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Review

Review. RELS 225: Cults and New Religious Movements. Cults and New Religious Movements. Cult information and misinformation The Future of Religion: Demise or Transformation? The Role of Religion: Berger vs. Stark & Bainbridge Labelling Troeltsch : Churches: born; Sects: join

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Review

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  1. Review RELS 225: Cults and New Religious Movements

  2. Cults and New Religious Movements • Cult information and misinformation • The Future of Religion: Demise or Transformation? • The Role of Religion: Berger vs. Stark & Bainbridge • Labelling • Troeltsch: Churches: born; Sects: join • Yinger: Universal, Ecclesia, Denomination, Established sect, Sect, Cult • Cult Features: esoteric knowledge; better salvation; loosely organized; charismatic leader • Wilson’s Typology: • Types of Sects: Conversionist; Revolutionist; Introversionist; Manipulationist; Thaumaturgical; Reformist; Utopian • Types of Cults: Illumination; Instrumental; Service-oriented • Robbins & Anthony’s Typology: Dualistic/Monistic; Multilevel/Unilevel • Wallis’s Typology: Attitude to world: Affirm/Reject/Accommodate • Dawson’s Typology: Audience; Client; Cult Movement

  3. Why did recent cults emerge? • Response to cultural change • Change in values • Social structure • Surrogate families • Deinstitutionalization • Religious institutions • Expression of cultural continuity • American Great Awakenings every 60 years or so. • History of Religions: It’s always been this way.

  4. Joining NRMs: Who and Why? • Not: Gullible, Losers, Everyone • One early theory: overlap between lack and offer • Then: the 60’s NRMs: Glock’s Relative deprivation • 1965 Lofland & Stark: Tensions, Religious orientation, Seeker; Encounter, Bonds-making, Bond-breaking, Interacting • Who joins?: socially connected; no ideological alignment or other commitments • Characteristics: Young, Middle-upper middle class, Higher educated, more secular religious backgrounds • Barker: Respectable families, Overachievers, Disrupted at university • Levine: normal psychopathology, Overacheivers, frustrated, Identify with parents, No adolescent romance. 90% left in 2 years.

  5. Brainwashing • How did the idea develop? Explanation for why people would join strange religious movements. Defense for those “rescuing” them. • Why is it important? If it does happen, NRMs are dangerous. If it doesn’t, rescue attempts should stop. • Phases: Unfreezing, changing , refreezing • Accusations of Brainwashing: sophisticated; preying; deceptive; pressuring; bombarding; depriving; isolating; love-bombing; requiring confession; hypnotizing; transforming identity • Case Against Brainwashing: generalizing; biased; unscientific; contradictory; anecdotal; unsubstantiated; self-descriptive; uninformed; without controls; unnecessary • Continued appeal to brainwashing: what some groups do to retain members (Kent & Zablocki) - high exit costs • How can we explain behaviour, if not brainwashing? Social pressure, hyper encouragement, organized activity, and too much enthusiasm

  6. NRMs and Sexual Deviance • NRMs have tended to be “antinomian” • Some NRMs view sex liberally; others are ascetic • Sex is prominent in cults because it involves one’s most intimate self • Abuses are more possible when outsiders critiques are not heeded. • Gender roles in NRMs tend to be diverse but unambiguous • Accusations of Child Abuse replace those of brainwashing • Moral Relativity & Religious freedom: Who decides what sexual behaviour is permissible? • Does it victimize someone?

  7. Explanations of Cult Violence • Media • The retelling of events and positing an insane leader. • But… psychological interviews aren’t available. • 2 varieties: • Exogenous (Hall tries this somewhat) • Endogenous (more reliable). • 3 varieties: • Apocalyptic beliefs • Charismatic leadership • Social encapsulation • All 3 are necessary for violence, but not sufficient.

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