Cults & New Religious Movements

Slide Agenda Attendance 8:15 Administrativa: Schedule a meeting Debriefing: “Children of Jehovah” video Jehovah’s Witnesses: History and Teachings 8:50 Guests: Jehovah’s Witnesses 9:29 Homework

Slide 3. Typical Agenda Attendance New Religions in the News (4 minutes) Announcements / Administrativa (2 minutes) Explaining a concept (35 minutes) – for the exam’s paragraph answer section. What is a cult? Video with focus questions (20 minutes) and discussion Homework for Next Time (1 minute)

Slide 4. Cults in the News Arizona church is house of prostitution, police sayArizona church is house of prostitution, police say goddess-temple-raided-alleged- brothel/story?id= http://abcnews.go.com/US/phoenix- goddess-temple-raided-alleged- brothel/story?id=

Slide 5. Necessary characteristics Fringe (not mainstream in numbers or area) Religious beliefs? Recently begun? High-demands placed on members

Slide 6. (Stereo-)Typical characteristics High-demand Self-sacrifice for the cause Encapsulation (us & them attitudes) Charismatic leader Peculiar scriptures or teachings Difficult to leave? Unreasonable? Aggressive recruiting? Apocalyptic? Violent? Sexually deviant?

Slide 7. Differences between “cult” and: “Sect” More established than “cult”, a branch within a larger religion. “New Religious Movement” Carries no negative connotations Not everything considered a “cult” (especially by the ACM) is new. (e.g. gnosticism, Freemasonry) “High Demand New Religion” Not everything considered a “cult” puts high demands on its members (e.g., New Age Movement, Wicca). “Alternative Religion” Who decides what is mainstream and what is not? Does it vary from place to place (Mormonism in Utah; Judaism in Antigonish)?

Slide 8. Biased portrayals of cults Media portrayals Dangerous Devotion video (0:00-5:48)Dangerous Devotion What are proposed as cult characteristics? Counter-Cult Movement: Walter Martin on Christian CultsWalter Martin According to Martin, what makes something a cult?

Slide 9. Jehovah’s Witnesses Jehovah’s Witnesses Jehovah’s Witnesses Jehovah’s Witnesses “Children of Jehovah” videoChildren of Jehovah Guest Speakers Be respectful and try to understand where they are coming from.

Slide 10. For Monday Read Chapter 1 in Comprehending Cults Write a summary and response, and paste it into Moodle at mod/assignment/vie w.php?id= mod/assignment/vie w.php?id=4546

Slide 11. For Wednesday Read about the Unification Church on Moodle. Make notes on their teachings: God Humans World Plight & salvation Death & afterlife