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Cults & New Religious Movements

Cults & New Religious Movements. 2012-09-05. 2012-09-05 Agenda. Attendance Introductions Professor Course Textbook Syllabus Moodle Students. Why study cults and NRMs?. What can they help us understand? How do they help us understand it?. Welcome Ceremony.

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Cults & New Religious Movements

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  1. Cults & New Religious Movements • 2012-09-05

  2. 2012-09-05 Agenda • Attendance • Introductions • Professor • Course • Textbook • Syllabus • Moodle • Students

  3. Why study cults and NRMs? • What can they help us understand? • How do they help us understand it?

  4. Welcome Ceremony "We the newest members of the St.FX Community, hereby commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in our academic, social and spiritual lives."

  5. Three Excellences • Academic • Think “critically” = tell the difference between true and false/not-so-true • Social • Be an asset to others; improvement of humanity’s plight • Spiritual • Find a path that fits who you are and how you are made

  6. Syllabus

  7. Course Description • From the Academic Calendar,: A study of cults in the context of 20th-century North American society, beginning with defining cults in relation to sects and churches. Topics include: neo-paganism; Hare Krishna; the theosophical tradition; the Unification Church; tragic endings to cults such as the Branch Davidians and Heaven’s Gate; why people join cults; and the religio-cultural significance of cults today. Prerequisite: RELS 100, 110, or 120. Three credits. • The course examines alternative religious traditions primarily in the west, often referred to as “cults” and more recently, as “new religious movements.”

  8. Questions addressed • The course will delve into two main types of questions: • Theological • Sociological

  9. Theological Questions • What do these alternative religions believe about: • The divine • The world • Humanity • The universal problem and its solution • The good life • Death

  10. SociologicalQuestions • How do new religious movements begin? What factors contribute to the growth and success of a new religious group? • Do members choose freely to join new religious groups? Are they brainwashed, as anti-cult groups charge? Are there specific factors that predispose someone to consider the world of alternative religion as a place in which to develop his or her religious identity? • Why do some new religious groups end with tragedy as in the cases of Jonestown, the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas, and the Solar Temple? • Are “cults” dangerous?

  11. Objectives • To become familiar with the beliefs, practices, histories and traditions of the main cults and new religious movements in the West. • To become conscious of the role that the media plays in shaping and/or distorting our image of cults and NRMs. • To reflect on what the presence of cults and NRMs in our society signifies with reference to mainstream religion as well as secular culture. • To become conversant with the leading theories concerning why cults and NRMs begin and why people join them. • To become sensitive to groups and individuals espousing beliefs and practices with which we are unfamiliar and at the same time, to be able to pick out those religious and social factors that are dangerous to the well-being of persons and groups.

  12. Requirements • The requirements for each term of this course include: participation, readings and online quizzes, a research essay, a midterm test, and a final exam.

  13. Time Investment and Evaluation • The student should expect to spend nine hours per week on this course. • Evaluation: • Participation (attendance and meeting with professor): 10% • Weekly readings and Online quizzes: 25% • Midterm test: 15% • Essay: 20% • Term Exam:30%

  14. Getting to know me • Name: Ken Penner • Year: Fifth year at StFX • Major: Early Judaism; Minor: Early Christianity • Why chose this course: • Evokes powerful responses • Little-understood topic • Many “new religious movements” in first century Judea: • Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, Christians, Sicarii, Manicheans • Tells us about ourselves: what moves us?

  15. Getting to know you • Name • Year • Major or academic interests • Why you chose this course • What you hope to learn

  16. How this course will work • One session per week on a topic. • E.g., What is a cult or NRM?; Who joins cults and why? Is brainwashing used? Why do cults have a reputation for violence, etc. • One session per week on a specific NRM. • E.g., Unification church, Wicca, ISKCON, Peoples Temple, Branch Davidians, etc.

  17. For Next Class (Monday) • Read the introduction to America’s Alternative Religions (pages 1-9). For your convenience, it is online on Moodle • Write the online quiz (10 multiple choice)

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