attempts to formulate a comprehensive and clear set of criteria for classifying NRMs.[7]
Generally, Christian denominations are not seen as new religious movements; nevertheless, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, and the Shakers have been studied as NRMs.[8][9]
Terminology[edit]
The study of new religions emerged in Japan after an increase in religious innovation following World War II. "New religions" is a calque of shinshūkyō (新宗教?), which Japanese sociologists coined to refer to Japanese new religions. This term, amongst others, was adopted by Western scholars as an alternative to "cult". "Cult" emerged in the 1890s,[6] but by the 1970s had acquired a pejorative connotation and was subsequently used indiscriminately by lay critics to disparage groups whose doctrines they opposed.[4] Consequently, scholars such as Eileen Barker, James T. Richardson, Timothy Miller and Catherine Wessinger argued that the term "cult" had become too laden with negative connotations, and "advocated dropping its use in academia." A number of alternatives to the term "new religious movement" are used by some scholars. These include "alternative religious movements" (Miller), "emergent religions" (Ellwood) and "marginal religious movements" (Harper and Le Beau).[10]
New religions studies[edit]
New religions studies is the interdisciplinary study of new religious movements that emerged as a discipline in the 1970s.[11] The term was coined by J. Gordon Melton in a 1999 paper presented at CESNUR conference in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.[11] David G. Bromley used its perspectives for a piece in Nova Religio[12] and later as an Editor of Teaching New Religious Movements in The American Academy of Religion's Teaching Religious Studies Series; the term has been used by James R. Lewis, Jean-François Mayer. The study draws from the disciplines of anthropology, psychiatry, history, psychology, sociology, religious studies, and theology.[13]
History[edit]
1893 Parliament of the World's Religions
Scholars usually consider the mid-1800s as the beginning of the era of new religious movements. During this time spiritualism and esotericism were becoming popular in Europe and North America. The Latter Day Saint movement including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, is now one of the most successful NRMs in terms of membership. In 1844 the Bahá'í Faith was founded by Bahá'u'lláh in Iran. In 1891, the Unity Church, the first New Thought denomination, was founded in the United States.[14][15]
In 1893, the first Parliament of the World's Religions was held in Chicago.[16] The conference included NRMs of the time such as spiritualism and Christian Science. The latter was represented by its founder Mary Baker Eddy. Henry Harris Jessup addressing the meeting was the first to mention the Bahá'í Faith in the United States.[17] Also attending were Soyen Shaku, the "First American Ancestor" of Zen,[18] the Buddhist preacher Anagarika Dharmapala,the Jain preacher Virchand Gandhi[19] This conference gave Asian religious teachers their first wide American audience.[14]
In 1911 the Nazareth Baptist Church, the first and one of the largest modern African initiated churches, was founded by Isaiah Shembe in South Africa.[14][20] The 1930s saw the founding of the Nation of Islam and the Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States, the Rastafari movement in Jamaica, Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo in Vietnam, Soka Gakkai in Japan, and Yiguandao in China.
At the same time, Christian critics of NRMs began referring to them as "cults": the 1938 book The Chaos of Cults by Jan Karel van Baalen (1890–1968), an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America, was especially influential.[14][21]
The Beatles in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
New religious movements expanded in many nations in the 1950s and 1960s. Japanese new religions became very popular after the occupation of Japan forced a separation of the Japanese government and Shinto, which had been the state religion, bringing about greater freedom of religion. In 1954 Scientology was founded in the United States and the Unification Church in South Korea.[14] In 1955 the Aetherius Society was founded in England. It and some other NRMs have been called UFO religions' since they combine belief in extraterrestrial life with traditional religious principles.[22][23][24]
In 1966 the International Society for Krishna Consciousness was founded in the United States by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.[25] In 1967, The Beatles' visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India brought public attention to the Transcendental Meditation movement.[26][27]
In the 1970s and 1980s some NRMs came under opposition by the newly organized anti-cult movement and by some governments, as well as receiving extensive coverage in the news media. The media coverage of the deaths of over 900 members of the Peoples Temple by suicide and murder in 1978 is often cited as especially contributing to public opposition to cults'.[14]
In the late 1980s and the 1990s the decline of communism and the revolutions of 1989 opened up new opportunities for NRMs. Falun Gong was first taught publicly in Northeast China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. At first it was accepted by the Chinese government and by 1999 there were 70 million practitioners in China.[28] Since 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong in China has been severe.[29][30] Ethan Gutmann interviewed over 100 witnesses and estimated that 65,000 Falun Gong practitioners were killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008.[31][32][33][34]
In the Twenty first century many NRMs are using the Internet to give out information, to recruit members, and sometimes to hold online meetings and rituals.[14] This is sometimes referred to as cybersectarianism.[35][36] In 2006 J. Gordon Melton, executive director of the Institute for the Study of American Religions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told The New York Times that 40 to 45 new religious movements emerge each year in the United States.[37] In 2007 religious scholar Elijah Siegler commented that although no NRM had become the dominant faith in any country, many of the concepts which they had first introduced (often referred to as 'New Age' ideas) have become part of world-wide mainstream culture.[14]
Joining[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses evangelising from house to house.
According to Marc Galanter, Professor of Psychiatry at NYU,[38] typical reasons why people join NRMs include a search for community and a spiritual quest. Sociologists Stark and Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which people join new religious groups, have questioned the utility of the concept of conversion, suggesting that affiliation is a more useful concept.[39]
In the 1960s sociologist John Lofland lived with Unification Church missionary Young Oon Kim and a small group of American church members in California and studied their activities in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members. Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships.[40] Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctorial thesis entitled: 'The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes', and in 1966 in book form by Prentice-Hall as Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion, as well as one of the first sociological studies of a new religious movement.[41][42]
Dick Anthony, a forensic psychologist noted for his writings on the brainwashing controversy,[43][44] has defended NRMs, and in 1988 argued that involvement in such movements may often be beneficial: "There's a large research literature published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part the effects seem to be positive in any way that's measurable."[45]
Opposition[edit]
Main articles: Christian countercult movement, Anti-cult movement and Cult
There has been opposition to NRMs throughout their history.[46] Some historical events have been: Anti-Mormonism,[47] the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses,[48] the persecution of Bahá'ís,[49] and the persecution of Falun Gong.[29][30][31][32][33][34] Presently the Christian countercult movement, which began in the 1800s, opposes most NRMs because of theological differences. The secular anti-cult movement, which began in the 1970s, opposes some NRMs, as well as some non-religious groups, mainly charging them with psychological abuse of their own members.[14]
NRMs and the media[edit]
An article on the categorization of new religious movements in U.S. print media published by The Association for the Sociology of Religion (formerly the American Catholic Sociological Society), criticizes the print media for failing to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of new religious movements, and its tendency to use popular or anti-cultist definitions rather than social-scientific insight, and asserts that "The failure of the print media to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of religious movement organizations impels us to add yet another failing mark to the media report card Weiss (1985) has constructed to assess the media's reporting of the social sciences."[50]
NRMs and globalization[edit]
Some scholars have linked the advent of Asian NRMs in the West to the USA's Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and other laws in Western Europe which ended racially restrictive immigration quotas. Many NRMs believe in universalism, cosmopolitanism, cultural syncretism, and global citizenship.[14] A 1998 article from The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion links New Religious movements to the phenomenon of globalization. Scholar Lorne L. Dawson writes, "The concept of globalization merely reconfigures our present understanding of the possible significance of New Religious movements as conceived under the conditions of 'modernity', though in ways that have some important yet limited analytical and explanatory advantages not yet fully appreciated by scholars of New Religious movements."[51]
See also[edit]
List of new religious movements
Anticult movement
Neopaganism
Religious pluralism
Sect
Sociological classifications of religious movements
Syncretism
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Sreenivasan, J. 2008. Utopias in American History: ABC-CLIO.
2.Jump up ^ T.L. Brink (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach. "Unit 13: Social Psychology." pp 320 [1]
3.Jump up ^ Olson, Paul J. 2006. "The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements”." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45 (1): 97-106
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Introvigne, Massimo (June 15, 2001). "The Future of Religion and the Future of New Religions". Retrieved 2006-12-13.
5.Jump up ^ Eileen Barker, 1999, "New Religious Movements: their incidence and significance", New Religious Movements: challenge and response, Bryan Wilson and Jamie Cresswell editors, Routledge ISBN 0415200504
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, (Oxford University Press, 2008) 17
7.Jump up ^ Religion in the Modern World, p. 270, Retrieved 22 November 2006.
8.Jump up ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition, New Religious Movements
9.Jump up ^ Paul J. Olson, Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2006, 45 (1): 97-106
10.Jump up ^ Paul J. Olson, The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Mar2006, Vol. 45 Issue 1, 97-106
11.^ Jump up to: a b Melton, J. Gordon (1999). "CESNUR 99". Retrieved 2010-03-19. |chapter= ignored (help)
12.Jump up ^ Bromley, David G. (2004). "Perspective: Whither New Religions Studies? Defining and Shaping a New Area of Study". Nova Religio 8 (2): 83–97. doi:10.1525/nr.2004.8.2.83. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
13.Jump up ^ Sablia, John A. (2007). "Disciplinary Perspectives on New Religious Movements: Views of from the Humanities and Social Sciences". In David G. Brohmley. Teaching New Religious Movements. pp. 41–63. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Elijah Siegler, 2007, New Religious Movements, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0131834789
15.Jump up ^ "Unity School of Christianity". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
16.Jump up ^ McRae, John R. (1991). "Oriental Verities on the American Frontier: The 1893 World's Parliament of Religions and the Thought of Masao Abe". Buddhist-Christian Studies (University of Hawai'i Press) 11: 7–36. doi:10.2307/1390252. JSTOR 1390252.
17.Jump up ^ First Public Mentions of the Bahá'í Faith
18.Jump up ^ Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?. Wisdom Publications. pp. 59–62. ISBN 0-86171-509-8.
19.Jump up ^ Jain, Pankaz; Pankaz Hingarh; Dr. Bipin Doshi and Smt. Priti Shah. "Virchand Gandhi, A Gandhi Before Gandhi". herenow4u.
20.Jump up ^ Fisher, Jonah (16 January 2010). "Unholy row over World Cup trumpet". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
21.Jump up ^ J.K.van Baalen, The Chaos of Cults, 4th rev.ed.Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing, 1962.
22.Jump up ^ Partridge, Christopher Hugh (ed.) (2003) UFO Religions. Routledge. Chapter 4 Opening A Channel To The Stars: The Origins and Development of the Aetherius Society by Simon G. Smith pp. 84–102
23.Jump up ^ James R. Lewis (ed.) (1995), The Gods have landed: new religions from other worlds (Albany: State University of New York Press),ISBN 0-7914-2330-1. p. .28
24.Jump up ^ John A. Saliba (2006). The Study of UFO Religions, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, November 2006, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 103–123.
25.Jump up ^ Gibson 2002, pp. 4, 6
26.Jump up ^ van den Berg, Stephanie (5 February 2008). "Beatles Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. AFP. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010.
27.Jump up ^ Corder, Mike (10 February 2008). "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; The Beatles' mentor had global empire". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010.
28.Jump up ^ Seth Faison (27 April 1999) In Beijing: A Roar of Silent Protestors, The New York Times
29.^ Jump up to: a b David Kilgour, David Matas (6 July 2006, revised 31 January 2007) An Independent Investigation into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China (in 22 languages) organharvestinvestigation.net
30.^ Jump up to: a b "China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations"". Amnesty International. 23 March 2000. Retrieved 17 March 2010.[dead link]
31.^ Jump up to: a b Jay Nordlinger (25 August 2014) "Face The Slaughter: The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem, by Ethan Gutmann", National Review
32.^ Jump up to: a b Viv Young (11 August 2014) "The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem", New York Journal of Books
33.^ Jump up to: a b Ethan Gutmann (August 2014) The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem "Average number of Falun Gong in Laogai System at any given time" Low estimate 450,000, High estimate 1,000,000 p 320. "Best estimate of Falun Gong harvested 2000 to 2008" 65,000 p 322. amazon.com
34.^ Jump up to: a b Barbara Turnbull (21 October 2014) "Q&A: Author and analyst Ethan Gutmann discusses China’s illegal organ trade", The Toronto Star
35.Jump up ^ Paul Virilio,The Information Bomb (Verso, 2005), p. 41.
36.Jump up ^ Rita M. Hauck, "Stratospheric Transparency: Perspectives on Internet Privacy, Forum on Public Policy (Summer 2009) [2]
37.Jump up ^ Seeking Entry-Level Prophet: Burning Bush and Tablets Not Required, New York Times, August 28, 2006
38.Jump up ^ Galanter, Marc (Editor), (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
39.Jump up ^ Bader, Chris & A. Demaris, A test of the Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with religious cults and sects. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 35, 285-303. (1996)
40.Jump up ^ Conversion, Unification Church, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary
41.Jump up ^ Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: African diaspora traditions and other American innovations, Volume 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, W. Michael Ashcraft, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 ISBN 0-275-98717-5, ISBN 978-0-275-98717-6, page 180
42.Jump up ^ Exploring New Religions, Issues in contemporary religion, George D. Chryssides, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001 ISBN 0-8264-5959-5, ISBN 978-0-8264-5959-6 page 1
43.Jump up ^ Dawson, Lorne L.. Cults in context: readings in the study of new religious movements, Transaction Publishers 1998, p. 340, ISBN 978-0-7658-0478-5
44.Jump up ^ Robbins, Thomas. In Gods we trust: new patterns of religious pluralism in America, Transaction Publishers 1996, p. 537, ISBN 978-0-88738-800-2
45.Jump up ^ Sipchen, Bob (1988-11-17). "Ten Years After Jonestown, the Battle Intensifies Over the Influence of 'Alternative' Religions", Los Angeles Times
46.Jump up ^ Eugene V. Gallagher, 2004, The New Religious Movement Experience in America, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0313328072
47.Jump up ^ Gallagher, Eugene V., The New Religious Movements Experience in America, The American Religious Experience), 2004, ISBN 978-0313328077, page 18.
48.Jump up ^ Gallagher, Eugene V., The New Religious Movements Experience in America, The American Religious Experience), 2004, ISBN 978-0313328077, page 17.
49.Jump up ^ Affolter, Friedrich W. (2005). "The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá'ís of Iran" (PDF). War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity 1 (1): 75–114.
50.Jump up ^ van Driel, Barend and James T. Richardson. Research Note Categorization of New Religious Movements in American Print Media. Sociological Analysis 1988, 49, 2:171-183
51.Jump up ^ Dawson, Lorne L. (December 1998). "The Cultural Significance of New Religious Movements and Globalization: A Theoretical Prolegomenon". Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 37 (4): 580–595. JSTOR 1388142.
Further reading[edit]
Barrett, David B., George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, 2 vols. 2nd edition, Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Clarke, Peter B. (2000). Japanese New Religions: In Global Perspective. Richmond : Curzon. 10-ISBN 0700711856/13-ISBN 9780700711857
Hexham, Irving and Karla Poewe, New Religions as Global Cultures, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1997.
Hexham, Irving, Stephen Rost & John W. Morehead (eds) Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004.
Kranenborg, Reender (Dutch language) Een nieuw licht op de kerk?: Bijdragen van nieuwe religieuze bewegingen voor de kerk van vandaag/A new perspective on the church: Contributions by NRMs for today's church Published by het Boekencentrum[dead link], (a Christian publishing house), the Hague, 1984. ISBN 90-239-0809-0.
Stark, Rodney (ed) Religious Movements: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, New York: Paragon House, 1985.
Arweck, Elisabeth and Peter B. Clarke, New Religious Movements in Western Europe: An Annotated Bibliography, Westport & London: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Barker, Eileen, New religious movements: a practical introduction London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1989.
Barker, Eileen and Margit Warburg (eds) New Religions and New Religiosity, Aarhus, Denmark: Aargus University Press, 1998.
Beck, Hubert F. How to Respond to the Cults, in The Response Series. St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1977. 40 p. N.B.: Written from a Confessional Lutheran perspective. ISBN 0-570-07682-X
Beckford, James A. (ed) New Religious Movements and Rapid Social Change, Paris: UNESCO/London, Beverly Hills & New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 1986.
Chryssides, George D., Exploring New Religions, London & New York: Cassell, 1999.
Clarke, Peter B. (ed.), Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements, London & New York: Routledge, 2006.
Davis, Derek H., and Barry Hankins (eds) New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America, Waco: J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and Baylor University Press, 2002.
Enroth, Ronald M., and J. Gordon Melton. Why Cults Succeed Where the Church Fails. Elgin, Ill.: Brethren Press, 1985. v, 133 p. ISBN 0-87178-932-9
Jenkins, Philip, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Kohn, Rachael, The New Believers: Re-Imagining God, Sydney: Harper Collins, 2003.
Loeliger, Carl and Garry Trompf (eds) New Religious Movements in Melanesia, Suva, Fiji: University of the South Pacific & University of Papua New Guinea, 1985.
Meldgaard, Helle and Johannes Aagaard (eds) New Religious Movements in Europe, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 1997.
Needleman, Jacob and George Baker (eds) Understanding the New Religions, New York: Seabury Press, 1981.
Partridge, Christopher (ed) Encyclopedia of New Religions: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, Oxford: Lion, 2004.
Possamai, Adam, Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real Testament, Brussels: P. I. E. - Peter Lang, 2005.
Saliba, John A., Understanding New Religious Movements, 2nd edition, Walnut Creek, Lanham: Alta Mira Press, 2003.
Staemmler, Birgit, Dehn, Ulrich (ed.): Establishing the Revolutionary: An Introduction to New Religions in Japan. LIT, Münster, 2011. ISBN 978-3-643-90152-1
Thursby, Gene. "Siddha Yoga: Swami Muktanada and the Seat of Power." When Prophets Die: The Postcharismatic Fate Of New Religious Movements. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991 pp. 165–182.
Toch, Hans. The Social Psychology of Social Movements, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1965.
Towler, Robert (ed) New Religions and the New Europe, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 1995.
Trompf, G. W. (ed) Cargo Cults and Millenarian Movements: Transoceanic Comparisons of New Religious Movements, Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1990.
Wilson, Bryan and Jamie Cresswell (eds) New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response, London & New York: Routledge, 1999.
External links[edit]
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
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AcademicInfo: Religious Movements Gateway - Directory of Online Resources
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Skepsis - Online texts about NRMs
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_religious_movement
New religious movement
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International Society for Krishna Consciousness member in Moscow
A new religious movement (NRM) is a religious community or spiritual group of modern origins, which has a peripheral place within its nation's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or part of a wider religion, in which case they are distinct from pre-existing denominations. Many scholars studying the sociology of religion prefer to use this term as a neutral alternative to the word cult, which is often considered derogatory.[1][2][3] Scholars continue to try to reach definitions and define boundaries.[4] Scholars have estimated that NRMs now number in the tens of thousands world-wide, with most of their members living in Asia and Africa. Most have only a few members, some have thousands, and only very few have more than one million members.[5]
Contents [hide]
1 Definitions
2 Terminology
3 New religions studies
4 History
5 Joining
6 Opposition
7 NRMs and the media
8 NRMs and globalization
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
Definitions[edit]
Although there is no one criterion or set of criteria for describing a group as a 'new religious movement', use of the term usually requires that the group be both of recent origin and different from existing religions.[4] Some scholars also have a more restricted approach to what counts as 'different from existing religions'. For them, 'difference' applies to a faith that, although it may be seen as part of an existing religion, meets with rejection from that religion for not sharing the same basic creed, or declares itself either separate from the existing religion or even 'the only right' faith. Other scholars expand their measurement of difference, considering religious movements new when, taken from their traditional cultural context, they appear in new places, perhaps in modified forms.
NRMs do not necessarily share a set of particular attributes, but have been "assigned to the fringe of the dominant religious culture", and "exist in a relatively contested space within society as a whole".[6] NRMs vary in terms of leadership; authority; concepts of the individual, family, and gender; teachings; organizational structures; and in other ways. These variations have presented a challenge to social scientists in their attempts to formulate a comprehensive and clear set of criteria for classifying NRMs.[7]
Generally, Christian denominations are not seen as new religious movements; nevertheless, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, and the Shakers have been studied as NRMs.[8][9]
Terminology[edit]
The study of new religions emerged in Japan after an increase in religious innovation following World War II. "New religions" is a calque of shinshūkyō (新宗教?), which Japanese sociologists coined to refer to Japanese new religions. This term, amongst others, was adopted by Western scholars as an alternative to "cult". "Cult" emerged in the 1890s,[6] but by the 1970s had acquired a pejorative connotation and was subsequently used indiscriminately by lay critics to disparage groups whose doctrines they opposed.[4] Consequently, scholars such as Eileen Barker, James T. Richardson, Timothy Miller and Catherine Wessinger argued that the term "cult" had become too laden with negative connotations, and "advocated dropping its use in academia." A number of alternatives to the term "new religious movement" are used by some scholars. These include "alternative religious movements" (Miller), "emergent religions" (Ellwood) and "marginal religious movements" (Harper and Le Beau).[10]
New religions studies[edit]
New religions studies is the interdisciplinary study of new religious movements that emerged as a discipline in the 1970s.[11] The term was coined by J. Gordon Melton in a 1999 paper presented at CESNUR conference in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.[11] David G. Bromley used its perspectives for a piece in Nova Religio[12] and later as an Editor of Teaching New Religious Movements in The American Academy of Religion's Teaching Religious Studies Series; the term has been used by James R. Lewis, Jean-François Mayer. The study draws from the disciplines of anthropology, psychiatry, history, psychology, sociology, religious studies, and theology.[13]
History[edit]
1893 Parliament of the World's Religions
Scholars usually consider the mid-1800s as the beginning of the era of new religious movements. During this time spiritualism and esotericism were becoming popular in Europe and North America. The Latter Day Saint movement including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, founded by Joseph Smith in 1830, is now one of the most successful NRMs in terms of membership. In 1844 the Bahá'í Faith was founded by Bahá'u'lláh in Iran. In 1891, the Unity Church, the first New Thought denomination, was founded in the United States.[14][15]
In 1893, the first Parliament of the World's Religions was held in Chicago.[16] The conference included NRMs of the time such as spiritualism and Christian Science. The latter was represented by its founder Mary Baker Eddy. Henry Harris Jessup addressing the meeting was the first to mention the Bahá'í Faith in the United States.[17] Also attending were Soyen Shaku, the "First American Ancestor" of Zen,[18] the Buddhist preacher Anagarika Dharmapala,the Jain preacher Virchand Gandhi[19] This conference gave Asian religious teachers their first wide American audience.[14]
In 1911 the Nazareth Baptist Church, the first and one of the largest modern African initiated churches, was founded by Isaiah Shembe in South Africa.[14][20] The 1930s saw the founding of the Nation of Islam and the Jehovah's Witnesses in the United States, the Rastafari movement in Jamaica, Cao Đài and Hòa Hảo in Vietnam, Soka Gakkai in Japan, and Yiguandao in China.
At the same time, Christian critics of NRMs began referring to them as "cults": the 1938 book The Chaos of Cults by Jan Karel van Baalen (1890–1968), an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America, was especially influential.[14][21]
The Beatles in India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
New religious movements expanded in many nations in the 1950s and 1960s. Japanese new religions became very popular after the occupation of Japan forced a separation of the Japanese government and Shinto, which had been the state religion, bringing about greater freedom of religion. In 1954 Scientology was founded in the United States and the Unification Church in South Korea.[14] In 1955 the Aetherius Society was founded in England. It and some other NRMs have been called UFO religions' since they combine belief in extraterrestrial life with traditional religious principles.[22][23][24]
In 1966 the International Society for Krishna Consciousness was founded in the United States by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.[25] In 1967, The Beatles' visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India brought public attention to the Transcendental Meditation movement.[26][27]
In the 1970s and 1980s some NRMs came under opposition by the newly organized anti-cult movement and by some governments, as well as receiving extensive coverage in the news media. The media coverage of the deaths of over 900 members of the Peoples Temple by suicide and murder in 1978 is often cited as especially contributing to public opposition to cults'.[14]
In the late 1980s and the 1990s the decline of communism and the revolutions of 1989 opened up new opportunities for NRMs. Falun Gong was first taught publicly in Northeast China in 1992 by Li Hongzhi. At first it was accepted by the Chinese government and by 1999 there were 70 million practitioners in China.[28] Since 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong in China has been severe.[29][30] Ethan Gutmann interviewed over 100 witnesses and estimated that 65,000 Falun Gong practitioners were killed for their organs from 2000 to 2008.[31][32][33][34]
In the Twenty first century many NRMs are using the Internet to give out information, to recruit members, and sometimes to hold online meetings and rituals.[14] This is sometimes referred to as cybersectarianism.[35][36] In 2006 J. Gordon Melton, executive director of the Institute for the Study of American Religions at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told The New York Times that 40 to 45 new religious movements emerge each year in the United States.[37] In 2007 religious scholar Elijah Siegler commented that although no NRM had become the dominant faith in any country, many of the concepts which they had first introduced (often referred to as 'New Age' ideas) have become part of world-wide mainstream culture.[14]
Joining[edit]
Jehovah's Witnesses evangelising from house to house.
According to Marc Galanter, Professor of Psychiatry at NYU,[38] typical reasons why people join NRMs include a search for community and a spiritual quest. Sociologists Stark and Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which people join new religious groups, have questioned the utility of the concept of conversion, suggesting that affiliation is a more useful concept.[39]
In the 1960s sociologist John Lofland lived with Unification Church missionary Young Oon Kim and a small group of American church members in California and studied their activities in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members. Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships.[40] Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctorial thesis entitled: 'The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes', and in 1966 in book form by Prentice-Hall as Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization, and Maintenance of Faith. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion, as well as one of the first sociological studies of a new religious movement.[41][42]
Dick Anthony, a forensic psychologist noted for his writings on the brainwashing controversy,[43][44] has defended NRMs, and in 1988 argued that involvement in such movements may often be beneficial: "There's a large research literature published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part the effects seem to be positive in any way that's measurable."[45]
Opposition[edit]
Main articles: Christian countercult movement, Anti-cult movement and Cult
There has been opposition to NRMs throughout their history.[46] Some historical events have been: Anti-Mormonism,[47] the persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses,[48] the persecution of Bahá'ís,[49] and the persecution of Falun Gong.[29][30][31][32][33][34] Presently the Christian countercult movement, which began in the 1800s, opposes most NRMs because of theological differences. The secular anti-cult movement, which began in the 1970s, opposes some NRMs, as well as some non-religious groups, mainly charging them with psychological abuse of their own members.[14]
NRMs and the media[edit]
An article on the categorization of new religious movements in U.S. print media published by The Association for the Sociology of Religion (formerly the American Catholic Sociological Society), criticizes the print media for failing to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of new religious movements, and its tendency to use popular or anti-cultist definitions rather than social-scientific insight, and asserts that "The failure of the print media to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of religious movement organizations impels us to add yet another failing mark to the media report card Weiss (1985) has constructed to assess the media's reporting of the social sciences."[50]
NRMs and globalization[edit]
Some scholars have linked the advent of Asian NRMs in the West to the USA's Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and other laws in Western Europe which ended racially restrictive immigration quotas. Many NRMs believe in universalism, cosmopolitanism, cultural syncretism, and global citizenship.[14] A 1998 article from The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion links New Religious movements to the phenomenon of globalization. Scholar Lorne L. Dawson writes, "The concept of globalization merely reconfigures our present understanding of the possible significance of New Religious movements as conceived under the conditions of 'modernity', though in ways that have some important yet limited analytical and explanatory advantages not yet fully appreciated by scholars of New Religious movements."[51]
See also[edit]
List of new religious movements
Anticult movement
Neopaganism
Religious pluralism
Sect
Sociological classifications of religious movements
Syncretism
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Sreenivasan, J. 2008. Utopias in American History: ABC-CLIO.
2.Jump up ^ T.L. Brink (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach. "Unit 13: Social Psychology." pp 320 [1]
3.Jump up ^ Olson, Paul J. 2006. "The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements”." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45 (1): 97-106
4.^ Jump up to: a b c Introvigne, Massimo (June 15, 2001). "The Future of Religion and the Future of New Religions". Retrieved 2006-12-13.
5.Jump up ^ Eileen Barker, 1999, "New Religious Movements: their incidence and significance", New Religious Movements: challenge and response, Bryan Wilson and Jamie Cresswell editors, Routledge ISBN 0415200504
6.^ Jump up to: a b The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, (Oxford University Press, 2008) 17
7.Jump up ^ Religion in the Modern World, p. 270, Retrieved 22 November 2006.
8.Jump up ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition, New Religious Movements
9.Jump up ^ Paul J. Olson, Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2006, 45 (1): 97-106
10.Jump up ^ Paul J. Olson, The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Mar2006, Vol. 45 Issue 1, 97-106
11.^ Jump up to: a b Melton, J. Gordon (1999). "CESNUR 99". Retrieved 2010-03-19. |chapter= ignored (help)
12.Jump up ^ Bromley, David G. (2004). "Perspective: Whither New Religions Studies? Defining and Shaping a New Area of Study". Nova Religio 8 (2): 83–97. doi:10.1525/nr.2004.8.2.83. Retrieved 2010-03-19.
13.Jump up ^ Sablia, John A. (2007). "Disciplinary Perspectives on New Religious Movements: Views of from the Humanities and Social Sciences". In David G. Brohmley. Teaching New Religious Movements. pp. 41–63. Retrieved 2014-03-17.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Elijah Siegler, 2007, New Religious Movements, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0131834789
15.Jump up ^ "Unity School of Christianity". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
16.Jump up ^ McRae, John R. (1991). "Oriental Verities on the American Frontier: The 1893 World's Parliament of Religions and the Thought of Masao Abe". Buddhist-Christian Studies (University of Hawai'i Press) 11: 7–36. doi:10.2307/1390252. JSTOR 1390252.
17.Jump up ^ First Public Mentions of the Bahá'í Faith
18.Jump up ^ Ford, James Ishmael (2006). Zen Master Who?. Wisdom Publications. pp. 59–62. ISBN 0-86171-509-8.
19.Jump up ^ Jain, Pankaz; Pankaz Hingarh; Dr. Bipin Doshi and Smt. Priti Shah. "Virchand Gandhi, A Gandhi Before Gandhi". herenow4u.
20.Jump up ^ Fisher, Jonah (16 January 2010). "Unholy row over World Cup trumpet". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
21.Jump up ^ J.K.van Baalen, The Chaos of Cults, 4th rev.ed.Grand Rapids: William Eerdmans Publishing, 1962.
22.Jump up ^ Partridge, Christopher Hugh (ed.) (2003) UFO Religions. Routledge. Chapter 4 Opening A Channel To The Stars: The Origins and Development of the Aetherius Society by Simon G. Smith pp. 84–102
23.Jump up ^ James R. Lewis (ed.) (1995), The Gods have landed: new religions from other worlds (Albany: State University of New York Press),ISBN 0-7914-2330-1. p. .28
24.Jump up ^ John A. Saliba (2006). The Study of UFO Religions, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, November 2006, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 103–123.
25.Jump up ^ Gibson 2002, pp. 4, 6
26.Jump up ^ van den Berg, Stephanie (5 February 2008). "Beatles Guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Dies". The Sydney Morning Herald. AFP. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010.
27.Jump up ^ Corder, Mike (10 February 2008). "Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; The Beatles' mentor had global empire". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 29 August 2010.
28.Jump up ^ Seth Faison (27 April 1999) In Beijing: A Roar of Silent Protestors, The New York Times
29.^ Jump up to: a b David Kilgour, David Matas (6 July 2006, revised 31 January 2007) An Independent Investigation into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China (in 22 languages) organharvestinvestigation.net
30.^ Jump up to: a b "China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations"". Amnesty International. 23 March 2000. Retrieved 17 March 2010.[dead link]
31.^ Jump up to: a b Jay Nordlinger (25 August 2014) "Face The Slaughter: The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem, by Ethan Gutmann", National Review
32.^ Jump up to: a b Viv Young (11 August 2014) "The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem", New York Journal of Books
33.^ Jump up to: a b Ethan Gutmann (August 2014) The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem "Average number of Falun Gong in Laogai System at any given time" Low estimate 450,000, High estimate 1,000,000 p 320. "Best estimate of Falun Gong harvested 2000 to 2008" 65,000 p 322. amazon.com
34.^ Jump up to: a b Barbara Turnbull (21 October 2014) "Q&A: Author and analyst Ethan Gutmann discusses China’s illegal organ trade", The Toronto Star
35.Jump up ^ Paul Virilio,The Information Bomb (Verso, 2005), p. 41.
