Introduction to new and alternative religions in America
Annotation.
Most new or alternative religious are gravely misunderstood by members of the religious mainstream. Labeled cults or sects, groups and their members are often ridiculed or otherwise disregarded as weird and potentially dangerous by the populace at large. Despite their efforts at educating the general public, the various anti- and counter-cult activists have in fact promoted much more mis-understanding than accurate understanding of the religious lives of some of their fellow citizens. Consequently, they have helped to create a very hostile environment for anyone whose religious practices do not fit within a so-called mainstream. This set rectifies the situation by presenting accurate, comprehensive, authoritative and accessible accounts of various new and alternative religious movements that have been and are active in American society, and it addresses ways of understanding new and alternative religions within a broader context.
Determining what actually constitutes a new or alternative religion is a subject of constant debate. Questions arise as to a new faith's legitimacy, beliefs, methods of conversion, and other facets of a religious movement's viability and place in a given culture. How a religion gains recognition by the mainstream, which often labels such new movements as cults, is fraught with difficulty, tension, and fear. Here, experts delineate the boundaries and examine the various groups, beliefs, movements, and other issues related to new faiths and alternative beliefs. Readers will come away with a fuller understanding of the religious landscape in America today.
Volume 1: History and Controversies discusses the foundations of new and alternative religions in the United States and addresses the controversies that surround them. This volume helps readers better understand what makes a new or alternative belief system a religion and the issues involved.
Volume 2: Jewish and Christian Traditions explores the various new religions that have grown out of these two Abrahamic faiths. Groups such as the Shakers, the People's Temple, the Branch Davidians, Jehovah's Witnesses and others are examined.
Volume 3: Metaphysical, New Age, and Neopagan Movements looks at Shamanism, Spiritualism, Wicca, and Paganism, among other movements, as they have developed and grown in the U.S. These faiths have found new and devoted followers yet are often misunderstood.
Volume 4: Asian Traditions focuses on those new and alternative religions that have been inspired by Asian religious traditions. From Baha'i to Soka Gakkai, from Adidam to the Vedanta Society, contributors look at a full range of groups practicing and worshiping in the U.S. today.
Volume 5: African Diaspora Traditions and Other American Innovations examines the various traditions linked to the African diaspora such as Rastafarianism, Santeria, and the Nation of Islam, alongside traditions that are truly American incarnations like Scientology, UFO religions, and Heaven's Gate. Some of the new and alternative religions covered in these pages include:
; Shamanism
; Wicca
; Black Israelites
; Santeria
; Scientology
; Elan Vital
; Hare Krishna
; Soka Gakkai
; and many more
1 online resource (5 volumes)
9780313050787, 9780313050794, 9780313050800, 9780313050817, 9780313050824, 9780313050831, 0313050783, 0313050791, 0313050805, 0313050813, 0313050821, 031305083X
230763437
v. 1. History and controversies: Introduction / Eugene V. Gallagher and W. Michael Ashcraft
New religious movements in American history / Timothy Miller
Leadership in new religious movements / Eugene V. Gallagher
Affiliation and disaffiliation careers in new religious movements / David G. Bromley
New religious movements and the law / James T. Richardson
New religious movements and globalization / Jeffrey Kaplan
Critiquing cults: a historical perspective / J. Gordon Melton
Evangelical Christian countercult movement / Douglas E. Cowan
New religious movements and violence / Catherine Wessinger
Gender in new and alternative religions / Mary Farrell Bednarowski
Children in new religious movements: the Mormon experience / Michael Homer
Same-sex eroticism and gender fluidity in new and alternative religions / Medissa M. Wilcox
Millennial destiny: a history of millennialism in America / Dereck Daschke
v. 2. Jewish and Christian traditions: Introduction / Eugene V, Gallagher and W. Michael Ashcraft
The Shakers / Suzanne Thurman
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints / Terryl L. Givens
The Adventist tradition / Douglas Morgan
Jehovah's Witnesses / David L. Widdle
Christian Science / John K. Simmons
Peoples Temple: a typical cult? / Rebecca Moore
The Children of God [now known as] The Family / James D. Chandler
The Branch Dividians / Eugene V. Gallagher
Christian Identity: an American millennial mythology / Philip Lamy
Judaism and Christianity Unite! ; the unique culture of Messianic Judaism / Yaakov Ariel
v. 3. Metaphysical, New Age, and neopagan movements: Introduction / Eugene V. Gallagher and W. Michael Ashcraft
Sweden- borgianism / Jane Williams-Hogan
Spiritualism / Robert S. Cox
The Theosophical Society / Robert Ellwood
The American New Thought Movement / Dell deChant
North American Esotericism / Arthur Versluis
Eckankar / David Christopher Lane
The New Age: a Twentieth Century movement / Susan Love Brown
Contemporary Shamanism / Dagmar Wernitznig
The worship of the goddess in feminist spirituality in the United States / Cynthia Eller
Wives, witchcraft, and modern paganism / Douglas E. Cowan
Learning about paganism / Helen A. Berger
New and alternative religions in the United States: ritual and neopaganism / Adrian Harris and M. Macha NightMare
v. 4. Asian traditions: Introduction / Eugene V. Gallagher and W. Michael Ashcraft
The Vedanta Society / Robin Rinehart
The Hari Krishna movement: beginnings, change, and transformation / E. Burke Rochford, Jr
Soka Gakkai: a human revolution / David W. Machacek
From Guru Maharaj Ji to Prem Rawat: paradign shifts over the period of 40 years as a "Master" (1966-2006) / Ben Geaves
Adidam / Scott Lowe
Buddhism in America / Jeff Wilson
Tibetan Buddhism in the United States / Daniel Cozort
The Unification Church/Movement in the United States / Michael L. Mickler
The Baha'is of the United States / Robert H. Stockman
v. 5. African diaspora traditions and other American innovations: Introduction / Eugene V. Gallagher and W. Michael Ashcraft
Part I: The Nation of Islam / Nora L. Rubel
Alternative to "Religion" in an African American Islamic community: the Five Percent Nation of Gods and Earth / Kathleen Malone O'Connor
Black Israelites aka Black Jews aka Black Hebrews: Black Israe lism, Black Judaism, Judaic Christianity / Jacob Dorman
Santeria / Mary Ann Clark
Rastafarianism / Dawn L. Hutchinson
Vodou in the United States: the case of New Orleans / Ina Johanna Fandrich
Part II: Satanism and the Church of Jesus / Eugene V. Gallagher
The Church of Scientology / Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley
Heaven's Gate / Rosamond C. Rodman
UFO(s and) religion / Brenda Denzler
The Raelian Movement / George D. Chryssides
New and alternative religions in American / Bron Taylor and Joseph Dylan Witt
Electronic reproduction, [Place of publication not identified], HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010
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