Cults & New Religious Movements 2011-09-13

2011-09-13 Agenda Attendance Introductions Professor Students Studying Cults and New Religious Movements

Studying NRMs “Describe what a “cult” is in terms of its necessary and typical characteristics. How are the terms “Sect”, “New Religious Movement” and “High Demand New Religion” different? What is “cult”? What components does a “cult” have? What do “cults” have in common? Are all cults the same?

What would you call a “cult”? What qualifies a group to be called a cult? Name some. Necessary characteristics: What must a movement have in order to qualify as a “cult”? Typical characteristics: What do cults typically but not necessarily have?

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

(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?

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).

Biased portrayals of cults We saw Media portrayals: Dangerous Devotion video Counter-Cult Movement: Walter Martin on Christian Cults According to Martin, what makes something a cult?

Hadden’s cult opponent types Religiously grounded opposition Purpose: protect members (especially youth) from heresy increase solidarity among the faithful Method: expose teachings contrary to scripture Secular opposition individual autonomy getting people out of groups using mind control and deceptive proselytization. organized around families Apostates Former members Entrepreneurial opposition broadcasters and journalists Publishing and depgrogramming

The solution to the media / ACM problem Academic research that: Doesn’t lump all NRMs together Recognizes NRMs are not something new Does not let truth claims about beliefs interfere with research Seeks to learn about ourselves from NRMs

For Next Class (Thursday) Read the introduction to America’s Alternative Religions (pages 1-9) Write the online quiz