new religious movement
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What is a new religious movement?
A new religious movement (NRM) is a relatively new faith that offers innovative religious responses to modern conditions. Most NRMs claim to be rooted in ancient traditions, but are considered "countercultural," alternative to mainstream religions, especially normative Christianity.
NRMs are often highly syncretistic, freely combining doctrines and practices from diverse sources. Usually founded by a charismatic leader believed to have extraordinary powers, these movements demand strong loyalty from followers, sometimes substituting for family and social groups. NRMs address needs unmet by traditional religions or secularism, arising as products of modernity, pluralism, and the scientific worldview. Some have grown and played important roles in the socioeconomic and political development of their regions.
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How is a new religious movement different from older religions?
New religious movements (NRMs) differ from older, mainstream religions in several ways. NRMs are new, offering innovative responses to modern conditions, though they often claim ancient roots. They're frequently seen as countercultural alternatives to mainstream religions like Christianity and are often highly eclectic, combining diverse doctrines and practices.
NRMs are typically founded by a charismatic, sometimes authoritarian, leader believed to possess extraordinary powers. These movements often demand strong loyalty from followers, sometimes substituting for traditional social structures like family. They emerge to fulfill needs unmet by traditional religions or secularism, acting as responses to modernity, pluralism, and scientific worldviews. Some NRMs arise as reactions against Western influence, reinventing older traditions or blending Western and Asian beliefs.
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Why do people join new religious movements?
People join new religious movements (NRMs) for various reasons, often seeking to fulfill needs unmet by traditional religions or secular life. These movements offer innovative responses to the modern world, despite often claiming ancient roots. Individuals may be drawn to NRMs due to psychological factors such as alienation, a desire for belonging, or a search for identity. NRMs often provide solace and alternative spiritual paths for those who feel excluded from mainstream religious traditions. The charismatic leadership and tightly-knit community of many NRMs can also be appealing, offering a substitute for conventional social structures.
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What are some examples of new religious movements?
A new religious movement (NRM) refers to new faiths that have emerged worldwide over the past several centuries. NRMs offer innovative religious responses to modern conditions, often seeing themselves as alternatives to mainstream religions, especially normative Christianity.
Examples of NRMs:
* Unification Church Founded in South Korea by Reverend Sun Myung Moon in 1954, known for its mass weddings and unique Christian theology.
* Scientology L. Ron Hubbard's "science of the mind" focuses on spiritual self-awareness and freeing individuals from engrams through auditing.
* Sōka-gakkai A lay Buddhist group rooted in the tradition of Nichiren, stresses the values of beauty and goodness and the benefits of chanting to its chief scripture, the Lotus Sutra.4 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How have new religious movements influenced society?
New Religious Movements (NRMs) offer innovative religious responses to modern challenges like cultural pluralism, science, technology, and secularization. Emerging in Asia since the mid-19th century, some have grown and played significant roles in socioeconomic and political development, sometimes as reactions against Western influence.
Some NRMs provide solace to those who cannot find it elsewhere, while others fade away or lead to tragedy. Many blend doctrines and practices from diverse sources and are founded by charismatic leaders. Some become institutionalized and may eventually become mainstream religions. However, NRMs can be controversial due to radical practices and alienation from mainstream culture.
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What challenges or controversies do new religious movements often face?
New religious movements (NRMs) often face challenges due to their "outsider" status and perceived conflict with mainstream religions. The term "cult" is often used pejoratively against them, implying questionable activities.
Many people view NRMs as countercultural alternatives to traditional Western society, especially normative Christianity. Such movements may demand strong loyalty from followers, sometimes substituting for conventional social groups. This can cause alarm, particularly when groups isolate themselves or are led by authoritarian figures.
The anti-cult movement and the concept of "brainwashing" peaked in the 1970s, but the idea has since lost credibility. Today, "new religious movement" is preferred over "cult" to avoid negative connotations.
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new religious movement (NRM), the generally accepted term for what is sometimes called, often with pejorative connotations, a “cult.” The term new religious movement has been applied to all new faiths that have arisen worldwide over the past several centuries.
