Comprehending cults : the sociology of new religious movements /
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: | Don Mills, Ont. ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2006. |
| Edition: | Second edition. |
| Subjects: |
Table of Contents:
- 1. Why study new religious movements?
- The cults in our midst
- The hostility towards cults
- Box 1. They come in all shapes and sizes
- Responding to the suspicions of the public
- 2. What are new religious movements?
- Religion and its continuing significance
- Churches, sects, and cults
- Creating a typology of cults
- Box 2. How new religious movements change with success
- 3. Why did new religious movements emerge?
- Asking the right question first
- New religious movements as a response to cultural change
- Box 3. Three models of cult formation
- New religious movements as an expression of cultural continuity
- Concluding remarks
- 4. Who joins new religious movements and why?
- The stereotypes
- Getting involved with new religious movements
- The social attributes of those who join
- Box 4. Why are American converts to new religious movements disproportionately Jewish?
- Some reasons for joining
- 5. Are converts to new religious movements 'brainwashed'?
- The issue and its significance
- The case against the cults
- The case against brainwashing
- Box 5. The active versus passive convert
- Reformulating the issues in the brainwashing debate
- 6. Why are new religious movements so often accused of sexual deviance?
- Sexual deviance and the cults
- Box 6. Child abuse and the social control of NRMs
- Gender matters
- 7. Why do some new religious movements become violent?
- Responding to recent 'cult' tragedies
- Apocalyptic beliefs
- Charismatic leadership
- Social encapsulation
- Box 7. Surviving the failure of apocalyptic prophecies
- Concluding remarks
- 8. What is the cultural significance of new religious movements?
- Our skewed perspective
- Modernism and the new religious movements
- Box 8. Factors affecting the success of NRMs
- Postmodernism and the new religious movements
- NRMs : anti-modern, modern, or postmodern?
- Concluding remarks.