Modern New Religious Movements (NRMs) have been around since the turn of the nineteenth century. Today there are some serious NRMs out there and then some that may just be the fad of the moment . . . like the hemline with not much of a personal commitment. Britannica defines NRMs as “the generally accepted term for what is sometimes called, often with pejorative connotations, a “cult.” The term new religious movement has been applied to all new faiths that have arisen worldwide over the past several centuries. NRMs can be unique in origin or an offshoot of a more traditional religion and therefore, are considered distinct.
Molloy, on page 498, touches on the four traits of NRMs. The first trait he discusses is the size of the organization, which is relatively small. Smaller groups have a tendency to appeal to people who seek affirmation and an identity. Participants feel like they belong and have a purpose within the group. Smaller groups also tend to function better as social networks, which, in turn, create stronger bonds.
The second common trait, which Molloy points out, is women have a bigger role in NRMs than in many traditional religions where they oftentimes do not have a formal status. NRMs appealed to women because in many organizations gender is de-emphasized giving women an opportunity to attain leadership positions. In other groups, femininity and masculinity are strengthened and are recognized from a cosmic viewpoint requiring the NRM to nurture women leaders “reflecting the female nature of the divine or the importance of the feminine principle in the workings of universe.” Women may also find NRMs attractive because they appear to want to focus on individual growth and development, while at the same ...
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...e on page 356. He states NRM scripture has a lot less structural variety and genre than traditional scripture. This may be another alluring contemporary element since they were written in modern times and can identify with the world today. Interestingly, Van Voorst also makes a point about the scriptures that, although they are an important avenue to encounter NRMs, they also “are as numerous, varied, and often as controversial as the movements that publish them.”
As with any religion, its survival is dependent upon its ability to adapt to change, and NRMs are no exception. Although, NRMs were founded in modern times, these times will change as well. Molloy (p 522) comments change is always difficult and adapting to change is rarely accomplished without debate, misperception, or discomfort. New NRMs will always be formed to endure a world that is ever changing.
I vividly remember sitting in my ninth grade world history class, only six short years ago, when my teacher announced that next week we would begin a four week study on world religions. A nervous murmur swept through thirty students, all thinking the
Wicca is considered to be a radical faith in spite of significant numbers of goddess devotes who are extremely conservative in their lifestyles and the tenets they hold. The wiccan religion is not solely a women’s faith. While their are "women-only" groupings, and women-led, or women-predominant ones, there are just as many mixed gender groupings, in some of which men are dominant. There are also numerous solitaries, both women and men.
Although an imperfect label, "NRM" continues to be the most helpful one available, and it has achieved a level of acceptance in general discourse about religion that other labels have not (Ashcraft, 2005). Santeria and Catholic are two similar yet, different type of religions but have the same solid belief in a heavenly father. With many different rituals and causes, by having unbalanced elements to what this new religion is, for one - Santeria to me is used as protection among evil worships but, Santeria can create good luck and bad luck to harm others with their voodoo dolls or spells. Santeria also is like a rite of passage - it's not something you get baptized in to when you’re a child, you must perform a ritual to get in and learn the way of becoming a Orisha. From generation to generation, aside from god - there are many higher beings for every type of problem one can have, you pray to that image and bring it an offering. Santeria has no holy place like a church so, this practice is commonly done in a house or a botanica (spiritual Hispanic store). Sacrifices are made, such as slaughtering animals for their blood - to offer it to an image in return for something positive or wishing misfortune upon
It formed in 1960 C.E. and originated in the United States. Recent surveys of US adults indicate that many Americans hold at least some of the new spirituality beliefs. Eight percent of Americans believe in astrology as a method of foretelling the future. Seven percent of americans believe that crystals are a source of healing or energizing power. Nine percent of americans believe that Tarot Cards are a reliable base for life decisions. New Spirituality has many beliefs such as monism and also pantheism which is all that exists is God; This leads naturally to the concept of the divinity of the individual, that we are all gods. They don’t seek God as revealed in a sacred text; they seek god within the self and the entire universe. They also believe in reincarnation which is when you die you will come back reborn in a new form whether it’s another person or even an animal. They also believe in karma which is basically what comes around goes around so if you do something good or nice you will have good fortune but if you do something really mean or bad you will have really bad fortune come to you. They believe in aura which is an energy field radiated by the body. Some practices that new spirituality practices is channeling and meditation. Many celebrities are into new spirituality. The main one that is really out there about her worldview and doesn’t mind talking about it to anyone is Oprah. The six main characteristics of New Spirituality thinking are: first, all is unity. Second, all is divine. Third, is humanity is divine. Next is a change in consciousness. Fifth is all religions are one. Lastly Cosmic Evolutionary
Siddhartha Gautama saw that things are constantly in motion, changing from one thing to another and that inability to accept this change is what leads to human suffering (The Way of Awakening). Often times, survival hinges on the ability to adapt to changing times and evolve. The US Constitution is based on this principal that what worked in 1789, might not always work and that there should be room for evolution. So it’s no mistake that often times, a defining feature of a religion or system of beliefs is its ability to adapt, as the world around it changes. For most religions, the answer is passive, to themselves change. This can be seen in the Protestant Reformation, in which Martin Luther declared the ways of the Catholic Church to be outdated
The “seeker sensitive” movement is one that is very controversial in our present time. It is the idea that the church should appeal to seeking unbelievers, and meet their felt needs. The question is whether or not this “seeker friendly” idea is biblical, and should church pastors lead in this way. According to the Bible, which should be the ultimate authority for all church leaders, it is completely unbiblical. It could be said that it is unethical, from a biblical perspective, for a pastor to lead in “seeker friendly” manor. They absolutely must get real with their audience, and reveal the critical truths of the Bible. The fact is that this movement is one that must be crushed by the truth that can only be found in the Word of God. There are two main reasons that this seemingly good idea is only a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Cults have existed throughout history since the beginning of time. A cult is defined in Webster’s dictionary as a “system of religious worship with a devoted attachment to a person, principle, etc.” Over the past thirty years numerous religious cults have caused “ tens of thousands to abandon their families, friends, education’s, and careers to follow the teaching of a leader they will never meet”(Beck 78).
