“But Aren’t Cults Bad?”: Active Learning, Productive Chaos, and Teaching New Religious Movements (original) (raw)

From Classroom to Controversy: Conflict in the Teaching of Religion

Teaching Theology & Religion, 2013

What happens when a class assignment becomes a source of controversy? How do we respond? What do we learn? By describing the controversy surrounding an assignment on religion and representation, this article examines conflict's productive role in teaching about New Religious Movements (NRMs) and religion. It suggests that we consider how our personal and institutional dispositions toward conflict influence our pedagogies. Moreover, it urges us to consider how teaching conflicts within and/or between disciplines can enhance our learning objectives and stimulate students' ability to think critically.

The Return of the "Cult" Introduction

Implicit Religion, 2023

Recent years have seen an apparent “return” of normative religious and cultic language in political and media discourses, often adopted in pejorative and confrontational contexts. Arguably driven by contemporary political divisions and debates surrounding COVID-19 restrictions, terms including “cult,” “brainwashing,” and “groupthink” have reignited discourses surrounding so-called “cultic” behaviour and beliefs. We argue, however, that the “cult debate” has not returned, but rather transitioned into new and implicit conversations surrounding “good” and “bad” religion. In this special issue of Implicit Religion, we seek to avoid re-treading old ground concerning definitions of “cults,” and instead adopt a renewed approach to the academic study of normative cultic language—placing an emphasis on the ways in which these terms are used, negotiated, and understood in contemporary discourses.

Piercing the Religious Veil of the So-Called Cults

Pepperdine Law Review, 2013

Since the horror of Jonestown, religious cults have been a frequent subject of somewhat speculative debate. Federal and state governments, and private groups alike have undertaken exhaustive studies of these "cults" in order to monitor and sometimes regulate their activities, and to publicize their often questionable tenets and practices. The author offers a comprehensive overview of these studies, concentrating on such areas as recruitment, indoctrination, deprogramming, fund raising, and tax exemption and evasion. Additionally, the author summarizes related news events and profiles to illustrate these observations, and to provide the stimulus for further thought and analysis as to the impact these occurrences may have on the future of religion and religious freedom. 1. As a portion of this comment's title suggests, there is great difficulty and reluctance in characterizing and defining those groups whose beliefs may be considered less traditional or out of the mainstream of orthodox theology. In addition, the "church" itself is generally not as accepted, or as established, as what might be considered the conventional religions such as; the Buddhist, Catholic, Islamic, Jewish, or Protestant faiths. Many terms and adjectives, some of which include sect, cult, anti-establishment religion, unconventional, and bizarre, have been used to identify and classify such groups. The significance of this problem of terminology and semantics will be addressed later as it is often determinative whether constitutional protection is to be afforded a particular group. See notes 173-77 infra and accompanying text. It should also be noted that many cults take issue in not being classified a bonafide religion and find any label such as cult to be derogatory and discriminatory. However, in light of the ongoing debate of religion versus cult as a legitimate legal issue, and for ease of clarity and uniformity of discussion, the popular term, cult, will be used herein whenever reference is made to one of these groups. 2. Historically, periods of unusual turbulence are often accompanied by the emergence of cults. Following the fall of Rome, the French Revolution and again during the Industrial Revolution, numerous cults appeared in Europe. The westward movement in America swept a myriad of religious cults toward California. In the years following the Gold Rush, at least 50 utopian cults were estabished here. Most were religious and lasted on the average about 20 years; the secular variety usually endured only half that long.

Understanding Cults and New Religions

This was one of the earliest academic books to discuss so-called New Age beliefs. It took a fresh approach to the study of cults and new religions and is rich in cross-cultural and historical examples.

Scientology and Catholicism Do Mix: A Note on Teaching New Religions in a Catholic Classroom

Teaching Theology and Religion, 2006

This note from the classroom explores teaching new or alternative religions within the context of a Roman Catholic Liberal Arts College. The essay will specifically focus on a section of a course entitled "Modern Religious Movements" in which students were asked to consider different methodological approaches to the teaching and study of Scientology and the Catholic cult of the Virgin Mary. This note from the classroom details how this rather unexpected comparison prompted students to reconsider the category cult and argues that encouraging self-reflexivity in a largely Catholic classroom can become a crucial means for engaging a broader discussion of new religions, cult discourse, and the academic study of religion itself.

