Visioning new and minority religions : projecting the future / edited by Eugene V. Gallagher.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gallagher, Eugene V., editor.

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Ashgate Inform series on minority religions and spiritual movements

Routledge inform series on minority religions and spiritual movements

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cults.

Physical Description:

xi, 167 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.

Summary:

Rather than being ephemeral fadt, new religions movements (NRMs) have always been and will always be with us. So will their study. Offering an assessment of the stale-of-the-field of the study of NRMs. Visioning New and Minority Religions begins by considering the analytical tools for the study of new or minority religions, drawing on the perspectives of diverse academic disciplines. The second part focuses on individual groups in a variety of geographical settings Chapters in this section review the histories of particular groups in order to extrapolate future developments. They cover new religions that have persisted well past the first generation, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Christian Scientists, and groups with comparatively shorter histories, such as various forms of contemporary Paganism, Soka Gakkai, and the Diamond way Buddhist group. This volume will be of interest to scholars from across religious studies and sociology, as well as members of new and minority religious groups and those in "cult watching" groups. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Theoretical perspectives on new and minority religions 1

1 Introduction: projecting the future for new and minority religions / Eugene V. Gallagher Gallagher, Eugene V. 3

2 The changing scene: what might happen and what might be less likely to happen? / Eileen Barker Barker, Eileen 7

3 'The silent majority?': understanding apostate testimony beyond 'insider/outsider' binaries in the study of new religions / Stephen E. Gregg Gregg, Stephen E., George D. Chryssides Chryssides, George D. 20

4 Seekership revisited: explaining traffic in and out of new religions / Steven J. Sutcliffe Sutcliffe, Steven J. 33

5 Economies of love and squalor: fraud and deception in religious milieus / Amanda Van Eck Duymaer Van Twist Twist, Amanda Van Eck Duymaer Van 47

6 No leader, no followers: the Internet and the end of charisma? / Beth Singler Singler, Beth 61

7 A guaranteed future for new religious movements / Eugene V. Gallagher Gallagher, Eugene V. 74

Part II International perspectives on the future of specific new religious groups 85

8 The changing face of contemporary Paganism in Britain / Vivianne Crowley Crowley, Vivianne 87

9 You can't smash the Internet: a historical analysis of the LDS Church's negotiation of technology and how the Internet has changed the rules of the game / Jessica N. Finnigan Finnigan, Jessica N. 100

10 From Japanese Buddhist sect to global citizenship: Soka Gakkai past and future / Anne Mette Fisker-Nielsen Fisker-Nielsen, Anne Mette 109

11 Christian Scientists: has-beens or twenty-first century spiritual pioneers? / Robin Harragin Harragin, Robin, Tony Lobl Lobl, Tony 122

12 Anticipating the future: the growth of practice-oriented spiritualities / Erin Johnston Johnston, Erin 134

13 Pop culture-a new source of spirituality? / Pavol Kosnác Kosnác, Pavol 145

14 A neo-orthodox Buddhist movement m transition: the Diamond Way / Bee Scherer Scherer, Bee 156.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781472458131

9781472465887

1472465881

1472458133

OCLC:

965470536

Publisher Number:

99974141512