36.Jump up ^ Rita M. Hauck, "Stratospheric Transparency: Perspectives on Internet Privacy, Forum on Public Policy (Summer 2009) [2]
37.Jump up ^ Seeking Entry-Level Prophet: Burning Bush and Tablets Not Required, New York Times, August 28, 2006
38.Jump up ^ Galanter, Marc (Editor), (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
39.Jump up ^ Bader, Chris & A. Demaris, A test of the Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with religious cults and sects. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 35, 285-303. (1996)
40.Jump up ^ Conversion, Unification Church, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary
41.Jump up ^ Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: African diaspora traditions and other American innovations, Volume 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, W. Michael Ashcraft, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 ISBN 0-275-98717-5, ISBN 978-0-275-98717-6, page 180
42.Jump up ^ Exploring New Religions, Issues in contemporary religion, George D. Chryssides, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001 ISBN 0-8264-5959-5, ISBN 978-0-8264-5959-6 page 1
43.Jump up ^ Dawson, Lorne L.. Cults in context: readings in the study of new religious movements, Transaction Publishers 1998, p. 340, ISBN 978-0-7658-0478-5
44.Jump up ^ Robbins, Thomas. In Gods we trust: new patterns of religious pluralism in America, Transaction Publishers 1996, p. 537, ISBN 978-0-88738-800-2
45.Jump up ^ Sipchen, Bob (1988-11-17). "Ten Years After Jonestown, the Battle Intensifies Over the Influence of 'Alternative' Religions", Los Angeles Times
46.Jump up ^ Eugene V. Gallagher, 2004, The New Religious Movement Experience in America, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0313328072
47.Jump up ^ Gallagher, Eugene V., The New Religious Movements Experience in America, The American Religious Experience), 2004, ISBN 978-0313328077, page 18.
48.Jump up ^ Gallagher, Eugene V., The New Religious Movements Experience in America, The American Religious Experience), 2004, ISBN 978-0313328077, page 17.
49.Jump up ^ Affolter, Friedrich W. (2005). "The Specter of Ideological Genocide: The Bahá'ís of Iran" (PDF). War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity 1 (1): 75–114.
50.Jump up ^ van Driel, Barend and James T. Richardson. Research Note Categorization of New Religious Movements in American Print Media. Sociological Analysis 1988, 49, 2:171-183
51.Jump up ^ Dawson, Lorne L. (December 1998). "The Cultural Significance of New Religious Movements and Globalization: A Theoretical Prolegomenon". Society for the Scientific Study of Religion 37 (4): 580–595. JSTOR 1388142.
Further reading[edit]
Barrett, David B., George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, 2 vols. 2nd edition, Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Clarke, Peter B. (2000). Japanese New Religions: In Global Perspective. Richmond : Curzon. 10-ISBN 0700711856/13-ISBN 9780700711857
Hexham, Irving and Karla Poewe, New Religions as Global Cultures, Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1997.
Hexham, Irving, Stephen Rost & John W. Morehead (eds) Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach, Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 2004.
Kranenborg, Reender (Dutch language) Een nieuw licht op de kerk?: Bijdragen van nieuwe religieuze bewegingen voor de kerk van vandaag/A new perspective on the church: Contributions by NRMs for today's church Published by het Boekencentrum[dead link], (a Christian publishing house), the Hague, 1984. ISBN 90-239-0809-0.
Stark, Rodney (ed) Religious Movements: Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, New York: Paragon House, 1985.
Arweck, Elisabeth and Peter B. Clarke, New Religious Movements in Western Europe: An Annotated Bibliography, Westport & London: Greenwood Press, 1997.
Barker, Eileen, New religious movements: a practical introduction London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1989.
Barker, Eileen and Margit Warburg (eds) New Religions and New Religiosity, Aarhus, Denmark: Aargus University Press, 1998.
Beck, Hubert F. How to Respond to the Cults, in The Response Series. St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1977. 40 p. N.B.: Written from a Confessional Lutheran perspective. ISBN 0-570-07682-X
Beckford, James A. (ed) New Religious Movements and Rapid Social Change, Paris: UNESCO/London, Beverly Hills & New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 1986.
Chryssides, George D., Exploring New Religions, London & New York: Cassell, 1999.
Clarke, Peter B. (ed.), Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements, London & New York: Routledge, 2006.
Davis, Derek H., and Barry Hankins (eds) New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America, Waco: J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and Baylor University Press, 2002.
Enroth, Ronald M., and J. Gordon Melton. Why Cults Succeed Where the Church Fails. Elgin, Ill.: Brethren Press, 1985. v, 133 p. ISBN 0-87178-932-9
Jenkins, Philip, Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History, New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Kohn, Rachael, The New Believers: Re-Imagining God, Sydney: Harper Collins, 2003.
Loeliger, Carl and Garry Trompf (eds) New Religious Movements in Melanesia, Suva, Fiji: University of the South Pacific & University of Papua New Guinea, 1985.
Meldgaard, Helle and Johannes Aagaard (eds) New Religious Movements in Europe, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 1997.
Needleman, Jacob and George Baker (eds) Understanding the New Religions, New York: Seabury Press, 1981.
Partridge, Christopher (ed) Encyclopedia of New Religions: New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities, Oxford: Lion, 2004.
Possamai, Adam, Religion and Popular Culture: A Hyper-Real Testament, Brussels: P. I. E. - Peter Lang, 2005.
Saliba, John A., Understanding New Religious Movements, 2nd edition, Walnut Creek, Lanham: Alta Mira Press, 2003.
Staemmler, Birgit, Dehn, Ulrich (ed.): Establishing the Revolutionary: An Introduction to New Religions in Japan. LIT, Münster, 2011. ISBN 978-3-643-90152-1
Thursby, Gene. "Siddha Yoga: Swami Muktanada and the Seat of Power." When Prophets Die: The Postcharismatic Fate Of New Religious Movements. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991 pp. 165–182.
Toch, Hans. The Social Psychology of Social Movements, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1965.
Towler, Robert (ed) New Religions and the New Europe, Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press, 1995.
Trompf, G. W. (ed) Cargo Cults and Millenarian Movements: Transoceanic Comparisons of New Religious Movements, Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1990.
Wilson, Bryan and Jamie Cresswell (eds) New Religious Movements: Challenge and Response, London & New York: Routledge, 1999.
External links[edit]
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
New religious movement
Wikimedia Commons has media related to New religious movement.
Wikiversity has learning materials about New religious movement
AcademicInfo: Religious Movements Gateway - Directory of Online Resources
Hartford Institute of Religious Research: New religious movements
Skepsis - Online texts about NRMs
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Unity Church
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Not to be confused with the Unitarian Church, the Unification Church, or unitarian theology in Christianity.
Unity Church
Unity Village
Unity Village
Classification
Unity
Orientation
New Thought
Origin
1889
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Official website
unity.org
Part of a series of articles on
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Unity, known informally as Unity Church, is a spiritual philosophical movement within the wider New Thought movement and is best known to many through its Daily Word devotional publication. It describes itself as a "positive, practical Christianity" which "teach[es] the effective daily application of the principles of Truth taught and exemplified by Jesus Christ" and promotes "a way of life that leads to health, prosperity, happiness, and peace of mind."[1]
Unity operates several programs, including a prayer program called Silent Unity, the Unity Society of Practical Christianity, Unity School of Christianity, Unity Institute, the Office of Prayer Research, the Association of Unity Churches, and Unity House, the church's publishing arm. The home of Unity is at Unity Village, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Overview of Unity
3 Basic teachings 3.1 God
3.2 Jesus
3.3 The nature of humanity
3.4 The Bible
3.5 Affirmative prayer
4 Relationship to Christianity
5 Notable members
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
History[edit]
It was founded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1889 by Charles Fillmore (1854–1948) and Myrtle Fillmore (1845–1931) after Mrs. Fillmore had been cured of her tuberculosis, she believed, by spiritual healing. This resulted in the Fillmores studying spiritual healing, and being influenced by Emma Curtis Hopkins and Mary Baker Eddy (the founder of Christian Science).
Unity School of Christianity, share their insights through magazines, books, and pamphlets and through Silent Unity, a telephone and mail service that offered people help through prayer and counseling. This growth led to several moves within Kansas City, and eventually, after World War I, to the development of Unity Village, 15 miles from Kansas City. The movement was led, in part, after Charles Fillmore’s death, by the Fillmores’ sons and grandchildren.[2]
Overview of Unity[edit]
Unity School of Christianity
Unity describes itself as a worldwide Christian organization which teaches a positive approach to life, seeking to accept the good in all people and events. Unity began as a healing ministry and healing has continued to be its main emphasis for over 100 years.[3] It teaches that all people can improve the quality of their lives through thought.[4]
Unity describes itself as having no particular creed, no set dogma, and no required ritual.[5] It maintains that there is good in every approach to God and in every religion that is fulfilling someone's needs.[6] Its position holds that one should not focus on past sins but on the potential good in all.[7]
Unity emphasizes spiritual healing, prosperity and practical Christianity in its teachings. Illness is considered to be curable by spiritual means, but Unity does not reject or resist medical treatments.[2] It is an inclusive faith that welcomes diversity of belief. Unity is accepting of the beliefs of others.[8][9][10][11]
Churches fall under the auspices of Unity Worldwide Ministries although each church is autonomous in its practices.
Basic teachings[edit]
This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. (March 2013)
New Thought
Divinity
Omnipresent God
Ultimate Spirit
Higher consciousness
Beliefs
Law of attraction
Life force ("energy")
Activities
Affirmations
Affirmative prayer
Creative visualization
Personal magnetism
Positive thinking
Glossary
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Five basic ideas that Unity sets forward as its main belief system are:[12]
1."God is the source and creator of all. There is no other enduring power. God is good and present everywhere."
2."We are spiritual beings, created in God’s image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good."
3."We create our life experiences through our way of thinking."
4."There is power in affirmative prayer, which we believe increases our connection to God."
5."Knowledge of these spiritual principles is not enough. We must live them."
Unity is devoted to demonstrating that the teachings of Jesus Christ can be lived every day. Unity's basic position is that the true "Church" is a "state of consciousness in mankind."[13] Unity teaches that each person is a unique expression of God, that each person is sacred, and each person is worthy. Unity emphasizes the creative power of thought in people's experience, and encourages taking personal responsibility to choose life-affirming thoughts, words and actions, holding that when people do this, they experience a more fulfilling and abundant life.[14][15]
H. Emilie Cady's 1896 book Lessons in Truth, A Course of Twelve Lessons in Practical Christianity is considered a core text of Unity.
God[edit]
God is understood as spiritual energy which is everywhere present and is available to all people. In the Unity view, God is not a being in the sky who is capable of anger. The presence of God only seeks to express the highest good through everyone and everything.[16] According to Unity founder Charles Fillmore, God is spirit, the loving source of everything. God is one power, all good, wisdom, everywhere present.[17] God is Divine Energy, continually creating, expressing and sustaining all creation. In God we live and move and have our being.[18] [19] [20]
Jesus[edit]
Unity proclaims the divinity of Jesus, but also proclaims that we are all children of God and share that divine potential. Unity believes that Jesus expressed his divine potential and sought to show others how to do the same. Unity sees Jesus as a master teacher of universal Truth and one who demonstrated the Way.[21][22] Unity uses the term "Christ" to mean the divinity in all people. Jesus is the great example of the Christ in expression.[23][24]
The nature of humanity[edit]
Unity teaches that we are individual, external expressions of God. Our essential nature is divine and therefore we are inherently good. Our purpose is to express our divine potential as demonstrated by Jesus. The more we awaken to our divine nature, the more fully God expresses in and through our lives.[25][26] Salvation, in the Unity view, is found in conscious understanding of one's innate divinity and then putting this knowledge into practice in everyday life.[27]
The Bible[edit]
Unity founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, studied the Bible as history and allegory. They interpreted it as a metaphysical representation of each soul's evolutionary journey toward spiritual awakening. Unity understands the Bible as a complex collection of writings compiled over many centuries. The Bible is a valuable spiritual resource, but is understood as a reflection of the comprehension and inspiration of the writers and their times.[28][29][30]
Affirmative prayer[edit]
Affirmative prayer is understood, in Unity, as the highest form of creative thought. It includes the release of negative thoughts and holding in mind statements of spiritual truth. Through meditation and prayer, we can experience the presence of God. Prayer and meditation heighten our awareness of truth and thereby transform our lives.[31][32]
Prayer is valuable not because it alters the circumstances and conditions of your life, but because it alters you.[33]
Unity teaches that it is helpful to pray with the belief that we have already received all that we need. In this view, through prayer the mind is renewed and the body transformed. The awareness that we are conscious creators of our lives, has the power to make the bridge between the old Christianity where we are "sinners" to the new understanding that we are "learners."[34] The Unity school of Christianity holds that prayer is not a way to inform God of one's troubles or to change God in any way, but rather, prayer is properly used to align with the power that is God.[35][36]
Relationship to Christianity[edit]
Although Unity is not a traditional Christian teaching, it emphasizes its agreements, not differences, with (traditional) Christians and [8] stresses its concurrence with the teachings of Jesus and the Bible.[37][38][39][40][41][42]
It has been generally accepted that Jesus' great works were miracles and that the power to do miracles was delegated to His immediate followers only. In recent years many of Jesus' followers have inquired into His healing methods, and they have found that healing is based on universal mental and spiritual laws which anyone can utilize who will comply with the conditions involved in these laws.[43][44]
Unity considers itself to be a non-sectarian educational institution although Unity ministers do complete a prescribed program of courses, training and ordination. Due to the interdenominational nature of Unity, its influence extends beyond its membership.[8]
Notable members[edit]
Well known persons affiliated with Unity include Maya Angelou[45] Betty White,[46] Eleanor Powell,[47] Lucie Arnaz,[48] Wally Amos,[49] Licensed Unity Teacher Ruth Warrick,[50] Barbara Billingsley, Theodore Schneider, Erykah Badu, Matt Hoverman, author Victoria Moran,[51] Patricia Neal,[52] Holmes Osborne[53] and Esther Williams.[citation needed]
In March 2008 Maya Angelou stated that she planned to spend part of the year studying at the Unity Church. In 2005 she attended a Unity Church service in Miami and decided that day to "go into a kind of religious school and study" on her 80th birthday.[54]
See also[edit]
Universal Foundation for Better Living
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Unity.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
2.^ Jump up to: a b "Unity School of Christianity". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
3.Jump up ^ Rhea, Rosemary Fillmore, "Unity in the twenty-first Century" Unity Magazine, Sept–Oct 2004, pp. 32–34
4.Jump up ^ Omwake, Mary, "The Power to Heal" Unity Magazine Nov–Dec 2005, p. 38
5.Jump up ^ Rosemergy, Jim "No More Dogmas, No More Creeds, Unity Magazine, March–April 2003, p 17
6.Jump up ^ Bazzy, Connie Fillmore, "Unity School of Christianity and the Unity Movement" Unity Magazine, Sept–Oct 2001, pp. 4–6
7.Jump up ^ "Unity:A Path for Spiritual Living" Unity Magazine, Nov–Dec 2007,pp.41–42
8.^ Jump up to: a b c "Unity School of Christianity, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1987, Vol 12 P, 162.
9.Jump up ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about Unity". Unity.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
10.Jump up ^ Kornfield, Jack, "The Wisdom of Not Knowing" Unity Magazine Nov–Dec 2005 p. 10
11.Jump up ^ Gaither, Jim, Metaphysical Musings, Unity Magazine, Jan–Feb 2008, p. 10
12.Jump up ^ "What We Believe". Unity.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
13.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) p37
14.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles, Talks on Truth,17th ed 1998 pp. 7–13
15.Jump up ^ Cady, Emilie Lessons in Truth, 15th ed 1995, pp. 97–109, 143–154
16.Jump up ^ Shepherd, Thomas, "I've Always Wondered About" Unity Magazine, Sept–Oct 2007, p. 10
17.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles Talks on Truth, 17th ed 1998, p. 9
18.Jump up ^ Acts 17:28 "In Him we live and move and have our being"
19.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles Jesus Christ Heals, 19th ed 1999, page 29
20.Jump up ^ Shepherd, Thomas, "I've Always Wondered About" Unity Magazine, Sept–Oct 2006,
21.Jump up ^ I John 4:17 "As He is...so we are in this world"
22.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) p111
23.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) p25
24.Jump up ^ Braden, Charles, Spirits in Rebellion:The Rise and Development of New Thought. 1987, Southern Methodist University Press. pp. 260–262
25.Jump up ^ Cady, Emilie, Lessons in Truth, 15th ed 1995 pp. 17–24
26.Jump up ^ Butterworth, Eric MetaMorality: A Metaphysical Approach to The Ten Commandments. 1988, pp. 119–122
27.Jump up ^ Braden, Charles Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought. 1987, Southern Methodist University Press. p. 238
28.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) p. 24
29.Jump up ^ Turner, Elizabeth S. Be Ye Transformed: Bible Interpretation Acts through Revelation 1988, pp. 9–13
30.Jump up ^ "What We Believe". Unity.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
31.Jump up ^ Mosley, Glenn, "Learning to Pray," Unity Magazine May–June 2001, pp. 16–17
32.Jump up ^ "Official creed of the Unity/Unitarian Church". Bible.ca. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
33.Jump up ^ Freeman, James Dillet, "Life is a Wonder" Unity Magazine, Mar–Apr 2001, pp. 18–19
34.Jump up ^ Baherman, Steve, "Unity: The Healing Edge of Christianity", Unity Magazine, Jan–Feb 2008, pp. 20–22
35.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) pp 152–154
36.Jump up ^ Cady, Emilie, Lessons in Truth, 15th ed 1995, pp 97–108
37.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles Jesus Christ Heals, 19th ed 1999, pages 9–35
38.Jump up ^ Turner, Elizabeth Sands, Your Hope of Glory, 10th ed, 1996, pp. 7–15
39.Jump up ^ Butterworth, Eric The Universe is Calling, 1994, pp. 129–135
40.Jump up ^ Freeman, James Dillet, The Story of Unity, 2000, pp. 9–19, 225–269
41.Jump up ^ Mosley, Glenn, "Unity, Much more than a Denomination" Unity Magazine, Mar–Apr, 2003, pp. 15–16
42.Jump up ^ Shepherd, Thomas, "That's a Good Question" Unity Magazine, Jan–Feb 2008, p. 7
43.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles Jesus Christ Heals, 19th ed 1999, p. 79
44.Jump up ^ Brumet, Robert, "Spiritual Healing" Unity Magazine Mar–Apr 2001, 22–25
45.Jump up ^ http://www.ntunity.org/blog/mglorius/18/08/2012
46.Jump up ^ Villalva, Brittney R. "Betty White- I'm 'Sexier' and 'More Wise' at 91 (PHOTO) Read more: http://www.christianpost.com/news/betty-white-sexier-and-more-wise-at-91-actress-jokes-photo-89569/#ixzz3UIuiAKCU". www.christianpost.com. The Christian Post. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
47.Jump up ^ Taylor, Jim. "OUR "QUEEN OF TAP DANCING" - ELEANOR POWELL". www.tapdance.org. International Tap Association. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
48.Jump up ^ Messer, Kate X. "Lucie 'splains It All". www.austinchronicle.com. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
49.Jump up ^ Amos, Wally; Denton, Camilla (1994). Man with No Name (PDF). Lower Lake, CA 95457: Aslan Publishing. pp. 101–102. ISBN 0-944031-57-9. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
50.Jump up ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths WARRICK, RUTH". The New York Times. January 18, 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
51.Jump up ^ Moran, Victoria. "Growing Up on Daily Word". www.dailyword.com. Daily Word. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
52.Jump up ^ Raven, Barbara C. Badge of Courage. Unity Church of New York, 2002.
53.Jump up ^ Holmes Osborne mentioned attending on the cast commentary on the Donnie Darko DVD
54.Jump up ^ Maya Angelou at 80: Life is still an adventure, Hillel Italie, Phillyburbs.com, March 29, 2008
Further reading[edit]
Berry, Harold J. (1975). Unity School of Christianity: What's Christian about It?. Lincoln, Neb.: Back to the Bible Publications. ISBN 0-8474-0745-4
Fillmore, Charles (1931). Metaphysical Bible Dictionary. Unity Village, Mo.: Unity School of Christianity.
Fillmore, Charles (1997). The Revealing Word: a dictionary of metaphysical terms. Unity Books. ISBN 0-87159-006-9.
Fillmore, Charles ([19--]). The Adventure Called Unity. Unity Village, Mo.: Unity. Without ISBN
Vahle, Neal (September 2002). The Unity Movement: Its Evolution and Spiritual Teachings. Templeton Foundation Press. pp. 504 pages. ISBN 1-890151-96-3.
Mosley,Glenn R. The History and Future NEW THOUGHT, ANCIENT WISDOM of the New Thought Movement, Templelton Foundation Press, (2006). ISBN 1599470896
External links[edit]
Official website of Unity World Headquarters
Official website of the Unity Church in Australia
Official website of the Unity Church in New Zealand
Daily Word:– Daily Bible Study Devotional Guide by the Unity Church
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Unity Church
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Not to be confused with the Unitarian Church, the Unification Church, or unitarian theology in Christianity.
Unity Church
Unity Village
Unity Village
Classification
Unity
Orientation
New Thought
Origin
1889
Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Official website
unity.org
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Unity, known informally as Unity Church, is a spiritual philosophical movement within the wider New Thought movement and is best known to many through its Daily Word devotional publication. It describes itself as a "positive, practical Christianity" which "teach[es] the effective daily application of the principles of Truth taught and exemplified by Jesus Christ" and promotes "a way of life that leads to health, prosperity, happiness, and peace of mind."[1]
Unity operates several programs, including a prayer program called Silent Unity, the Unity Society of Practical Christianity, Unity School of Christianity, Unity Institute, the Office of Prayer Research, the Association of Unity Churches, and Unity House, the church's publishing arm. The home of Unity is at Unity Village, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Overview of Unity
3 Basic teachings 3.1 God
3.2 Jesus
3.3 The nature of humanity
3.4 The Bible
3.5 Affirmative prayer
4 Relationship to Christianity
5 Notable members
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
History[edit]
It was founded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1889 by Charles Fillmore (1854–1948) and Myrtle Fillmore (1845–1931) after Mrs. Fillmore had been cured of her tuberculosis, she believed, by spiritual healing. This resulted in the Fillmores studying spiritual healing, and being influenced by Emma Curtis Hopkins and Mary Baker Eddy (the founder of Christian Science).
Unity School of Christianity, share their insights through magazines, books, and pamphlets and through Silent Unity, a telephone and mail service that offered people help through prayer and counseling. This growth led to several moves within Kansas City, and eventually, after World War I, to the development of Unity Village, 15 miles from Kansas City. The movement was led, in part, after Charles Fillmore’s death, by the Fillmores’ sons and grandchildren.[2]
Overview of Unity[edit]
Unity School of Christianity
Unity describes itself as a worldwide Christian organization which teaches a positive approach to life, seeking to accept the good in all people and events. Unity began as a healing ministry and healing has continued to be its main emphasis for over 100 years.[3] It teaches that all people can improve the quality of their lives through thought.[4]
Unity describes itself as having no particular creed, no set dogma, and no required ritual.[5] It maintains that there is good in every approach to God and in every religion that is fulfilling someone's needs.[6] Its position holds that one should not focus on past sins but on the potential good in all.[7]
Unity emphasizes spiritual healing, prosperity and practical Christianity in its teachings. Illness is considered to be curable by spiritual means, but Unity does not reject or resist medical treatments.[2] It is an inclusive faith that welcomes diversity of belief. Unity is accepting of the beliefs of others.[8][9][10][11]
Churches fall under the auspices of Unity Worldwide Ministries although each church is autonomous in its practices.
Basic teachings[edit]
This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject's importance, use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance. (March 2013)
New Thought
Divinity
Omnipresent God
Ultimate Spirit
Higher consciousness
Beliefs
Law of attraction
Life force ("energy")
Activities
Affirmations
Affirmative prayer
Creative visualization
Personal magnetism
Positive thinking
Glossary
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Five basic ideas that Unity sets forward as its main belief system are:[12]
1."God is the source and creator of all. There is no other enduring power. God is good and present everywhere."
2."We are spiritual beings, created in God’s image. The spirit of God lives within each person; therefore, all people are inherently good."
3."We create our life experiences through our way of thinking."
4."There is power in affirmative prayer, which we believe increases our connection to God."
5."Knowledge of these spiritual principles is not enough. We must live them."
Unity is devoted to demonstrating that the teachings of Jesus Christ can be lived every day. Unity's basic position is that the true "Church" is a "state of consciousness in mankind."[13] Unity teaches that each person is a unique expression of God, that each person is sacred, and each person is worthy. Unity emphasizes the creative power of thought in people's experience, and encourages taking personal responsibility to choose life-affirming thoughts, words and actions, holding that when people do this, they experience a more fulfilling and abundant life.[14][15]
H. Emilie Cady's 1896 book Lessons in Truth, A Course of Twelve Lessons in Practical Christianity is considered a core text of Unity.
God[edit]
God is understood as spiritual energy which is everywhere present and is available to all people. In the Unity view, God is not a being in the sky who is capable of anger. The presence of God only seeks to express the highest good through everyone and everything.[16] According to Unity founder Charles Fillmore, God is spirit, the loving source of everything. God is one power, all good, wisdom, everywhere present.[17] God is Divine Energy, continually creating, expressing and sustaining all creation. In God we live and move and have our being.[18] [19] [20]
Jesus[edit]
Unity proclaims the divinity of Jesus, but also proclaims that we are all children of God and share that divine potential. Unity believes that Jesus expressed his divine potential and sought to show others how to do the same. Unity sees Jesus as a master teacher of universal Truth and one who demonstrated the Way.[21][22] Unity uses the term "Christ" to mean the divinity in all people. Jesus is the great example of the Christ in expression.[23][24]
The nature of humanity[edit]
Unity teaches that we are individual, external expressions of God. Our essential nature is divine and therefore we are inherently good. Our purpose is to express our divine potential as demonstrated by Jesus. The more we awaken to our divine nature, the more fully God expresses in and through our lives.[25][26] Salvation, in the Unity view, is found in conscious understanding of one's innate divinity and then putting this knowledge into practice in everyday life.[27]
The Bible[edit]
Unity founders, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, studied the Bible as history and allegory. They interpreted it as a metaphysical representation of each soul's evolutionary journey toward spiritual awakening. Unity understands the Bible as a complex collection of writings compiled over many centuries. The Bible is a valuable spiritual resource, but is understood as a reflection of the comprehension and inspiration of the writers and their times.[28][29][30]
Affirmative prayer[edit]
Affirmative prayer is understood, in Unity, as the highest form of creative thought. It includes the release of negative thoughts and holding in mind statements of spiritual truth. Through meditation and prayer, we can experience the presence of God. Prayer and meditation heighten our awareness of truth and thereby transform our lives.[31][32]
Prayer is valuable not because it alters the circumstances and conditions of your life, but because it alters you.[33]
Unity teaches that it is helpful to pray with the belief that we have already received all that we need. In this view, through prayer the mind is renewed and the body transformed. The awareness that we are conscious creators of our lives, has the power to make the bridge between the old Christianity where we are "sinners" to the new understanding that we are "learners."[34] The Unity school of Christianity holds that prayer is not a way to inform God of one's troubles or to change God in any way, but rather, prayer is properly used to align with the power that is God.[35][36]
Relationship to Christianity[edit]
Although Unity is not a traditional Christian teaching, it emphasizes its agreements, not differences, with (traditional) Christians and [8] stresses its concurrence with the teachings of Jesus and the Bible.[37][38][39][40][41][42]
It has been generally accepted that Jesus' great works were miracles and that the power to do miracles was delegated to His immediate followers only. In recent years many of Jesus' followers have inquired into His healing methods, and they have found that healing is based on universal mental and spiritual laws which anyone can utilize who will comply with the conditions involved in these laws.[43][44]
Unity considers itself to be a non-sectarian educational institution although Unity ministers do complete a prescribed program of courses, training and ordination. Due to the interdenominational nature of Unity, its influence extends beyond its membership.[8]
Notable members[edit]
Well known persons affiliated with Unity include Maya Angelou[45] Betty White,[46] Eleanor Powell,[47] Lucie Arnaz,[48] Wally Amos,[49] Licensed Unity Teacher Ruth Warrick,[50] Barbara Billingsley, Theodore Schneider, Erykah Badu, Matt Hoverman, author Victoria Moran,[51] Patricia Neal,[52] Holmes Osborne[53] and Esther Williams.[citation needed]
In March 2008 Maya Angelou stated that she planned to spend part of the year studying at the Unity Church. In 2005 she attended a Unity Church service in Miami and decided that day to "go into a kind of religious school and study" on her 80th birthday.[54]
See also[edit]
Universal Foundation for Better Living
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Unity.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
2.^ Jump up to: a b "Unity School of Christianity". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2009-06-26.
3.Jump up ^ Rhea, Rosemary Fillmore, "Unity in the twenty-first Century" Unity Magazine, Sept–Oct 2004, pp. 32–34
4.Jump up ^ Omwake, Mary, "The Power to Heal" Unity Magazine Nov–Dec 2005, p. 38
5.Jump up ^ Rosemergy, Jim "No More Dogmas, No More Creeds, Unity Magazine, March–April 2003, p 17
6.Jump up ^ Bazzy, Connie Fillmore, "Unity School of Christianity and the Unity Movement" Unity Magazine, Sept–Oct 2001, pp. 4–6
7.Jump up ^ "Unity:A Path for Spiritual Living" Unity Magazine, Nov–Dec 2007,pp.41–42
8.^ Jump up to: a b c "Unity School of Christianity, The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1987, Vol 12 P, 162.
9.Jump up ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about Unity". Unity.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
10.Jump up ^ Kornfield, Jack, "The Wisdom of Not Knowing" Unity Magazine Nov–Dec 2005 p. 10
11.Jump up ^ Gaither, Jim, Metaphysical Musings, Unity Magazine, Jan–Feb 2008, p. 10
12.Jump up ^ "What We Believe". Unity.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
13.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) p37
14.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles, Talks on Truth,17th ed 1998 pp. 7–13
15.Jump up ^ Cady, Emilie Lessons in Truth, 15th ed 1995, pp. 97–109, 143–154
16.Jump up ^ Shepherd, Thomas, "I've Always Wondered About" Unity Magazine, Sept–Oct 2007, p. 10
17.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles Talks on Truth, 17th ed 1998, p. 9
18.Jump up ^ Acts 17:28 "In Him we live and move and have our being"
19.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles Jesus Christ Heals, 19th ed 1999, page 29
20.Jump up ^ Shepherd, Thomas, "I've Always Wondered About" Unity Magazine, Sept–Oct 2006,
21.Jump up ^ I John 4:17 "As He is...so we are in this world"
22.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) p111
23.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) p25
24.Jump up ^ Braden, Charles, Spirits in Rebellion:The Rise and Development of New Thought. 1987, Southern Methodist University Press. pp. 260–262
25.Jump up ^ Cady, Emilie, Lessons in Truth, 15th ed 1995 pp. 17–24
26.Jump up ^ Butterworth, Eric MetaMorality: A Metaphysical Approach to The Ten Commandments. 1988, pp. 119–122
27.Jump up ^ Braden, Charles Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought. 1987, Southern Methodist University Press. p. 238
28.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) p. 24
29.Jump up ^ Turner, Elizabeth S. Be Ye Transformed: Bible Interpretation Acts through Revelation 1988, pp. 9–13
30.Jump up ^ "What We Believe". Unity.org. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
31.Jump up ^ Mosley, Glenn, "Learning to Pray," Unity Magazine May–June 2001, pp. 16–17
32.Jump up ^ "Official creed of the Unity/Unitarian Church". Bible.ca. Retrieved 2012-12-29.
