Cults and New Religions: A Brief History - Softcover

Cowan, Douglas E.; Bromley, David G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1405161280 ISBN 13: 9781405161282

Publisher: Blackwell Pub, 2007

Synopsis

An overview of the development of new religions and the controversies surrounding them in late modern society.

• A stimulating, course-friendly overview of the history and development of new religious movements (NRMs) in the late twentieth century
  
• Explores eight cults and NRMs, including the Church of Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, Unificationism, The Family International, the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, the Branch Davidians, Heaven’s Gate, and Wicca
  
• Each chapter reviews the origins, leaders, beliefs, rituals and practices of a NRM, highlighting the specific controversies surrounding this group
  
• Covers debates including what constitutes an authentic religion, the validity of claims of brainwashing techniques, the implications of experimentation with unconventional sexual practices, and the deeply rooted cultural fears that cults engender.

About this title

About the Author

Douglas E. Cowan is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Social Development Studies at Renison University College, the University of Waterloo. He is the author ofCyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (2005), The Remnant Spirit: Conservative Reform in Mainline Protestantism (2003), andBearing False Witness? An Introduction to the Christian Countercult (2003). He has also editedReligion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet (with Lorne L. Dawson, 2004) andReligion on the Internet: Research Prospects and Promises (with Jeffrey K. Hadden, 2000). He is one of the co-general editors ofNova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions.

David G. Bromley is Professor of Religious Studies in the School of World Studies and an Affiliate Professor in the Sociology Program in the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. His most recent books are Defining Religion: Critical Approaches to Drawing Boundaries Between Sacred and Secular (2003), Cults, Religion and Violence (2001), Toward Reflexive Ethnography: Participating, Observing, Narrating (2001), andThe Politics of Religious Apostasy (1998).

From the Back Cover

Cults and New Religions offers an overview of the history and development of eight new religious movements in the late twentieth century: the Church of Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, Unificationism, The Family International, the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, the Branch Davidians, Heaven s Gate, and Wicca.

The book profiles each new religion, describing its origins, doctrines and rituals, leadership and organization. Each chapter includes a discussion of one of the major sources of controversy surrounding these movements, controversies that have led to them being popularly regarded as cults : whether they are indeed authentic religions, the validity of claims that brainwashing techniques are used to gain and retain members, their potential for violence, the implications of experimentation with unconventional sexual practices, and the deeply rooted cultural fears they engender.

Edition details

• Publisher: Blackwell Pub
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1405161280
• ISBN 13: 9781405161282
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 260