Misunderstanding Cults

by Zablocki, Benjamin; Robbins, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780802043733
• ISBN10: 0802043739
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

Misunderstanding Cults provides a uniquely balanced contribution to what has become a highly polarized area of study. Working towards a moderate "third path" in the heated debate over new religious movements or cults, this collection includes contributions from both scholars who have been characterized as "anticult" and those characterized as "cult-apologists." The study incorporates multiple viewpoints as well as a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives, with the stated goal of depolarizing the discussion over alternative religious movements. A prominent section within the book focuses explicitly on the issue of scholarly objectivity and the danger of partisanship in the study of cults. The collection also includes contributions on the controversial and much misunderstood topic of brainwashing, as well as discussions of cult violence, children brought up in unconventional religious movements, and the conflicts between alternative religious movements and their critics. Unique in its breadth, this is the first study of new religious movements to address the main points of controversy within the field while attempting to find a middle ground between opposing camps of scholarship.

Author Biography

Benjamin Zablocki is a professor in the Sociology Department at Rutgers University. Thomas Robbins is an independent scholar and lives in Rochester, Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Caveat	xiii
Introduction: Finding a Middle Ground in a Polarized Scholarly Arena	3	(32)
Benjamin Zablocki
Thomas Robbins
PART ONE: HOW OBJECTIVE ARE THE SCHOLARS?
`O Truant Muse': Collaborationism and Research Integrity	35	(36)
Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
Balance and Fairness in the Study of Alternative Religions	71	(28)
Thomas Robbins
Caught Up in the Cult Wars: Confessions of a Canadian Researcher	99	(24)
Susan J. Palmer
Pitfalls in the Sociological Study of Cults	123	(36)
Janja Lalich
PART TWO: HOW CONSTRAINED ARE THE PARTICIPANTS?
Towards a Demystified and Disinterested Scientific Theory of Brainwashing	159	(56)
Benjamin Zablocki
Tactical Ambiguity and Brainwashing Formulations: Science or Pseudo Science	215	(103)
Dick Anthony
A Tale of Two Theories: Brainwashing and Conversion as Competing Political Narratives	318	(31)
David Bromley
Brainwashing Programs in The Family/Children of God and Scientology	349	(30)
Stephen A. Kent
Raising Lazarus: A Methodological Critique of Stephen Kent's Revival of the Brainwashing Model	379	(22)
Lorne L. Dawson
Compelling Evidence: A Rejoinder to Lorne Dawson's Chapter	401	(14)
Stephen A. Kent
PART THREE: HOW CONCERNED SHOULD SOCIETY BE?
Child-Rearing Issues in Totalist Groups	415	(37)
Amy Siskind
Contested Narratives: A Case Study of the Conflict Between a New Religious Movement and Its Critics	452	(26)
Julius H. Rubin
The Roots of Religious Violence in America	478	(37)
Jeffrey Kaplan
Appendix	515	(6)
Contributors	521