33.Jump up ^ Freeman, James Dillet, "Life is a Wonder" Unity Magazine, Mar–Apr 2001, pp. 18–19
34.Jump up ^ Baherman, Steve, "Unity: The Healing Edge of Christianity", Unity Magazine, Jan–Feb 2008, pp. 20–22
35.Jump up ^ Fillmore(1997) pp 152–154
36.Jump up ^ Cady, Emilie, Lessons in Truth, 15th ed 1995, pp 97–108
37.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles Jesus Christ Heals, 19th ed 1999, pages 9–35
38.Jump up ^ Turner, Elizabeth Sands, Your Hope of Glory, 10th ed, 1996, pp. 7–15
39.Jump up ^ Butterworth, Eric The Universe is Calling, 1994, pp. 129–135
40.Jump up ^ Freeman, James Dillet, The Story of Unity, 2000, pp. 9–19, 225–269
41.Jump up ^ Mosley, Glenn, "Unity, Much more than a Denomination" Unity Magazine, Mar–Apr, 2003, pp. 15–16
42.Jump up ^ Shepherd, Thomas, "That's a Good Question" Unity Magazine, Jan–Feb 2008, p. 7
43.Jump up ^ Fillmore, Charles Jesus Christ Heals, 19th ed 1999, p. 79
44.Jump up ^ Brumet, Robert, "Spiritual Healing" Unity Magazine Mar–Apr 2001, 22–25
45.Jump up ^ http://www.ntunity.org/blog/mglorius/18/08/2012
46.Jump up ^ Villalva, Brittney R. "Betty White- I'm 'Sexier' and 'More Wise' at 91 (PHOTO) Read more: http://www.christianpost.com/news/betty-white-sexier-and-more-wise-at-91-actress-jokes-photo-89569/#ixzz3UIuiAKCU". www.christianpost.com. The Christian Post. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
47.Jump up ^ Taylor, Jim. "OUR "QUEEN OF TAP DANCING" - ELEANOR POWELL". www.tapdance.org. International Tap Association. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
48.Jump up ^ Messer, Kate X. "Lucie 'splains It All". www.austinchronicle.com. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
49.Jump up ^ Amos, Wally; Denton, Camilla (1994). Man with No Name (PDF). Lower Lake, CA 95457: Aslan Publishing. pp. 101–102. ISBN 0-944031-57-9. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
50.Jump up ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths WARRICK, RUTH". The New York Times. January 18, 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
51.Jump up ^ Moran, Victoria. "Growing Up on Daily Word". www.dailyword.com. Daily Word. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
52.Jump up ^ Raven, Barbara C. Badge of Courage. Unity Church of New York, 2002.
53.Jump up ^ Holmes Osborne mentioned attending on the cast commentary on the Donnie Darko DVD
54.Jump up ^ Maya Angelou at 80: Life is still an adventure, Hillel Italie, Phillyburbs.com, March 29, 2008
Further reading[edit]
Berry, Harold J. (1975). Unity School of Christianity: What's Christian about It?. Lincoln, Neb.: Back to the Bible Publications. ISBN 0-8474-0745-4
Fillmore, Charles (1931). Metaphysical Bible Dictionary. Unity Village, Mo.: Unity School of Christianity.
Fillmore, Charles (1997). The Revealing Word: a dictionary of metaphysical terms. Unity Books. ISBN 0-87159-006-9.
Fillmore, Charles ([19--]). The Adventure Called Unity. Unity Village, Mo.: Unity. Without ISBN
Vahle, Neal (September 2002). The Unity Movement: Its Evolution and Spiritual Teachings. Templeton Foundation Press. pp. 504 pages. ISBN 1-890151-96-3.
Mosley,Glenn R. The History and Future NEW THOUGHT, ANCIENT WISDOM of the New Thought Movement, Templelton Foundation Press, (2006). ISBN 1599470896
External links[edit]
Official website of Unity World Headquarters
Official website of the Unity Church in Australia
Official website of the Unity Church in New Zealand
Daily Word:– Daily Bible Study Devotional Guide by the Unity Church
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New Thought
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The New Thought movement is a spiritual movement which developed in the United States in the 19th century, following the teachings of Phineas Quimby. The three major organizations within New Thought movement today are Religious Science, Unity Church and the Church of Divine Science, with an estimated number of some 1,500,000 adherents in the United States among them.[1] There are numerous smaller groups, most of which are incorporated in the International New Thought Alliance.[2][3]
The concept of New Thought (sometimes known as "Higher Thought"[4]) promotes the ideas that Infinite Intelligence, or God, is everywhere, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and "right thinking" has a healing effect.[5][6]
Although New Thought is neither monolithic nor doctrinaire, in general, modern-day adherents of New Thought believe that God or Infinite Intelligence is "supreme, universal, and everlasting", that divinity dwells within each person, that all people are spiritual beings, that "the highest spiritual principle [is] loving one another unconditionally... and teaching and healing one another", and that "our mental states are carried forward into manifestation and become our experience in daily living".[5][6]
The New Thought movement originated in the early 19th century, and survives to the current day in the form of a loosely allied group of religious denominations, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of beliefs concerning metaphysics, positive thinking, the law of attraction, healing, life force, creative visualization, and personal power.[7]
The teachings of Christian Science are similar to and partially based on Quimby's teachings, as its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, was a student of Quimby's. However, it is considered distinct from the New Thought movement in its explicit theism and its attempt to position itself as a return to Early Christianity.
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 History 2.1 Origins
2.2 Growth
2.3 Major gatherings
3 Belief systems 3.1 Evolution of thought
3.2 Theological inclusionism
3.3 Therapeutic ideas
4 Movement
5 See also
6 References
7 Bibliography
8 External links
Overview[edit]
William James, in The Varieties of Religious Experience, described New Thought as follows:
...for the sake of having a brief designation, I will give the title of the "Mind-cure movement." There are various sects of this "New Thought," to use another of the names by which it calls itself; but their agreements are so profound that their differences may be neglected for my present purpose, and I will treat the movement, without apology, as if it were a simple thing.
It is an optimistic scheme of life, with both a speculative and a practical side. In its gradual development during the last quarter of a century, it has taken up into itself a number of contributory elements, and it must now be reckoned with as a genuine religious power. It has reached the stage, for example, when the demand for its literature is great enough for insincere stuff, mechanically produced for the market, to be to a certain extent supplied by publishers – a phenomenon never observed, I imagine, until a religion has got well past its earliest insecure beginnings.
One of the doctrinal sources of Mind-cure is the four Gospels; another is Emersonianism or New England transcendentalism; another is Berkeleyan idealism; another is spiritism, with its messages of "law" and "progress" and "development"; another the optimistic popular science evolutionism of which I have recently spoken; and, finally, Hinduism has contributed a strain. But the most characteristic feature of the mind-cure movement is an inspiration much more direct. The leaders in this faith have had an intuitive belief in the all-saving power of healthy-minded attitudes as such, in the conquering efficacy of courage, hope, and trust, and a correlative contempt for doubt, fear, worry, and all nervously precautionary states of mind. Their belief has in a general way been corroborated by the practical experience of their disciples; and this experience forms to-day a mass imposing in amount.[8]
History[edit]
Main article: History of New Thought
Origins[edit]
The New Thought movement was based on the teachings of Phineas Quimby (1802–66), an American mesmerist and healer. Quimby had developed a belief system which included the tenet that illness originated in the mind as a consequence of erroneous beliefs and that a mind open to God's wisdom could overcome any illness.[9] His basic premise was:
The trouble is in the mind, for the body is only the house for the mind to dwell in [...] Therefore, if your mind had been deceived by some invisible enemy into a belief, you have put it into the form of a disease, with or without your knowledge. By my theory or truth, I come in contact with your enemy, and restore you to health and happiness. This I do partly mentally, and partly by talking till I correct the wrong impression and establish the Truth, and the Truth is the cure.[10]
During the late 19th century, the metaphysical healing practices of Quimby mingled with the "Mental Science" of Warren Felt Evans, a Swedenborgian minister.[citation needed] Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, has sometimes been cited as having used Quimby as inspiration for theology. Eddy was a patient of Quimby’s and shared his view that disease is rooted in a mental cause. Because of its theism, Christian Science differs from the teachings of Quimby.[11]
In the late 19th century, New Thought was propelled along by a number of spiritual thinkers and philosophers and emerged through a variety of religious denominations and churches, particularly the Unity Church and Church of Divine Science (established in 1888 and 1889, respectively), followed by Religious Science (established in 1927). [12] Many of its early teachers and students were women; notable among the founders of the movement were Emma Curtis Hopkins, known as the "teacher of teachers", Myrtle Fillmore, Malinda Cramer, and Nona L. Brooks;[12] with many of its churches and community centers led by women, from the 1880s to today.[13][14]
Growth[edit]
See also: List of New Thought writers
New Thought is also largely a movement of the printed word.[15] The 1890s and the first decades of the 20th century saw many New Thought books published on the topics of self-help, financial success, and will-training books. New Thought authors such as Napoleon Hill, Wallace Wattles, Perry Joseph Green, Frank Channing Haddock, and Thomas Troward were extremely popular.
In 1906, William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932) wrote and published Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World.[16] Atkinson was the editor of New Thought magazine and the author of more than 100 books on an assortment of religious, spiritual, and occult topics.[17] The following year, Elizabeth Towne, the editor of The Nautilus, published Bruce MacLelland's book Prosperity Through Thought Force, in which he summarized the "Law of Attraction" as a New Thought principle, stating "You are what you think, not what you think you are."[18]
These magazines were used to reach a large audience then, as others are now. Nautilus magazine, for example, had 45,000 subscribers and a total circulation of 150,000.[15] One Unity Church magazine, Wee Wisdom, was the longest-lived children's magazine in the United States, published from 1893 until 1991.[19] Today, New Thought magazines include Daily Word published by Unity and the Religious Science magazine, Science of Mind, published by the Centers for Spiritual Living.
Major gatherings[edit]
The 1915 International New Thought Alliance (INTA) conference – held in conjunction with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, a world's fair that took place in San Francisco – featured New Thought speakers from far and wide. The PPIE organizers were so favorably impressed by the INTA convention that they declared a special "New Thought Day" at the fair and struck a commemorative bronze medal for the occasion, which was presented to the INTA delegates, led by Annie Rix Militz.[20] By 1916, the International New Thought Alliance had encompassed many smaller groups around the world, adopting a creed known as the "Declaration of Principles".[12] The Alliance is held together by one central teaching: that people, through the constructive use of their minds, can attain freedom, power, health, prosperity, and all good, molding their bodies as well as the circumstances of their lives. The declaration was revised in 1957, with all references to Christianity removed, and a new statement based on the "inseparable oneness of God and Man".[12]
Belief systems[edit]
New Thought
Divinity
Omnipresent God
Ultimate Spirit
Higher consciousness
Beliefs
Law of attraction
Life force ("energy")
Activities
Affirmations
Affirmative prayer
Creative visualization
Personal magnetism
Positive thinking
Glossary
v ·
t ·
e
The chief tenets of New Thought are:[21]
Infinite Intelligence or God is omnipotent and omnipresent.
Spirit is the ultimate reality.
True human self-hood is divine.
Divinely attuned thought is a positive force for good.
All disease is mental in origin.
Right thinking has a healing effect.
Evolution of thought[edit]
Adherents also generally believe that as humankind gains greater understanding of the world, New Thought itself will evolve to assimilate new knowledge. Alan Anderson and Deb Whitehouse have described New Thought as a "process" in which each individual and even the New Thought Movement itself is "new every moment". Thomas McFaul has hypothesized "continuous revelation", with new insights being received by individuals continuously over time. Jean Houston has spoken of the "possible human", or what we are capable of becoming.[22]
Theological inclusionism[edit]
The Home of Truth has, from its inception as the Pacific Coast Metaphysical Bureau in the 1880s, under the leadership of Annie Rix Militz, disseminated the teachings of the Hindu teacher Swami Vivekananda.[23] It is one of the more outspokenly interfaith of New Thought organizations, stating adherence to "the principle that Truth is Truth where ever it is found and who ever is sharing it".[24][not in citation given] Joel S. Goldsmith's The Infinite Way incorporates teaching from Christian Science, as well.
Therapeutic ideas[edit]
Divine Science, Unity Church, and Religious Science are organizations that developed from the New Thought movement. Each teaches that Infinite Intelligence, or God, is the sole reality. New Thought adherents believe that sickness is the result of the failure to realize this truth. In this line of thinking, healing is accomplished by the affirmation of oneness with the Infinite Intelligence or God.[citation needed]
John Bovee Dods (1795–1862), an early practitioner of New Thought, wrote several books on the idea that disease originates in the electrical impulses of the nervous system and is therefore curable by a change of belief.[citation needed] Later New Thought teachers, such as the early 20th century author, editor, and publisher William Walker Atkinson, accepted this premise. He connected his idea of mental states of being with his understanding of the new scientific discoveries in electromagnetism and neural processes.[25]
Movement[edit]
New Thought publishing and educational activities reach approximately 2.5 million people annually.[26] The largest New Thought-oriented denomination is Seicho-no-Ie.[27] Other belief systems within the New Thought movement include Jewish Science, Religious Science, Centers for Spiritual Living and Unity. Past denominations have included Psychiana and Father Divine.
Religious Science operates under three main organizations: the United Centers for Spiritual Living; the Affiliated New Thought Network; and Global Religious Science Ministries. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, stated that Religious Science is not based on any "authority" of established beliefs, but rather on "what it can accomplish" for the people who practice it.[28] The Science of Mind, authored by Ernest Holmes, while based on a philosophy of being "open at the top", focuses extensively on the teachings of Jesus Christ.[29]
Unity, founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, identifies itself as "Christian New Thought", focused on "Christian idealism", with the Bible as one of its main texts, although not interpreted literally. The other core text is Lessons in Truth by H. Emilie Cady.
See also[edit]
Apotheosis
Grace Mann Brown
Christian Science
Divinization (Christian)
Iyanla Vanzant
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emmet Fox
Charles F. Haanel
Napoleon Hill
Law of Attraction
The Law of One
Joseph Murphy (author)
New religious movement
Panentheism
Prosperity Theology
Religious Science
Theosophy
Universalism
Wallace Wattles
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ New "New Thought: The three largest New Thought heirs to Christian Science—Unity Church, Religious Science and Divine Science—count among them about 780 churches and between 130,000 and 150,000 members in the U.S., according to a 1996 almanac of American religions." (adherents.com)
2.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon, Jerome Clark & Aidan A. Kelly. New Age Almanac; New York: Visible Ink Press (1991); pg. 343. "The International New Thought Alliance, a loose association of New Thought institutions and individuals (approximately 350 institutional members), exists as a voluntary membership organization [to advance New Thought ideals]."
3.Jump up ^ Conkin, Paul K. American Originals: Homemade Varieties of Christianity, The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC (1997); pg. 269. "An International New Thought Alliance still exists, with offices in Arizona, a periodical, and around 200 affiliated societies, some of which still use the label 'church'".
4.Jump up ^ Dresser, Horatio Willis (1919), A History of the New Thought Movement, TY Crowell Co, p. 154, "In England the term Higher Thought was preferred at first, and this name was chosen for the Higher Thought Centre, the first organization of its kind in England. This name did not however represent a change in point of view, and the movement in England has been similar to the therapeutic movement elsewhere."
5.^ Jump up to: a b Declaration of Principles, International New Thought Alliance, retrieved 2008–09 Check date values in: |accessdate= (help).
6.^ Jump up to: a b "Statement of beliefs", New Thought info, retrieved 2008–09 Check date values in: |accessdate= (help).
7.Jump up ^ Lewis, James R; Peterson, Jesper Aagaard (2004), Controversial New Religions, p. 226.
8.Jump up ^ James, William (1929), The Varieties of Religious Experience, New York: U Virginia, pp. 92–93.
9.Jump up ^ "Phineas Parkhurt Quimby". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 2009-11-01. Retrieved Nov 16, 2007.
10.Jump up ^ Phineas, Quimby (2008). "Christ or Science". The Quimby Manuscripts. Forgotten Books. p. 183. ISBN 1-60506-915-9. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
11.Jump up ^ ‘Quimby’s son and defender said categorically, “The religion which [Mrs. Eddy] teaches certainly is hers, for which I cannot be too thankful; for I should be loath to go down to my grave feeling that my father was in any way connected with ‘Christian Science.’...In [Quimby’s method of] curing the sick, religion played no part. There were no prayers, there was no asking assistance from God or any other divinity. He cured by his wisdom.” (Dresser, Horatio W., ed. The Quimby Manuscripts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company Publishers, 1921. - p436). "Christian Science is a religious teaching and only incidentally a healing method. Quimbyism was a healing method and only incidentally a religious teaching. If one examines the religious implications or aspects of Quimby’s thought, it is clear that in these terms it has nothing whatever in common with Christian Science.” (Gottschalk, Stephen. The Emergence of Christian Science in American Religious Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973 - p130). A good composite of both Quimby, and the incompatibility of his ideas and practice with those of Eddy, can be found in these sources: Taves, Ann, Fits, Trances, & Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James. Princeton University Press 1999 (pp 212-218); Peel, Robert. Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery. Boston: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966 (chapter, “Portland 1862”); Gill, Gillian. Mary Baker Eddy. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books, 1998 (pp 131-146 & 230-233).
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lewis, James R.; J. Gordon Melton (1992). Perspectives on the New Age. SUNY Press. pp. 16–18. ISBN 0-7914-1213-X.
13.Jump up ^ Harley, Gail M.; Danny L. Jorgensen (2002). Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought. Syracuse University Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-8156-2933-8.
14.Jump up ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1999). The Religious Imagination of American Women. Indiana University Press. p. 81. ISBN 0-253-21338-X.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Moskowitz, Eva S. (2001) In Therapy We Trust, The Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-0-8018-6403-2, p. 19.
16.Jump up ^ William Walker Atkinson. Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction. Advanced Thought Publishing. 1906. Full text public domain version online.
17.Jump up ^ "William Walter Atkinson", WorldCat. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
18.Jump up ^ MacLelland, Bruce, Prosperity Through Thought Force, Elizabeth Towne, 1907
19.Jump up ^ Miller, Timothy (1995) America's Alternative Religions, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4, p. 327.
20.Jump up ^ Dresser, Horatio, History of the New Thought Movement, 1919
21.Jump up ^ "New Thought". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 2009-11-01. Retrieved Nov 16, 2007.
22.Jump up ^ Houston, Jean. The Possible Human. 1997.
23.Jump up ^ The Home of Truth, Our History
24.Jump up ^ Home of Truth home page. Retrieved on 2007-09-20 from http://thehomeoftruth.org/.
25.Jump up ^ Dumont, Theron, Q. [pseudonym of William Walker Atkinson. Mental Therapeutics, or Just How to Heal Oneself and Others. Advanced Thought Publishing Co. Chicago. 1916.
26.Jump up ^ Goldberg, P. (2010) American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Random House Digital, Inc. p 62.
27.Jump up ^ "Masaharu Taniguchi." Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
28.Jump up ^ Vahle, Neal (1993). Open at the top: The life of Ernest Holmes, Open View Press, 190 pages, p7.
29.Jump up ^ Holmes, Ernest (1926) The Science of Mind ISBN 0-87477-865-4, pp. 327–346 "What the Mystics Have Taught".
Bibliography[edit]
Albanese, Catherine (2007), A Republic of Mind and Spirit, Yale University Press.
Anderson, Alan and Deb Whitehouse. New Thought: A Practical American Spirituality. 2003.
Braden, Charles S. Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought, Southern Methodist University Press, 1963.
Judah, J. Stillson. The History and Philosophy of the Metaphysical Movements in America. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1967. Review by Neil Duddy.
McFaul, Thomas R (September–October 2006), "Religion in the Future Global Civilization", The Futurist.
Mosley, Glenn R (2006), The History and Future New Thought: Ancient Wisdom of the New Thought Movement, Templeton Foundation Press, ISBN 1-59947-089-6
White, Ronald M (1980), "Abstract", New Thought Influences on Father Divine (Masters Thesis), Oxford, OH: Miami University.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Thought.
Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article New-Thought.
INTA New Thought History Chart, Web site.
Association For Global New Thought.
New Thought Unity and Divine Science Writings, Tiger’s eye dowsing.
NewThought.info Global Outreach.
New Thought Library.
New Thought at DMOZ
New Thought History.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought
New Thought
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The New Thought movement is a spiritual movement which developed in the United States in the 19th century, following the teachings of Phineas Quimby. The three major organizations within New Thought movement today are Religious Science, Unity Church and the Church of Divine Science, with an estimated number of some 1,500,000 adherents in the United States among them.[1] There are numerous smaller groups, most of which are incorporated in the International New Thought Alliance.[2][3]
The concept of New Thought (sometimes known as "Higher Thought"[4]) promotes the ideas that Infinite Intelligence, or God, is everywhere, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and "right thinking" has a healing effect.[5][6]
Although New Thought is neither monolithic nor doctrinaire, in general, modern-day adherents of New Thought believe that God or Infinite Intelligence is "supreme, universal, and everlasting", that divinity dwells within each person, that all people are spiritual beings, that "the highest spiritual principle [is] loving one another unconditionally... and teaching and healing one another", and that "our mental states are carried forward into manifestation and become our experience in daily living".[5][6]
The New Thought movement originated in the early 19th century, and survives to the current day in the form of a loosely allied group of religious denominations, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of beliefs concerning metaphysics, positive thinking, the law of attraction, healing, life force, creative visualization, and personal power.[7]
The teachings of Christian Science are similar to and partially based on Quimby's teachings, as its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, was a student of Quimby's. However, it is considered distinct from the New Thought movement in its explicit theism and its attempt to position itself as a return to Early Christianity.
Contents [hide]
1 Overview
2 History 2.1 Origins
2.2 Growth
2.3 Major gatherings
3 Belief systems 3.1 Evolution of thought
3.2 Theological inclusionism
3.3 Therapeutic ideas
4 Movement
5 See also
6 References
7 Bibliography
8 External links
Overview[edit]
William James, in The Varieties of Religious Experience, described New Thought as follows:
...for the sake of having a brief designation, I will give the title of the "Mind-cure movement." There are various sects of this "New Thought," to use another of the names by which it calls itself; but their agreements are so profound that their differences may be neglected for my present purpose, and I will treat the movement, without apology, as if it were a simple thing.
It is an optimistic scheme of life, with both a speculative and a practical side. In its gradual development during the last quarter of a century, it has taken up into itself a number of contributory elements, and it must now be reckoned with as a genuine religious power. It has reached the stage, for example, when the demand for its literature is great enough for insincere stuff, mechanically produced for the market, to be to a certain extent supplied by publishers – a phenomenon never observed, I imagine, until a religion has got well past its earliest insecure beginnings.
One of the doctrinal sources of Mind-cure is the four Gospels; another is Emersonianism or New England transcendentalism; another is Berkeleyan idealism; another is spiritism, with its messages of "law" and "progress" and "development"; another the optimistic popular science evolutionism of which I have recently spoken; and, finally, Hinduism has contributed a strain. But the most characteristic feature of the mind-cure movement is an inspiration much more direct. The leaders in this faith have had an intuitive belief in the all-saving power of healthy-minded attitudes as such, in the conquering efficacy of courage, hope, and trust, and a correlative contempt for doubt, fear, worry, and all nervously precautionary states of mind. Their belief has in a general way been corroborated by the practical experience of their disciples; and this experience forms to-day a mass imposing in amount.[8]
History[edit]
Main article: History of New Thought
Origins[edit]
The New Thought movement was based on the teachings of Phineas Quimby (1802–66), an American mesmerist and healer. Quimby had developed a belief system which included the tenet that illness originated in the mind as a consequence of erroneous beliefs and that a mind open to God's wisdom could overcome any illness.[9] His basic premise was:
The trouble is in the mind, for the body is only the house for the mind to dwell in [...] Therefore, if your mind had been deceived by some invisible enemy into a belief, you have put it into the form of a disease, with or without your knowledge. By my theory or truth, I come in contact with your enemy, and restore you to health and happiness. This I do partly mentally, and partly by talking till I correct the wrong impression and establish the Truth, and the Truth is the cure.[10]
During the late 19th century, the metaphysical healing practices of Quimby mingled with the "Mental Science" of Warren Felt Evans, a Swedenborgian minister.[citation needed] Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, has sometimes been cited as having used Quimby as inspiration for theology. Eddy was a patient of Quimby’s and shared his view that disease is rooted in a mental cause. Because of its theism, Christian Science differs from the teachings of Quimby.[11]
In the late 19th century, New Thought was propelled along by a number of spiritual thinkers and philosophers and emerged through a variety of religious denominations and churches, particularly the Unity Church and Church of Divine Science (established in 1888 and 1889, respectively), followed by Religious Science (established in 1927). [12] Many of its early teachers and students were women; notable among the founders of the movement were Emma Curtis Hopkins, known as the "teacher of teachers", Myrtle Fillmore, Malinda Cramer, and Nona L. Brooks;[12] with many of its churches and community centers led by women, from the 1880s to today.[13][14]
Growth[edit]
See also: List of New Thought writers
New Thought is also largely a movement of the printed word.[15] The 1890s and the first decades of the 20th century saw many New Thought books published on the topics of self-help, financial success, and will-training books. New Thought authors such as Napoleon Hill, Wallace Wattles, Perry Joseph Green, Frank Channing Haddock, and Thomas Troward were extremely popular.
In 1906, William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932) wrote and published Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World.[16] Atkinson was the editor of New Thought magazine and the author of more than 100 books on an assortment of religious, spiritual, and occult topics.[17] The following year, Elizabeth Towne, the editor of The Nautilus, published Bruce MacLelland's book Prosperity Through Thought Force, in which he summarized the "Law of Attraction" as a New Thought principle, stating "You are what you think, not what you think you are."[18]
These magazines were used to reach a large audience then, as others are now. Nautilus magazine, for example, had 45,000 subscribers and a total circulation of 150,000.[15] One Unity Church magazine, Wee Wisdom, was the longest-lived children's magazine in the United States, published from 1893 until 1991.[19] Today, New Thought magazines include Daily Word published by Unity and the Religious Science magazine, Science of Mind, published by the Centers for Spiritual Living.
Major gatherings[edit]
The 1915 International New Thought Alliance (INTA) conference – held in conjunction with the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, a world's fair that took place in San Francisco – featured New Thought speakers from far and wide. The PPIE organizers were so favorably impressed by the INTA convention that they declared a special "New Thought Day" at the fair and struck a commemorative bronze medal for the occasion, which was presented to the INTA delegates, led by Annie Rix Militz.[20] By 1916, the International New Thought Alliance had encompassed many smaller groups around the world, adopting a creed known as the "Declaration of Principles".[12] The Alliance is held together by one central teaching: that people, through the constructive use of their minds, can attain freedom, power, health, prosperity, and all good, molding their bodies as well as the circumstances of their lives. The declaration was revised in 1957, with all references to Christianity removed, and a new statement based on the "inseparable oneness of God and Man".[12]
Belief systems[edit]
New Thought
Divinity
Omnipresent God
Ultimate Spirit
Higher consciousness
Beliefs
Law of attraction
Life force ("energy")
Activities
Affirmations
Affirmative prayer
Creative visualization
Personal magnetism
Positive thinking
Glossary
v ·
t ·
e
The chief tenets of New Thought are:[21]
Infinite Intelligence or God is omnipotent and omnipresent.
Spirit is the ultimate reality.
True human self-hood is divine.
Divinely attuned thought is a positive force for good.
All disease is mental in origin.
Right thinking has a healing effect.
Evolution of thought[edit]
Adherents also generally believe that as humankind gains greater understanding of the world, New Thought itself will evolve to assimilate new knowledge. Alan Anderson and Deb Whitehouse have described New Thought as a "process" in which each individual and even the New Thought Movement itself is "new every moment". Thomas McFaul has hypothesized "continuous revelation", with new insights being received by individuals continuously over time. Jean Houston has spoken of the "possible human", or what we are capable of becoming.[22]
Theological inclusionism[edit]
The Home of Truth has, from its inception as the Pacific Coast Metaphysical Bureau in the 1880s, under the leadership of Annie Rix Militz, disseminated the teachings of the Hindu teacher Swami Vivekananda.[23] It is one of the more outspokenly interfaith of New Thought organizations, stating adherence to "the principle that Truth is Truth where ever it is found and who ever is sharing it".[24][not in citation given] Joel S. Goldsmith's The Infinite Way incorporates teaching from Christian Science, as well.
Therapeutic ideas[edit]
Divine Science, Unity Church, and Religious Science are organizations that developed from the New Thought movement. Each teaches that Infinite Intelligence, or God, is the sole reality. New Thought adherents believe that sickness is the result of the failure to realize this truth. In this line of thinking, healing is accomplished by the affirmation of oneness with the Infinite Intelligence or God.[citation needed]
John Bovee Dods (1795–1862), an early practitioner of New Thought, wrote several books on the idea that disease originates in the electrical impulses of the nervous system and is therefore curable by a change of belief.[citation needed] Later New Thought teachers, such as the early 20th century author, editor, and publisher William Walker Atkinson, accepted this premise. He connected his idea of mental states of being with his understanding of the new scientific discoveries in electromagnetism and neural processes.[25]
Movement[edit]
New Thought publishing and educational activities reach approximately 2.5 million people annually.[26] The largest New Thought-oriented denomination is Seicho-no-Ie.[27] Other belief systems within the New Thought movement include Jewish Science, Religious Science, Centers for Spiritual Living and Unity. Past denominations have included Psychiana and Father Divine.
Religious Science operates under three main organizations: the United Centers for Spiritual Living; the Affiliated New Thought Network; and Global Religious Science Ministries. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Religious Science, stated that Religious Science is not based on any "authority" of established beliefs, but rather on "what it can accomplish" for the people who practice it.[28] The Science of Mind, authored by Ernest Holmes, while based on a philosophy of being "open at the top", focuses extensively on the teachings of Jesus Christ.[29]
Unity, founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, identifies itself as "Christian New Thought", focused on "Christian idealism", with the Bible as one of its main texts, although not interpreted literally. The other core text is Lessons in Truth by H. Emilie Cady.
See also[edit]
Apotheosis
Grace Mann Brown
Christian Science
Divinization (Christian)
Iyanla Vanzant
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Emmet Fox
Charles F. Haanel
Napoleon Hill
Law of Attraction
The Law of One
Joseph Murphy (author)
New religious movement
Panentheism
Prosperity Theology
Religious Science
Theosophy
Universalism
Wallace Wattles
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ New "New Thought: The three largest New Thought heirs to Christian Science—Unity Church, Religious Science and Divine Science—count among them about 780 churches and between 130,000 and 150,000 members in the U.S., according to a 1996 almanac of American religions." (adherents.com)
2.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon, Jerome Clark & Aidan A. Kelly. New Age Almanac; New York: Visible Ink Press (1991); pg. 343. "The International New Thought Alliance, a loose association of New Thought institutions and individuals (approximately 350 institutional members), exists as a voluntary membership organization [to advance New Thought ideals]."
3.Jump up ^ Conkin, Paul K. American Originals: Homemade Varieties of Christianity, The University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC (1997); pg. 269. "An International New Thought Alliance still exists, with offices in Arizona, a periodical, and around 200 affiliated societies, some of which still use the label 'church'".
4.Jump up ^ Dresser, Horatio Willis (1919), A History of the New Thought Movement, TY Crowell Co, p. 154, "In England the term Higher Thought was preferred at first, and this name was chosen for the Higher Thought Centre, the first organization of its kind in England. This name did not however represent a change in point of view, and the movement in England has been similar to the therapeutic movement elsewhere."
5.^ Jump up to: a b Declaration of Principles, International New Thought Alliance, retrieved 2008–09 Check date values in: |accessdate= (help).
6.^ Jump up to: a b "Statement of beliefs", New Thought info, retrieved 2008–09 Check date values in: |accessdate= (help).
7.Jump up ^ Lewis, James R; Peterson, Jesper Aagaard (2004), Controversial New Religions, p. 226.
8.Jump up ^ James, William (1929), The Varieties of Religious Experience, New York: U Virginia, pp. 92–93.
9.Jump up ^ "Phineas Parkhurt Quimby". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 2009-11-01. Retrieved Nov 16, 2007.
