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.

The Wider World of the 21st-Century Cowboy Christian

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie W. Dallam
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Developmental Patterns ◽  
Jesus Movement ◽  
Television Shows ◽  
Muscular Christianity ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

Chapter 6 pulls away from the cowboy church specifically to examine aspects of the broader cultural context of cowboy Christians. Topics include media and entertainment that deliberately blend ideas of cowboy values with religion, and how they are packaged for consumption by cowboy Christians. Examples including racetrack chaplaincy, Christian horse whisperers, and television shows demonstrate cowboy Christian alignment with the trends of consumerism found in mainstream evangelicalism. The second half of the chapter revisits and concludes various thematic discussions raised throughout the book, comparing the cowboy church to the Jesus movement of the 1960s and 1970s and the recurring iterations of muscular Christianity, and schematically charting potential developments for the cowboy church on the basis of developmental patterns for other new religious movements.

Conversion by Infection

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-278
Author(s):  
Joseph P Laycock
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Film Adaptation ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Original Novel ◽  
The Family ◽  
Dual Perspective ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Last Man

The Omega Man (1971), starring Charlton Heston, is a film adaptation of the book I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Matheson’s novel tells the tale of Robert Neville, the last man left alive after germ warfare has infected humanity with vampirism. The Omega Man differs from the original novel and its other adaptations in several ways: The most notable is that it imbues Heston’s character with obvious Christ-like symbolism. A more significant change went largely unnoticed: instead of vampires, those infected with the plague become part of a militant group called “The Family.” Although The Family is never overtly described as a religion, the antagonists speak to a popular fear of new religious movements that emerged in the 1960s. By pitting a medicalized Christ against a disease-like religion, The Omega Man helped to engender a dual perspective of deviant religion as simultaneously medical and heretical. This dual perspective would shape the discourse of the “cult wars in the United States for decades, from the abductions carried out by cult “deprogrammers” to the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.

Jews and New Religious Movements: An Introductory Essay

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaakov Ariel
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Identity ◽  
Jewish Life ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Large Role ◽  
Jewish Heritage ◽  
Introductory Essay ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Modern Era

Throughout the modern era, Jews have established a series of new religious movements that in general have represented the influence of changing social and cultural realities on Jewish communal expressions. Since the 1960s, a number of new Jewish movements have utilized neo-Hasidic teachings to re-engage Jews in the spiritual elements of their tradition. Many Jews have also shown interest in new religious movements outside the Jewish fold, often playing a disproportionately large role in such groups. Bringing certain preferences and sensitivities with them, Jews who have joined such groups have often wished to retain some of their Jewish heritage and opted to combine their Jewish identity with their newly formed communities and practices. The Jewish venture into new religious movements has ultimately expanded the boundaries of Jewish life and the varieties of Jewish expressions, complicating formerly perceived notions of Jewish choices and affiliations.

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.

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