Teaching on the Wide-Open Conceptual Landscape of Lived Religion

2021

The proposed paper describes the University of Denver's first course explicitly on lived religions and the instructor's conception of it, in addition to her discoveries about the congeries of studies under the umbrella of lived religions. The paper argues that the label's indeterminateness makes it useful for introducing undergraduates to the study of religion, including the exploration of what "religion" might be. Specifying what "lived religions" is in order to teach it, one confronts religious studies from various angles, such as sociology, anthropology, practical theology, and history. The course could therefore discuss epistemologies, change over time, methods, intriguing practices, secularization, and the spiritual-religious distinction and its problems, among other topics. In the course offered at DU, the readings moved from an old approach, that of Joachim Wach seeing religion in action as ritual and morals, to studies designated "lived religions," especially their inclusion of practices like gardening that are often not considered religious. The paper proceeds from a review of the field by Nancy Ammerman, one of its leading lights, to the practical questions of what undergraduates need and want in a course, to the materials available for such a course, and to the resolution of pedagogical issues, including experiential learning, in the course at DU. The paper contributes to the field by clarifying the range of the term "lived religions" for people who find it attractive but began their scholarly work under different categories. The paper also can help teacher-scholars reflect on how to teach religious studies to students who frequently want to know what religion is and who come to our classes thoroughly drenched in institutional religion, or never having set foot in a building made for religious practice, or somewhere in between. Finally, the paper invites discussion of the design of courses on lived religions. When I designed the undergraduate, general education course "Lived Religions," I assumed the conceptual landscape of the topic "lived religions" would be "wide open," as my title suggests. It was, as one of my colleagues said, "religion that's not in books." On the other hand, I knew scholars were at work on it, so surely some fencing would demarcate at least a couple of very large intellectual ranches. I just had to find a few major reviews mapping the field and the field's contours would readily appear. Well, yes and no.

Examining the theories and pedagogies of the academic study of religion in public schools

2013

v gave me the motivation I needed to finish this project. During the final stages of writing, Rick read, re-read, and read again numerous drafts, providing vital feedback that touched every section of this document. I am indebted to him for all of the work he did in the months and weeks leading up to my defense. Along with my committee members, I need to thank Jeanne Connell and Nick Burbules who provided comments on earlier versions of this project, and who were always willing to listen to my ideas and offer suggestions. I also want to thank Jaime Luedtke who generously volunteered her exceptional editing and proofreading skills. Likewise, I am grateful to Nathan Raybeck and Jeff Thibert, my fellow religious education junkies, who served as sounding boards on all things related to religion and education. Finally, none of this would have been possible without the constant love and support from all of my family and friends, including my awesome dogs, Sadie and Maggie, who kept me company during long hours of writing. I am forever grateful to my mom and dad (Jim and Kathy) and my four brothers (Jim, Mike, Dave, and Tim) who always supported me during grad school, even when none of them had any idea what I was doing. My parents worked hard to make sure that all of us kids had access to the best educational opportunities available to us in Chicago, and it's entirely because of their sacrifices that I was able to pursue a higher education. Last but certainly not least, I am thankful to my constant companion and best friend, Randy Dunker. Randy suffered through every step of this process with me, and despite the fact that I wanted to quit at many stages along the way, his steadfast belief in me gave me the reassurance and confidence I needed to complete this project. Along with my parents, this dissertation is dedicated to him. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 RELIGION AND EDUCATION .

Wabash 07 Pedagogies & the radical religious other article

Purpose: The Other Voices project provides the principles and tested pedagogies to answer the question "How do we teach to and about those who differ radically from each other religiously in classroom?" Methodology: Eight institutions of higher education in upper New York State pooled their resources for eighteen months to enable twelve representatives, six of whom were administrators, to survey and offer focus groups for students and faculty, and to design and test nine pedagogies in response to this question. Results: As a result they gathered the opinions of how students and faculty view those who differ religiously from them. They also received opinions of why and how everyone must learn from each other. Through intense dialectical interchange the team brought these opinions together with other contemporary research and produced Curricular Principles for a Listening Curriculum, Nine Pedagogies for Dealing with the Radial Other, and other principles for encouraging dialogue among oppositional others as well as possible dangers and limits to such curricula and pedagogies. The summary of the results are found in the body of the paper and the support for these conclusions in the four appendices. Conclusions: These pedagogies continue to be used in these institutions and the principles have been implemented in most of the departments. From continued attempts to involve other institutions of higher education in this project the majority of the participants are convinced of its necessity -especially among those who deny the premise of the project, that significant learning occurs from those who radically differ from each other when done with the appropriate pedagogies.

Sects, Cults, and New Religious Movements: An Introduction

Sect, Cults, and New Religions, 4 volume reprint set, Vol. 1, pp. 1-11. , 2014

The guiding principles for this four-volume collection of reprinted articles and chapters are straightforward and were reached by consensus among the editors. First, in addition to those classics that are rightly known and respected, we have sought to also include studies of an equal standard that have been neglected or have otherwise failed to reach the deserved broad audience, usually as a result of initial publication in obscure journals or small print-run edited volumes and conference proceedings. Second, we have aimed for a balance between the usual emphasis upon either a broad theoretical orientation, or conversely, a bias towards case studies, with an equal and complementary focus on both. Third, we have selected works that are representative of the academic study of new religious movements (NRMs), with a range of methodological approaches being included, including sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, and psychology. Thus, we hope that the methodological rigour of the content is matched by the empirical richness of the panoply of new religions examined.