10.Jump up ^ Phineas, Quimby (2008). "Christ or Science". The Quimby Manuscripts. Forgotten Books. p. 183. ISBN 1-60506-915-9. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
11.Jump up ^ ‘Quimby’s son and defender said categorically, “The religion which [Mrs. Eddy] teaches certainly is hers, for which I cannot be too thankful; for I should be loath to go down to my grave feeling that my father was in any way connected with ‘Christian Science.’...In [Quimby’s method of] curing the sick, religion played no part. There were no prayers, there was no asking assistance from God or any other divinity. He cured by his wisdom.” (Dresser, Horatio W., ed. The Quimby Manuscripts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company Publishers, 1921. - p436). "Christian Science is a religious teaching and only incidentally a healing method. Quimbyism was a healing method and only incidentally a religious teaching. If one examines the religious implications or aspects of Quimby’s thought, it is clear that in these terms it has nothing whatever in common with Christian Science.” (Gottschalk, Stephen. The Emergence of Christian Science in American Religious Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973 - p130). A good composite of both Quimby, and the incompatibility of his ideas and practice with those of Eddy, can be found in these sources: Taves, Ann, Fits, Trances, & Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James. Princeton University Press 1999 (pp 212-218); Peel, Robert. Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery. Boston: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966 (chapter, “Portland 1862”); Gill, Gillian. Mary Baker Eddy. Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books, 1998 (pp 131-146 & 230-233).
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d Lewis, James R.; J. Gordon Melton (1992). Perspectives on the New Age. SUNY Press. pp. 16–18. ISBN 0-7914-1213-X.
13.Jump up ^ Harley, Gail M.; Danny L. Jorgensen (2002). Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought. Syracuse University Press. p. 79. ISBN 0-8156-2933-8.
14.Jump up ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1999). The Religious Imagination of American Women. Indiana University Press. p. 81. ISBN 0-253-21338-X.
15.^ Jump up to: a b Moskowitz, Eva S. (2001) In Therapy We Trust, The Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN 978-0-8018-6403-2, p. 19.
16.Jump up ^ William Walker Atkinson. Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction. Advanced Thought Publishing. 1906. Full text public domain version online.
17.Jump up ^ "William Walter Atkinson", WorldCat. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
18.Jump up ^ MacLelland, Bruce, Prosperity Through Thought Force, Elizabeth Towne, 1907
19.Jump up ^ Miller, Timothy (1995) America's Alternative Religions, State University of New York Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4, p. 327.
20.Jump up ^ Dresser, Horatio, History of the New Thought Movement, 1919
21.Jump up ^ "New Thought". MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 2009-11-01. Retrieved Nov 16, 2007.
22.Jump up ^ Houston, Jean. The Possible Human. 1997.
23.Jump up ^ The Home of Truth, Our History
24.Jump up ^ Home of Truth home page. Retrieved on 2007-09-20 from http://thehomeoftruth.org/.
25.Jump up ^ Dumont, Theron, Q. [pseudonym of William Walker Atkinson. Mental Therapeutics, or Just How to Heal Oneself and Others. Advanced Thought Publishing Co. Chicago. 1916.
26.Jump up ^ Goldberg, P. (2010) American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Random House Digital, Inc. p 62.
27.Jump up ^ "Masaharu Taniguchi." Religious Leaders of America, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
28.Jump up ^ Vahle, Neal (1993). Open at the top: The life of Ernest Holmes, Open View Press, 190 pages, p7.
29.Jump up ^ Holmes, Ernest (1926) The Science of Mind ISBN 0-87477-865-4, pp. 327–346 "What the Mystics Have Taught".
Bibliography[edit]
Albanese, Catherine (2007), A Republic of Mind and Spirit, Yale University Press.
Anderson, Alan and Deb Whitehouse. New Thought: A Practical American Spirituality. 2003.
Braden, Charles S. Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought, Southern Methodist University Press, 1963.
Judah, J. Stillson. The History and Philosophy of the Metaphysical Movements in America. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1967. Review by Neil Duddy.
McFaul, Thomas R (September–October 2006), "Religion in the Future Global Civilization", The Futurist.
Mosley, Glenn R (2006), The History and Future New Thought: Ancient Wisdom of the New Thought Movement, Templeton Foundation Press, ISBN 1-59947-089-6
White, Ronald M (1980), "Abstract", New Thought Influences on Father Divine (Masters Thesis), Oxford, OH: Miami University.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Thought.
Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article New-Thought.
INTA New Thought History Chart, Web site.
Association For Global New Thought.
New Thought Unity and Divine Science Writings, Tiger’s eye dowsing.
NewThought.info Global Outreach.
New Thought Library.
New Thought at DMOZ
New Thought History.
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Cult
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"Cult leader" redirects here. For the American 2010s metal band, see Cult Leader.
For the original sense of "religious practice", see Cult (religious practice). For religious groups with modern origins see New religious movementand List of new religious movements. For other uses see Cult (disambiguation).
In the sociological classifications of religious movements, a cultis a religiousor social groupwith socially deviantor novelbeliefs and practices.[1]However, whether any particular group's beliefs and practices are sufficiently deviant or novel is often unclear, thus making a precise definition problematic.[2][3]In the English speaking world, the word often carries derogatory connotations.[4][5]The word "cult" has always been controversial because it is (in a pejorativesense) considered a subjective term, used as an ad hominemattack against groups with differing doctrines or practices, which lacks a clear or consistent definition.[6][7]
Beginning in the 1930s, cults became the object of sociological studyin the context of the study of religious behavior.[8]Certain groups have been labelled as cults and have been opposed by the Christian countercult movementfor their unorthodox beliefs. Since the 1970s, some groups have been opposed by the anti-cult movement, partly motivated in reaction to acts of violence committed by members of some groups. Some of the claims by the anti-cult movement have been disputed by other scholars and by the news media, leading to further controversy. Public and governmental reactions to the cult issue have also been a source of controversy.
Contents [hide]
1Terminological history
2New religious movements
3Scholarly studies
4Anti-cult movements4.1Christian countercult movement
4.2Secular anti-cult movement
4.3Former members
5Stigmatization and discrimination
6Doomsday cults
7Political cults
8Destructive cults8.1Criticism of the term
8.2Destructive cults and terrorism
9Government policy9.1Cults and US law
10See also
11Footnotes
12References
13Bibliography
Terminological history[edit]
Further information: Cult (religious practice), Sociological classifications of religious movements, Holiness movement, Faith healing, Anti-cult movementand ritual abuse panic
Howard P. Becker's church-sect typology, based on Ernst Troeltschoriginal theory and upon which the modern concept of cults, sects, and new religious movements is based.
The word "cult" was originally used not to describe a group of religionists, but for the act of worshipor religious ceremony. It was first used in the early 17th century, borrowed via the Frenchculte,from Latincultus(worship). This, in turn, was derived from the adjective cultus(inhabited, cultivated, worshiped), based on the verb colere(care, cultivate).[9]The word "culture" is also derived from the Latin words culturaand cultus, which in general terms refers to the customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group.[10]Most of the Romance languagescurrently use various spellings of the word "cult" (such as "culto") to refer to worship or sometimes to a ritualwithout any pejorative meaning at all, resulting in a class of false friends.[citation needed]
While the literal sense of the word in English is still in use, a derived sense of "excessive devotion" arose in the 19th century. The terms cultand cultistcame to be used in medical literaturein the United States in the 1930s for what would now be termed faith healing, especially for the US Holiness movement. This experienced a surge of popularity at the time, but extended to other forms of alternative medicineas well.[11]
The concept of a "cult" as a sociological classificationwas introduced in 1932 by American sociologist Howard P. Beckeras an expansion of German theologian Ernst Troeltsch's church-sect typology. Troeltsch's aim was to distinguish between three main types of religious behavior: churchly, sectarianand mystical. Becker created four categories out of Troeltsch's first two by splitting churchinto "ecclesia" and "denomination", and sectinto "sect" and "cult".[12]Like Troeltsch's "mystical religion", Becker's cults were small religious groups lacking in organization and emphasizing the private nature of personal beliefs.[13]Later sociological formulations built on these characteristics, placing an additional emphasis on cults as deviantreligious groups "deriving their inspiration from outside of the predominant religious culture".[14]This is often thought to lead to a high degree of tension between the group and the more mainstream culture surrounding it, a characteristic shared with religious sects.[15]In this sociological terminology, sectsare products of religious schismand therefore maintain a continuity with traditionalbeliefs and practices, while cultsarise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices.[16]
By the late 1930s, the Christian countercult movementbegan using the term cultto what would formerly have been termed heresy.[17]From this time (i.e., from the perspective of the Christian anti-cult movement), the term "cultist" acquired the connotation of Satanism.[18]This usage became mainstream by the 1960s, via the best-selling The Kingdom of the Cults(1965). This terminological development, which had so far been characteristic of the religious sociology of the United States, entered international use with the "ritual abuse" moral panicof the 1980s, which originated in the United States. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the international spreadthroughout most of the Anglosphereand some parts of Europe.[19]
Also from the 1990s, as part of the discrimination discourseat the height of the US "culture war", US neopaganreligions, especially Wicca, began to protest through literature over the classification of these movements as cults as discriminatory,[20]because of this usage of "cult" began to be discouraged in favour of the neutral new religious movementin sociological literature.[21]Proponents of such an approach within the study of new religious movements have in turn been denounced as "procult apologists" by adherents of the Christian anti-cult movement.[22]An anti-cult movement comparable to the one in the United States originated in Russiain the 1990s.[23]In 2008, the Russian Interior Ministryprepared a list of "extremist groups", which included groups adhering to militant Islamismand "Pagan cults".[24]
New religious movements[edit]
Main article: New religious movement
Most sociologists and scholars of religion also began to reject the word "cult" altogether because of its negative connotations in mass culture.[25]Some began to advocate the use of new terms like "new religious movement", "alternative religion" or "novel religion" to describe most of the groups that had come to be referred to as "cults",[26]yet none of these terms have had much success in popular culture or in the media. Other scholars have pushed to redeem the word "cult" as one fit for neutral academic discourse.[27]
Using the term new religious movement instead of cult does not remove all negative perceptions. In a survey study containing 258 participants, negative perceptions of the terms "new religious movement", "cult" and "satanic cult" were found. However, these perceptions differed significantly (i.e., not due to chance) in how negative the participants perceived them. "New religious movement" was found to be the most favourable term, followed by "cult" and then "Satanic cult."[28]
Scholars usually consider the mid-1800s as the beginning of the era of new religious movements. During this time, spiritualismand esotericismwere becoming popular in Europe and North America.[29]Scholars have estimated that new religious movements, of which some but not all have been labelled as cults, number in the tens of thousands worldwide, most of which originated in Asia or Africa. The great majority have only a few members, some have thousands and only very few have more than a million.[30]In 2007, religious scholar Elijah Siegler commented that, although no new religious movement had become the dominant faith in any country, many of the concepts which they had first introduced (often referred to as "New Age" ideas) had become part of worldwide mainstream culture.[31]
Scholarly studies[edit]
Max Weber(1864–1920), one of the first scholars to study cults.
Pioneering sociologist Max Weber(1864–1920) found that cults based on charismaticleadership often follow the routinization of charisma.[32]Sociologist Roy Wallis(1945–1990) argued that a cult is characterized by "epistemologicalindividualism", meaning that "the cult has no clear locus of final authority beyond the individual member". Cults, according to Wallis, are generally described as "oriented towards the problems of individuals, loosely structured, tolerant [and] non-exclusive", making "few demands on members", without possessing a "clear distinction between members and non-members", having "a rapid turnover of membership" and as being transient collectives with vague boundaries and fluctuating belief systems. Wallis asserts that cults emerge from the "cultic milieu".[33][34]In their book Theory of Religion, American sociologists Rodney Starkand William Sims Bainbridgepropose that the formation of cults can be explained through the rational choice theory.[35]In The Future of Religionthey comment "...in the beginning, all religions are obscure, tiny, deviant cult movements."[36]
In the early 1960s, sociologist John Loflandlived with South KoreanmissionaryYoung Oon Kimand some of the first American Unification Churchmembers in California, during which he studied their activities in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members.[37]Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships.[38]Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctoral thesis entitled: "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes", and in 1966 in book form by Prentice-Hallas Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization and Maintenance of Faith. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion.[39][40]
Dick Anthony, a forensicpsychologistnoted for his writings on the brainwashingcontroversy,[41][42]has defended some so-called cults, and in 1988 argued that involvement in such movements may often have beneficial, rather than harmful effects: "There's a large research literature published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part the effects seem to be positive in any way that's measurable."[43]
Anti-cult movements[edit]
Christian countercult movement[edit]
Main article: Christian countercult movement
Walter Martin(1928–1989), American author and leading figure in the Christian countercult movement.
In the 1940s, the long held opposition by some established Christian denominations to non-Christian religions and/or supposedly heretical, or counterfeit, Christian sects crystallized into a more organized Christian countercult movementin the United States. For those belonging to the movement, all religious groups claiming to be Christian, but deemed outside of Christian orthodoxy, were considered cults.[44]Christian cults are new religious movements which have a Christian background but are considered to be theologicallydeviant by members of other Christian churches.[45]In his influential book The Kingdom of the Cults(first published in the United States in 1965), Christian scholar Walter Martindefines Christian cults as groups that follow the personal interpretation of an individual, rather than the understanding of the Bibleaccepted by mainstream Christianity. He mentions The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian Universalism, and Unityas examples.[46]
The Christian countercult movement asserts that Christian sects whose beliefs are partially or wholly not in accordance with the Bibleare erroneous. It also states that a religious sect can be considered a cult if its beliefs involve a denial of what they view as any of the essential Christianteachings such as salvation, the Trinity, Jesushimself as a person, the ministry of Jesus, the Miracles of Jesus, the Crucifixion of Jesus, the Death of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture.[47][48][49]
Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionaryor apologeticpurpose.[50]It presents a rebuttal by emphasizing the teachings of the Bibleagainst the beliefs of non-fundamental Christian sects. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelizeto followers of cults.[51][52][53]
Secular anti-cult movement[edit]
Main article: Anti-cult movement
In the early 1970s, a secular opposition movement to groups considered cults had taken shape. The organizations that formed the secular "anti-cult movement" (ACM) often acted on behalf of relatives of "cult" convertswho did not believe their loved ones could have altered their lives so drastically by their own free will. A few psychologistsand sociologists working in this field suggested that brainwashingtechniques were used to maintain the loyalty of cult members,[54]while others rejected the idea. The belief that cults brainwashed their members became a unifying theme among cult critics and in the more extreme corners of the anti-cult movement techniques like the sometimes forceful "deprogramming" of cult members became standard practice.[55]
In the mass media, and among average citizens, "cult" gained an increasingly negative connotation, becoming associated with things like kidnapping, brainwashing, psychological abuse, sexual abuseand other criminal activity, and mass suicide. While most of these negative qualities usually have real documented precedents in the activities of a very small minority of new religious groups, mass culture often extends them to any religious group viewed as culturally deviant, however peaceful or law abiding it may be.[56][57][58]
Secular cult opponents like those belonging to the anti-cult movementusually define a "cult" as a group that tends to manipulate, exploit, and control its members. Specific factors in cult behavior are said to include manipulative and authoritarian mind controlover members, communaland totalistic organization, aggressive proselytizing, systematic programs of indoctrination, and perpetuation in middle-classcommunities.[59][60][61][62]According to anti-cult group ICSA, methods of control employed by some cults may involve intensive ideological indoctrination, psychological intimidation, social humiliation and punishment, limitation of access to information, and outright deception. All of these methods may be applied by one member upon another, but they are often also internalized to such an extent that members do not believe that any coercion is actually taking place, as is common in many forms of social control.[63][64]
The media was quick to follow suit,[65]and social scientistssympathetic to the anti-cult movement, who were usually psychologists, developed more sophisticated models of brainwashing.[61]
While some psychologists were receptive to these theories, sociologists were for the most part sceptical of their ability to explain conversion to NRMs.[66]In the late 1980s, psychologists and sociologists started to abandon theories like brainwashing and mind-control. While scholars may believe that various less dramatic coercivepsychological mechanisms could influence group members, they came to see conversion to new religious movements principally as an act of a rational choice.[67][68]
Some scholars favour one particular view, or combined elements of each. According to Marc Galanter, Professor of Psychiatry at NYU,[69]typical reasons why people join cults include a search for community and a spiritual quest. Sociologists Starkand Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which individuals join new religious groups, have even questioned the utility of the concept of conversion, suggesting that affiliationis a more useful concept.[70]
Former members[edit]
See also: Apostasy in alleged cults and new religious movements
Anson Shupe, David G. Bromleyand Joseph Ventimigliacoined the term atrocity talesin 1979,[71]which Bryan R. Wilsonlater took up in relation to former members' narratives. Bromley and Shupe defined an "atrocity tale" as the symbolic presentation of action or events (real or imaginary) in such a context that they come flagrantly to violate the (presumably) shared premises upon which a given set of social relationships should take place. The recounting of such tales has the intention of reaffirming normative boundaries. By sharing the reporter's disapproval or horror, an audience reasserts normative prescription and clearly locates the violator beyond the limits of public morality.[72][73]
Stigmatization and discrimination[edit]
2008 anti-Scientologyprotest in Austin, Texas, US
Because of the increasingly pejorative use of the words "cult" and "cult leader" since the cult debate of the 1970s, some academics, in addition to groups referred to as cults, argue that these are words to be avoided.[74][75]
Catherine Wessinger(Loyola University New Orleans) has stated that the word "cult" represents just as much prejudice and antagonism as racial slurs or derogatory words for women and homosexuals.[76]She has argued that it is important for people to become aware of the bigotry conveyed by the word, drawing attention to the way it dehumanises the group's members and their children.[76]Labeling a group as subhuman, she says, becomes a justification for violence against it.[76]
At the same time, she adds, labeling a group a "cult" makes people feel safe, because the "violence associated with religion is split off from conventional religions, projected onto others, and imagined to involve only aberrant groups."[76]This fails to take into account that child abuse, sexual abuse, financial extortion and warfare have also been committed by believers of mainstream religions, but the pejorative "cult" stereotype makes it easier to avoid confronting this uncomfortable fact.[76]
In the United Kingdom, the Crown Prosecution Serviceand the Edinburgh City Councilhave ruled that the word "cult" is not "threatening, abusive or insulting" as defined by the Public Order Act, and that there is no objection to its use in public protests.[77][78]
Sociologist Amy Ryan has argued for the need to differentiate those groups that may be dangerous from groups that are more benign.[79]Ryan notes the sharp differences between definition from cult opponents, who tend to focus on negative characteristics, and those of sociologists, who aim to create definitions that are value-free. The movements themselves may have different definitions of religion as well. George Chryssidesalso cites a need to develop better definitions to allow for common ground in the debate. These definitions have political and ethical impact beyond just scholarly debate. In Defining Religion in American Law, Bruce J. Casino presents the issue as crucial to international human rights laws. Limiting the definition of religion may interfere with freedom of religion, while too broad a definition may give some dangerous or abusive groups "a limitless excuse for avoiding all unwanted legal obligations".[80]
Doomsday cults[edit]
Main article: Doomsday cult
"Doomsday cult" is an expression used to describe groups who believe in Apocalypticismand Millenarianism, and can refer both to groups that prophesy catastropheand destruction, and to those that attempt to bring it about.[81]A 1997 psychological study by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter found that people turned to a cataclysmic world viewafter they had repeatedly failed to find meaning in mainstream movements.[82]Leon Festingerand his colleagues had observed members of a small UFO religioncalled the Seekersfor several months, and recorded their conversations both prior to and after a failed prophecy from their charismatic leader.[83]The group's members believed that most of the Western Hemispherewould be destroyed by a cataclysmicflood on December 21, 1955.[84][85]Their work was later published in the book When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World.[86]
Political cults[edit]
LaRouche Movementmembers in Stockholmprotesting the Treaty of Lisbon.
A political cult is a cult with a primary interest in political actionand ideology.[87][88]Groups that some writers have termed as "political cults," mostly advocating far-leftor far-rightagendas, have received some attention from journalists and scholars. In their 2000 book On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforthdiscuss about a dozen organizations in the United States and Great Britain that they characterize as cults.[89]In a separate article Tourish says that in his usage:
The word cult is not a term of abuse, as this paper tries to explain. It is nothing more than a shorthand expression for a particular set of practices that have been observed in a variety of dysfunctional organisations.[90]
The LaRouche Movement[91]and Gino Parente's National Labor Federation(NATLFED)[92]are examples of political groups that have been described as "cults", based in the United States; another is Marlene Dixon's now-defunct Democratic Workers Party(a critical history of the DWP is given in Bounded Choiceby Janja A. Lalich, a sociologist and former DWP member).[93]
The followers of Ayn Randwere characterized as a "cult" by economist Murray N. Rothbardduring her lifetime, and later by Michael Shermer.[94][95]The core group around Rand was called the "Collective" and is now defunct (the chief group disseminating Rand's ideas today is the Ayn Rand Institute). Although the Collective advocated an individualist philosophy, Rothbard claimed they were organized in the manner of a "Leninist" organization.[94]
In Britain, the Workers Revolutionary Party, a Trotskyistgroup led by the late Gerry Healyand strongly supported by actress Vanessa Redgrave, has been described by others, who have been involved in the Trotskyist movement, as having been a cult or as displaying cult-like characteristics in the 1970s and 1980s.[96]It is also described as such by Tourish and Wohlforth in their writings.[97]In his review of Tourish and Wohlforth's book, Bob Pitt, a former member of the WRP concedes that it had a "cult-like character" but argues that rather than being typical of the far left, this feature actually made the WRP atypical and "led to its being treated as a pariah within the revolutionary left itself."[98]Workers' Struggle(LO, Lutte ouvrière) in France, publicly headed by Arlette Laguillerbut revealed in the 1990s to be directed by Robert Barcia, has often been criticized as a cult, for example by Daniel Cohn-Benditand his older brother Gabriel Cohn-Bendit, as well as L'Humanitéand Libération.[99]
In his book Les Sectes Politiques: 1965–1995(translation: Political cults: 1965–1995), French writer Cyril Le Tallec considered some religious groups as cults involved in politics, including the League for Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Cultural Office of Cluny, New Acropolis, Sōka Gakkai, the Divine Light Mission, Tradition Family Property (TFP), Longo-Mai, the Supermen Club and the Association for Promotion of the Industrial Arts (Solazaref).[100]
In 1990 Lucy Patrick commented: "Although we live in a democracy, cult behavior manifests itself in our unwillingness to question the judgment of our leaders, our tendency to devalue outsiders and to avoid dissent. We can overcome cult behavior, he says, by recognizing that we have dependency needs that are inappropriate for mature people, by increasing anti-authoritarian education, and by encouraging personal autonomy and the free exchange of ideas.",[101]
Destructive cults[edit]
The Thuggeewere a criminal cult active in India for at least 500 years before being suppressed by the British in the 1830s.[102]
"Destructive cult" has generally referred to groups whose members have, through deliberate action, physically injured or killed other members of their own group or other people. The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerancelimit use of the term to specifically refer to religious groups that "have caused or are liable to cause loss of life among their membership or the general public."[103]PsychologistMichael Langone, executive director of the anti-cult group International Cultic Studies Association, defines a destructive cult as "a highly manipulative group which exploits and sometimes physically and/or psychologically damages members and recruits."[104]
John Gordon Clarkcited totalitariansystems of governance and an emphasis on money making as characteristics of a destructive cult.[105]In Cults and the Familythe authors cite Shapiro, who defines a "destructive cultism" as a sociopathicsyndrome, whose distinctive qualities include: "behavioral and personality changes, loss of personal identity, cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders."[106]
In the opinion of Benjamin Zablocki, a Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, destructive cults are at high risk of becoming abusive to members. He states that this is in part due to members' adulation of charismaticleaders contributing to the leaders becoming corrupted by power. Zablocki defines a cult as an ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and the demand of total commitment.[107]According to Barrett, the most common accusation made against destructive cults is sexual abuse. According to Kranenborg, some groups are risky when they advise their members not to use regular medical care.[108]
Criticism of the term[edit]
Some researchers have criticized the usage of the term "destructive cult", writing that it is used to describe groups which are not necessarily harmful in nature to themselves or others. In his book Understanding New Religious Movements, John A. Saliba writes that the term is overgeneralized. Saliba sees the Peoples Templeas the "paradigm of a destructive cult," where those that use the term are implying that other new religious movementswill have similar outcomes.[109]
Writing in the book Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field, contributor Julius H. Rubin complains that the term has been used to discredit certain groups in the court of public opinion.[110]In his work Cults in Contextauthor Lorne L. Dawson writes that although the Unification Church"has not been shown to be violent or volatile," it has been described as a destructive cult by "anticult crusaders."[111]
In 2002, the German government was held by Germany's Federal Constitutional Courtto have defamedthe Osho movementby referring to it, among other things, as a "destructive cult" with no factual basis.[112][113]
Destructive cults and terrorism[edit]
Poster by Shining Path
In the book Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History, psychiatristPeter A. Olssoncompares Osama bin Ladento certain cult leaders including Jim Jones, David Koresh, Shoko Asahara, Marshall Applewhite, Luc Jouretand Joseph Di Mambro. And says that each of these individuals fit at least eight of the nine criteria for narcissistic personality disorder.[114]In the book Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Societyauthors Goldberg and Crespo also refer to Osama bin Laden as a "destructive cult leader."[115]
At a 2002 meeting of the American Psychological Association(APA), anti-cultist Steven Hassansaid that Al Qaidafulfills the characteristics of a destructive cult. He added: "We need to apply what we know about destructive mind-control cults, and this should be a priority with the war on terrorism. We need to understand the psychological aspects of how people are recruited and indoctrinated so we can slow down recruitment. We need to help counsel former cult members and possibly use some of them in the war against terrorism."[116]
In an article on Al Qaida published in The Times, journalist Mary Ann Sieghartwrote that al-Qaida resembles a "classic cult", commenting: "Al-Qaida fits all the official definitions of a cult. It indoctrinates its members; it forms a closed, totalitarian society; it has a self-appointed, messianic and charismatic leader; and it believes that the ends justify the means."[117]
The Shining Pathguerrillamovement active in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s has been described variously as a "cult"[118]and an intense "cult of personality."[119]The Tamil Tigershave also been qualified as such by French magazine L'Express'[120]The People's Mujahedin of Iran, a leftist guerrilla movement based in Iraq, has been controversially described as a political cult and as a movement that is abusive towards its own members.[121][122][123][124]
Former Mujaheddinmember and now author and academic Dr. Masoud Banisadr stated in a May 2005 speech in Spain :
If you ask me: are all cults a terrorist organisation? My answer is no, as there are many peaceful cults at present around the world and in the history of mankind. But if you ask me are all terrorist organisations some sort of cult, my answer is yes. Even if they start as [an] ordinary modern political party or organisation, to prepare and force their members to act without asking any moral questions and act selflessly for the cause of the group and ignore all the ethical, cultural, moral or religious codes of the society and humanity, those organisations have to change into a cult. Therefore to understand an extremist or a terrorist organisation one has to learn about a Cult.[125]
Government policy[edit]
Official German leaflets warning against Islamic extremism, Scientology, and organized crime.
In the 1970s, the scientific status of the "brainwashing theory" became a central topic in U.S. court cases where the theory was used to try to justify the use of the forceful deprogrammingof cult members.[126][127]Meanwhile, sociologists critical of these theories assisted advocates of religious freedomin defending the legitimacy of new religious movements in court. While the official response to new religious groups has been mixed across the globe, some governments aligned more with the critics of these groups to the extent of distinguishing between "legitimate" religion and "dangerous", "unwanted" cults in public policy.[54][128]
France and Belgium have taken policy positions which accept "brainwashing" theories uncritically, while other European nations, like Sweden and Italy, are cautious about brainwashing and have adopted more neutral responses to new religions.[129]Scholars have suggested that outrage following the mass murder/suicides perpetuated by the Solar Temple[54][130]as well as the more latent xenophobic and anti-American attitudes have contributed significantly to the extremity of European anti-cult positions.[131]
For centuries, governments in China have categories certain religions as xiejiao(邪教) The term is sometimes translated as “evil cult,” but a more literal translation is “heterodox teaching.”[132]The classification of a religion as xiejiaodid not necessarily mean that a religion’s teachings were believed to be false or inauthentic, but rather, the label was applied to religious groups that were not authorized by the state, or that were seen as challenging the legitimacy of the state.[132]In modern China, the term xiejiaocontinues to be used to denote teachings that the government disapproves of, and these groups face suppression and punishment by authorities. Fourteen different groups in China have been listed by the ministry of public security as xiejiao.[133]In addition, in 1999, Chinese authorities denounced the Falun Gongspiritual practice as a heretical teaching, and began a campaign to eliminate it. According to Amnesty International, the persecution of Falun Gongincludes a multifaceted propaganda campaign,[134]a program of enforced ideological conversion and re-education, as well as a variety of extralegal coercive measures, such as arbitrary arrests, forced labour, and physical torture, sometimes resulting in death.[135]The Chinese government has sought to legitimize its treatment of Falun Gong by adopting the language of the Western anti-cult movement,[136]but Western scholars familiar with the group say that Falun Gong does not meet the definition of a cult.[137][138]
Sociologists critical to this negative politicized use of the word "cult" argue that it may adversely impact the religious freedoms of group members.[127][139][140][141]In the 1980s clergymen and officials of the French government expressed concern that some ordersand other groups within the Roman Catholic Churchwould be adversely affected by anti-cult laws then being considered.[142]
The application of the labels "cult" or "sect" to religious movements in government documents signifies the popular and negative use of the term "cult" in Englishand a functionally similar use of words translated as "sect" in several European languages.[143][144]While these documents utilize similar terminology they do not necessarily include the same groups nor is their assessment of these groups based on agreed criteria.[143][144]Other governments and world bodies also report on new religious movements but do not use these terms to describe the groups.[143]
At the height of the counter-cult movement and ritual abuse scare of the 1990s, some governments published lists of cults.[145]Since the 2000s, some governments have again distanced themselves from such classifications of religious movements.[146]
Cults and US law[edit]
In the United States religious activities of cults are protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits governmental establishment of religionand protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. However, cult members are not granted any special protection against criminal charges.[28][147]
See also[edit]
Anti-cult movement
Cult following
Cult of personality
Cults and new religious movements in literature and popular culture
List of new religious movements
New religious movement
Sect
Sociological classifications of religious movements
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^Stark, Rodney, William Brainbridge (1996). A Theory of Religion. Rutgers University Press. p. 124. ISBN 0813523303.
2.Jump up ^OED, citing American Journal of Sociology85 (1980), p. 1377: "Cults[...], like other deviant social movements, tend to recruit people with a grievance, people who suffer from a some variety of deprivation."
3.Jump up ^Dr. Chuck Shaw – Sects and Cults– Greenville Technical College – Retrieved 21 March 2013.
4.Jump up ^T.L. Brink (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach. "Unit 13: Social Psychology." pp 320 [6]
5.Jump up ^Olson, Paul J. 2006. "The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements”." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45 (1): 97–106
6.Jump up ^Dr. Chuck Shaw - Sects and Cults- Greenville Technical College - Retrieved 21 March 2013.
7.Jump up ^Bromley, David Melton, J. Gordon 2002. Cults, Religion, and Violence. West Nyack, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
8.Jump up ^Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley – The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P-Sh, Volume 4page 897. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
9.Jump up ^http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult
10.Jump up ^culture- Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
11.Jump up ^In W. S. Taylor, 'Science and cult', Psychological Review, Vol 37(2), March 1930, cultistis still used in the sense that would now be expressed by "religionist", i.e. anyone adopting a religious worldview as opposed to a scientific one. In the New York State Journal of Medicineof 1932, p. 84 (and other medical publications of the 1930s; e.g. Morris Fishbein, Fads and Quackery in Healing: An Analysis of the Foibles of the Healing Cults, 1932), "cultist" is used of those adhering to what was then called "healing cults", and would now be referred to as faith healing, but also of other forms of alternative medicine("cultist" (in quotes) of a chiropractorin United States naval medical bulletin, Volume 28, 1930, p. 366).
12.Jump up ^Swatos Jr., William H. (1998). "Church-Sect Theory". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 90–93. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
13.Jump up ^Campbell., Colin (1998). "Cult". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 122–123. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
14.Jump up ^Richardson, 1993 p. 349
15.Jump up ^Stark and Bainbridge, 1987 p. 25
16.Jump up ^Stark and Bainbridge, 1987 p. 124
17.Jump up ^The Chaos of Cults, by J.K.van Baalen, 1938, 2nd revised and enlarged ed. 1956. "cult" in the sense of "heresy" is also found in J.Oswald Sanders, Heresies Ancient and Modern(1948).
