Violence and New Religious Movements

Publisher's description

The relationship between new religious movements (NRMs) and violence has long been a topic of intense public interest — an interest heavily fuelled by multiple incidents of mass violence involving certain groups. Some of these incidents have made international headlines. When New Religious Movements make the news, it's usually because of some violent episode. Some of the most famous NRMs are known much more for the violent way they came to an end than for anything else. Violence and New Religious Movements offers a comprehensive examination of violence by-and against-new religious movements. The book begins with theoretical essays on the relationship between violence and NRMs and then moves on to examine particular groups. There are essays on the "Big Five" — the most well-known cases of violent incidents involving NRMs: Jonestown, Waco, Solar Temple, the Aum Shunrikyo subway attack, and the Heaven's Gate suicides. But the book also provides a richer survey by examining a host of lesser-known groups. This volume is the culmination of decades of research by scholars of New Religious Movements.

Contents:

1. Deciphering the NRM-Violence Connection David G. Bromley
2. Minority Religions and the Context of Violence: A Conflict/Interactionist Perspective James T. Richardson
3. Reciprocal Totalism: The Toxic Interdependence of Anticult and Cult Violence Dick Anthony, Thomas Robbins, Steven Barrie-Anthony
4. Narratives of Persecution, Suffering, and Martyrdom: Violence in Peoples Temple and Jonestown Rebecca Moore
5. Revisiting the Branch Davidian Mass Suicide Debate Stuart A. Wright
6. Explaining the murder-suicides of the Order of the Solar Temple: A survey of hypothesises Henrik Bogdan
7. Religion and Violence in Japan: The Case of Aum Shinrikyo Martin Repp
8. The Euphemization of Violence: The Case of Heaven's Gate Benjamin Zeller
9. Murder in Knutby: Charisma, Eroticism and Violence in a Swedish Pentecostal Community Jonathan Peste
10. Modern Pagan Warriors: Violence and Justice in Rodnoverie Kaarina Aitamurto
11. Ananda Marga, PROUT and the Use of Force Helen Crovetto
12. Knocking on Heaven's Door: Violence, Charisma, and the Transformation of New Vrindaban Burke Rochford
13. The Nation of Islam and Violence Martha Lee
14. Cultural Capital, Social Networks, and Collective Violence at Rajneeshpuram Marion Goldman
15. State Fostered Violence against the Falun Gong in China James T. Richardson and Bryan Edelman
16. Deprogramming Violence: The Logic, Perpetration, and Outcomes of Coercive Intervention Anson Shupe