Sociological Theme: Parents and Adult Children

Sociological Theme: Parents and Adult Children

Sociological theme: New Religious Movements (NRM)

Key skills:

Communication

ICT

Sociological skill:

Knowledge and understanding

New Religious Movement

Encyclopedian describes a new religious movement as:

A New Religious Movement appears as a religious, ethical or spiritual grouping that has not (yet) become recognised as a standard denomination, church or body. Some sociological observers prefer the term to that of "cult". Examples of New Religious Movements might include:

  • Neo-Paganism, in which followers seek to revert back to the pre-Christian earth and nature worship of Western Europe.

Source:

The definition given by Wikipedia is as follows:

The term new religious movements comprises a wide range of movements of alternative spirituality, the emergence of which is generally associated with the aftermath of the 1960's counterculture.

There is a great variety in the kinds movements included in this characterisation, such as leadership, authority, concepts of the individual, family, gender, teachings, organisational structures, etc. This variety has presented a challenge to social scientists in their attempts to define a classification by means of a comprehensive criteria.

This term was introduced in the 1980s by scholars to replace the term cult which had been used until then for such religious groups but which had, during the cult debates of the 1970s, developed a pejorative tone and was being used by the public quite indiscriminately for any kind of non-mainstream religion…In the definition of new religious movement, new usually refers to both of recent origin and different from existing religions.

The definitions of "of recent origin" vary greatly: some authors see as new movements those originating or appearing in a new context after World War II, others define as new everything originating after the Bahá'í Faith (mid 19th century) or even everything originating after Sikhism (17th century).

New in the sense of different from existing religions refers by common consensus to all movements which are not part of any existing religion. Some authors also count those movements which are, in religious science, seen as part of an existing religion but which either present themselves as separate or as "the only right" religion, or are not accepted by that religion as sharing the same basic creed. Some authors also count religious movements as new when they appear in a new cultural context and present themselves as distinct from traditional religion, e.g. new Hindu or Buddhist groups in the Western world.

Generally, Christian denominations that are an accepted part of ecumenical Christianity are not seen as new religious movements.

There are groups which are by some or many authors seen as new religious movements, though they do not define themselves as religion.

Questions: Knowledge and Interpretation

  1. What is the main condition of a new religious movement?
  2. Why is there a difference of opinion in what makes up a new religious movement?
  3. When was the term ‘new religious movement’ first used?
  4. Why did the term ‘new religious movement’ replace the term ‘cult’?
  5. Why is the term ‘new’ itself a problem for people studying new Relgious movements?
  6. In what ways do NRMs contribute to and cause social change?

Internet research

Conduct an internet search to find two NRMs and say why, in your opinion, they are NRMs.

What is it about these NRMs that attract followers? What sort of background (social class) are the people who are an enthusiast of these NRMs.

Methodology problem

There could be a methodological problem researching new religious movements because of the lack of consensus as to what a new religious movement actually is.

How would you operationalise the term new religious movement in order to conduct research in this area?

What ethical and practical problems might you experience if you wished to study a NRM developing in your local area?

Discussion point

Martin Livermore, a journalist, says that environmentalism has become a religion. See for more information on his views.

Discuss points for and against the view that extreme environmentalism has elements of a New Religious Movement.