18.Jump up ^e.g. Walter Martin, The Christian and the Cults: Answering the Cultist from the Bible, The Modern cult library series, Division of Cult Apologetics, Zondervan Publishing House, (1956) invokes Satan as instigator of "cults" on pp. 77, 113f. and 142.
19.Jump up ^A European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianismwas set up in 1994.
20.Jump up ^"This book tells you why the propaganda about and misrepresentation of Witches as evil, Satan-worshipping cultists is absolutely false" Scott Cunningham, The Truth about Witchcraft(1992).
21.Jump up ^Paul J. Olson, The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Mar2006, Vol. 45 Issue 1, 97-106
22.Jump up ^so Margaret Singer, Janja Lalich, Cults in Our Midst(1995), in reference to Eileen Barker. See also Tim Stafford, "The Kingdom of the Cult Watchers," Christianity Today (October 7, 1991).
23.Jump up ^Сергей Иваненко (2009-08-17). О религиоведческих аспектах "антикультового движения"(in Russian). Retrieved 2009-12-04.
24.Jump up ^The new nobility : the restoration of Russia's security state and the enduring legacy of the KGB, Author: Andreĭ Soldatov; I Borogan, Publisher: New York, NY : PublicAffairs, 2010. pages 65-66
25.Jump up ^Dawson, Lorne L. (2006). Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-542009-8.
26.Jump up ^Goldman, Marion (2006). "Review Essay: Cults, New Religions, and the Spiritual Landscape: A Review of Four Collections". Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion45(1): 87–96. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2006.00007.x.
27.Jump up ^Bainbridge, William Sims (1997). The Sociology of Religious Movements. New York: Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 0-415-91202-4.
28.^ Jump up to: abOgloff, J. R.; Pfeifer, J. E. (1992). "Cults and the law: A discussion of the legality of alleged cult activities.". Behavioral Sciences & the Law10(1): 117–140. doi:10.1002/bsl.2370100111.
29.Jump up ^Elijah Siegler, 2007, New Religious Movements, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0131834789
30.Jump up ^Eileen Barker, 1999, "New Religious Movements: their incidence and significance", New Religious Movements: challenge and response, Bryan Wilson and Jamie Cresswell editors, RoutledgeISBN 0415200504
31.Jump up ^Elijah Siegler, 2007, New Religious Movements, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0131834789, page 51
32.Jump up ^Weber, Maximillan. Theory of Social and Economic Organization.Chapter: "The Nature of Charismatic Authority and its Routinization" translated by A. R. Anderson and Talcott Parsons, 1947. Originally published in 1922 in German under the title Wirtschaft und Gesellschaftchapter III, § 10(available online)
33.Jump up ^Wallis, Roy The Road to Total Freedom A Sociological analysis of Scientology(1976) available online (bad scan)
34.Jump up ^Wallis, Roy Scientology: Therapeutic Cult to Religious Sectabstract only(1975)
35.Jump up ^Stark, Rodney; Bainbridge, William(1996). A Theory of Religion. Peter Lang Publishing. pp. 155. ISBN 0-8135-2330-3.
36.Jump up ^Eugene V. Gallagher, 2004, The New Religious Movement Experience in America, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0313328072, page xv.
37.Jump up ^The Early Unification Church History, Galen Pumphrey
38.Jump up ^Conversion, Unification Church, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary
39.Jump up ^Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: African diaspora traditions and other American innovations, Volume 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, W. Michael Ashcraft, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 ISBN 0-275-98717-5, ISBN 978-0-275-98717-6, page 180
40.Jump up ^Exploring New Religions, Issues in contemporary religion, George D. Chryssides, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001 ISBN 0-8264-5959-5, ISBN 978-0-8264-5959-6page 1
41.Jump up ^Dawson, Lorne L.. Cults in context: readings in the study of new religious movements, Transaction Publishers 1998, p. 340, ISBN 978-0-7658-0478-5
42.Jump up ^Robbins, Thomas. In Gods we trust: new patterns of religious pluralism in America, Transaction Publishers 1996, p. 537, ISBN 978-0-88738-800-2
43.Jump up ^Sipchen, Bob (1988-11-17). "Ten Years After Jonestown, the Battle Intensifies Over the Influence of 'Alternative' Religions", Los Angeles Times
44.Jump up ^Cowan, 2003
45.Jump up ^J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America(New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, 1992). page 5
46.Jump up ^Walter Ralston Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House, 2003, ISBN 0764228218page 18
47.Jump up ^Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, rev.ed. Santa Ana: Vision House, 1978, pp. 11-12.
48.Jump up ^Richard Abanes, Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions,Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, p. 33.
49.Jump up ^H. Wayne House & Gordon Carle, Doctrine Twisting: How Core Biblical Truths are Distorted, Downers Grove: IVP, 2003.
50.Jump up ^Garry W. Trompf,"Missiology, Methodology and the Study of New Religious Movements," Religious TraditionsVolume 10, 1987, pp. 95-106.
51.Jump up ^Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev.ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003, pp.479-493.
52.Jump up ^Ronald Enroth ed. Evangelising the Cults, Milton Keynes: Word, 1990.
53.Jump up ^Norman L Geisler & Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997.
54.^ Jump up to: abcRichardson and Introvigne, 2001
55.Jump up ^Shupe, Anson (1998). "Anti-Cult Movement". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
56.Jump up ^Hill, Harvey, John Hickman and Joel McLendon (2001). "Cults and Sects and Doomsday Groups, Oh My: Media Treatment of Religion on the Eve of the Millennium". Review of Religious Research43(1): 24–38. doi:10.2307/3512241. JSTOR 3512241.
57.Jump up ^van Driel, Barend and J. Richardson (1988). "Cult versus sect: Categorization of new religions in American print media". Sociological Analysis49(2): 171–183. doi:10.2307/3711011. JSTOR 3711011.
58.Jump up ^Richardson, James T. (1993). "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative". Review of Religious Research(Religious Research Association, Inc.) 34(4): 348–356. doi:10.2307/3511972. JSTOR 3511972.
59.Jump up ^T. Robbins and D. Anthony (1982:283, quoted in Richardson 1993:351) ("...certain manipulative and authoritarian groups which allegedly employ mind control and pose a threat to mental health are universally labeled cults. These groups are usually 1) authoritarian in their leadership; 2)communal and totalistic in their organization; 3) aggressive in their proselytizing; 4) systematic in their programs of indoctrination; 5)relatively new and unfamiliar in the United States; 6)middle class in their clientele")
60.Jump up ^Melton, J. Gordon(1999-12-10). "Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory". CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 2009-06-15. "In the United States at the end of the 1970s, brainwashing emerged as a popular theoretical construct around which to understand what appeared to be a sudden rise of new and unfamiliar religious movements during the previous decade, especially those associated with the hippie street-people phenomenon."
61.^ Jump up to: abBromley, David G. (1998). "Brainwashing". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
62.Jump up ^Barker, Eileen: New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction. London: Her Majesty's Stationery office, 1989.
63.Jump up ^Janja, Lalich; Langone, Michael. "Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups - Revised". International_Cultic_Studies_Association. International Cultic Studies Association. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
64.Jump up ^O'Reilly, Charles; Chatman, Jennifer (1996), Culture as Social Control: Corporations, Cults and Commitment(PDF), University of Berkely, ISBN 1-55938-938-9
65.Jump up ^Wright, Stewart A. (1997). "Media Coverage of Unconventional Religion: Any 'Good News' for Minority Faiths?". Review of Religious Research(Review of Religious Research, Vol. 39, No. 2) 39(2): 101–115. doi:10.2307/3512176. JSTOR 3512176.
66.Jump up ^Barker, Eileen (1986). "Religious Movements: Cult and Anti-Cult Since Jonestown". Annual Review of Sociology12: 329–346. doi:10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.001553.
67.Jump up ^Ayella, Marybeth (1990). "They Must Be Crazy: Some of the Difficulties in Researching 'Cults'". American Behavioral Scientist33(5): 562–577. doi:10.1177/0002764290033005005.
68.Jump up ^Cowan, 2003 ix
69.Jump up ^Galanter, Marc (Editor), (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
70.Jump up ^Bader, Chris & A. Demaris, A test of the Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with religious cults and sects.Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 35, 285–303. (1996)
71.Jump up ^Bromley, David G., Shupe, Anson D., Ventimiglia, G.C.: "Atrocity Tales, the Unification Church, and the Social Construction of Evil", Journal of Communication, Summer 1979, p. 42-53.
72.Jump up ^Duhaime, Jean (Université de Montréal) Les Témoigagnes de Convertis et d'ex-Adeptes(English: The testimonies of converts and former followers, an article that appeared in the otherwise English-language book New Religions in a Postmodern Worldedited by Mikael Rothsteinand Reender KranenborgRENNER Studies in New religions Aarhus Universitypress, ISBN 87-7288-748-6
73.Jump up ^Shupe, A.D. and D.G. Bromley 1981 Apostatesand Atrocity Stories: Some parameters in the Dynamics of DeprogrammingIn: B.R. Wilson (ed.) The Social Impact of New Religious MovementsBarrytown NY: Rose of Sharon Press, 179-215
74.Jump up ^Pilgrims of Love: The Anthropology of a Global Sufi Cult. By Pnina Werbner. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003. xvi, 348 pp"...the excessive use of "cult" is also potentially misleading. With its pejorative connotations"
75.Jump up ^Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative, James T. Richardson, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Jun. 1993), pp. 348–356"the word cult is useless, and should be avoided because of the confusion between the historic meaning of the word and current pejorative use"
76.^ Jump up to: abcdeWessinger, Catherine Lowman(2000). How the Millennium Comes Violently. New York, NY/London, UK: Seven Bridges Press. p. 4. ISBN 1-889119-24-5.
77.Jump up ^Schoolboy avoids prosecution for branding Scientology a 'cult'Daily Mail, 23 May 2008
78.Jump up ^Protesters celebrate city's 'cult' stance– Edinburgh Evening News, 27 May 2008
79.Jump up ^Amy Ryan: New Religions and the Anti-Cult Movement: Online Resource Guide in Social Sciences(2000) [7]
80.Jump up ^Casino. Bruce J., Defining Religion in American Law, 1999
81.Jump up ^Jenkins, Phillip (2000). Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History. Oxford University PressUSA. pp. 216, 222. ISBN 0-19-514596-8.
82.Jump up ^Pargament, Kenneth I.(1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press. pp. 150–153, 340, section: "Compelling Coping in a Doomsday Cult". ISBN 1-57230-664-5.
83.Jump up ^Stangor, Charles (2004). Social Groups in Action and Interaction. Psychology Press. pp. 42–43: "When Prophecy Fails". ISBN 1-84169-407-X.
84.Jump up ^Newman, Dr. David M. (2006). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. Pine Forge Press. p. 86. ISBN 1-4129-2814-1.
85.Jump up ^Petty, Richard E.; John T. Cacioppo (1996). Attitudes and Persuasion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches. Westview Press. p. 139: "Effect of Disconfirming an Important Belief". ISBN 0-8133-3005-X.
86.Jump up ^Festinger, Leon; Henry W. Riecken, Stanley Schachter(1956). When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 1-59147-727-1.
87.Jump up ^Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth, On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000.
88.Jump up ^Janja Lalich "On the Edge" (review), Cultic Studies Review (online journal), 2:2, 2003 [8]
89.Jump up ^Tourish and Wohlforth, 2000
90.Jump up ^Introduction to ‘Ideological Intransigence, Democratic Centralism and Cultism’
91.Jump up ^John Mintz, "Ideological Odyssey: From Old Left to Far Right," The Washington Post, January 14, 1985 [9]
92.Jump up ^Alisa Solomon, "Commie Fiends of Brooklyn," The Village Voice, November 26, 1996.
93.Jump up ^Janja A. Lalich, Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004 [10]
94.^ Jump up to: abRothbard, Murray. "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". Retrieved 2009-07-30.Rothbard's essay was later revised and printed as a pamphlet by Libertymagazine in 1987, and by the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1990.
95.Jump up ^Shermer, Michael(1997). "The Unlikeliest Cult". Why People Believe Weird Things. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. ISBN 0-7167-3090-1.This chapter is a revised version of Shermer, Michael(1993). "The Unlikeliest Cult in History". Skeptic2(2): 74–81.
96.Jump up ^David North, Gerry Healy and His Place in the History of the Fourth International, Mehring Books, 1991. ISBN 0-929087-58-5. Does not define the group as a cult but draws parallels to Scientology and provides a detailed account of Healy's descent into personal authoritarianism.
97.Jump up ^Tourish and Wohlforth, "Gerry Healy: Guru to a Star" (Chapter 10), pp. 156–172, in On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000
98.Jump up ^"Cults, Sects and the Far Left" reviewed by Bob Pitt, What Next?ISSN 1479-4322No. 17, 2000 online
99.Jump up ^"Arlette Laguiller n'aime pas le débat"(in French). L'Humanité. April 11, 2002.
100.Jump up ^Cyril Le Tallec (2006). Les sectes politiques: 1965–1995(in French). Retrieved 28 August2009.
101.Jump up ^Library JournalDec 1990 v115 n21 p144(1) Mag.Coll.: 58A2543.
102.Jump up ^"Tracing India's cult of thugs". Los Angeles Times.August 3, 2003.
103.Jump up ^Robinson, B.A. (July 25, 2007). "Doomsday, destructive religious cults". Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
104.Jump up ^Turner, Francis J.; Arnold Shanon Bloch, Ron Shor (September 1, 1995). Differential Diagnosis & Treatment in Social Work, 4th Edition. Free Press. pp. 1146: Chapter 105: "From Consultation to Therapy in Group Work With Parents of Cultists". ISBN 0-02-874007-6.
105.Jump up ^Clark, M.D., John Gordon(November 4, 1977). "The Effects of Religious Cults on the Health and Welfare of Their Converts". Congressional Record(United States Congress) 123(181): Extensions of Remarks P. 37401–37403. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
106.Jump up ^Kaslow, Florence Whiteman; Marvin B. Sussman (1982). Cults and the Family. Haworth Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-917724-55-0.
107.Jump up ^Dr. Zablocki, Benjamin [11]Paper presented to a conference, Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues, 31 May 1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
108.Jump up ^Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (Dutch language) Sekten... gevaarlijk of niet?/Cults... dangerous or not?published in the magazine Religieuze bewegingen in Nederland/Religious movements in the Netherlandsnr. 31 Sekten IIby the Free university Amsterdam(1996) ISSN 0169-7374 ISBN 90-5383-426-5
109.Jump up ^Saliba, John A.; J. Gordon Melton, foreword (2003). Understanding New Religious Movements. Rowman Altamira. p. 144. ISBN 0-7591-0356-9.
110.Jump up ^Zablocki, Benjamin David; Thomas Robbins(2001). Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. University of Toronto Press. p. 474. ISBN 0-8020-8188-6.
111.Jump up ^Dawson, Lorne L. (1998). Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements. Transaction Publishers. p. 349: "Sects and Violence". ISBN 0-7658-0478-6.
112.Jump up ^Hubert Seiwert: Freedom and Control in the Unified Germany: Governmental Approaches to Alternative Religions Since 1989. In: Sociology of Religion(2003) 64 (3): 367–375, S. 370. Online edition
113.Jump up ^BVerfG, 1 BvR 670/91 dd 26 June 2002, Rn. 57, 60, 62, 91–94, related press release(German)
114.Jump up ^Piven, Jerry S. (2002). Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History. iUniverse. pp. 104–114. ISBN 0-595-25104-8.
115.Jump up ^Goldberg, Carl; Virginia Crespo (2004). Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society. Praeger/Greenwood. p. 161. ISBN 0-275-98196-7.
116.Jump up ^Dittmann, Melissa (November 10, 2002). "Cults of hatred: Panelists at a convention session on hatred asked APA to form a task force to investigate mind control among destructive cults.". Monitor on Psychology(American Psychological Association). pp. Page 30, Volume 33, No. 10. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
117.Jump up ^Sieghart, Mary Ann(October 26, 2001). "The cult figure we could do without". The Times.
118.Jump up ^Steven J. Stern (ed.), Shining and Other Paths: War and Society in Peru, 1980–1995, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998
119.Jump up ^David Scott Palmer, Shining Path of Peru, New York: St. Martin's Press, second ed., 1994
120.Jump up ^Gérard Chaliand, Interviewin L'Express(French)
121.Jump up ^Elizabeth Rubin, "The Cult of Rajavi," The New York Times Magazine, July 13, 2003
122.Jump up ^Karl Vick, "Iran Dissident Group Labeled a Terrorist Cult," The Washington Post, June 21, 2003
123.Jump up ^Max Boot, "How to Handle Iran," Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2006
124.Jump up ^"No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin Khalq Camps", Human Rights Watch [12]
125.Jump up ^Banisadr, Masoud (May 19–20, 2005). "Cult and extremism / Terrorism". Combating Terrorism and Protecting Democracy: The Role of Civil Society(Centro de Investigación para la Paz). Retrieved 2007-11-21.
126.Jump up ^Lewis, 2004
127.^ Jump up to: abDavis, Dena S. 1996 "Joining a Cult: Religious Choice or Psychological Aberration" Journal of Law and Health.
128.Jump up ^Edelman, Bryan and Richardson, James T. (2003). "Falun Gong and the Law: Development of Legal Social Control in China". Nova Religio6(2): 312–331. doi:10.1525/nr.2003.6.2.312.
129.Jump up ^Richardson and Introvigne, 2001 pp. 144–146
130.Jump up ^Robbins, Thomas (2002). "Combating 'Cults' and 'Brainwashing' in the United States and Europe: A Comment on Richardson and Introvigne's Report". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40(2): 169–76. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00047.
131.Jump up ^Beckford, James A. (1998). "'Cult' Controversies in Three European Countries". Journal of Oriental Studies8: 174–84.
132.^ Jump up to: abBenjamin Penny, "The Religion of Falun Gong," (University of Chicago Press, 2012), ISBN 978-0-226-65501-7, p. 6
133.Jump up ^Freedom House, “Report Analyzing Seven Secret Chinese Government Documents”, 11 February 2002.
134.Jump up ^Thomas Lum (25 May 2006). "CRS Report for Congress: China and Falun Gong"(PDF). Congressional Research Service.
135.Jump up ^"China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations"". Amnesty International. 23 March 2000. Retrieved 17 March2010.
136.Jump up ^Edelman, Bryan and Richardson, James. “Falun Gong and the Law Development of Legal Social Control in China.” Nova Religio 6.2 (2003).
137.Jump up ^Restall, Hugo. “What if Falun Dafa is a ‘cult?’”. The Asian Wall Street Journal, 14 February 2001.
138.Jump up ^John Turley-Ewart, "Falun Gong persecution spreads to Canada," The National Post, 20 March 2004.
139.Jump up ^Richardson, 1993
140.Jump up ^Barker, Eileen (2002). "Watching for Violence: A comparative Analysis of the Roles of Five Types of Cult-watching Groups". In David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton. Cults, Religion and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521668980.
141.Jump up ^T. Jeremy Gunn, The Complexity of Religion and the Definition of “Religion” in International Law
142.Jump up ^Richardson, James T.(2004). Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe. New York [u.a.]: Kluwer Acad. / Plenum Publ. ISBN 0306478862.
143.^ Jump up to: abcRichardson, James T.and Introvigne, Massimo(2001). "'Brainwashing' Theories in European Parliamentary and Administrative Reports on 'Cults' and 'Sects'". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40(2): 143–168. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00046.
144.^ Jump up to: abRobbins, Thomas(2002). "Combating 'Cults' and 'Brainwashing' in the United States and Europe: A Comment on Richardson and Introvigne's Report". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40(2): 169–76. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00047.
145.Jump up ^or "sects" in German-speaking countries, the German term Sekten(lit. "sects") having assumed the same derogatory meaning as English "cult".
146.Jump up ^Austria: Beginning in 2011, the United States Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report, as released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor no longer distinguishes sects in Austria as a separate group. "International Religious Freedom Report for 2012". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
Belgium: The Justice Commission of the Belgian House of Representatives published a report on cults in 1997. A Brussels Appeals Court in 2005 condemned the Belgian House of Representatives on the grounds that it had damaged the image of an organization listed.
France: a parliamentary commission of the National Assembly compiled a list of purported cults in 1995. In 2005, the Prime Minister stated that the concerns addressed in the list "had become less pertinen" and that the government needed to balance its concern with cults with respect for public freedoms and laïcité.
Germany: The legitimacy of a 1997 Berlin Senate reportlisting cults (Sekten) was defended in a court decision of 2003 (Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin (OVG 5 B 26.00) 25 September 2003), and the list is still maintained by Berlin city authorities (Sekten und Psychogruppen - Leitstelle Berlin).
147.Jump up ^"First Amendment". Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute. Archivedfrom the original on May 3, 2013. Retrieved May 3,2013.
References[edit]
Cowan, Douglas E. (2003). Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-97459-6.
Lewis, James R.(2004). The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-514986-6.
Richardson, James T.(1993). "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative". Review of Religious Research34(4): 348–356. doi:10.2307/3511972. JSTOR 3511972.
Richardson, James T. and Introvigne, Massimo(2001). "'Brainwashing' Theories in European Parliamentary and Administrative Reports on 'Cults' and 'Sects'". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40(2): 143–168. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00046.
Stark, Rodneyand Bainbridge, William Sims(1987). The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05731-9.
Bibliography[edit]
Books
Barker, E.(1989) New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction, London, HMSO
Bromley, David et al.: Cults, Religion, and Violence, 2002, ISBN 0-521-66898-0
Enroth, Ronald. (1992) Churches that Abuse, Zondervan, ISBN 0-310-53290-6Full text online
Esquerre, Arnaud: La manipulation mentale. Sociologie des sectes en France, Fayard, Paris, 2009.
House, Wayne: Charts of Cults, Sects, and Religious Movements, 2000, ISBN 0-310-38551-2
Kramer, Joel and Alstad, Diane: The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power, 1993.
Lalich, Janja: Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults, 2004, ISBN 0-520-24018-9
Landau Tobias, Madeleine et al. : Captive Hearts, Captive Minds, 1994, ISBN 0-89793-144-0
Lewis, James R.The Oxford Handbook of New Religious MovementsOxford University Press, 2004
Lewis, James R.Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy, Prometheus Books, 2001
Martin, Walter et al.: The Kingdom of the Cults, 2003, ISBN 0-7642-2821-8
Melton, Gordon: Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, 1992 (Search inside), ISBN 0-8153-1140-0
Oakes, Len: Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities, 1997, ISBN 0-8156-0398-3
Singer, Margaret Thaler: Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, 1992, ISBN 0-7879-6741-6
Tourish, Dennis: 'On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, 2000, ISBN 0-7656-0639-9
Zablocki, Benjamin et al.: Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field, 2001, ISBN 0-8020-8188-6
Articles
Langone, Michael: Cults: Questions and Answers [1]
Lifton, Robert Jay: Cult Formation, The Harvard Mental Health Letter, February 1991 [2]
Robbins, T. and D. Anthony, 1982. "Deprogramming, brainwashing and the medicalization of deviant religious groups" Social Problems29pp 283–97.
James T. Richardson: "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative" Review of Religious Research34.4 (June 1993), pp. 348–356.
Rosedale, Herbert et al.: On Using the Term "Cult"[3]
Van Hoey, Sara: Cults in CourtThe Los Angeles Lawyer, February 1991 [4]
Zimbardo, Philip: What messages are behind today's cults?, American Psychological Association Monitor, May 1997 [5]
Aronoff, Jodi; Lynn, Steven Jay; Malinosky, Peter. Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?, Clinical Psychology Review, 2000, Vol. 20 #1 pp. 91–111
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Cult
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"Cult leader" redirects here. For the American 2010s metal band, see Cult Leader.
For the original sense of "religious practice", see Cult (religious practice). For religious groups with modern origins see New religious movementand List of new religious movements. For other uses see Cult (disambiguation).
In the sociological classifications of religious movements, a cultis a religiousor social groupwith socially deviantor novelbeliefs and practices.[1]However, whether any particular group's beliefs and practices are sufficiently deviant or novel is often unclear, thus making a precise definition problematic.[2][3]In the English speaking world, the word often carries derogatory connotations.[4][5]The word "cult" has always been controversial because it is (in a pejorativesense) considered a subjective term, used as an ad hominemattack against groups with differing doctrines or practices, which lacks a clear or consistent definition.[6][7]
Beginning in the 1930s, cults became the object of sociological studyin the context of the study of religious behavior.[8]Certain groups have been labelled as cults and have been opposed by the Christian countercult movementfor their unorthodox beliefs. Since the 1970s, some groups have been opposed by the anti-cult movement, partly motivated in reaction to acts of violence committed by members of some groups. Some of the claims by the anti-cult movement have been disputed by other scholars and by the news media, leading to further controversy. Public and governmental reactions to the cult issue have also been a source of controversy.
Contents [hide]
1Terminological history
2New religious movements
3Scholarly studies
4Anti-cult movements4.1Christian countercult movement
4.2Secular anti-cult movement
4.3Former members
5Stigmatization and discrimination
6Doomsday cults
7Political cults
8Destructive cults8.1Criticism of the term
8.2Destructive cults and terrorism
9Government policy9.1Cults and US law
10See also
11Footnotes
12References
13Bibliography
Terminological history[edit]
Further information: Cult (religious practice), Sociological classifications of religious movements, Holiness movement, Faith healing, Anti-cult movementand ritual abuse panic
Howard P. Becker's church-sect typology, based on Ernst Troeltschoriginal theory and upon which the modern concept of cults, sects, and new religious movements is based.
The word "cult" was originally used not to describe a group of religionists, but for the act of worshipor religious ceremony. It was first used in the early 17th century, borrowed via the Frenchculte,from Latincultus(worship). This, in turn, was derived from the adjective cultus(inhabited, cultivated, worshiped), based on the verb colere(care, cultivate).[9]The word "culture" is also derived from the Latin words culturaand cultus, which in general terms refers to the customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group.[10]Most of the Romance languagescurrently use various spellings of the word "cult" (such as "culto") to refer to worship or sometimes to a ritualwithout any pejorative meaning at all, resulting in a class of false friends.[citation needed]
While the literal sense of the word in English is still in use, a derived sense of "excessive devotion" arose in the 19th century. The terms cultand cultistcame to be used in medical literaturein the United States in the 1930s for what would now be termed faith healing, especially for the US Holiness movement. This experienced a surge of popularity at the time, but extended to other forms of alternative medicineas well.[11]
The concept of a "cult" as a sociological classificationwas introduced in 1932 by American sociologist Howard P. Beckeras an expansion of German theologian Ernst Troeltsch's church-sect typology. Troeltsch's aim was to distinguish between three main types of religious behavior: churchly, sectarianand mystical. Becker created four categories out of Troeltsch's first two by splitting churchinto "ecclesia" and "denomination", and sectinto "sect" and "cult".[12]Like Troeltsch's "mystical religion", Becker's cults were small religious groups lacking in organization and emphasizing the private nature of personal beliefs.[13]Later sociological formulations built on these characteristics, placing an additional emphasis on cults as deviantreligious groups "deriving their inspiration from outside of the predominant religious culture".[14]This is often thought to lead to a high degree of tension between the group and the more mainstream culture surrounding it, a characteristic shared with religious sects.[15]In this sociological terminology, sectsare products of religious schismand therefore maintain a continuity with traditionalbeliefs and practices, while cultsarise spontaneously around novel beliefs and practices.[16]
By the late 1930s, the Christian countercult movementbegan using the term cultto what would formerly have been termed heresy.[17]From this time (i.e., from the perspective of the Christian anti-cult movement), the term "cultist" acquired the connotation of Satanism.[18]This usage became mainstream by the 1960s, via the best-selling The Kingdom of the Cults(1965). This terminological development, which had so far been characteristic of the religious sociology of the United States, entered international use with the "ritual abuse" moral panicof the 1980s, which originated in the United States. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the international spreadthroughout most of the Anglosphereand some parts of Europe.[19]
Also from the 1990s, as part of the discrimination discourseat the height of the US "culture war", US neopaganreligions, especially Wicca, began to protest through literature over the classification of these movements as cults as discriminatory,[20]because of this usage of "cult" began to be discouraged in favour of the neutral new religious movementin sociological literature.[21]Proponents of such an approach within the study of new religious movements have in turn been denounced as "procult apologists" by adherents of the Christian anti-cult movement.[22]An anti-cult movement comparable to the one in the United States originated in Russiain the 1990s.[23]In 2008, the Russian Interior Ministryprepared a list of "extremist groups", which included groups adhering to militant Islamismand "Pagan cults".[24]
New religious movements[edit]
Main article: New religious movement
Most sociologists and scholars of religion also began to reject the word "cult" altogether because of its negative connotations in mass culture.[25]Some began to advocate the use of new terms like "new religious movement", "alternative religion" or "novel religion" to describe most of the groups that had come to be referred to as "cults",[26]yet none of these terms have had much success in popular culture or in the media. Other scholars have pushed to redeem the word "cult" as one fit for neutral academic discourse.[27]
Using the term new religious movement instead of cult does not remove all negative perceptions. In a survey study containing 258 participants, negative perceptions of the terms "new religious movement", "cult" and "satanic cult" were found. However, these perceptions differed significantly (i.e., not due to chance) in how negative the participants perceived them. "New religious movement" was found to be the most favourable term, followed by "cult" and then "Satanic cult."[28]
Scholars usually consider the mid-1800s as the beginning of the era of new religious movements. During this time, spiritualismand esotericismwere becoming popular in Europe and North America.[29]Scholars have estimated that new religious movements, of which some but not all have been labelled as cults, number in the tens of thousands worldwide, most of which originated in Asia or Africa. The great majority have only a few members, some have thousands and only very few have more than a million.[30]In 2007, religious scholar Elijah Siegler commented that, although no new religious movement had become the dominant faith in any country, many of the concepts which they had first introduced (often referred to as "New Age" ideas) had become part of worldwide mainstream culture.[31]
Scholarly studies[edit]
Max Weber(1864–1920), one of the first scholars to study cults.
Pioneering sociologist Max Weber(1864–1920) found that cults based on charismaticleadership often follow the routinization of charisma.[32]Sociologist Roy Wallis(1945–1990) argued that a cult is characterized by "epistemologicalindividualism", meaning that "the cult has no clear locus of final authority beyond the individual member". Cults, according to Wallis, are generally described as "oriented towards the problems of individuals, loosely structured, tolerant [and] non-exclusive", making "few demands on members", without possessing a "clear distinction between members and non-members", having "a rapid turnover of membership" and as being transient collectives with vague boundaries and fluctuating belief systems. Wallis asserts that cults emerge from the "cultic milieu".[33][34]In their book Theory of Religion, American sociologists Rodney Starkand William Sims Bainbridgepropose that the formation of cults can be explained through the rational choice theory.[35]In The Future of Religionthey comment "...in the beginning, all religions are obscure, tiny, deviant cult movements."[36]
In the early 1960s, sociologist John Loflandlived with South KoreanmissionaryYoung Oon Kimand some of the first American Unification Churchmembers in California, during which he studied their activities in trying to promote their beliefs and win new members.[37]Lofland noted that most of their efforts were ineffective and that most of the people who joined did so because of personal relationships with other members, often family relationships.[38]Lofland published his findings in 1964 as a doctoral thesis entitled: "The World Savers: A Field Study of Cult Processes", and in 1966 in book form by Prentice-Hallas Doomsday Cult: A Study of Conversion, Proselytization and Maintenance of Faith. It is considered to be one of the most important and widely cited studies of the process of religious conversion.[39][40]
Dick Anthony, a forensicpsychologistnoted for his writings on the brainwashingcontroversy,[41][42]has defended some so-called cults, and in 1988 argued that involvement in such movements may often have beneficial, rather than harmful effects: "There's a large research literature published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part the effects seem to be positive in any way that's measurable."[43]
Anti-cult movements[edit]
Christian countercult movement[edit]
Main article: Christian countercult movement
Walter Martin(1928–1989), American author and leading figure in the Christian countercult movement.
