Civil Society and Religion in Post-Communist Hungary

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-134
Author(s):  
István Kamarás ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Special Form ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Organic Part ◽  
Secular World

How can the churches in Hungary today help in building civil society without becoming politicised or submerged in a secular world? This essay focuses on the different roles and activities of larger and smaller churches in Hungarian civil society, especially Catholic congregations and smaller communities, new religious movements and groups, the "official church," and the "civil church," Churches and religious communities in Hungary are still too rigid in their institutional forms to become an organic part of civil society. To preserve their unique calling churches have to play the role as a participant of a special form of civil society--the "contrast-society." Only churches institutionalized in an appropriate way will be able to accommodate civil society without being assimilated by it. Thus, churches can become part of civil society mainly in the form of a dialogue. Hungarian churches, religious groups, and movements are just at the beginning of a promising process.

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.

On the Volatile Relationship of Secularization and New Religious Movements

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Holland
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Christian Science ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Public Square ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter considers the complex relationship between secularization and the emergence of new religious movements. Drawing from countervailing research, some of which insists that new religious movements abet secularizing processes and some of which sees these movements as disproving the secularization thesis, the chapter presents the relationship as inherently unstable. To the extent that new religious movements maintain a precarious balance of familiarity and foreignness—remaining familiar enough to stretch the definitional boundaries of religion—they contribute to secularization. However, new religious movements frequently lean to one side or other of that median, either promoting religious power in the public square by identifying with the interests of existing religious groups, or emphasizing their distinctiveness from these groups and thus provoking aggressive public action by the antagonized religious mainstream. This chapter centres on an illustrative case from Christian Science history.

Choosing a religion in the context of specificity of a religious experience

2020 ◽  
pp. 6-15
Author(s):  
V.Yu. Lebedev ◽  
A.L. Bezrukov
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Religious Experience ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Groups

The paper considers the process of choosing religion in a modern society. Factors that affect the behavior of an individual in the process of choosing religion are considered in the light of religious, psychological and social sciences. The classification of religions is divided into two types: personal experience religions and dogmatic religions. A modern man's motivation to be a follower of new religious movements is considered using the examples of neoprotestant, neohindu and neopagan religious groups.

scholarly journals Gesundheit und Heil: Eine ideengeschichtliche Spurensuche zur Einordnung der Mazdaznan-Bewegung in ihren Entstehungskontext

Gesnerus ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-296
Author(s):  
Bernadett Bigalke
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Max Weber ◽  
Religious History ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Specific Context ◽  
Breathing Exercises ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Life Reform

There are diverse religious groups which have developed special forms of “methodical lifestyle” (Max Weber). Projects of life reform and new religious movements around 1900 brought up specific ways of living and influenced one another in respect to ideas and practices. Using the example of the Mazdaznan-Movement some forms of interdependencies will be demonstrated. Since the group formed in the USA at the turn of the 20th century I will try to contextualize its central practices such as vegetarianism, intestinal care and breathing exercises within the specific context of American cultural and religious history.

scholarly journals Religious Pluralism and Religion-State Relations in Turkey

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
H. Albayrak
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Market Model ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Republican Period ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Relations ◽  
Religious Landscape

In this article, I examine religion-state relations and religious pluralism in Turkey in terms of recent changes in the religious landscape. I propose that there is a growing trend in the religious sphere that has resulted in a proliferation of religions, sects and spiritual approaches in Turkey. I argue that although the religious market model might not be applicable to the Turkish religious sphere during the republican era until the 2000s due to the restrictions applied by the state’s authoritarian secularist policies, it is compatible with today’s changing society. Different religious groups as well as spiritual movements have used the democratization process of the 2000s in Turkey as an opportunity to proselytize various faiths and understandings of Islam, with both traditional and modernist forms. In this period, new religious movements have also appeared. Thus, the Turkish religious landscape has recently become much more complicated than it was two decades earlier. I plan for this descriptive work firstly to provide an insight into the history of religious pluralism and state policies in Turkey. Secondly, I will discuss the religious policies of the republican period and, thirdly, I will evaluate recent developments such as the increasing number of approaches in the religious sphere within the scope of the religious market model.

scholarly journals New religious movements and their perception as conflict religious groups: the case of the Czech Republic

2006 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 393-403
Author(s):  
David Václavíc
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Religious Group ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Czech Population ◽  
Czech Society

At first sight, both the role and the position of religion in the Czech Republic may appear to confirm the secularization thesis. The results of sociological surveys and census statistics show a clear decline in religious faith and practice. According to last national census of 2001 more than 59 per cent of Czech people declared themselves to be ‘non-believers’, while only 32 per cent of Czechs declared themselves to be ‘believers’. And if we look at the statistics that concern the intensity of religious life, we can see a more ‘secularized picture’ of Czech society. For example, only 5 per cent of the Czech population attends religious services regularly, and only 20 per cent of population is willing to contribute 1,50 euro a month to a religious group or church. But do these data present a true picture of secularization in Czech society? What exactly is the attitude of Czech society towards religion? These and other questions are examined in this article.

scholarly journals Nordkoreanske migranter i Kina. Konversion og socialt pres.

