Falling from Heaven to Earth

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-80
Author(s):  
Chengjun WANG ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Extrinsic Factors ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Reform And Opening Up ◽  
New Religion ◽  
Opening Up

The Qigong movement was one of the most remarkable New Religious Movements, and one of the most important social and cultural phenomena in China during 1980s–1990s. It rose rapidly and created what was termed a “fever” in a very short time in Post-Mao China, and then suddenly fell off the late 1990s. This paper analyzes how and why Qigong, as a new religion, endured such a drastic change within specific political, economic and cultural contexts in China across the course of twenty years. It argues that the rise of Qigong can be mainly ascribed to people’s urgent need for the promotion of health, eagerness to restore national pride, and the change of people’s lifestyle and mindset in response to the “Reform and Opening-up” subsequent to 1978. The collapse of the movement could be seen as an unavoidable result from certain intrinsic and extrinsic factors, namely, the natural tensions between Qigong itself and the national political authorities as well as the scientific establishment, harmful outcomes it produced among some practitioners, and the change in the social and cultural contexts that fostered qigong. In general, it is plausible to say that both its rise and fall were products of the time China underwent subsequent to the “Reform and Opening-up” period.

Deviant Christians: Romanization and Esoterization as Social Strategies for Survival Among Early Christians

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-176
Author(s):  
April D. DeConick
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Social Strategies ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Accommodation ◽  
New Recruits ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Religion

Abstract This paper explores the relationship between deviance and esotericism, particularly as this relationship relates to the emergence of new religious movements and the processes of social accommodation and resistance. Applying sociological models for the study of deviance, I show how emergent Catholics use a variety of accommodation strategies to better fit into Roman religious expectations, constructing a public face to their worship along with ancestral ties. As they do this, the emergent Catholics dissociate themselves from other Christians, like groups with gnostic orientations, whom they have marked as different from themselves and a liability for the survival of Christianity. They begin to argue that these “other” Christians are the deviant ones, not themselves. Their willingness to Romanize certain aspects of their religion reduces the tensile relationship between their new religion and the surrounding society, increasing their ability to attract and maintain new recruits. To make matters more complicated, gnostic groups largely resist accommodation to Roman religious expectations, a strategy that powers their countercultural critique of the hegemony of Rome. They esoterize their groups by privatizing and converting their deviance into secret social capital. The choice to maintain their deviance by limiting access to their internal social networks affects their ability to recruit, grow, and sustain their communities in the long term. The social politics of deviance goes a long way to explain the rise of Catholicism and its domination over other forms of Christianity.

scholarly journals The Closed Religious Community: the Strategy of Forming аnd the Principles of Functioning

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-100
Author(s):  
Svetlana V. Riazanova
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
World View ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Total Community

The point of the author’s research interest is mechanisms for the formation of a private religious community on the example of the Intersession brotherhood. A group of believers was emerged as part of the revival of the Orthodox life of the Kama region, but transformed into specific organization with features of popular religion, new religious movements and so-called “historical sects.” Author reconstructs the history of the community involving elements of the biographical method. The study is based on interviews and correspondence with former members of the community, close people of the residents of the commune, as well as analysis of the materials of the closed group on the social network, some audio of the groups’ seminars, photocopies of the working notebooks of the group and a series of photographs made by the believers. The investigation is based on the theoretical constructions of E. Goffman and the concept of total community. Intersession brotherhood appears as a community with the features of totality – territorial and communication closure of the residents, their employment in internal jobs, perception of the group as a family. Lack of privacy is combined with the presence of “mother-child” connection to the leader. The practice of naming for adults, the creation of new marriages, participation in gender-oriented councils create a special micro-environment with the unification of the world view. The system of privileges for advanced residents is supplemented by a developed system of fines. It makes possible to speak about special tools that lead to a change of values, a narrowing of the set of social roles and a reduction of critical thinking.

scholarly journals You may be the right one? New religions and the alternative religious concepts

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-182
Author(s):  
Danijel Sinani
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
New Religions ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Religious Concept ◽  
The Right ◽  
New Religion

This paper discuses the attempts of redefining the basic notions and determining the study subject of the new religions studies. The advantages and disadvantages of using the term "new religious movements" are pointed, and a retrospect is given on the basic conceptualizations supported by the most influential authors in the field of new religion studies, but the new terminology and a new approach to the problem are given as well. This paper promotes the use of phrase "alternative religious concept" and arguments are given to support the advantages of such defining of the subject we are engaging in.

The Challenge of the Pentecostals in Asia Part Two: The Responses of the Roman Catholic Church

Exchange ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-143
Author(s):  
John Mansford Prior
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Previous Issue ◽  
The Social ◽  
Basic Ecclesial Communities

AbstractIntroduction by the Managing Editor: John Mansford Prior SVD wrote an essay for the Asian Convention of the Pontifical Council for Culture planned for Jogyakarta, Indonesia, in June 12-17, 2006. The essay starts with a survey of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements in five Asian countries. Subsequently Prior reviews a growing awareness of 'sects and new religious movements' in church documents. Then he looks at how social science understands the 'rise of the sects' before he takes up the pastoral challenge to link the dynamism of Pentecostal/charismatic movements with the social conscience of basic ecclesial communities. The editing board of Exchange was impressed by the content of the essay and considered it to be of great importance to the readership of the journal. However, the essay was too long to be published in one issue. Therefore it is decided to divide it into parts. The first part gives the overview of Pentecostal and charismatic movements in Asia and the second part deals with the reaction of the Asian mainline churches, in particular the Roman Catholic Church. Part one was published in the previous issue (pp. xx-xx).

Children in New Religions

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-206
Author(s):  
Amanda Van Eck Duymaer van Twist
Keyword(s):  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
New Religions ◽  
The Social

New religious movements (NRMs) often have a marginal position in society, for a variety of reasons. This is generally accepted within diverse democracies as long as the groups consist of law-abiding consenting adults. But once children are involved the social dynamics are likely to change as a result of contested duties of care. Parents have a right to raise their children within their religion, while state authorities have a responsibility towards minors within their jurisdiction. This article highlights some of the main concerns about children in NRMs, focusing on teachings and practices relating to health and education within movements that chose relative seclusion.

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