In the 1940s, the long held opposition by some established Christian denominations to non-Christian religions and/or supposedly heretical, or counterfeit, Christian sects crystallized into a more organized Christian countercult movementin the United States. For those belonging to the movement, all religious groups claiming to be Christian, but deemed outside of Christian orthodoxy, were considered cults.[44]Christian cults are new religious movements which have a Christian background but are considered to be theologicallydeviant by members of other Christian churches.[45]In his influential book The Kingdom of the Cults(first published in the United States in 1965), Christian scholar Walter Martindefines Christian cults as groups that follow the personal interpretation of an individual, rather than the understanding of the Bibleaccepted by mainstream Christianity. He mentions The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian Universalism, and Unityas examples.[46]
The Christian countercult movement asserts that Christian sects whose beliefs are partially or wholly not in accordance with the Bibleare erroneous. It also states that a religious sect can be considered a cult if its beliefs involve a denial of what they view as any of the essential Christianteachings such as salvation, the Trinity, Jesushimself as a person, the ministry of Jesus, the Miracles of Jesus, the Crucifixion of Jesus, the Death of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture.[47][48][49]
Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionaryor apologeticpurpose.[50]It presents a rebuttal by emphasizing the teachings of the Bibleagainst the beliefs of non-fundamental Christian sects. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelizeto followers of cults.[51][52][53]
Secular anti-cult movement[edit]
Main article: Anti-cult movement
In the early 1970s, a secular opposition movement to groups considered cults had taken shape. The organizations that formed the secular "anti-cult movement" (ACM) often acted on behalf of relatives of "cult" convertswho did not believe their loved ones could have altered their lives so drastically by their own free will. A few psychologistsand sociologists working in this field suggested that brainwashingtechniques were used to maintain the loyalty of cult members,[54]while others rejected the idea. The belief that cults brainwashed their members became a unifying theme among cult critics and in the more extreme corners of the anti-cult movement techniques like the sometimes forceful "deprogramming" of cult members became standard practice.[55]
In the mass media, and among average citizens, "cult" gained an increasingly negative connotation, becoming associated with things like kidnapping, brainwashing, psychological abuse, sexual abuseand other criminal activity, and mass suicide. While most of these negative qualities usually have real documented precedents in the activities of a very small minority of new religious groups, mass culture often extends them to any religious group viewed as culturally deviant, however peaceful or law abiding it may be.[56][57][58]
Secular cult opponents like those belonging to the anti-cult movementusually define a "cult" as a group that tends to manipulate, exploit, and control its members. Specific factors in cult behavior are said to include manipulative and authoritarian mind controlover members, communaland totalistic organization, aggressive proselytizing, systematic programs of indoctrination, and perpetuation in middle-classcommunities.[59][60][61][62]According to anti-cult group ICSA, methods of control employed by some cults may involve intensive ideological indoctrination, psychological intimidation, social humiliation and punishment, limitation of access to information, and outright deception. All of these methods may be applied by one member upon another, but they are often also internalized to such an extent that members do not believe that any coercion is actually taking place, as is common in many forms of social control.[63][64]
The media was quick to follow suit,[65]and social scientistssympathetic to the anti-cult movement, who were usually psychologists, developed more sophisticated models of brainwashing.[61]
While some psychologists were receptive to these theories, sociologists were for the most part sceptical of their ability to explain conversion to NRMs.[66]In the late 1980s, psychologists and sociologists started to abandon theories like brainwashing and mind-control. While scholars may believe that various less dramatic coercivepsychological mechanisms could influence group members, they came to see conversion to new religious movements principally as an act of a rational choice.[67][68]
Some scholars favour one particular view, or combined elements of each. According to Marc Galanter, Professor of Psychiatry at NYU,[69]typical reasons why people join cults include a search for community and a spiritual quest. Sociologists Starkand Bainbridge, in discussing the process by which individuals join new religious groups, have even questioned the utility of the concept of conversion, suggesting that affiliationis a more useful concept.[70]
Former members[edit]
See also: Apostasy in alleged cults and new religious movements
Anson Shupe, David G. Bromleyand Joseph Ventimigliacoined the term atrocity talesin 1979,[71]which Bryan R. Wilsonlater took up in relation to former members' narratives. Bromley and Shupe defined an "atrocity tale" as the symbolic presentation of action or events (real or imaginary) in such a context that they come flagrantly to violate the (presumably) shared premises upon which a given set of social relationships should take place. The recounting of such tales has the intention of reaffirming normative boundaries. By sharing the reporter's disapproval or horror, an audience reasserts normative prescription and clearly locates the violator beyond the limits of public morality.[72][73]
Stigmatization and discrimination[edit]
2008 anti-Scientologyprotest in Austin, Texas, US
Because of the increasingly pejorative use of the words "cult" and "cult leader" since the cult debate of the 1970s, some academics, in addition to groups referred to as cults, argue that these are words to be avoided.[74][75]
Catherine Wessinger(Loyola University New Orleans) has stated that the word "cult" represents just as much prejudice and antagonism as racial slurs or derogatory words for women and homosexuals.[76]She has argued that it is important for people to become aware of the bigotry conveyed by the word, drawing attention to the way it dehumanises the group's members and their children.[76]Labeling a group as subhuman, she says, becomes a justification for violence against it.[76]
At the same time, she adds, labeling a group a "cult" makes people feel safe, because the "violence associated with religion is split off from conventional religions, projected onto others, and imagined to involve only aberrant groups."[76]This fails to take into account that child abuse, sexual abuse, financial extortion and warfare have also been committed by believers of mainstream religions, but the pejorative "cult" stereotype makes it easier to avoid confronting this uncomfortable fact.[76]
In the United Kingdom, the Crown Prosecution Serviceand the Edinburgh City Councilhave ruled that the word "cult" is not "threatening, abusive or insulting" as defined by the Public Order Act, and that there is no objection to its use in public protests.[77][78]
Sociologist Amy Ryan has argued for the need to differentiate those groups that may be dangerous from groups that are more benign.[79]Ryan notes the sharp differences between definition from cult opponents, who tend to focus on negative characteristics, and those of sociologists, who aim to create definitions that are value-free. The movements themselves may have different definitions of religion as well. George Chryssidesalso cites a need to develop better definitions to allow for common ground in the debate. These definitions have political and ethical impact beyond just scholarly debate. In Defining Religion in American Law, Bruce J. Casino presents the issue as crucial to international human rights laws. Limiting the definition of religion may interfere with freedom of religion, while too broad a definition may give some dangerous or abusive groups "a limitless excuse for avoiding all unwanted legal obligations".[80]
Doomsday cults[edit]
Main article: Doomsday cult
"Doomsday cult" is an expression used to describe groups who believe in Apocalypticismand Millenarianism, and can refer both to groups that prophesy catastropheand destruction, and to those that attempt to bring it about.[81]A 1997 psychological study by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter found that people turned to a cataclysmic world viewafter they had repeatedly failed to find meaning in mainstream movements.[82]Leon Festingerand his colleagues had observed members of a small UFO religioncalled the Seekersfor several months, and recorded their conversations both prior to and after a failed prophecy from their charismatic leader.[83]The group's members believed that most of the Western Hemispherewould be destroyed by a cataclysmicflood on December 21, 1955.[84][85]Their work was later published in the book When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World.[86]
Political cults[edit]
LaRouche Movementmembers in Stockholmprotesting the Treaty of Lisbon.
A political cult is a cult with a primary interest in political actionand ideology.[87][88]Groups that some writers have termed as "political cults," mostly advocating far-leftor far-rightagendas, have received some attention from journalists and scholars. In their 2000 book On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforthdiscuss about a dozen organizations in the United States and Great Britain that they characterize as cults.[89]In a separate article Tourish says that in his usage:
The word cult is not a term of abuse, as this paper tries to explain. It is nothing more than a shorthand expression for a particular set of practices that have been observed in a variety of dysfunctional organisations.[90]
The LaRouche Movement[91]and Gino Parente's National Labor Federation(NATLFED)[92]are examples of political groups that have been described as "cults", based in the United States; another is Marlene Dixon's now-defunct Democratic Workers Party(a critical history of the DWP is given in Bounded Choiceby Janja A. Lalich, a sociologist and former DWP member).[93]
The followers of Ayn Randwere characterized as a "cult" by economist Murray N. Rothbardduring her lifetime, and later by Michael Shermer.[94][95]The core group around Rand was called the "Collective" and is now defunct (the chief group disseminating Rand's ideas today is the Ayn Rand Institute). Although the Collective advocated an individualist philosophy, Rothbard claimed they were organized in the manner of a "Leninist" organization.[94]
In Britain, the Workers Revolutionary Party, a Trotskyistgroup led by the late Gerry Healyand strongly supported by actress Vanessa Redgrave, has been described by others, who have been involved in the Trotskyist movement, as having been a cult or as displaying cult-like characteristics in the 1970s and 1980s.[96]It is also described as such by Tourish and Wohlforth in their writings.[97]In his review of Tourish and Wohlforth's book, Bob Pitt, a former member of the WRP concedes that it had a "cult-like character" but argues that rather than being typical of the far left, this feature actually made the WRP atypical and "led to its being treated as a pariah within the revolutionary left itself."[98]Workers' Struggle(LO, Lutte ouvrière) in France, publicly headed by Arlette Laguillerbut revealed in the 1990s to be directed by Robert Barcia, has often been criticized as a cult, for example by Daniel Cohn-Benditand his older brother Gabriel Cohn-Bendit, as well as L'Humanitéand Libération.[99]
In his book Les Sectes Politiques: 1965–1995(translation: Political cults: 1965–1995), French writer Cyril Le Tallec considered some religious groups as cults involved in politics, including the League for Catholic Counter-Reformation, the Cultural Office of Cluny, New Acropolis, Sōka Gakkai, the Divine Light Mission, Tradition Family Property (TFP), Longo-Mai, the Supermen Club and the Association for Promotion of the Industrial Arts (Solazaref).[100]
In 1990 Lucy Patrick commented: "Although we live in a democracy, cult behavior manifests itself in our unwillingness to question the judgment of our leaders, our tendency to devalue outsiders and to avoid dissent. We can overcome cult behavior, he says, by recognizing that we have dependency needs that are inappropriate for mature people, by increasing anti-authoritarian education, and by encouraging personal autonomy and the free exchange of ideas.",[101]
Destructive cults[edit]
The Thuggeewere a criminal cult active in India for at least 500 years before being suppressed by the British in the 1830s.[102]
"Destructive cult" has generally referred to groups whose members have, through deliberate action, physically injured or killed other members of their own group or other people. The Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerancelimit use of the term to specifically refer to religious groups that "have caused or are liable to cause loss of life among their membership or the general public."[103]PsychologistMichael Langone, executive director of the anti-cult group International Cultic Studies Association, defines a destructive cult as "a highly manipulative group which exploits and sometimes physically and/or psychologically damages members and recruits."[104]
John Gordon Clarkcited totalitariansystems of governance and an emphasis on money making as characteristics of a destructive cult.[105]In Cults and the Familythe authors cite Shapiro, who defines a "destructive cultism" as a sociopathicsyndrome, whose distinctive qualities include: "behavioral and personality changes, loss of personal identity, cessation of scholastic activities, estrangement from family, disinterest in society and pronounced mental control and enslavement by cult leaders."[106]
In the opinion of Benjamin Zablocki, a Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University, destructive cults are at high risk of becoming abusive to members. He states that this is in part due to members' adulation of charismaticleaders contributing to the leaders becoming corrupted by power. Zablocki defines a cult as an ideological organization held together by charismatic relationships and the demand of total commitment.[107]According to Barrett, the most common accusation made against destructive cults is sexual abuse. According to Kranenborg, some groups are risky when they advise their members not to use regular medical care.[108]
Criticism of the term[edit]
Some researchers have criticized the usage of the term "destructive cult", writing that it is used to describe groups which are not necessarily harmful in nature to themselves or others. In his book Understanding New Religious Movements, John A. Saliba writes that the term is overgeneralized. Saliba sees the Peoples Templeas the "paradigm of a destructive cult," where those that use the term are implying that other new religious movementswill have similar outcomes.[109]
Writing in the book Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field, contributor Julius H. Rubin complains that the term has been used to discredit certain groups in the court of public opinion.[110]In his work Cults in Contextauthor Lorne L. Dawson writes that although the Unification Church"has not been shown to be violent or volatile," it has been described as a destructive cult by "anticult crusaders."[111]
In 2002, the German government was held by Germany's Federal Constitutional Courtto have defamedthe Osho movementby referring to it, among other things, as a "destructive cult" with no factual basis.[112][113]
Destructive cults and terrorism[edit]
Poster by Shining Path
In the book Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History, psychiatristPeter A. Olssoncompares Osama bin Ladento certain cult leaders including Jim Jones, David Koresh, Shoko Asahara, Marshall Applewhite, Luc Jouretand Joseph Di Mambro. And says that each of these individuals fit at least eight of the nine criteria for narcissistic personality disorder.[114]In the book Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Societyauthors Goldberg and Crespo also refer to Osama bin Laden as a "destructive cult leader."[115]
At a 2002 meeting of the American Psychological Association(APA), anti-cultist Steven Hassansaid that Al Qaidafulfills the characteristics of a destructive cult. He added: "We need to apply what we know about destructive mind-control cults, and this should be a priority with the war on terrorism. We need to understand the psychological aspects of how people are recruited and indoctrinated so we can slow down recruitment. We need to help counsel former cult members and possibly use some of them in the war against terrorism."[116]
In an article on Al Qaida published in The Times, journalist Mary Ann Sieghartwrote that al-Qaida resembles a "classic cult", commenting: "Al-Qaida fits all the official definitions of a cult. It indoctrinates its members; it forms a closed, totalitarian society; it has a self-appointed, messianic and charismatic leader; and it believes that the ends justify the means."[117]
The Shining Pathguerrillamovement active in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s has been described variously as a "cult"[118]and an intense "cult of personality."[119]The Tamil Tigershave also been qualified as such by French magazine L'Express'[120]The People's Mujahedin of Iran, a leftist guerrilla movement based in Iraq, has been controversially described as a political cult and as a movement that is abusive towards its own members.[121][122][123][124]
Former Mujaheddinmember and now author and academic Dr. Masoud Banisadr stated in a May 2005 speech in Spain :
If you ask me: are all cults a terrorist organisation? My answer is no, as there are many peaceful cults at present around the world and in the history of mankind. But if you ask me are all terrorist organisations some sort of cult, my answer is yes. Even if they start as [an] ordinary modern political party or organisation, to prepare and force their members to act without asking any moral questions and act selflessly for the cause of the group and ignore all the ethical, cultural, moral or religious codes of the society and humanity, those organisations have to change into a cult. Therefore to understand an extremist or a terrorist organisation one has to learn about a Cult.[125]
Government policy[edit]
Official German leaflets warning against Islamic extremism, Scientology, and organized crime.
In the 1970s, the scientific status of the "brainwashing theory" became a central topic in U.S. court cases where the theory was used to try to justify the use of the forceful deprogrammingof cult members.[126][127]Meanwhile, sociologists critical of these theories assisted advocates of religious freedomin defending the legitimacy of new religious movements in court. While the official response to new religious groups has been mixed across the globe, some governments aligned more with the critics of these groups to the extent of distinguishing between "legitimate" religion and "dangerous", "unwanted" cults in public policy.[54][128]
France and Belgium have taken policy positions which accept "brainwashing" theories uncritically, while other European nations, like Sweden and Italy, are cautious about brainwashing and have adopted more neutral responses to new religions.[129]Scholars have suggested that outrage following the mass murder/suicides perpetuated by the Solar Temple[54][130]as well as the more latent xenophobic and anti-American attitudes have contributed significantly to the extremity of European anti-cult positions.[131]
For centuries, governments in China have categories certain religions as xiejiao(邪教) The term is sometimes translated as “evil cult,” but a more literal translation is “heterodox teaching.”[132]The classification of a religion as xiejiaodid not necessarily mean that a religion’s teachings were believed to be false or inauthentic, but rather, the label was applied to religious groups that were not authorized by the state, or that were seen as challenging the legitimacy of the state.[132]In modern China, the term xiejiaocontinues to be used to denote teachings that the government disapproves of, and these groups face suppression and punishment by authorities. Fourteen different groups in China have been listed by the ministry of public security as xiejiao.[133]In addition, in 1999, Chinese authorities denounced the Falun Gongspiritual practice as a heretical teaching, and began a campaign to eliminate it. According to Amnesty International, the persecution of Falun Gongincludes a multifaceted propaganda campaign,[134]a program of enforced ideological conversion and re-education, as well as a variety of extralegal coercive measures, such as arbitrary arrests, forced labour, and physical torture, sometimes resulting in death.[135]The Chinese government has sought to legitimize its treatment of Falun Gong by adopting the language of the Western anti-cult movement,[136]but Western scholars familiar with the group say that Falun Gong does not meet the definition of a cult.[137][138]
Sociologists critical to this negative politicized use of the word "cult" argue that it may adversely impact the religious freedoms of group members.[127][139][140][141]In the 1980s clergymen and officials of the French government expressed concern that some ordersand other groups within the Roman Catholic Churchwould be adversely affected by anti-cult laws then being considered.[142]
The application of the labels "cult" or "sect" to religious movements in government documents signifies the popular and negative use of the term "cult" in Englishand a functionally similar use of words translated as "sect" in several European languages.[143][144]While these documents utilize similar terminology they do not necessarily include the same groups nor is their assessment of these groups based on agreed criteria.[143][144]Other governments and world bodies also report on new religious movements but do not use these terms to describe the groups.[143]
At the height of the counter-cult movement and ritual abuse scare of the 1990s, some governments published lists of cults.[145]Since the 2000s, some governments have again distanced themselves from such classifications of religious movements.[146]
Cults and US law[edit]
In the United States religious activities of cults are protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which prohibits governmental establishment of religionand protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. However, cult members are not granted any special protection against criminal charges.[28][147]
See also[edit]
Anti-cult movement
Cult following
Cult of personality
Cults and new religious movements in literature and popular culture
List of new religious movements
New religious movement
Sect
Sociological classifications of religious movements
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^Stark, Rodney, William Brainbridge (1996). A Theory of Religion. Rutgers University Press. p. 124. ISBN 0813523303.
2.Jump up ^OED, citing American Journal of Sociology85 (1980), p. 1377: "Cults[...], like other deviant social movements, tend to recruit people with a grievance, people who suffer from a some variety of deprivation."
3.Jump up ^Dr. Chuck Shaw – Sects and Cults– Greenville Technical College – Retrieved 21 March 2013.
4.Jump up ^T.L. Brink (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach. "Unit 13: Social Psychology." pp 320 [6]
5.Jump up ^Olson, Paul J. 2006. "The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements”." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 45 (1): 97–106
6.Jump up ^Dr. Chuck Shaw - Sects and Cults- Greenville Technical College - Retrieved 21 March 2013.
7.Jump up ^Bromley, David Melton, J. Gordon 2002. Cults, Religion, and Violence. West Nyack, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
8.Jump up ^Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley – The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P-Sh, Volume 4page 897. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
9.Jump up ^http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cult
10.Jump up ^culture- Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
11.Jump up ^In W. S. Taylor, 'Science and cult', Psychological Review, Vol 37(2), March 1930, cultistis still used in the sense that would now be expressed by "religionist", i.e. anyone adopting a religious worldview as opposed to a scientific one. In the New York State Journal of Medicineof 1932, p. 84 (and other medical publications of the 1930s; e.g. Morris Fishbein, Fads and Quackery in Healing: An Analysis of the Foibles of the Healing Cults, 1932), "cultist" is used of those adhering to what was then called "healing cults", and would now be referred to as faith healing, but also of other forms of alternative medicine("cultist" (in quotes) of a chiropractorin United States naval medical bulletin, Volume 28, 1930, p. 366).
12.Jump up ^Swatos Jr., William H. (1998). "Church-Sect Theory". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 90–93. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
13.Jump up ^Campbell., Colin (1998). "Cult". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 122–123. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
14.Jump up ^Richardson, 1993 p. 349
15.Jump up ^Stark and Bainbridge, 1987 p. 25
16.Jump up ^Stark and Bainbridge, 1987 p. 124
17.Jump up ^The Chaos of Cults, by J.K.van Baalen, 1938, 2nd revised and enlarged ed. 1956. "cult" in the sense of "heresy" is also found in J.Oswald Sanders, Heresies Ancient and Modern(1948).
18.Jump up ^e.g. Walter Martin, The Christian and the Cults: Answering the Cultist from the Bible, The Modern cult library series, Division of Cult Apologetics, Zondervan Publishing House, (1956) invokes Satan as instigator of "cults" on pp. 77, 113f. and 142.
19.Jump up ^A European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianismwas set up in 1994.
20.Jump up ^"This book tells you why the propaganda about and misrepresentation of Witches as evil, Satan-worshipping cultists is absolutely false" Scott Cunningham, The Truth about Witchcraft(1992).
21.Jump up ^Paul J. Olson, The Public Perception of “Cults” and “New Religious Movements” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion; Mar2006, Vol. 45 Issue 1, 97-106
22.Jump up ^so Margaret Singer, Janja Lalich, Cults in Our Midst(1995), in reference to Eileen Barker. See also Tim Stafford, "The Kingdom of the Cult Watchers," Christianity Today (October 7, 1991).
23.Jump up ^Сергей Иваненко (2009-08-17). О религиоведческих аспектах "антикультового движения"(in Russian). Retrieved 2009-12-04.
24.Jump up ^The new nobility : the restoration of Russia's security state and the enduring legacy of the KGB, Author: Andreĭ Soldatov; I Borogan, Publisher: New York, NY : PublicAffairs, 2010. pages 65-66
25.Jump up ^Dawson, Lorne L. (2006). Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-542009-8.
26.Jump up ^Goldman, Marion (2006). "Review Essay: Cults, New Religions, and the Spiritual Landscape: A Review of Four Collections". Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion45(1): 87–96. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2006.00007.x.
27.Jump up ^Bainbridge, William Sims (1997). The Sociology of Religious Movements. New York: Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 0-415-91202-4.
28.^ Jump up to: abOgloff, J. R.; Pfeifer, J. E. (1992). "Cults and the law: A discussion of the legality of alleged cult activities.". Behavioral Sciences & the Law10(1): 117–140. doi:10.1002/bsl.2370100111.
29.Jump up ^Elijah Siegler, 2007, New Religious Movements, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0131834789
30.Jump up ^Eileen Barker, 1999, "New Religious Movements: their incidence and significance", New Religious Movements: challenge and response, Bryan Wilson and Jamie Cresswell editors, RoutledgeISBN 0415200504
31.Jump up ^Elijah Siegler, 2007, New Religious Movements, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0131834789, page 51
32.Jump up ^Weber, Maximillan. Theory of Social and Economic Organization.Chapter: "The Nature of Charismatic Authority and its Routinization" translated by A. R. Anderson and Talcott Parsons, 1947. Originally published in 1922 in German under the title Wirtschaft und Gesellschaftchapter III, § 10(available online)
33.Jump up ^Wallis, Roy The Road to Total Freedom A Sociological analysis of Scientology(1976) available online (bad scan)
34.Jump up ^Wallis, Roy Scientology: Therapeutic Cult to Religious Sectabstract only(1975)
35.Jump up ^Stark, Rodney; Bainbridge, William(1996). A Theory of Religion. Peter Lang Publishing. pp. 155. ISBN 0-8135-2330-3.
36.Jump up ^Eugene V. Gallagher, 2004, The New Religious Movement Experience in America, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0313328072, page xv.
37.Jump up ^The Early Unification Church History, Galen Pumphrey
38.Jump up ^Conversion, Unification Church, Encyclopedia of Religion and Society, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary
39.Jump up ^Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America: African diaspora traditions and other American innovations, Volume 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, W. Michael Ashcraft, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006 ISBN 0-275-98717-5, ISBN 978-0-275-98717-6, page 180
40.Jump up ^Exploring New Religions, Issues in contemporary religion, George D. Chryssides, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001 ISBN 0-8264-5959-5, ISBN 978-0-8264-5959-6page 1
41.Jump up ^Dawson, Lorne L.. Cults in context: readings in the study of new religious movements, Transaction Publishers 1998, p. 340, ISBN 978-0-7658-0478-5
42.Jump up ^Robbins, Thomas. In Gods we trust: new patterns of religious pluralism in America, Transaction Publishers 1996, p. 537, ISBN 978-0-88738-800-2
43.Jump up ^Sipchen, Bob (1988-11-17). "Ten Years After Jonestown, the Battle Intensifies Over the Influence of 'Alternative' Religions", Los Angeles Times
44.Jump up ^Cowan, 2003
45.Jump up ^J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America(New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, 1992). page 5
46.Jump up ^Walter Ralston Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House, 2003, ISBN 0764228218page 18
47.Jump up ^Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, rev.ed. Santa Ana: Vision House, 1978, pp. 11-12.
48.Jump up ^Richard Abanes, Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions,Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, p. 33.
49.Jump up ^H. Wayne House & Gordon Carle, Doctrine Twisting: How Core Biblical Truths are Distorted, Downers Grove: IVP, 2003.
50.Jump up ^Garry W. Trompf,"Missiology, Methodology and the Study of New Religious Movements," Religious TraditionsVolume 10, 1987, pp. 95-106.
51.Jump up ^Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev.ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003, pp.479-493.
52.Jump up ^Ronald Enroth ed. Evangelising the Cults, Milton Keynes: Word, 1990.
53.Jump up ^Norman L Geisler & Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997.
54.^ Jump up to: abcRichardson and Introvigne, 2001
55.Jump up ^Shupe, Anson (1998). "Anti-Cult Movement". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
56.Jump up ^Hill, Harvey, John Hickman and Joel McLendon (2001). "Cults and Sects and Doomsday Groups, Oh My: Media Treatment of Religion on the Eve of the Millennium". Review of Religious Research43(1): 24–38. doi:10.2307/3512241. JSTOR 3512241.
57.Jump up ^van Driel, Barend and J. Richardson (1988). "Cult versus sect: Categorization of new religions in American print media". Sociological Analysis49(2): 171–183. doi:10.2307/3711011. JSTOR 3711011.
58.Jump up ^Richardson, James T. (1993). "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative". Review of Religious Research(Religious Research Association, Inc.) 34(4): 348–356. doi:10.2307/3511972. JSTOR 3511972.
59.Jump up ^T. Robbins and D. Anthony (1982:283, quoted in Richardson 1993:351) ("...certain manipulative and authoritarian groups which allegedly employ mind control and pose a threat to mental health are universally labeled cults. These groups are usually 1) authoritarian in their leadership; 2)communal and totalistic in their organization; 3) aggressive in their proselytizing; 4) systematic in their programs of indoctrination; 5)relatively new and unfamiliar in the United States; 6)middle class in their clientele")
60.Jump up ^Melton, J. Gordon(1999-12-10). "Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory". CESNUR: Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 2009-06-15. "In the United States at the end of the 1970s, brainwashing emerged as a popular theoretical construct around which to understand what appeared to be a sudden rise of new and unfamiliar religious movements during the previous decade, especially those associated with the hippie street-people phenomenon."
61.^ Jump up to: abBromley, David G. (1998). "Brainwashing". In William H. Swatos Jr. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-0-7619-8956-1.
62.Jump up ^Barker, Eileen: New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction. London: Her Majesty's Stationery office, 1989.
63.Jump up ^Janja, Lalich; Langone, Michael. "Characteristics Associated with Cultic Groups - Revised". International_Cultic_Studies_Association. International Cultic Studies Association. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
64.Jump up ^O'Reilly, Charles; Chatman, Jennifer (1996), Culture as Social Control: Corporations, Cults and Commitment(PDF), University of Berkely, ISBN 1-55938-938-9
65.Jump up ^Wright, Stewart A. (1997). "Media Coverage of Unconventional Religion: Any 'Good News' for Minority Faiths?". Review of Religious Research(Review of Religious Research, Vol. 39, No. 2) 39(2): 101–115. doi:10.2307/3512176. JSTOR 3512176.
66.Jump up ^Barker, Eileen (1986). "Religious Movements: Cult and Anti-Cult Since Jonestown". Annual Review of Sociology12: 329–346. doi:10.1146/annurev.so.12.080186.001553.
67.Jump up ^Ayella, Marybeth (1990). "They Must Be Crazy: Some of the Difficulties in Researching 'Cults'". American Behavioral Scientist33(5): 562–577. doi:10.1177/0002764290033005005.
68.Jump up ^Cowan, 2003 ix
69.Jump up ^Galanter, Marc (Editor), (1989), Cults and new religious movements: a report of the committee on psychiatry and religion of the American Psychiatric Association, ISBN 0-89042-212-5
70.Jump up ^Bader, Chris & A. Demaris, A test of the Stark-Bainbridge theory of affiliation with religious cults and sects.Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 35, 285–303. (1996)
71.Jump up ^Bromley, David G., Shupe, Anson D., Ventimiglia, G.C.: "Atrocity Tales, the Unification Church, and the Social Construction of Evil", Journal of Communication, Summer 1979, p. 42-53.
72.Jump up ^Duhaime, Jean (Université de Montréal) Les Témoigagnes de Convertis et d'ex-Adeptes(English: The testimonies of converts and former followers, an article that appeared in the otherwise English-language book New Religions in a Postmodern Worldedited by Mikael Rothsteinand Reender KranenborgRENNER Studies in New religions Aarhus Universitypress, ISBN 87-7288-748-6
73.Jump up ^Shupe, A.D. and D.G. Bromley 1981 Apostatesand Atrocity Stories: Some parameters in the Dynamics of DeprogrammingIn: B.R. Wilson (ed.) The Social Impact of New Religious MovementsBarrytown NY: Rose of Sharon Press, 179-215
74.Jump up ^Pilgrims of Love: The Anthropology of a Global Sufi Cult. By Pnina Werbner. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003. xvi, 348 pp"...the excessive use of "cult" is also potentially misleading. With its pejorative connotations"
75.Jump up ^Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative, James T. Richardson, Review of Religious Research, Vol. 34, No. 4 (Jun. 1993), pp. 348–356"the word cult is useless, and should be avoided because of the confusion between the historic meaning of the word and current pejorative use"
76.^ Jump up to: abcdeWessinger, Catherine Lowman(2000). How the Millennium Comes Violently. New York, NY/London, UK: Seven Bridges Press. p. 4. ISBN 1-889119-24-5.
77.Jump up ^Schoolboy avoids prosecution for branding Scientology a 'cult'Daily Mail, 23 May 2008
78.Jump up ^Protesters celebrate city's 'cult' stance– Edinburgh Evening News, 27 May 2008
79.Jump up ^Amy Ryan: New Religions and the Anti-Cult Movement: Online Resource Guide in Social Sciences(2000) [7]
80.Jump up ^Casino. Bruce J., Defining Religion in American Law, 1999
81.Jump up ^Jenkins, Phillip (2000). Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History. Oxford University PressUSA. pp. 216, 222. ISBN 0-19-514596-8.
82.Jump up ^Pargament, Kenneth I.(1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press. pp. 150–153, 340, section: "Compelling Coping in a Doomsday Cult". ISBN 1-57230-664-5.
83.Jump up ^Stangor, Charles (2004). Social Groups in Action and Interaction. Psychology Press. pp. 42–43: "When Prophecy Fails". ISBN 1-84169-407-X.
84.Jump up ^Newman, Dr. David M. (2006). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. Pine Forge Press. p. 86. ISBN 1-4129-2814-1.
85.Jump up ^Petty, Richard E.; John T. Cacioppo (1996). Attitudes and Persuasion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches. Westview Press. p. 139: "Effect of Disconfirming an Important Belief". ISBN 0-8133-3005-X.
86.Jump up ^Festinger, Leon; Henry W. Riecken, Stanley Schachter(1956). When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 1-59147-727-1.
87.Jump up ^Dennis Tourish and Tim Wohlforth, On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000.
88.Jump up ^Janja Lalich "On the Edge" (review), Cultic Studies Review (online journal), 2:2, 2003 [8]
89.Jump up ^Tourish and Wohlforth, 2000
90.Jump up ^Introduction to ‘Ideological Intransigence, Democratic Centralism and Cultism’
91.Jump up ^John Mintz, "Ideological Odyssey: From Old Left to Far Right," The Washington Post, January 14, 1985 [9]
92.Jump up ^Alisa Solomon, "Commie Fiends of Brooklyn," The Village Voice, November 26, 1996.
93.Jump up ^Janja A. Lalich, Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004 [10]
94.^ Jump up to: abRothbard, Murray. "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". Retrieved 2009-07-30.Rothbard's essay was later revised and printed as a pamphlet by Libertymagazine in 1987, and by the Center for Libertarian Studies in 1990.
95.Jump up ^Shermer, Michael(1997). "The Unlikeliest Cult". Why People Believe Weird Things. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. ISBN 0-7167-3090-1.This chapter is a revised version of Shermer, Michael(1993). "The Unlikeliest Cult in History". Skeptic2(2): 74–81.
