From Jonestown to 9/11 and Beyond

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Moore
Keyword(s):  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Religious Violence ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Branch Davidians ◽  
Internal Forces ◽  
Mass Murders ◽  
And Control ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

This chapter examines violent outbursts perpetrated by New Religious Movements (NRMs) and considers the competing and complementary theories that have arisen to explain them. It argues that theories about cult violence change as new data become available. Public perceptions of cults and a shifting religious-political landscape also shape theoretical considerations of religion and violence. The chapter notes that prior to the mass murders-suicides in Jonestown, Guyana, and immediately following, theories of violence focused on inwardly-directed coercion and control. The demise of the Branch Davidians in 1993, along with other eruptions of violence in the 1990s, challenged this perspective, and a theory of interaction between external and internal forces arose. The events of September 11, 2001 internationalized considerations of religious violence, and returned attention to the influence of apocalyptic worldviews. A pressing problem that has emerged most recently is the violence perpetrated against NRMs, particularly state-sponsored repression.

The FBI’s “Cult War” against the Branch Davidians

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Wessinger
Keyword(s):  
Early Years ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
State University ◽  
Branch Davidians ◽  
San Marcos

This chapter examines the FBI’s engagement of the Branch Davidians and the eventual bombing of the group at their Waco compound. The author explains how the cult essentialist perspective, which places all blame on “cultists” for violent outcomes in conflicts, was promoted by FBI agents during and after the siege and prepared the majority of Americans to view the assault as reasonable. In this essay, Catherine Wessinger, a leading scholar of new religious movements and active in engaging with the FBI in the early years after the Branch Davidian siege, questions this understanding in light of evidence including internal FBI memos reporting on agents’ interviews with people who knew the Branch Davidians and FBI summary documents and evaluations in the Lee Hancock Collection at Texas State University, San Marcos.

From Spiritualism to Theosophy: “Uplifting” a Democratic Tradition

1993 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Prothero
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
American Religion ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Democratic Tradition ◽  
The Status ◽  
Taboo Topics

The status reversal ritual that American religious historiography has undergone in the last two decades has done much to “mainstream” previously taboo topics within the field. Many religious groups once dismissed as odd and insignificant “cults” are now seen as “new religious movements” worthy of serious scrutiny. One subject that has benefited from this reversal of fortunes is theosophy. Thanks to the work of scholars such as Robert Ellwood and Carl Jackson, theosophists are now part of the story of American religion. Exactly what part they are to play in that story remains, however, unclear.

The Changing Faces of the Terror of Cultism in Nigerian Society: An Islamic Perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 97-111
Author(s):  
Abdulrazaq Kilani
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Material Resources ◽  
National Life ◽  
Indigenous Religions ◽  
Almost All ◽  
New Recruits ◽  
Populous Country

The menace of cultism in Nigeria society in general and our educational institutions in particular has reached an alarming stage that requires affirmative actions from all stakeholders. The scourge of cultism has claimed many lives of our youths and no serious authority can fold its arms and allow it to continue. It appears that the various efforts at curbing the menace have yielded no result. The corruption in most facets of our national life has finally subdued the educational institutions, which used to be the pride of place in the past. Most families are astonished to find out that children sent to school to learn and become better human beings in the society have initiated themselves into cult groups. The emergency of secret cultism has been characterized by some violent activities which include, physical torture of new recruits, maiming and killing of rival cult members and elimination of real and perceived enemies. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups with 36 states and one federal territory (Abuja). There are three major religions namely Islam (50%), Christianity (40%), and Africa Indigenous Religions (10%). The effect of globalization is also making other new religious movements to be making inroads into Nigeria. Nigeria has a population of about 141 million people (2006 census). Nigeria which is rich in both human and material resources is a country that is facing a lot of developmental challenges in almost all sectors due to poor leadership. The menace of cultism especially among youths and some influential people in the society represents one of the distortion facing the popular ‘giant’ of Africa. The aim of this chapter is to bring into the fore the menace of cultism in modern Nigeria as a brand of terrorism mind not the fact that there are even religious cults in both the developed and developing societies. The paper also adopted an Islamic lens to provide an analysis of the terror of cultism in contemporary Nigeria.

Brazilian Ayahuasca Religions

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-186
Author(s):  
Robin Wright
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Rubber Tappers ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Legal Expertise ◽  
Religious Understanding

This article reviews the forthcoming issue of FIR containing an important collection of articles on the origins and developments of religious movements and, later, research movements focused on a powerful psychoactive beverage consisting of the mixture of certain vines (ayahuasca) and leaves (chacrona) found mainly in Western Amazonia. The religious interpretations resulting from the ritual ingestion of the beverage have produced the most varied practices and beliefs, beginning with the indigenous peoples and mestizo herbalists, then migrant rubber-tappers from northeastern Brazil; in the 1960s, urbanites from major cities in Brazil and Europe seeking alternative forms of religious inspiration; and, in the 1990s, a group of Brazilian researchers who have combined anthropological and religious understanding of the phenomena along with legal expertise for the protection of the religious freedom necessary for the religions’ developments. With the diversification and globalization of these new religious movements, the article points to new directions for field research in these religions.

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