Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements / Edition 2

by Lorne L. Dawson

Overview

Comprehending Cults, Second Edition, provides a sociological interpretation of the phenomenon of new religious movements. While the author does not offer an apologia for cults—in either a religious or a sociological sense—he does attempt to replace suspicion and misinformation with a greater knowledge of the facts (as best we know them) and a measure of sympathetic understanding.
Completely revised and updated in this second edition, the book examines all aspects of cults, while striving to delineate the very real limits of our knowledge. In addition to dealing with the troublesome aspects of the subject, including issues of violence, sexuality, and brainwashing, the author also considers the possibility that new religious movements are a source of spiritual satisfaction to their members. Offering up-to-date social science research about contemporary religious cults, Comprehending Cults, Second Edition, is ideal for undergraduate sociology of religion and new religious movements courses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195420098
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/25/2006
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	8.04(w) x 5.46(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

University of Waterloo

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements1. Why Study New Religious Movements?The Cults in Our MidstThe Hostility towards CultsResponding to the Suspicions of the PublicBox 1: They Come in All Shapes and Sizes2. What Are New Religious Movements?Religion and Its Continuing SignificanceChurches, Sects, and CultsBox 2: How New Religious Movements Change with Success3. Why Did New Religious Movements Emerge?Asking the Right Question FirstNew Religious Movements as a Response to Cultural ChangeNew Religious Movements as an Expression of Cultural ContinuityConcluding RemarksBox 3: Three Models of Cult Formation4. Who Joins New Religious Movements and Why?The StereotypesGetting Involved with New Religious MovementsThe Social Attributes of Those Who JoinSome Reasons for JoiningBox 4: Why are American Converts to New Religious Movements Disproportionately Jewish?5. Are Converts to New Religious Movements "Brainwashed"?The Issue and Its SignificanceThe Case Against the CultsThe Case Against BrainwashingReformulating the Issues in the Brainwashing DebateBox 5: The Active versus Passive Convert6. Why Are New Religious Movements So Often Accused of Sexual Deviance?Sexual Deviance and the 'Cults'Gender MattersBox 6: Child Abuse and the Social Control of New Religious Movements7. Why Do Some New Religious Movements Become Violent?Making Sense of the Seemingly SenselessApocalyptic BeliefsCharismatic LeadershipSocial EncapsulationConcluding RemarksBox 7: Surviving the Failure of Apocalyptic Prophecies8. What is the Cultural Significance of New Religious Movements?Our Skewed PerspectiveDiscerning a New Religious ConsciousnessModernism and the New Religious MovementsPost-modernism and the New Religious MovementsConcluding RemarksBox 8: Factors Affecting the Success of New Religious MovementsNotesBibliographyIndex