96.Jump up ^David North, Gerry Healy and His Place in the History of the Fourth International, Mehring Books, 1991. ISBN 0-929087-58-5. Does not define the group as a cult but draws parallels to Scientology and provides a detailed account of Healy's descent into personal authoritarianism.
97.Jump up ^Tourish and Wohlforth, "Gerry Healy: Guru to a Star" (Chapter 10), pp. 156–172, in On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2000
98.Jump up ^"Cults, Sects and the Far Left" reviewed by Bob Pitt, What Next?ISSN 1479-4322No. 17, 2000 online
99.Jump up ^"Arlette Laguiller n'aime pas le débat"(in French). L'Humanité. April 11, 2002.
100.Jump up ^Cyril Le Tallec (2006). Les sectes politiques: 1965–1995(in French). Retrieved 28 August2009.
101.Jump up ^Library JournalDec 1990 v115 n21 p144(1) Mag.Coll.: 58A2543.
102.Jump up ^"Tracing India's cult of thugs". Los Angeles Times.August 3, 2003.
103.Jump up ^Robinson, B.A. (July 25, 2007). "Doomsday, destructive religious cults". Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
104.Jump up ^Turner, Francis J.; Arnold Shanon Bloch, Ron Shor (September 1, 1995). Differential Diagnosis & Treatment in Social Work, 4th Edition. Free Press. pp. 1146: Chapter 105: "From Consultation to Therapy in Group Work With Parents of Cultists". ISBN 0-02-874007-6.
105.Jump up ^Clark, M.D., John Gordon(November 4, 1977). "The Effects of Religious Cults on the Health and Welfare of Their Converts". Congressional Record(United States Congress) 123(181): Extensions of Remarks P. 37401–37403. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
106.Jump up ^Kaslow, Florence Whiteman; Marvin B. Sussman (1982). Cults and the Family. Haworth Press. p. 34. ISBN 0-917724-55-0.
107.Jump up ^Dr. Zablocki, Benjamin [11]Paper presented to a conference, Cults: Theory and Treatment Issues, 31 May 1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
108.Jump up ^Kranenborg, Reender Dr. (Dutch language) Sekten... gevaarlijk of niet?/Cults... dangerous or not?published in the magazine Religieuze bewegingen in Nederland/Religious movements in the Netherlandsnr. 31 Sekten IIby the Free university Amsterdam(1996) ISSN 0169-7374 ISBN 90-5383-426-5
109.Jump up ^Saliba, John A.; J. Gordon Melton, foreword (2003). Understanding New Religious Movements. Rowman Altamira. p. 144. ISBN 0-7591-0356-9.
110.Jump up ^Zablocki, Benjamin David; Thomas Robbins(2001). Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. University of Toronto Press. p. 474. ISBN 0-8020-8188-6.
111.Jump up ^Dawson, Lorne L. (1998). Cults in Context: Readings in the Study of New Religious Movements. Transaction Publishers. p. 349: "Sects and Violence". ISBN 0-7658-0478-6.
112.Jump up ^Hubert Seiwert: Freedom and Control in the Unified Germany: Governmental Approaches to Alternative Religions Since 1989. In: Sociology of Religion(2003) 64 (3): 367–375, S. 370. Online edition
113.Jump up ^BVerfG, 1 BvR 670/91 dd 26 June 2002, Rn. 57, 60, 62, 91–94, related press release(German)
114.Jump up ^Piven, Jerry S. (2002). Jihad and Sacred Vengeance: Psychological Undercurrents of History. iUniverse. pp. 104–114. ISBN 0-595-25104-8.
115.Jump up ^Goldberg, Carl; Virginia Crespo (2004). Seeking the Compassionate Life: The Moral Crisis for Psychotherapy and Society. Praeger/Greenwood. p. 161. ISBN 0-275-98196-7.
116.Jump up ^Dittmann, Melissa (November 10, 2002). "Cults of hatred: Panelists at a convention session on hatred asked APA to form a task force to investigate mind control among destructive cults.". Monitor on Psychology(American Psychological Association). pp. Page 30, Volume 33, No. 10. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
117.Jump up ^Sieghart, Mary Ann(October 26, 2001). "The cult figure we could do without". The Times.
118.Jump up ^Steven J. Stern (ed.), Shining and Other Paths: War and Society in Peru, 1980–1995, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998
119.Jump up ^David Scott Palmer, Shining Path of Peru, New York: St. Martin's Press, second ed., 1994
120.Jump up ^Gérard Chaliand, Interviewin L'Express(French)
121.Jump up ^Elizabeth Rubin, "The Cult of Rajavi," The New York Times Magazine, July 13, 2003
122.Jump up ^Karl Vick, "Iran Dissident Group Labeled a Terrorist Cult," The Washington Post, June 21, 2003
123.Jump up ^Max Boot, "How to Handle Iran," Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2006
124.Jump up ^"No Exit: Human Rights Abuses Inside the Mojahedin Khalq Camps", Human Rights Watch [12]
125.Jump up ^Banisadr, Masoud (May 19–20, 2005). "Cult and extremism / Terrorism". Combating Terrorism and Protecting Democracy: The Role of Civil Society(Centro de Investigación para la Paz). Retrieved 2007-11-21.
126.Jump up ^Lewis, 2004
127.^ Jump up to: abDavis, Dena S. 1996 "Joining a Cult: Religious Choice or Psychological Aberration" Journal of Law and Health.
128.Jump up ^Edelman, Bryan and Richardson, James T. (2003). "Falun Gong and the Law: Development of Legal Social Control in China". Nova Religio6(2): 312–331. doi:10.1525/nr.2003.6.2.312.
129.Jump up ^Richardson and Introvigne, 2001 pp. 144–146
130.Jump up ^Robbins, Thomas (2002). "Combating 'Cults' and 'Brainwashing' in the United States and Europe: A Comment on Richardson and Introvigne's Report". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40(2): 169–76. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00047.
131.Jump up ^Beckford, James A. (1998). "'Cult' Controversies in Three European Countries". Journal of Oriental Studies8: 174–84.
132.^ Jump up to: abBenjamin Penny, "The Religion of Falun Gong," (University of Chicago Press, 2012), ISBN 978-0-226-65501-7, p. 6
133.Jump up ^Freedom House, “Report Analyzing Seven Secret Chinese Government Documents”, 11 February 2002.
134.Jump up ^Thomas Lum (25 May 2006). "CRS Report for Congress: China and Falun Gong"(PDF). Congressional Research Service.
135.Jump up ^"China: The crackdown on Falun Gong and other so-called "heretical organizations"". Amnesty International. 23 March 2000. Retrieved 17 March2010.
136.Jump up ^Edelman, Bryan and Richardson, James. “Falun Gong and the Law Development of Legal Social Control in China.” Nova Religio 6.2 (2003).
137.Jump up ^Restall, Hugo. “What if Falun Dafa is a ‘cult?’”. The Asian Wall Street Journal, 14 February 2001.
138.Jump up ^John Turley-Ewart, "Falun Gong persecution spreads to Canada," The National Post, 20 March 2004.
139.Jump up ^Richardson, 1993
140.Jump up ^Barker, Eileen (2002). "Watching for Violence: A comparative Analysis of the Roles of Five Types of Cult-watching Groups". In David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton. Cults, Religion and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521668980.
141.Jump up ^T. Jeremy Gunn, The Complexity of Religion and the Definition of “Religion” in International Law
142.Jump up ^Richardson, James T.(2004). Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe. New York [u.a.]: Kluwer Acad. / Plenum Publ. ISBN 0306478862.
143.^ Jump up to: abcRichardson, James T.and Introvigne, Massimo(2001). "'Brainwashing' Theories in European Parliamentary and Administrative Reports on 'Cults' and 'Sects'". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40(2): 143–168. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00046.
144.^ Jump up to: abRobbins, Thomas(2002). "Combating 'Cults' and 'Brainwashing' in the United States and Europe: A Comment on Richardson and Introvigne's Report". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40(2): 169–76. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00047.
145.Jump up ^or "sects" in German-speaking countries, the German term Sekten(lit. "sects") having assumed the same derogatory meaning as English "cult".
146.Jump up ^Austria: Beginning in 2011, the United States Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report, as released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor no longer distinguishes sects in Austria as a separate group. "International Religious Freedom Report for 2012". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
Belgium: The Justice Commission of the Belgian House of Representatives published a report on cults in 1997. A Brussels Appeals Court in 2005 condemned the Belgian House of Representatives on the grounds that it had damaged the image of an organization listed.
France: a parliamentary commission of the National Assembly compiled a list of purported cults in 1995. In 2005, the Prime Minister stated that the concerns addressed in the list "had become less pertinen" and that the government needed to balance its concern with cults with respect for public freedoms and laïcité.
Germany: The legitimacy of a 1997 Berlin Senate reportlisting cults (Sekten) was defended in a court decision of 2003 (Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin (OVG 5 B 26.00) 25 September 2003), and the list is still maintained by Berlin city authorities (Sekten und Psychogruppen - Leitstelle Berlin).
147.Jump up ^"First Amendment". Cornell University Law School Legal Information Institute. Archivedfrom the original on May 3, 2013. Retrieved May 3,2013.
References[edit]
Cowan, Douglas E. (2003). Bearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-97459-6.
Lewis, James R.(2004). The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-514986-6.
Richardson, James T.(1993). "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative". Review of Religious Research34(4): 348–356. doi:10.2307/3511972. JSTOR 3511972.
Richardson, James T. and Introvigne, Massimo(2001). "'Brainwashing' Theories in European Parliamentary and Administrative Reports on 'Cults' and 'Sects'". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion40(2): 143–168. doi:10.1111/0021-8294.00046.
Stark, Rodneyand Bainbridge, William Sims(1987). The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival and Cult Formation. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-05731-9.
Bibliography[edit]
Books
Barker, E.(1989) New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction, London, HMSO
Bromley, David et al.: Cults, Religion, and Violence, 2002, ISBN 0-521-66898-0
Enroth, Ronald. (1992) Churches that Abuse, Zondervan, ISBN 0-310-53290-6Full text online
Esquerre, Arnaud: La manipulation mentale. Sociologie des sectes en France, Fayard, Paris, 2009.
House, Wayne: Charts of Cults, Sects, and Religious Movements, 2000, ISBN 0-310-38551-2
Kramer, Joel and Alstad, Diane: The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power, 1993.
Lalich, Janja: Bounded Choice: True Believers and Charismatic Cults, 2004, ISBN 0-520-24018-9
Landau Tobias, Madeleine et al. : Captive Hearts, Captive Minds, 1994, ISBN 0-89793-144-0
Lewis, James R.The Oxford Handbook of New Religious MovementsOxford University Press, 2004
Lewis, James R.Odd Gods: New Religions and the Cult Controversy, Prometheus Books, 2001
Martin, Walter et al.: The Kingdom of the Cults, 2003, ISBN 0-7642-2821-8
Melton, Gordon: Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America, 1992 (Search inside), ISBN 0-8153-1140-0
Oakes, Len: Prophetic Charisma: The Psychology of Revolutionary Religious Personalities, 1997, ISBN 0-8156-0398-3
Singer, Margaret Thaler: Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, 1992, ISBN 0-7879-6741-6
Tourish, Dennis: 'On the Edge: Political Cults Right and Left, 2000, ISBN 0-7656-0639-9
Zablocki, Benjamin et al.: Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field, 2001, ISBN 0-8020-8188-6
Articles
Langone, Michael: Cults: Questions and Answers [1]
Lifton, Robert Jay: Cult Formation, The Harvard Mental Health Letter, February 1991 [2]
Robbins, T. and D. Anthony, 1982. "Deprogramming, brainwashing and the medicalization of deviant religious groups" Social Problems29pp 283–97.
James T. Richardson: "Definitions of Cult: From Sociological-Technical to Popular-Negative" Review of Religious Research34.4 (June 1993), pp. 348–356.
Rosedale, Herbert et al.: On Using the Term "Cult"[3]
Van Hoey, Sara: Cults in CourtThe Los Angeles Lawyer, February 1991 [4]
Zimbardo, Philip: What messages are behind today's cults?, American Psychological Association Monitor, May 1997 [5]
Aronoff, Jodi; Lynn, Steven Jay; Malinosky, Peter. Are cultic environments psychologically harmful?, Clinical Psychology Review, 2000, Vol. 20 #1 pp. 91–111
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Anti-cult movement
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"Countercult" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Counterculture.
The anti-cult movement(abbreviated ACMand sometimes called the countercult movement) opposes any new religious movements(NRMs) they characterize as cults. Sociologists David G. Bromleyand Anson Shupeinitially defined the ACM in 1981 as a collection of groups embracing brainwashing-theory,[1]but later observed a significant shift in ideology towards a 'medicalization' of the memberships of new religious movements.[2]Some Christian organizations also oppose NRMs on theological grounds through church networks and printed literature.[3]
Contents [hide]
1The concept of an ACM1.1Religious and secular critics
1.2Barker's five types of cult-watching groups
1.3Hadden's taxonomy of the anti-cult movement
2Cult-watching groups and individuals, and other opposition to cults2.1Family-members of adherents
2.2Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists
2.3Former members
2.4Christian countercult movement
2.5Governmental opposition
3Anti-cult movement in Russia
4Controversies4.1Polarized views among scholars
4.2Brainwashing and mind-control
4.3Deprogramming or exit-counseling
4.4Responses of targeted groups and scholars
5See also
6Footnotes
7References
8Further reading
The concept of an ACM[edit]
The anti-cult movement is conceptualized as a collection of individuals and groups, whether formally organized or not, who oppose some new religious movements (or 'cults'). This countermovementhas reportedly recruited from family members of 'cultists', former group members (or apostates), church groups (including Jewish groups)[4]and associations of health professionals.[5]Although there is a trend towards globalization,[6]the social and organizational bases vary significantly from country to country according to the social and political opportunity structuresin each place.[7]
As with many subjects in the social sciences, the movement is variously defined. A significant minority opinion suggests that analysis should treat the secular anti-cult movement separately from the religiously motivated (mainly Christian) groups.[8][9]
The anti-cult movement might be divided into four classes:
secular counter-cult groups;
Christian evangelical counter-cult groups;
groups formed to counter a specific cult; and
organizations that offer some form of exit counseling.[10]
Most, if not all, the groups involved express the view that there are potentially deleterious effects associated with some new religious movements.[11]
Religious and secular critics[edit]
Commentators differentiate two main types of opposition to 'cults':
religious opposition (related to theologicalissues).
secular opposition (related to emotional, social, financial, and economic consequences of cultic involvement, where 'cult' can refer to a religious or to a secular group).
Barker's five types of cult-watching groups[edit]
According to sociologist Eileen Barker, cult-watching groups (CWGs) disseminate information about 'cults' with the intent of changing public and government perception as well as of changing public policy regarding NRMs.
Barker has identified five types of CWG:[12]
1.cult-awareness groups (CAGs) focusing on the harm done by 'destructive cults'
2.counter-cult groups (CCGs) focusing on the (heretical) teaching of non-mainstream groups
3.research-oriented groups (ROGs) focusing on beliefs, practices and comparisons
4.human-rights groups (HRGs) focusing on the human rights of religious minorities
5.cult-defender groups (CDGs) focusing on defending cults and exposing CAGs
Hadden's taxonomy of the anti-cult movement[edit]
Jeffrey K. Haddensees four distinct classes in the organizational opposition to 'cults':[13]
1.Religiously grounded oppositionOpposition usually defined in theological terms.
Cults viewed as engaging in heresy.
Sees its mission as exposing the heresy and correcting the beliefs of those who have strayed from a truth.
Prefers metaphors of deception rather than of possession.
Opposition serves two important functions:protects members (especially youth) from heresy, and
increases solidarity among the faithful.
2.Secular oppositionRegards individual autonomy as the manifest goal — achieved by getting people out of groups using mind controland deceptive proselytization.
Identifies the struggle as about control, not as about theology.
Organized around families who have or have had children involved in a cult.
Has a latent goal of disabling or destroying NRMs organizationally.
3.ApostatesApostasy = the renunciation of a religious faith.
Apostate = one who engages in active opposition to their former faith.
The anti-cult movement has actively encouraged former members to interpret their experience in a 'cult' as one of being egregiously wronged and encourages participation in organized anti-cult activities.
4.Entrepreneurial oppositionIndividuals who take up a cause for personal gain
Ad hoc alliances or coalitions to promote shared views
Broadcasters and journalists as leading examples.
A few 'entrepreneurs' have made careers by setting up organized opposition.
Cult-watching groups and individuals, and other opposition to cults[edit]
Family-members of adherents[edit]
Some opposition to cults (and to some new religious movements) started with family-members of cult-adherents who had problems with the sudden changes in character, lifestyle and future plans of their young adult children who had joined NRMs. Ted Patrick, widely known as 'the father of deprogramming', exemplifies members of this group. The former Cult Awareness Network(old CAN) grew out of a grassroots-movement by parents of cult-members. The American Family Foundation(todaythe International Cultic Studies Association) originated from a father whose daughter had joined a high-control group.
Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists[edit]
From the 1970s onwards some psychiatrists and clinical psychologists accused 'cults' of harming some of their members. These accusations were sometimes based on observations made during therapy, and sometimes were related to theories regarding brainwashing or mind-control.
Former members[edit]
See also: Apostasy in alleged cults and new religious movements
Anson Shupe, David G. Bromleyand Joseph Ventimiglia coined the term atrocity talesin 1979,[14]which Bryan R. Wilsonlater took up in relation to former members' narratives. Bromley and Shupe defined an 'atrocity tale' as the symbolic presentation of action or events (real or imagined) in such a context that they come to flagrantly violate the (presumably) shared premises upon which a given set of social relationships should take place. The recounting of such tales has the intention of reaffirming normative boundaries. By sharing the reporter's disapproval or horror, an audience reasserts normative prescription and clearly locates the violator beyond the limits of public morality.[15][16]
Christian countercult movement[edit]
Main article: Christian countercult movement
In the 1940s, the long held opposition by some established Christian denominations to non-Christian religions or/and supposedly heretical, or counterfeit, Christian sects crystallized into a more organized 'Christian counter cult movement' in the United States. For those belonging to the movement, all religious groups claiming to be Christian, but deemed outside of Christian orthodoxy, were considered 'cults'.[17]Christian cults are new religious movements which have a Christian background but are considered to be theologicallydeviant by members of other Christian churches.[18]In his influential book The Kingdom of the Cults(first published in the United States in 1965) Christian scholar Walter Martindefines Christian cults as groups that follow the personal interpretation of an individual, rather than the understanding of the Bibleaccepted by mainstream Christianity. He mentions The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Science, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian Universalism, and Unityas examples.[19]
The Christian countercult movement asserts that Christian sects whose beliefs are partially or wholly not in accordance with the Bibleare erroneous. It also states that a religious sect can be considered a 'cult' if its beliefs involve a denial of what they view as any of the essential Christianteachings such as salvation, the Trinity, Jesushimself as a person, the ministry of Jesus, the Miracles of Jesus, the Crucifixion of Jesus, the Death of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture.[20][21][22]
Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionaryor apologeticpurpose.[23]It presents a rebuttal by emphasizing the teachings of the Bibleagainst the beliefs of non-fundamental Christian sects. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelizeto followers of cults.[24][25][26]
Governmental opposition[edit]
For more details see: Governmental lists of cults and sects
The secular opposition to cults and new religious movements operates internationally, though a number of sizeable and sometimes expanding groups originated in the United States. Some European countries, such as France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland have introduced legislation or taken other measures against cults or 'cultic deviations'.
In the Netherlands 'cults', sects, and new religious movementshave the same legal rights as larger and more mainstream religious movements.[27]As of 2004, the Netherlands do not have an anti-cult movement of any significance.[28]
Anti-cult movement in Russia[edit]
In Russia“anticultism” appeared in early 1990s. Some Russian Protestantcriticized foreign missionaries, sects and new religious movements. They perhaps hoped that taking part in anti-cult declarations could demonstrate that they were not "sectarians". Some religious studies have shown that anti-cult movements, especially with support of the government, can provoke serious religious conflicts in Russian society.[29]In 2008 the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairsprepared a list of "extremist groups". At the top of the list were Islamic groups outside of "traditional Islam", which is supervised by the Russian government. Next listed were "Pagan cults".[30]In 2009 the Russian Ministry of Justicecreated a council which it named the Council of Experts Conducting State Religious Studies Expert Analysis. The new council listed 80 large sects which it considered potentially dangerous to Russian society, and mentioned that there were thousands of smaller ones. Large sects listed included The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, and what were called "neo-Pentecostals." [31]
Controversies[edit]
Polarized views among scholars[edit]
Social scientists, sociologists, religious scholars, psychologists and psychiatrists have studied the modern field of 'cults' and new religious movements since the early 1980s. Cult debates about certain purported cults and about cults in general often become polarized with widely divergent opinions, not only among current followers and disaffected former members, but sometimes among scholars as well.
All academics agree that some groups have become problematic and sometimes very problematic; but they disagree over the extent to which new religious movements in general cause harm.
Several scholars have questioned Hadden's attitude towards NRMs and cult critics as one-sided.[32]
Scholars in the field of new religious movements confront many controversial subjects:
The validity of the testimonies of former members.
The validity of the testimonies of current members.
The validity of and differences between exit counselingand coercive deprogramming.
The validity of evidence of harm caused by 'cults'.
Ethical concerns regarding new religious movements, for example: free will, freedom of speech.
Opposition to 'cults' vs. freedom of religionand religious intolerance.
The objectivity of all scholars studying new religious movements (see NRM apologists).
The acceptance or rejection of the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Controlreport (Amitrani & di Marzio, 2000, Massimo Introvigne), see also scholarly positions on mind control.
Janet Jacobs expresses the range of views on the membership of the perceived ACM itself, ranging from those who comment on "the value of the Cult Awareness Network, the value of exit therapy for former members of new religious movements, and alternative modes of support for family members of individuals who have joined new religions" and extending to "a more critical perspective on [a perceived] wide range of ACM activities that threaten religious freedom and individual rights."[33]
Brainwashing and mind-control[edit]
Further information: Mind control
Over the years various theories of conversionand member retention have been proposed that link mind control to NRMs, and particularly those religious movements referred to as 'cults' by their critics. These theories resemble the original political brainwashing theories first developed by the American CIA as a propaganda device to combat communism,[34]with some minor changes. Philip Zimbardodiscusses mind control as "...the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes",[35]and he suggests that any human being is susceptible to such manipulation.[36]In a 1999 book, Robert Lifton also applied his original ideas about thought reform to Aum Shinrikyo, concluding that in this context thought reform was possible without violence or physical coercion. Margaret Singer, who also spent time studying the political brainwashing of Korean prisoners of war, agreed with this conclusion: in her book Cults in Our Midstshe describes six conditions which would create an atmosphere in which thought reform is possible.[37]
James T. Richardsonobserves that if the NRMs had access to powerful brainwashing techniques, one would expect that NRMs would have high growth rates, yet in fact most have not had notable success in recruitment. Most adherents participate for only a short time, and the success in retaining members is limited.[38]For this and other reasons, sociologists of religion including David G. Bromleyand Anson D. Shupeconsider the idea that cults are brainwashing American youth to be "implausible."[39]In addition to Bromley, Thomas Robbins, Dick Anthony, Eileen Barker, Newton Maloney, Massimo Introvigne, John Hall, Lorne L. Dawson, Anson D. Shupe, J. Gordon Melton, Marc Galanter, Saul Levine of Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc, amongst other scholars researching NRMs, have argued and established to the satisfaction of courts, relevant professional associations and scientific communities that there exists no scientific theory, generally accepted and based upon methodologically sound research, that supports the brainwashing theories as advanced by the anti-cult movement.[40]
Deprogramming or exit-counseling[edit]
Further information: Deprogramming
Some members of the secular opposition to cults and to some new religious movements have argued that if brainwashing has deprived a person of their free will, treatment to restore their free will should take place — even if the 'victim' opposes this.
Precedents for this exist in the treatment of certain mental illnesses: in such cases medical and legal authorities recognize the condition(s) as depriving sufferers of their ability to make appropriate decisions for themselves. But the practice of forcing treatment on a presumed victim of 'brainwashing' (one definition of "deprogramming") has constantly proven controversial. Human-rightsorganizations (including the ACLUand Human Rights Watch) have also criticized deprogramming. While only a small fraction of the anti-cult movement has had involvement in deprogramming, several deprogrammers (including a deprogramming-pioneer, Ted Patrick) have served prison-terms for acts sometimes associated with deprogramming including kidnapping and rape, while courts have acquitted others.
Responses of targeted groups and scholars[edit]
The Foundation against Intolerance of Religious Minorities, associated with the AdidamNRM, sees the use of terms 'cult' and 'cult leader' as detestable and as something to avoid at all costs. The Foundation regards such usage as the exercise of prejudice and discrimination against them in the same manner as the words 'nigger' and 'commie' served in the past to denigrate blacksand Communists.[41]
CESNUR’s president Massimo Introvigne, writes in his article "So many evil things: Anti-cult terrorism via the Internet",[42]that fringe and extreme anti-cult activists resort to tactics that may create a background favorable to extreme manifestations of discriminationand hateagainst individuals that belong to new religious movements. Professor Eileen Barkerpoints out in an interview that the controversy surrounding certain new religious movements can turn violent by a process called deviancy amplification spiral.[43]
In a paper presented at the 2000 meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Anson Shupe and Susan Darnell argued that although the International Cultic Studies Association(ICSA, formerly known as AFF or American Family Foundation) has presented "...slanted, stereotypical images and language that has inflamed persons to perform extreme actions," the extent to which one can classify the ICSA and other anti-cult organizations as 'hate-groups' (as defined by law in some jurisdictions or by racial/ethnic criteria in sociology) remains open to debate. In 2005, the Hate Crimes Unit of the Edmonton Police Service confiscated anti-Falun Gong materials distributed at the annual conference of the ICSA by staff members of the Calgary Chinese Consulate (Province of Alberta, Canada). The materials, including the calling of Falun Gong a 'cult', were identified as having breached the Criminal Code, which bans the wilful promotion of hatred against identifiable religious groups.[44]See also Verbal violence in hate groups.
An article on the categorization of new religious movements in US media published by The Association for the Sociology of Religion(formerly the American Catholic Sociological Society, criticizes the print media for failing to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of new religious movements, and its tendency to use anti-cultist definitions rather than social-scientific insight, and asserts that The failure of the print media to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of religious movement organizations (as our previous research [van Driel and Richardson, 1985] also shows) impels us to add yet another failing mark to the media report card Weiss (1985) has constructed to assess the media's reporting of the social sciences.[45]
See also[edit]
Cult apologist
Cult Awareness Network
Christian countercult movement
Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France(1995)
Religious Persecution
International Cultic Studies Association
Persecution of Falun Gong
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^Bromley, David G.; Anson Shupe(1981). Strange Gods: The Great American Cult Scare. Boston: Beacon Press.
2.Jump up ^Shupe, Anson and David G. Bromley. 1994. "," pp. 3-32 in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland, pp. 9-14.
3.Jump up ^Anson, Shupe. "ANTI-CULT MOVEMENT". Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Retrieved 19 May2014.
4.Jump up ^Feher, Shoshanah. 1994. "Maintaining the Faith: The Jewish Anti-Cult and Counter-Missionary Movement, pp. 33-48 in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland.
5.Jump up ^Shupe, Anson and David G. Bromley. 1994. "The Modern Anti-Cult Movement in North America," pp. 3-31 in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland, p. 3.
Barker, Eileen. 1995 The Scientific Study of Religion? You Must Be Joking!", Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion34 (3): 287-310, p. 297.
6.Jump up ^Shupe, Anson and David G. Bromley. 1994. "Introduction," pp. vii-xi in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland, p. x.
7.Jump up ^Richardson, James T.and Barend von Driel. 1994 "New Religious Movements in Europe: Developments and Reactions," pp. 129-170 in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland, p. 137ff.
8.Jump up ^Cowan, Douglas E. 2002. "Exits and Migrations: Foregrounding the Christian Counter-cult", Journal of Contemporary Religion17 (3): 339-354.
9.Jump up ^"Cult Group Controversies: Conceptualizing 'Anti-Cult' and 'Counter-Cult'"
10.Jump up ^Chryssides, George D. 1999. Exploring New Religions.London & New York: Cassell, p. 345.
11.Jump up ^Possamaï, Adam and Murray Lee. 2004. "New Religious Movements and the Fear of Crime," Journal of Contemporary Religion19 (3): 337-352, p. 338.
12.Jump up ^http://www.cesnur.org/2001/london2001/barker.htm
13.Jump up ^Hadden, Jeffrey K., SOC 257: New Religious Movements Lectures: The Anti-Cult Movement, University of Virginia, Department of Sociology
14.Jump up ^Bromley, David G., Shupe, Anson D., Ventimiglia, G.C.: "Atrocity Tales, the Unification Church, and the Social Construction of Evil", Journal of Communication, Summer 1979, p. 42-53.
15.Jump up ^Duhaime, Jean (Université de Montréal) Les Témoigagnes de Convertis et d'ex-Adeptes(English: The testimonies of converts and former followers, an article that appeared in the otherwise English-language book New Religions in a Postmodern Worldedited by Mikael Rothsteinand Reender KranenborgRENNER Studies in New religions Aarhus Universitypress, ISBN 87-7288-748-6
16.Jump up ^Shupe, A.D. and D.G. Bromley 1981 Apostatesand Atrocity Stories: Some parameters in the Dynamics of DeprogrammingIn: B.R. Wilson (ed.) The Social Impact of New Religious MovementsBarrytown NY: Rose of Sharon Press, 179-215
17.Jump up ^Cowan, 2003
18.Jump up ^J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America(New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, 1992). page 5
19.Jump up ^Walter Ralston Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House, 2003, ISBN 0764228218page 18
20.Jump up ^Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, rev.ed. Santa Ana: Vision House, 1978, pp. 11-12.
21.Jump up ^Richard Abanes, Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions,Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, p. 33.
22.Jump up ^H. Wayne House & Gordon Carle, Doctrine Twisting: How Core Biblical Truths are Distorted, Downers Grove: IVP, 2003.
23.Jump up ^Garry W. Trompf,"Missiology, Methodology and the Study of New Religious Movements," Religious TraditionsVolume 10, 1987, pp. 95-106.
24.Jump up ^Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev.ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003, pp.479-493.
25.Jump up ^Ronald Enroth ed. Evangelising the Cults, Milton Keynes: Word, 1990.
26.Jump up ^Norman L Geisler & Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997.
27.Jump up ^Singelenberg, RichardForedoomed to Failure: the Anti-Cult Movement in the Netherlandsin Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe, redacted by James T. Richardson, Springer, 2004, ISBN 0-306-47887-0, ISBN 978-0-306-47887-1, pages 214-215
28.Jump up ^Singelenberg, RichardForedoomed to Failure: the Anti-Cult Movement in the Netherlandsin Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe, redacted by James T. Richardson, Springer, 2004, ISBN 0-306-47887-0, ISBN 978-0-306-47887-1, page 213
29.Jump up ^Сергей Иваненко (2009-08-17). О религиоведческих аспектах "антикультового движения"(in Russian). Retrieved 2009-12-04.
30.Jump up ^The new nobility : the restoration of Russia's security state and the enduring legacy of the KGB, Author: Andreĭ Soldatov; I Borogan, Publisher: New York, NY : PublicAffairs, ©2010. pages 65-66
31.Jump up ^Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians (Google eBook), Paul Marshall, 2013, Thomas Nelson Inc
32.Jump up ^Robbins and Zablocki 2001, Beit-Hallahmi 2001, Kent and Krebs 1998.
33.Jump up ^Janet L Jacobs: Review of Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley: Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland in Sociology of religion, Winter 1996. Online at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_n4_v57/ai_19178617/pg_2. Retrieved 2007-09-17
34.Jump up ^Dick, Anthony (1999). "Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall". Social Justice Research12(4).
