The New Religious Consciousness

Accompanyingthe rapid growth of "new religions" in the 1970s has been escalatingcontroversy centering on their methods of socializing new recruits. In this paper we examine the Tnevnoc Cult, a religious movement thatflourished during the nineteenth century and was embroiled in a similar controversy. Many of the Tnevnocs' current socialization practices remain similar to those of the new religions although the Tnevnocs are not now regarded as controversial By presenting a historical comparison between the Tnevnocs and new religions we demonstrate that the allegedly novel, manipulative socialization practices of the new religions actually are remarkably similar to those employed by the Tnevnocs a century earlier. Further, we argue that the reaction of the anti-cult movement to the new religions also has historicalparallels which suggest that it is the legitimacy accorded a group rather than its practices which shape public reactions and definitions.

The Tnevnoc Cult

During the last decade the West has witnessed an explosion of heterodox religiosity entailing a transplantation to the United States and Europe of Oriental mystical traditions, the emergence of a quasi-religious psycho­ therapy subculture, and a surge of Christian evangelical sentiment. Re­ search on today's new religions is proceeding at a vigorous pace. This chap­ ter reviews the findings and offers guidelines for future research.

Of contemporary religious movements

During the last decade the West has witnessed an explosion of heterodox religiosity entailing a transplantation to the United States and Europe of Oriental mystical traditions, the emergence of a quasi-religious psychotherapy subculture, and a surge of Christian evangelical sentiment. Research on today's new religions is proceeding at a vigorous pace. This chapter reviews the findings and offers guidelines for future research.

The sociology * 10571 of contemporary religious movements

A S sociologist Andrew Greeley observed in his recent book Unsecular Man and as others have since reaffirmed, the 1970s have not witnessed the continuation of the secularization process projected by observers during the 1960s. On the contrary, the current decade has been one of widespread religious ferment. Estimates given in the media of evangelical participation alone range as high as thirty to forty million Americans. An NBC newscast recently reported, on the basis of a national opinion poll, that one out of every three Americans was "born again" and returning to fundamentalist Christianity. Thht a number of public figures from Charles Colson to Eldridge Cleaver to Larry Flynt have been among the converts has served to dramatize the influence of the movement. Alongside this resurgence of conventional Judaic-Christian religious activity, there has been a proliferation of marginal or "new" religious groups such as the Unification church, the Children of God, Hare Krishna, the Divine Light Mission, Scientology, and numerous other less well known groups. While this myriad of marginal religious groups taken together includes only a fraction of the number of Americans who are born again Christians, such groups have commanded as much or more public attention and concern. Much of this negative publicity can be traced to the loosely organized but highly vocal members of a conservative countermovement which has been alternately christened the "anticult" or "deprogramming" movement. (Deprogramming refers, in its coercive extreme, to the abduction and restraint of marginal religious group members for the purpose of pressuring them to recant their new faiths.) The members of this countermovement, most of whom are disgruntled former members or relatives of members of these marginal religions, have charged that these groups gain converts through the use of coercive, manipulative mind-control techniques. The spectacular charges of Svengalian brainwashing methods used by these groups create the impression that these religious organizations constitute a rare social aberration. However, even a cursory examination of American history reveals that marginal religious groups have always existed in substantial numbers. For a variety of reasons these groups sometimes become more visible and are regarded as threats to the conventional order. When members of conventional society perceive them to be a clear and present danger to cherished values, there follows a tendency to attach to them beliefs and powers which, in whatever the terms of that culture, constitute evil. From the perceived danger is initiated a process of locating, identifying, and neutralizing that evil.

Witches, Moonies and Evil

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Witches, Moonies and Evil