Anti-cult movement lecture
Last worked on:
9/25/95
Anti-Cult Movement
Soc 257
New Religious Movement
Lecture outline:
- The social context of the anti-cult movement
- Organizational opposition to "cults"
- The development of the anti-cult movement
- Professionalization of the anti-cult movement
Part I
The Social Context of the Anti-cult Movement
Religious tolerance from the Pilgrim
fathers forward
"Despite all the elegant rhetoric about
the Pilgrim fathers...Amerian has not set an exemplary record
in the area of religious freedom. The English Calvinists who
settled in Plymoth and Massachusetts Bay did not come to found
a society where spiritual liberty would reign supreme. They came
to found a theocracy, as the four Quakers...who were hanged on
Boston Common between 1659 and 1661 soon found out. Unpopular
and unconventional religious beliefs and practices were not only
unwelcome, they were not tolerated. Roger Williams, a Baptist,
was hounded into the frozen wilderness. When Henry Dunster, the
president of Harvard College, decided not to have his fourth infant
baptized because he had come to accept adult baptism, he was forced
to retire. Later on, in other parts of the country, Mormons,
Jews, Masons, Jesuits, and orgniary Roman Catholics felt the
hard edge of harassment and discrimination because of their religious
convictions. A couple of generations ago, Jehovah's Witnesses
were the main target of prejudice. Now we have the 'cults.'
It seems Americans are never really happy unless there is some
unfamiliar religious group to abuse. The spirit of theoracy lingers
on."
-- Harvey Cox, Thomas Professor of Divinity,
Harvard University
New religius challenge the status quo
and , thus, are co-participants in the production of religious
conflict.
- Cults and sects, by definition, exist in high
tension with society.
- They have a vision of culture at variance with
the established order.
- Proclaiming that established religious groups
are wrong is to invite a fight.
- The response of established groups is roughly
proportional to the perception of threat to the established order.
- The greater the perceived threat, the greater
the mobilization to respond.
Conflict between new religions and the
established order may go beyond religious ideology
Immigrant groups (who are often of a single faith tradition)
my constitute an economic threat because they flood the
labor market with cheap labor.
Anti-Catholicism in the 19th century was partially attributable
to the fact that Catholic leadership was not interested in assimilation.
Mormons sought to create a theocratic government independent of
the U.S. government; they printed their own currenty, established
a militia, etc.
Three Arenas Were Conflict Occurs
- Family
- Churches
- Government
Response to NRMs takes predictable patterns
- Allegations of danger
- Deception and coercion
- Illegitimacy of beliefs
- Sexual perversion
- Political subversion
- Financial exploitation
Part II
Organizaional Opposition to "Cults"
Three distinct classes of opposition
identified
- Religious opposition
- Secular opposition
- Apostates
- Entrepreneurial opposition
Religiously grounded
opposition
- Opposition usually defined in theological
terms
- Cults viewed as engaging in heresy
- Mission is to expose the heresy
and correct beliefs of those who have strayed from truth
- Deception rather than
possession is the likely metaphore
- Opposition serves two important functions:
- protects members (especially
youth) from heresy
- increases solidarity among
the faithful
Secular opposition
- Individual autonomy
is professed to be the manifest goal. This is achieved
by getting people out of religious groups.
- The struggle is about control, not about
theology.
- Organized around families
who have or have had children involved in a "cult."
- Disabling or distruction of NRMs organizationally
is latent goal.
Apostates
- apostasy =
the renunciation of a religious faith
- apostate =
one who engages in active opposition to their former
faith
anti-cult movement -- has actively encouraged former members
to interpret their exerience in a "cult" as one of
being aggregiously wronged and encourages participation
in organized anti-cult activities.
Entrepreneaurial opposition
- Individuals who take up a cause for personal
gain.
- Alliance or coalition to promote their agenda
is ad hoc.
- Broadcasters and journalists leading examples.
- A few entrepreneaurs have made careers by creating
organized opposition.
Part III
The Development of the Anti-cult Movement
Two major thrusts of opposition to new
religious movements:
- Evangelical Christians
- Primary focus is defense of the faith and
- Protection of youth against heretical beliefs
- Secular Organizations
- Duel foci of removing people from NRMs and
- Systematically disabling or destroying new religions
Evangelical opposition to NRMs
- Evangelicals tend to be committed to "correct"
doctrine and behavior.
There is a long tradition of preaching against the "sins"
of other Christians who profess "false" doctrines or
permit improper behavior.
- Some of that energy focuses on sectarian and
cultic practices and beliefs.
- Organization against "false" religions
has always been diffuse.
Examples of evangelical organizations
that focus on defense against false doctrine.
- Christian Research Institute
- Watchman Fellowship
- Bob Larson Ministries
- Glory Ministries
- Spiritual Counterfeits Project
- Group specific organizations
Christian Research Institute
Walter R. Martin
Founder
Watchman
Fellowship
Bob Larson Ministries
Spiritual Counterfeits Project
Campaigns wagged against specific sects
or cults
Secular opposition emerges from partental
groups
Cult Awareness Network
American Family Fondation
Wellspring
Part IV
The Professionalization of the
Anti-cult Movement
Development of the Cult Awareness Network
- 1972
- 1973
- 1974
- 1985 - present
- 1990s
The Professionalization of the Anti-cult
Movement
FROM:
- The kitchen table
- Distraught parents
- Fly-by-night deprogrammers
- Emotional perspective
- Legal defensiveness
- Invisible underground movement
- Limited goals
- Narrow definition of cults
Expanding definition of "cults"
- Fundamentalist and pentecostal Protestants
- Psychotherapy groups
- Awarness training / self-help
- Satanism
- Fringe political organizations
From an operational perspective......
If you don't like a group that someone is in and you can
pay our fees....its a cult! If we don't have materials on file
to "prove" it is a cult, we'll cook em while you wait!!!
[no charity cases please]
Who benefits from anti-cult organizations?
- ACM workers - jobs
- Organizational workers/speakers
- Deprogrammers
- Select mental health workers
- Lawyers
- Parents - reasserting authority over children
- Select evangelical Christian groups
- Mass media - good stories
Fighting back....
- When an organization is under attack, it is inevitable
that the organization will mobilize resources to defend itself....
- Organizatons with abundant resources could be
expected not just to defend itself, but to fight back.
The Unification Church and Scientology, the two NRMs with the
largest fiscal resources have chosen to fight in radically different
ways.
Unification Church
has sought legitimacy
From Rev Moon's first trip to the U.S. right up to the present
moment, the Unification Church has sought to present itself as
a legitimate religion deserving of respect.
- The principle instrument for the pursuit of legitimacy
has been $$$$$$$.
To a much lesser degree it has played the race card, claiming
the Moon has encountered a difficult time in America because he
is an Asian.
Scientology has aggressively fought back
- The first theological imperative of Scienology
is survival.
- Scientology's quickness to draw the sword and
go to battle has made it perhaps the most unpopular NRM in America.
- At the same time, Scientology has clearly increased
the cost of business for the anti-cultists.
Sympathetic supporters and defenders
of the First Amendment
- Defenders of thefirst Amendment are typically
defenders of NRMs.
- In additional to principled defenders, NRMs have
participated in funding groups devoted to defending religious
liberty.
Coalition for Religious Freedom
insert items below
Uncomfortable unlookers.....
- Academic scholars have sometimes gotten caught
between a rock and a hard spot...
- Defenders of religious liberty, they don't want
to become partisians.
- Yet.....
- NRMs are constantly seeking to coop academis
into their camp.
- CAN casts a blanket indictment agains all academics
who are not on their side.