35.Jump up ^Zimbardo, Philip G.(November 2002). "Mind Control: Psychological Reality or Mindless Rhetoric?". Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved 2008-12-30. "Mind control is the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes. It is neither magical nor mystical, but a process that involves a set of basic social psychological principles. Conformity, compliance, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, guilt and fear arousal, modeling and identification are some of the staple social influence ingredients well studied in psychological experiments and field studies. In some combinations, they create a powerful crucible of extreme mental and behavioral manipulationwhen synthesized with several other real-world factors, such as charismatic, authoritarian leaders, dominant ideologies, social isolation, physical debilitation, induced phobias, and extreme threats or promised rewards that are typically deceptively orchestrated, over an extended time period in settings where they are applied intensively. A body of social science evidence shows that when systematically practiced by state-sanctioned police, military or destructive cults, mind control can induce false confessions, create converts who willingly torture or kill 'invented enemies,' and engage indoctrinated members to work tirelessly, give up their money—and even their lives—for 'the cause.'"
36.Jump up ^Zimbardo, P(1997). "What messages are behind today's cults?". Monitor on Psychology: 14.
37.Jump up ^Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, Margaret Thaler Singer, Jossey-Bass, publisher, April 2003, ISBN 0-7879-6741-6
38.Jump up ^Richardson, James T. (June 1985). "The active vs. passive convert: paradigm conflict in conversion/recruitment research". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion(Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 24, No. 2) 24(2): 163–179. doi:10.2307/1386340. JSTOR 1386340.
39.Jump up ^Brainwashing by Religious Cults
40.Jump up ^Richardson, James T. 2009. "Religion and The Law" in The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Peter Clarke. (ed) Oxford Handbooks Online. p. 426
41.Jump up ^The Foundation Against Intolerance of Minority Religions
42.Jump up ^CESNUR - "So Many Evil Things": Anti-Cult Terrorism via the Internet
43.Jump up ^Interview with Eileen Barker, Introducing New Religious MovementsAvailable online(Retrieved 2007-10-17 'What can be observed in most of these tragedies is a process which sociologists sometimes call "deviance amplification" building up. The antagonists on each side behave rather badly, and that gives permission for the other side to behave more badly, so you get this spiral and increasing polarisation with each side saying: "Look what they did."')
44.Jump up ^Edmonton Police Report of Wilful Promotion of Hatred by Chinese Consular Officials against Falun Gong, Appendix 8 to "Bloody Harvest: Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China," By David Matas, Esq. and Hon. David Kilgour, Esq.
45.Jump up ^van Driel, Barend and James T. Richardson. Research Note Categorization of New Religious Movements in American Print Media. Sociological Analysis 1988, 49, 2:171-183
References[edit]
Amitrani, Alberto and di Marzio, Raffaella: "Mind Control" in New Religious Movements and the American Psychological Association, Cultic Studies Journal Vol 17, 2000.
Beckford, James A., Cult Controversies: The Societal Response to New Religious Movements, London, Tavistock, 1985, p. 235
Bromley, David G.& Anson Shupe, Public Reaction against New Religious Movementsarticle that appeared in Cults and new religious movements: a report of the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion of the American Psychiatric Association, edited by Marc Galanter, M.D., (1989) ISBN 0-89042-212-5
Langone, Michael: Cults, Psychological Manipulation, and Society: International Perspectives - An Overview[1]
Langone, Michael: Secular and Religious Critiques of Cults: Complementary Visions, Not Irresolvable Conflicts, Cultic Studies Journal, 1995, Volume 12, Number 2 [2]
Langone, Michael, On Dialogue Between the Two Tribes of Cultic ResearchersCultic Studies Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 1, 1983, pp. 11–15 [3]
Robbins, Thomas. (2000). “Quo Vadis” the Scientific Study of New Religious Movements? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 39(4), 515-523.
Thomas Robbin and Dick Anthony, Cults in the late Twentieth Centuryin Lippy, Charles H. and Williams, Peter W. (edfs.) Encyclopedia of the American Religious experience. Studies of Traditions and Movements. Charles Scribner's sons, New York (1988) Vol II pp. ISBN 0-684-18861-9
Victor, J. S. (1993). Satanic panic: The creation of a contemporary legend.Chicago: Open Court Publishing. In J. T. Richardson, J. Best, & D. G. Bromley (Eds.), The satanism scare(pp. 263–275). Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
Wilson, Brian R., Apostates and New Religious Movements, Oxford, England 1994
Robbins, Thomas and Zablocki, Benjamin, Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8020-8188-6
Further reading[edit]
Anthony, D. Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall. Social Justice Research, Kluwer Academic Publishers, December 1999, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 421–456(36)
Bromley, David G.& Anson ShupePublic Reaction against New Religious Movementsarticle that appeared in Cults and new religious movements: a report of the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion of the American Psychiatric Association, edited by Marc Galanter, M.D., (1989) ISBN 0-89042-212-5
Introvigne, Massimo, Fighting the three Cs: Cults, Comics, and Communists – The Critic of Popular Culture as Origin of Contemporary Anti-Cultism, CESNUR 2003 conference, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2003 [4]
Introvigne, Massimo The Secular Anti-Cult and the Religious Counter-Cult Movement: Strange Bedfellows or Future Enemies?, in Eric Towler (Ed.), New Religions and the New Europe, Aarhus University Press, 1995, pp. 32–54.
Thomas Robbinsand Benjamin Zablocki, Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for objectivity in a controversial field, 2001, ISBN 0-8020-8188-6
AD Shupe Jr, DG Bromley, DL Olive, The Anti-Cult Movement in America: A Bibliography and Historical Survey, New York: Garland 1984.
Langone, MichaelD. Ph.D., (Ed.), Recovery from cults: help for victims of psychological and spiritual abuse(1993), a publication of the American Family Foundation, W.W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-31321-2
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-cult_movement
Anti-cult movement
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"Countercult" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Counterculture.
The anti-cult movement(abbreviated ACMand sometimes called the countercult movement) opposes any new religious movements(NRMs) they characterize as cults. Sociologists David G. Bromleyand Anson Shupeinitially defined the ACM in 1981 as a collection of groups embracing brainwashing-theory,[1]but later observed a significant shift in ideology towards a 'medicalization' of the memberships of new religious movements.[2]Some Christian organizations also oppose NRMs on theological grounds through church networks and printed literature.[3]
Contents [hide]
1The concept of an ACM1.1Religious and secular critics
1.2Barker's five types of cult-watching groups
1.3Hadden's taxonomy of the anti-cult movement
2Cult-watching groups and individuals, and other opposition to cults2.1Family-members of adherents
2.2Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists
2.3Former members
2.4Christian countercult movement
2.5Governmental opposition
3Anti-cult movement in Russia
4Controversies4.1Polarized views among scholars
4.2Brainwashing and mind-control
4.3Deprogramming or exit-counseling
4.4Responses of targeted groups and scholars
5See also
6Footnotes
7References
8Further reading
The concept of an ACM[edit]
The anti-cult movement is conceptualized as a collection of individuals and groups, whether formally organized or not, who oppose some new religious movements (or 'cults'). This countermovementhas reportedly recruited from family members of 'cultists', former group members (or apostates), church groups (including Jewish groups)[4]and associations of health professionals.[5]Although there is a trend towards globalization,[6]the social and organizational bases vary significantly from country to country according to the social and political opportunity structuresin each place.[7]
As with many subjects in the social sciences, the movement is variously defined. A significant minority opinion suggests that analysis should treat the secular anti-cult movement separately from the religiously motivated (mainly Christian) groups.[8][9]
The anti-cult movement might be divided into four classes:
secular counter-cult groups;
Christian evangelical counter-cult groups;
groups formed to counter a specific cult; and
organizations that offer some form of exit counseling.[10]
Most, if not all, the groups involved express the view that there are potentially deleterious effects associated with some new religious movements.[11]
Religious and secular critics[edit]
Commentators differentiate two main types of opposition to 'cults':
religious opposition (related to theologicalissues).
secular opposition (related to emotional, social, financial, and economic consequences of cultic involvement, where 'cult' can refer to a religious or to a secular group).
Barker's five types of cult-watching groups[edit]
According to sociologist Eileen Barker, cult-watching groups (CWGs) disseminate information about 'cults' with the intent of changing public and government perception as well as of changing public policy regarding NRMs.
Barker has identified five types of CWG:[12]
1.cult-awareness groups (CAGs) focusing on the harm done by 'destructive cults'
2.counter-cult groups (CCGs) focusing on the (heretical) teaching of non-mainstream groups
3.research-oriented groups (ROGs) focusing on beliefs, practices and comparisons
4.human-rights groups (HRGs) focusing on the human rights of religious minorities
5.cult-defender groups (CDGs) focusing on defending cults and exposing CAGs
Hadden's taxonomy of the anti-cult movement[edit]
Jeffrey K. Haddensees four distinct classes in the organizational opposition to 'cults':[13]
1.Religiously grounded oppositionOpposition usually defined in theological terms.
Cults viewed as engaging in heresy.
Sees its mission as exposing the heresy and correcting the beliefs of those who have strayed from a truth.
Prefers metaphors of deception rather than of possession.
Opposition serves two important functions:protects members (especially youth) from heresy, and
increases solidarity among the faithful.
2.Secular oppositionRegards individual autonomy as the manifest goal — achieved by getting people out of groups using mind controland deceptive proselytization.
Identifies the struggle as about control, not as about theology.
Organized around families who have or have had children involved in a cult.
Has a latent goal of disabling or destroying NRMs organizationally.
3.ApostatesApostasy = the renunciation of a religious faith.
Apostate = one who engages in active opposition to their former faith.
The anti-cult movement has actively encouraged former members to interpret their experience in a 'cult' as one of being egregiously wronged and encourages participation in organized anti-cult activities.
4.Entrepreneurial oppositionIndividuals who take up a cause for personal gain
Ad hoc alliances or coalitions to promote shared views
Broadcasters and journalists as leading examples.
A few 'entrepreneurs' have made careers by setting up organized opposition.
Cult-watching groups and individuals, and other opposition to cults[edit]
Family-members of adherents[edit]
Some opposition to cults (and to some new religious movements) started with family-members of cult-adherents who had problems with the sudden changes in character, lifestyle and future plans of their young adult children who had joined NRMs. Ted Patrick, widely known as 'the father of deprogramming', exemplifies members of this group. The former Cult Awareness Network(old CAN) grew out of a grassroots-movement by parents of cult-members. The American Family Foundation(todaythe International Cultic Studies Association) originated from a father whose daughter had joined a high-control group.
Clinical psychologists and psychiatrists[edit]
From the 1970s onwards some psychiatrists and clinical psychologists accused 'cults' of harming some of their members. These accusations were sometimes based on observations made during therapy, and sometimes were related to theories regarding brainwashing or mind-control.
Former members[edit]
See also: Apostasy in alleged cults and new religious movements
Anson Shupe, David G. Bromleyand Joseph Ventimiglia coined the term atrocity talesin 1979,[14]which Bryan R. Wilsonlater took up in relation to former members' narratives. Bromley and Shupe defined an 'atrocity tale' as the symbolic presentation of action or events (real or imagined) in such a context that they come to flagrantly violate the (presumably) shared premises upon which a given set of social relationships should take place. The recounting of such tales has the intention of reaffirming normative boundaries. By sharing the reporter's disapproval or horror, an audience reasserts normative prescription and clearly locates the violator beyond the limits of public morality.[15][16]
Christian countercult movement[edit]
Main article: Christian countercult movement
In the 1940s, the long held opposition by some established Christian denominations to non-Christian religions or/and supposedly heretical, or counterfeit, Christian sects crystallized into a more organized 'Christian counter cult movement' in the United States. For those belonging to the movement, all religious groups claiming to be Christian, but deemed outside of Christian orthodoxy, were considered 'cults'.[17]Christian cults are new religious movements which have a Christian background but are considered to be theologicallydeviant by members of other Christian churches.[18]In his influential book The Kingdom of the Cults(first published in the United States in 1965) Christian scholar Walter Martindefines Christian cults as groups that follow the personal interpretation of an individual, rather than the understanding of the Bibleaccepted by mainstream Christianity. He mentions The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Christian Science, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarian Universalism, and Unityas examples.[19]
The Christian countercult movement asserts that Christian sects whose beliefs are partially or wholly not in accordance with the Bibleare erroneous. It also states that a religious sect can be considered a 'cult' if its beliefs involve a denial of what they view as any of the essential Christianteachings such as salvation, the Trinity, Jesushimself as a person, the ministry of Jesus, the Miracles of Jesus, the Crucifixion of Jesus, the Death of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Rapture.[20][21][22]
Countercult literature usually expresses doctrinal or theological concerns and a missionaryor apologeticpurpose.[23]It presents a rebuttal by emphasizing the teachings of the Bibleagainst the beliefs of non-fundamental Christian sects. Christian countercult activist writers also emphasize the need for Christians to evangelizeto followers of cults.[24][25][26]
Governmental opposition[edit]
For more details see: Governmental lists of cults and sects
The secular opposition to cults and new religious movements operates internationally, though a number of sizeable and sometimes expanding groups originated in the United States. Some European countries, such as France, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland have introduced legislation or taken other measures against cults or 'cultic deviations'.
In the Netherlands 'cults', sects, and new religious movementshave the same legal rights as larger and more mainstream religious movements.[27]As of 2004, the Netherlands do not have an anti-cult movement of any significance.[28]
Anti-cult movement in Russia[edit]
In Russia“anticultism” appeared in early 1990s. Some Russian Protestantcriticized foreign missionaries, sects and new religious movements. They perhaps hoped that taking part in anti-cult declarations could demonstrate that they were not "sectarians". Some religious studies have shown that anti-cult movements, especially with support of the government, can provoke serious religious conflicts in Russian society.[29]In 2008 the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairsprepared a list of "extremist groups". At the top of the list were Islamic groups outside of "traditional Islam", which is supervised by the Russian government. Next listed were "Pagan cults".[30]In 2009 the Russian Ministry of Justicecreated a council which it named the Council of Experts Conducting State Religious Studies Expert Analysis. The new council listed 80 large sects which it considered potentially dangerous to Russian society, and mentioned that there were thousands of smaller ones. Large sects listed included The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, and what were called "neo-Pentecostals." [31]
Controversies[edit]
Polarized views among scholars[edit]
Social scientists, sociologists, religious scholars, psychologists and psychiatrists have studied the modern field of 'cults' and new religious movements since the early 1980s. Cult debates about certain purported cults and about cults in general often become polarized with widely divergent opinions, not only among current followers and disaffected former members, but sometimes among scholars as well.
All academics agree that some groups have become problematic and sometimes very problematic; but they disagree over the extent to which new religious movements in general cause harm.
Several scholars have questioned Hadden's attitude towards NRMs and cult critics as one-sided.[32]
Scholars in the field of new religious movements confront many controversial subjects:
The validity of the testimonies of former members.
The validity of the testimonies of current members.
The validity of and differences between exit counselingand coercive deprogramming.
The validity of evidence of harm caused by 'cults'.
Ethical concerns regarding new religious movements, for example: free will, freedom of speech.
Opposition to 'cults' vs. freedom of religionand religious intolerance.
The objectivity of all scholars studying new religious movements (see NRM apologists).
The acceptance or rejection of the APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Controlreport (Amitrani & di Marzio, 2000, Massimo Introvigne), see also scholarly positions on mind control.
Janet Jacobs expresses the range of views on the membership of the perceived ACM itself, ranging from those who comment on "the value of the Cult Awareness Network, the value of exit therapy for former members of new religious movements, and alternative modes of support for family members of individuals who have joined new religions" and extending to "a more critical perspective on [a perceived] wide range of ACM activities that threaten religious freedom and individual rights."[33]
Brainwashing and mind-control[edit]
Further information: Mind control
Over the years various theories of conversionand member retention have been proposed that link mind control to NRMs, and particularly those religious movements referred to as 'cults' by their critics. These theories resemble the original political brainwashing theories first developed by the American CIA as a propaganda device to combat communism,[34]with some minor changes. Philip Zimbardodiscusses mind control as "...the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes",[35]and he suggests that any human being is susceptible to such manipulation.[36]In a 1999 book, Robert Lifton also applied his original ideas about thought reform to Aum Shinrikyo, concluding that in this context thought reform was possible without violence or physical coercion. Margaret Singer, who also spent time studying the political brainwashing of Korean prisoners of war, agreed with this conclusion: in her book Cults in Our Midstshe describes six conditions which would create an atmosphere in which thought reform is possible.[37]
James T. Richardsonobserves that if the NRMs had access to powerful brainwashing techniques, one would expect that NRMs would have high growth rates, yet in fact most have not had notable success in recruitment. Most adherents participate for only a short time, and the success in retaining members is limited.[38]For this and other reasons, sociologists of religion including David G. Bromleyand Anson D. Shupeconsider the idea that cults are brainwashing American youth to be "implausible."[39]In addition to Bromley, Thomas Robbins, Dick Anthony, Eileen Barker, Newton Maloney, Massimo Introvigne, John Hall, Lorne L. Dawson, Anson D. Shupe, J. Gordon Melton, Marc Galanter, Saul Levine of Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc, amongst other scholars researching NRMs, have argued and established to the satisfaction of courts, relevant professional associations and scientific communities that there exists no scientific theory, generally accepted and based upon methodologically sound research, that supports the brainwashing theories as advanced by the anti-cult movement.[40]
Deprogramming or exit-counseling[edit]
Further information: Deprogramming
Some members of the secular opposition to cults and to some new religious movements have argued that if brainwashing has deprived a person of their free will, treatment to restore their free will should take place — even if the 'victim' opposes this.
Precedents for this exist in the treatment of certain mental illnesses: in such cases medical and legal authorities recognize the condition(s) as depriving sufferers of their ability to make appropriate decisions for themselves. But the practice of forcing treatment on a presumed victim of 'brainwashing' (one definition of "deprogramming") has constantly proven controversial. Human-rightsorganizations (including the ACLUand Human Rights Watch) have also criticized deprogramming. While only a small fraction of the anti-cult movement has had involvement in deprogramming, several deprogrammers (including a deprogramming-pioneer, Ted Patrick) have served prison-terms for acts sometimes associated with deprogramming including kidnapping and rape, while courts have acquitted others.
Responses of targeted groups and scholars[edit]
The Foundation against Intolerance of Religious Minorities, associated with the AdidamNRM, sees the use of terms 'cult' and 'cult leader' as detestable and as something to avoid at all costs. The Foundation regards such usage as the exercise of prejudice and discrimination against them in the same manner as the words 'nigger' and 'commie' served in the past to denigrate blacksand Communists.[41]
CESNUR’s president Massimo Introvigne, writes in his article "So many evil things: Anti-cult terrorism via the Internet",[42]that fringe and extreme anti-cult activists resort to tactics that may create a background favorable to extreme manifestations of discriminationand hateagainst individuals that belong to new religious movements. Professor Eileen Barkerpoints out in an interview that the controversy surrounding certain new religious movements can turn violent by a process called deviancy amplification spiral.[43]
In a paper presented at the 2000 meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Anson Shupe and Susan Darnell argued that although the International Cultic Studies Association(ICSA, formerly known as AFF or American Family Foundation) has presented "...slanted, stereotypical images and language that has inflamed persons to perform extreme actions," the extent to which one can classify the ICSA and other anti-cult organizations as 'hate-groups' (as defined by law in some jurisdictions or by racial/ethnic criteria in sociology) remains open to debate. In 2005, the Hate Crimes Unit of the Edmonton Police Service confiscated anti-Falun Gong materials distributed at the annual conference of the ICSA by staff members of the Calgary Chinese Consulate (Province of Alberta, Canada). The materials, including the calling of Falun Gong a 'cult', were identified as having breached the Criminal Code, which bans the wilful promotion of hatred against identifiable religious groups.[44]See also Verbal violence in hate groups.
An article on the categorization of new religious movements in US media published by The Association for the Sociology of Religion(formerly the American Catholic Sociological Society, criticizes the print media for failing to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of new religious movements, and its tendency to use anti-cultist definitions rather than social-scientific insight, and asserts that The failure of the print media to recognize social-scientific efforts in the area of religious movement organizations (as our previous research [van Driel and Richardson, 1985] also shows) impels us to add yet another failing mark to the media report card Weiss (1985) has constructed to assess the media's reporting of the social sciences.[45]
See also[edit]
Cult apologist
Cult Awareness Network
Christian countercult movement
Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France(1995)
Religious Persecution
International Cultic Studies Association
Persecution of Falun Gong
Footnotes[edit]
1.Jump up ^Bromley, David G.; Anson Shupe(1981). Strange Gods: The Great American Cult Scare. Boston: Beacon Press.
2.Jump up ^Shupe, Anson and David G. Bromley. 1994. "," pp. 3-32 in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland, pp. 9-14.
3.Jump up ^Anson, Shupe. "ANTI-CULT MOVEMENT". Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. Retrieved 19 May2014.
4.Jump up ^Feher, Shoshanah. 1994. "Maintaining the Faith: The Jewish Anti-Cult and Counter-Missionary Movement, pp. 33-48 in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland.
5.Jump up ^Shupe, Anson and David G. Bromley. 1994. "The Modern Anti-Cult Movement in North America," pp. 3-31 in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland, p. 3.
Barker, Eileen. 1995 The Scientific Study of Religion? You Must Be Joking!", Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion34 (3): 287-310, p. 297.
6.Jump up ^Shupe, Anson and David G. Bromley. 1994. "Introduction," pp. vii-xi in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland, p. x.
7.Jump up ^Richardson, James T.and Barend von Driel. 1994 "New Religious Movements in Europe: Developments and Reactions," pp. 129-170 in Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland, p. 137ff.
8.Jump up ^Cowan, Douglas E. 2002. "Exits and Migrations: Foregrounding the Christian Counter-cult", Journal of Contemporary Religion17 (3): 339-354.
9.Jump up ^"Cult Group Controversies: Conceptualizing 'Anti-Cult' and 'Counter-Cult'"
10.Jump up ^Chryssides, George D. 1999. Exploring New Religions.London & New York: Cassell, p. 345.
11.Jump up ^Possamaï, Adam and Murray Lee. 2004. "New Religious Movements and the Fear of Crime," Journal of Contemporary Religion19 (3): 337-352, p. 338.
12.Jump up ^http://www.cesnur.org/2001/london2001/barker.htm
13.Jump up ^Hadden, Jeffrey K., SOC 257: New Religious Movements Lectures: The Anti-Cult Movement, University of Virginia, Department of Sociology
14.Jump up ^Bromley, David G., Shupe, Anson D., Ventimiglia, G.C.: "Atrocity Tales, the Unification Church, and the Social Construction of Evil", Journal of Communication, Summer 1979, p. 42-53.
15.Jump up ^Duhaime, Jean (Université de Montréal) Les Témoigagnes de Convertis et d'ex-Adeptes(English: The testimonies of converts and former followers, an article that appeared in the otherwise English-language book New Religions in a Postmodern Worldedited by Mikael Rothsteinand Reender KranenborgRENNER Studies in New religions Aarhus Universitypress, ISBN 87-7288-748-6
16.Jump up ^Shupe, A.D. and D.G. Bromley 1981 Apostatesand Atrocity Stories: Some parameters in the Dynamics of DeprogrammingIn: B.R. Wilson (ed.) The Social Impact of New Religious MovementsBarrytown NY: Rose of Sharon Press, 179-215
17.Jump up ^Cowan, 2003
18.Jump up ^J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America(New York/London: Garland, 1986; revised edition, Garland, 1992). page 5
19.Jump up ^Walter Ralston Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, Bethany House, 2003, ISBN 0764228218page 18
20.Jump up ^Walter R. Martin, The Rise of the Cults, rev.ed. Santa Ana: Vision House, 1978, pp. 11-12.
21.Jump up ^Richard Abanes, Defending the Faith: A Beginner's Guide to Cults and New Religions,Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997, p. 33.
22.Jump up ^H. Wayne House & Gordon Carle, Doctrine Twisting: How Core Biblical Truths are Distorted, Downers Grove: IVP, 2003.
23.Jump up ^Garry W. Trompf,"Missiology, Methodology and the Study of New Religious Movements," Religious TraditionsVolume 10, 1987, pp. 95-106.
24.Jump up ^Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults, rev.ed. Ravi Zacharias ed. Bloomington: Bethany House, 2003, pp.479-493.
25.Jump up ^Ronald Enroth ed. Evangelising the Cults, Milton Keynes: Word, 1990.
26.Jump up ^Norman L Geisler & Ron Rhodes, When Cultists Ask: A Popular Handbook on Cultic Misinterpretations, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1997.
27.Jump up ^Singelenberg, RichardForedoomed to Failure: the Anti-Cult Movement in the Netherlandsin Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe, redacted by James T. Richardson, Springer, 2004, ISBN 0-306-47887-0, ISBN 978-0-306-47887-1, pages 214-215
28.Jump up ^Singelenberg, RichardForedoomed to Failure: the Anti-Cult Movement in the Netherlandsin Regulating religion: case studies from around the globe, redacted by James T. Richardson, Springer, 2004, ISBN 0-306-47887-0, ISBN 978-0-306-47887-1, page 213
29.Jump up ^Сергей Иваненко (2009-08-17). О религиоведческих аспектах "антикультового движения"(in Russian). Retrieved 2009-12-04.
30.Jump up ^The new nobility : the restoration of Russia's security state and the enduring legacy of the KGB, Author: Andreĭ Soldatov; I Borogan, Publisher: New York, NY : PublicAffairs, ©2010. pages 65-66
31.Jump up ^Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians (Google eBook), Paul Marshall, 2013, Thomas Nelson Inc
32.Jump up ^Robbins and Zablocki 2001, Beit-Hallahmi 2001, Kent and Krebs 1998.
33.Jump up ^Janet L Jacobs: Review of Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley: Anti-Cult Movements in Cross-Cultural Perspective, New York, NY: Garland in Sociology of religion, Winter 1996. Online at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_n4_v57/ai_19178617/pg_2. Retrieved 2007-09-17
34.Jump up ^Dick, Anthony (1999). "Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall". Social Justice Research12(4).
35.Jump up ^Zimbardo, Philip G.(November 2002). "Mind Control: Psychological Reality or Mindless Rhetoric?". Monitor on Psychology. Retrieved 2008-12-30. "Mind control is the process by which individual or collective freedom of choice and action is compromised by agents or agencies that modify or distort perception, motivation, affect, cognition and/or behavioral outcomes. It is neither magical nor mystical, but a process that involves a set of basic social psychological principles. Conformity, compliance, persuasion, dissonance, reactance, guilt and fear arousal, modeling and identification are some of the staple social influence ingredients well studied in psychological experiments and field studies. In some combinations, they create a powerful crucible of extreme mental and behavioral manipulationwhen synthesized with several other real-world factors, such as charismatic, authoritarian leaders, dominant ideologies, social isolation, physical debilitation, induced phobias, and extreme threats or promised rewards that are typically deceptively orchestrated, over an extended time period in settings where they are applied intensively. A body of social science evidence shows that when systematically practiced by state-sanctioned police, military or destructive cults, mind control can induce false confessions, create converts who willingly torture or kill 'invented enemies,' and engage indoctrinated members to work tirelessly, give up their money—and even their lives—for 'the cause.'"
36.Jump up ^Zimbardo, P(1997). "What messages are behind today's cults?". Monitor on Psychology: 14.
37.Jump up ^Cults in Our Midst: The Continuing Fight Against Their Hidden Menace, Margaret Thaler Singer, Jossey-Bass, publisher, April 2003, ISBN 0-7879-6741-6
38.Jump up ^Richardson, James T. (June 1985). "The active vs. passive convert: paradigm conflict in conversion/recruitment research". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion(Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 24, No. 2) 24(2): 163–179. doi:10.2307/1386340. JSTOR 1386340.
39.Jump up ^Brainwashing by Religious Cults
40.Jump up ^Richardson, James T. 2009. "Religion and The Law" in The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. Peter Clarke. (ed) Oxford Handbooks Online. p. 426
41.Jump up ^The Foundation Against Intolerance of Minority Religions
42.Jump up ^CESNUR - "So Many Evil Things": Anti-Cult Terrorism via the Internet
43.Jump up ^Interview with Eileen Barker, Introducing New Religious MovementsAvailable online(Retrieved 2007-10-17 'What can be observed in most of these tragedies is a process which sociologists sometimes call "deviance amplification" building up. The antagonists on each side behave rather badly, and that gives permission for the other side to behave more badly, so you get this spiral and increasing polarisation with each side saying: "Look what they did."')
44.Jump up ^Edmonton Police Report of Wilful Promotion of Hatred by Chinese Consular Officials against Falun Gong, Appendix 8 to "Bloody Harvest: Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China," By David Matas, Esq. and Hon. David Kilgour, Esq.
45.Jump up ^van Driel, Barend and James T. Richardson. Research Note Categorization of New Religious Movements in American Print Media. Sociological Analysis 1988, 49, 2:171-183
References[edit]
Amitrani, Alberto and di Marzio, Raffaella: "Mind Control" in New Religious Movements and the American Psychological Association, Cultic Studies Journal Vol 17, 2000.
Beckford, James A., Cult Controversies: The Societal Response to New Religious Movements, London, Tavistock, 1985, p. 235
Bromley, David G.& Anson Shupe, Public Reaction against New Religious Movementsarticle that appeared in Cults and new religious movements: a report of the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion of the American Psychiatric Association, edited by Marc Galanter, M.D., (1989) ISBN 0-89042-212-5
Langone, Michael: Cults, Psychological Manipulation, and Society: International Perspectives - An Overview[1]
Langone, Michael: Secular and Religious Critiques of Cults: Complementary Visions, Not Irresolvable Conflicts, Cultic Studies Journal, 1995, Volume 12, Number 2 [2]
Langone, Michael, On Dialogue Between the Two Tribes of Cultic ResearchersCultic Studies Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 1, 1983, pp. 11–15 [3]
Robbins, Thomas. (2000). “Quo Vadis” the Scientific Study of New Religious Movements? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 39(4), 515-523.
Thomas Robbin and Dick Anthony, Cults in the late Twentieth Centuryin Lippy, Charles H. and Williams, Peter W. (edfs.) Encyclopedia of the American Religious experience. Studies of Traditions and Movements. Charles Scribner's sons, New York (1988) Vol II pp. ISBN 0-684-18861-9
Victor, J. S. (1993). Satanic panic: The creation of a contemporary legend.Chicago: Open Court Publishing. In J. T. Richardson, J. Best, & D. G. Bromley (Eds.), The satanism scare(pp. 263–275). Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
Wilson, Brian R., Apostates and New Religious Movements, Oxford, England 1994
Robbins, Thomas and Zablocki, Benjamin, Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8020-8188-6
Further reading[edit]
Anthony, D. Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall. Social Justice Research, Kluwer Academic Publishers, December 1999, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 421–456(36)
Bromley, David G.& Anson ShupePublic Reaction against New Religious Movementsarticle that appeared in Cults and new religious movements: a report of the Committee on Psychiatry and Religion of the American Psychiatric Association, edited by Marc Galanter, M.D., (1989) ISBN 0-89042-212-5
Introvigne, Massimo, Fighting the three Cs: Cults, Comics, and Communists – The Critic of Popular Culture as Origin of Contemporary Anti-Cultism, CESNUR 2003 conference, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2003 [4]
Introvigne, Massimo The Secular Anti-Cult and the Religious Counter-Cult Movement: Strange Bedfellows or Future Enemies?, in Eric Towler (Ed.), New Religions and the New Europe, Aarhus University Press, 1995, pp. 32–54.
Thomas Robbinsand Benjamin Zablocki, Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for objectivity in a controversial field, 2001, ISBN 0-8020-8188-6
AD Shupe Jr, DG Bromley, DL Olive, The Anti-Cult Movement in America: A Bibliography and Historical Survey, New York: Garland 1984.
Langone, MichaelD. Ph.D., (Ed.), Recovery from cults: help for victims of psychological and spiritual abuse(1993), a publication of the American Family Foundation, W.W. Norton & Company, ISBN 0-393-31321-2
[hide]
v·
t·
e
Opposition to new religious movements
Secular groups
APA Task Force on Deceptive and Indirect Methods of Persuasion and Control·
Cult Awareness Network·
International Cultic Studies Association- ICSA (Formerly: the AFF, American Family Foundation)·
The Family Survival Trust- TFST (Formerly: FAIR - Family Action Information and Rescue)·
Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network·
Cult Information Centre
Secular individuals
Carol Giambalvo·
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Galen Kelly·
Michael Langone·
Ted Patrick·
Rick Ross·
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Margaret Singer·
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Lawrence Wollersheim
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Reachout Trust·
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Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center
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Ronald Enroth·
Hank Hanegraaff·
Paul R. Martin·
Walter Ralston Martin·
Robert Passantino
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European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism·
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MIVILUDES·
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