During the postbellum and early 19th century, people started to challenge what religion meant to them. Lincoln questioned how warring factions could both pray to the same God, yet he concluded that God had “his own purpose” for this war. From these notions, such thought as “the Lost Cause”, was spurred. Another important aspect is people started to challenge their theology with the advent of new science and technology. The effect was to create a competitive marketplace in religion that allowed men and women to shop for religious institutions that they thought best meet their needs. The growing prestige of science compelled Americans reformulating theology; two popular theologies include New Theology, Theodore Munger, and Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy (Goff and Harvey 21-25). These religions are known as NRM, encompassing newer religious groups and old alternative groups, which, together, have challenged mainstream religious traditions and the secular society back in the 19th century, and still to this day. The three popular NRMs during the 19th century are Christian Science, Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormonism), and Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to Daschke and Ashcraft, people are intrigued by NRMs for a number of reasons: new understanding, new self, new family, new society, and new world (Daschke and Ashcraft 1-13). Conversely...
After reading the article “The Man Who Saves You From Yourself” by Nathaniel Rich, I found that what he wrote about New Religious Movements was completely wrong and was not what these New Religious Movements were about. New Religious Movements are mostly about love and they want to build a community with peace and love and try to make a society that can help promote the idea of peace. He even starts out stating that these are all cults. The first thing he writes in his article is that “No one joins a cult.” (Rich, 35) This is true but not true because no one would join something called a cult because of the negative connotation that it brings. They’re really nothing called a cult; they are a new religious movement. They mostly want people to believe what they preach which is not cult-like at all. The term cult comes from people who want to hurt all the religion that is recent that isn’t like the traditional Judeo-Christian religions. He helps enforces this stereotype about New Religion Movements. Nathaniel Rich makes them look like they are all horrible groups that can trap people and try to scam them and make up a lot of horrible things to make them look like what the New Religious Members beliefs are wrong. He makes them look like all they will do is hurt the recruit and their families by taking them away. He only talks about a few New Religious Movements that has done horrible things and says that all of these types of movement will all do this. Rich gives a lot of example of what he thinks is true but they have been actual proven facts that can prove what he says wrong and why he is wrong.
A ‘new religion’ is hard to define because scholars have not come up with a true definition of what a religion is. There are many different definitions of religion and what elements a practice must have in order to be defined as a religion. Along with new religions come sects and cults. Sects are movements where the people strayed away from the primary religion in order to create a new form that was seen to be “purer form of the faith,” according to A Concise Introduction to World Religion (Oxtoby Segal 573) These sects would normally be stricter than the primary religion and try to set themselves apart. These sects do not normally last long and they end up dying out and turning into the primary religion again. A cult was just another word for “worship” or at times “religion,” however today the term is normally always viewed in a negative manner. Today a cult is viewed as a group that attempts to brainwash its believers, which is not the case. It is no longer easy to differentiate the different between cults and sects. According to the textbook cults share many traits, like “Cults typically claim to have some special knowledge or insight, or revealed through contact with spirits. Their practice often includes rituals designed to promote ecstatic experiences, and they tend to focus more on individual spiritual experience than institutional organization.” (Oxtoby Segal 573) The most common attribute of different cults would be the leader that is a very powerful person to its followers. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as Mormonism is a popular ‘new religion.’
John Saliba’s approach to new religious movements is secular (despite his position as a Jesuit Priest) and well rounded. He begins by exploring how new religious movements are viewed today, how they have been reacted to in the past and why that may be. He examines the original definition of the word “cult” as well as the modern derivations of it and how it affects these new religious movements. By considering multiple opinions on new religious movements as well as looking at the historical, psychological, sociological, legal and theological context in which these religions came to be and attract new followers, he is able to advocate for a more open approach to these new religions and offer a better way to handle them; to respond to them, rather than react.
Living Religions - 4 th edition Mary Pat Fisher Judaism and the new woman Sally Priesand Tradition in a rootless world : women turn to Orthodox Judaism Lynn Davidman The crown of creation : the lives of great biblical women based on rabbinic & mystical sources Chana Wesiberg
The word cult, as defined by Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary denotes “a usually small circle of persons united by devotion or allegiance to an artistic or intellectual movement or figure.” According to this interpretation, all religious groups can be classified as having this characteristic. However, due largely in part to stereotypes portrayed in the media, much of society perceives the word cult as definable by “a close-knit, unorthodox religious movement in which members, or potential members are enticed by means of deception and indoctrination.” It is in accordance with this explanation that one can separately distinguish the hundreds of religious groups fitting this description, from the much larger number of orthodox religions, or religions deemed conventional.
The beginning of the liberational theology movement was centered in Latin America in the late 20th century. Liberational theology was a Roman Catholic movement that sought to apply religious faith by aiding poor and oppressed people in political and civil affairs; it was a way to include all members of the church, specifically in Third World countries. When the liberation theology movement began, people in Latin America believed that the only way to fully understand the bible was through the perspective of the less fortunate. In a sense, people thought God spoke through those who were suffering. The liberation theology movement was created because the economic state Latin America was in during that era, the importance of Catholic Faith in Latin America and the After the end of World War II, economic reconstruction around the world was a dreadful process.
”-Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. When looking at this description from a religious stance, feminists pose important questions on various areas of religion, including traditions, biblical texts, and practices, with the overall aim to critique and