NRMs are characterized by a number of shared traits. These religions are, by definition, “new”; they offer innovative religious responses to the conditions of the modern world, despite the fact that most NRMs represent themselves as rooted in ancient traditions. NRMs are also usually regarded as “countercultural”; that is, they are perceived (by others and by themselves) to be alternatives to the mainstream religions of Western society, especially Christianity in its normative forms. These movements are often highly eclectic, pluralistic, and syncretistic; they freely combine doctrines and practices from diverse sources within their belief systems. The new movement is usually founded by a charismatic and sometimes highly authoritarian leader who is thought to have extraordinary powers or insights. Many NRMs are tightly organized. In light of their often self-proclaimed “alternative” or “outsider” status, these groups often make great demands on the loyalty and commitment of their followers and sometimes establish themselves as substitutes for the family and other conventional social groupings. NRMs have arisen to address specific needs that many people cannot satisfy through more traditional religious organizations or through modern secularism. They are also products of and responses to modernity, pluralism, and the scientific worldview.
The West
The historical roots, doctrines, and practices of the NRMs in the West are extremely diverse. The following overview organizes this diversity into certain categories, but many NRMs could be classified under more than one of these rubrics.
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Apocalyptic and millenarian movements
Some NRMs are characterized by an apocalyptic or millenarian dimension—the belief that the end of the world is imminent and that a new heaven or new earth will replace the old one. There are apocalyptic strains in many world religions, but it is Christian millenarianism—the belief that Jesus Christ will establish a 1,000-year reign of peace on earth before the Last Judgment—that has formed the backdrop for the development of many of the NRMs in the West.
Among the first new religions in the United States were the Seventh-day Adventists and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, both the products of millenarian fervour set off in the mid-19th century by William Miller (1782–1849). Miller predicted that Christ would return to earth sometime in 1843 or 1844. The failure of Miller’s prophecy, the so-called “Great Disappointment,” did not deter many of his followers, who still believed in the prediction but felt that only Miller’s calculations were faulty. The Seventh-day Adventists, formed under the leadership of one of Miller’s followers, the prophet and visionary Ellen G. White (1827–1915), and the Jehovah’s Witnesses (a successor of the International Bible Students Association), led from 1917 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1869–1942), continue to believe in the imminent return of Christ and the end of time.
Millenarianism also underlies the New Age movement that arose in the 1970s and ’80s. The New Age movement is an extremely eclectic conglomeration of beliefs and practices that includes channeling, crystal healing, new versions of shamanism, and a variety of therapies and techniques designed to “transform” the individual into a “higher consciousness.” The movement as a whole optimistically presumes that the world has entered, or is on the verge of entering, a “New Age” (sometimes referred to as the “Age of Aquarius”) of unprecedented spiritual possibilities.
A darker side of apocalyptic expectations has resulted in mass suicides and tragic conflict with governmental agencies. In the 1970s an ordained Methodist minister named Jim Jones (1931–78) moved his congregation (called the Peoples Temple) from the United States to the jungles of Guyana, where he attempted to create a utopian, interracial community based on his idea of “apostolic socialism,” a version of Christianity that was influenced by contemporary Marxist liberation theology. Jones, an increasingly authoritative and paranoid personality, warned his followers that a devastating thermonuclear war was impending. In 1978, after a group of concerned family members (led by a U.S. congressman) visited the group’s commune, Jones and his followers (913 persons in all) committed what Jones called “revolutionary suicide” rather than submit to what they thought would be an attempt to compromise their community. “Death is a million times preferable to 10 more days of this life,” Jones told his group, and, “If you knew what was ahead of you, you’d be glad to be stepping over tonight.”
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A similar tragedy befell the Branch Davidians near Waco, Texas, on April 19, 1993. The group, an offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist church, first settled near Waco in 1935. After a succession of leaders and internal power struggles, Vernon Howell, who later assumed the name David Koresh, took control of the group in 1987. Koresh taught a highly apocalyptic Christianity and identified himself with the Lamb of Revelation 5, which is traditionally associated with Christ. Allegations of child abuse and the launching of a retail gun business attracted the attention of the authorities, which led to a long standoff with the FBI and a tragic fire that killed Koresh and some 80 members of the group.