2015 ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Mette Hee Læborg
Keyword(s):  
Religious Conversion ◽  
External World ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Christian Organizations ◽  
Illegal Migrants ◽  
Social Pressures

Since the 1980s coercive persuasion has been scrutinized by sociologists in response to the preceeding discourse on supposed 'brainwashing' methods claimed to be utilized by new religious movements. The sociological consensus was that ‘brainwashing' and coercion rarely occur in religious conversion but this debate is revoked in light of Christian organizations' involvement with North Koreans in China. In China, North Koreans live under stressful conditions as illegal migrants exposed to criminal actions, while living under the threat of deportation. Christian organizations provide shelter, security and organize plights to a third country, if desired and possible, thus having a humanitarian functionality. The paper will argue that North Koreans in China, convert under grave social pressures as a result of well-organized religious groups, their availability, and social forces from the external world.

scholarly journals New Religious Movements before Modernity?

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-37
Author(s):  
Andreas Pietsch ◽  
Sita Steckel
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
New Religions ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of

Can the study of new religious movements be extended historically towards a longue durée history of religious innovation? Several sociological theories suggest that fundamental differences between premodern and modern religious configurations preclude this, pointing to a lack of religious diversity and freedom of religion in premodern centuries. Written from a historical perspective, this article questions this view and suggests historical religious movements within Christianity as possible material for a long-term perspective. Using the Franciscans and the Family of Love as examples, it points out possible themes for productive interdisciplinary research. One suggestion is to study the criticisms surrounding premodern new religious movements, which might be used to analyze the historical differentiation of religion. Another avenue is the study of premodern terminologies and concepts for religious communities, which could provide a historical horizon for the ongoing debate about the typology of new religions.

Floating Prayer

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 177-197
Author(s):  
Victoria Rose Montrose
Keyword(s):  
Religious Movements ◽  
Local Culture ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Buddhist Ritual

With over forty thousand attendees every year, the Shinnyo-en Hawaii Lantern Floating—an adapted version of the traditional Japanese Buddhist obon ritual, tōrō nagashi—is among the largest annually held Buddhist rituals undertaken outside of Asia. One way to approach understanding of this rite is as an example of a ‘glocal’ Buddhist ritual. Drawing from Roland Robertson’s framework of glocalization, this study examines the steps Shinnyo-en took to adapt its global message to a new local culture. While other examples of the tōrō nagashi are found in Hawaii, none have developed on the rite to the extent that Shinnyo-en has. Some innovations include: moving the date of the rite to Memorial Day, the inclusion of local cultural elements and other religious groups, and allowing the public to personalize the individual lanterns. Through examples of the ritual’s various Hawaiian and global elements, I explain why the Shinnyo-en version of the lantern floating rite, over other versions of the same rite, came to reach its status as the Hawaiian Lantern Floating Ceremony. Finally this study argues for the important, often overlooked role of both ritual and new religious movements in globalization.

The Sociology of Gnostic Spirituality

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-66
Author(s):  
April D. DeConick
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Sociology Of Knowledge ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
New Religious Movements ◽  
The Awakening ◽  
Direct Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Do It Yourself

Abstract This paper owes debt to the field of study known as sociology of knowledge, which is interested in the social location of groups and their constructions of knowledge and reality. This project, however, is not about ordinary knowledge, but how gnosis, the direct knowledge of a transcendent God beyond the traditional Gods, became the foundation of a new form of spirituality in antiquity, and how this form of Gnostic spirituality has reemerged in modern America, impacting traditional religious communities and fostering new religious movements. Several social factors are involved in the emergence of Gnostic spirituality, including the dislocation of the founders and collaborators of Gnostic movements, the prominence of the seeker response, the revelatory milieu in which they find themselves, their reliance on revelatory authority, their push for alternative legitimation, and their flip-and-reveal and do-it-yourself constructions of new knowledge. Gnostic countercultures arise when Gnostic spirituality is mobilized. Much of religion and society are overturned so that we find constructions of the counter-self, calls for counter-conduct, the establishment of counter-cult, the deployment of counter-media, and the emergence of modes of Gnostic esoterization. The final section turns to the awakening, transport, and occulturation of Gnostic spirituality into modernity in America via artifact migration and alpha channels like Blavatsky.

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