New Religions in Global Perspective: Religious Change in the Modern World

by Clarke; Peter B.

• ISBN13: 9780415257473
• ISBN10: 0415257476
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-02-16
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Peter B. Clarke's in-depth account explores the innovative character of new religious movements and new forms of spirituality from a global vantage point. Ranging from North America and Europe to Japan, Latin America, South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, it is the perfect introduction to NRMs such as Falun Gong, Aum Shirikyo, the Brahma Kumaris, the Ikhwan or Muslim Brotherhood, Sufism, the Engaged Buddhist and Engaged Hindi movements, Messianic Judaism and Rastafarianism.Charting the cultural significance and global impact of NRMs, he discusses the ways in which various religious traditions are shaping, rather than displacing, each other's understanding of notions such as transcendence and faith, good and evil, of the meaning, purpose and function of religion, and of religious belonging. He then examines the responses of governments, churches, the media and general public to new religious movements, as well as the reaction to older, increasingly influential religions, such as Buddhism and Islam, in new geographical and cultural contexts. Taking into account the degree of continuity between old and new religions, each chapter contains not only an account of the rise of the NRMs and new forms of spirituality in a particular region, but also an overview of change in the regions' mainstream religions.

Author Biography

Peter Clarke is Professor Emeritus of the History and Sociology of Religion at King's College, University of London, and a professorial member of the Faculty of Theology, University of Oxford.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	xi
Introduction	xiii
PART I Global perspective, New Age and society's response	1	(70)
New Religious Movements (NRMs): a global perspective	3	(22)
Globalization as a new form of religion and/or spirituality	6	(1)
The growing demand for spirituality	7	(2)
Identifying `new' religion globally	9	(7)
Accounting for NRMs: rapid change or stagnation?	16	(4)
Conclusion	20	(1)
References and select bibliography	21	(4)
The New Age Movement (NAM): alternative or mainstream?	25	(18)
Historical overview	27	(4)
NAM, the Holistic Health Movement and the Human Potential Movement	31	(3)
Questioning the personal and social role of the NAM	34	(1)
Some Buddhist and Christian responses to the NAM	35	(3)
The NAM and traditional and/or indigenous religions: the Australian case	38	(1)
Conclusions: the future of the New Age	39	(1)
References and select bibliography	40	(3)
Accounting for hostility to NRMs	43	(28)
The history of the ACM	45	(10)
NRMs and violence	55	(2)
The brainwashing hypothesis and child abuse allegations	57	(10)
Conclusions	67	(1)
References and select bibliography	67	(4)
PART II New religions in the West	71	(92)
Europe	73	(35)
Religious change in modern Europe: some general comments	74	(2)
A la carte Christianity and the growth of the unchurched but spiritual	76	(3)
Toward a European Islam	79	(3)
Islam: new developments and movements	82	(5)
Buddhism and Europeanization	87	(3)
New Buddhist communities and movements	90	(2)
New Hindu and Sikh movements	92	(2)
Modern `secular' Yoga	94	(1)
Neo-Paganism	95	(2)
Influential thinkers and the new spiritualities: the case of Gurdjieff	97	(5)
Conclusions: a changing paradigm	102	(1)
References and select bibliography	103	(5)
North America	108	(33)
NRMs (c.1820-c.1950)	111	(4)
Native American New Religions	115	(1)
NRMs c.1950 to the present: anxiety in the midst of prosperity	116	(3)
Ufology and Occultism	119	(3)
Reclaiming as politically engaged Wicca/Witchcraft	122	(1)
NRMs and September 11th 2001	123	(1)
New Christian and Christian-related movements and the expansion of Western interests	124	(2)
`Americanized' and other `new' forms of Buddhism	126	(3)
Islam and new Islam-derived movements	129	(4)
Judaism and new movements derived from Judaism	133	(3)
Conclusions	136	(1)
References and select bibliography	137	(4)
Australia, New Zealand and Melanesia (New Guinea)	141	(22)
Australia: the ending of the `white only policy' and a new kind of religious diversity	142	(3)
New Religions from East and South Asia	145	(3)
Commodification	148	(2)
New Zealand	150	(4)
Maori new religions	154	(1)
Melanesia and commodity millenarianism	155	(4)
Conclusions	159	(1)
References and select bibliography	160	(3)
PART III New religions: North Africa and the Middle East, and Africa, south of the Sahara	163	(46)
North Africa and the Middle East	165	(21)
Modernization and Islamic exceptionalism	167	(2)
Islamism, the Muslim Brotherhood and the creation of an Islamic state	169	(5)
The influence of Sayyid Qutb (1906--66)	174	(2)
The Brotherhood's idea of an Islamic state	176	(3)
Hizb ut Tahir	179	(1)
Al-Qaeda	180	(3)
Gush Emunim (Block of the Faithful)	183	(1)
Conclusions	184	(1)
References and select bibliography	184	(2)
Africa, south of the Sahara	186	(23)
Colonialism and religious innovation	186	(2)
AICs in West Africa (c.1890 to the present)	188	(7)
AICs of South, Central and East Africa (from c. 1890)	195	(4)
Africa's new Charismatic and Evangelical movements	199	(1)
Neo-traditional religions	200	(1)
New Islam-related movements	201	(4)
NRMs of Asian origin	205	(1)
Conclusions	206	(1)
References and select bibliography	207	(2)
PART IV NRMs in South and Central America and the Caribbean	209	(28)
South and Central America and the Caribbean	211	(26)
Neo-Pentecostal churches	213	(2)
Spiritist and esoteric NRMs in Brazil and Argentina	215	(3)
Amerindian-Catholic spirituality and New Religions	218	(2)
African-derived religions: Brazil	220	(4)
African-derived religions: the Caribbean	224	(6)
Japanese NRMs as the route to African roots	230	(2)
Other Asian NRMs	232	(1)
Conclusions	233	(1)
References and select bibliography	233	(4)
PART V New religions of South, Southeast and East Asia	237	(114)
South Asia (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka)	239	(32)
Neo-Hindu movements	241	(15)
Islamic new movements in India and Pakistan	256	(7)
New Sikh-related movements	263	(1)
New Buddhist movements	264	(2)
Sri Lanka's `Protestant Buddhism'	266	(2)
Conclusions	268	(1)
References and select bibliography	269	(2)
Southeast Asia (Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia)	271	(25)
Thailand's reformed Buddhism	272	(6)
Vietnam: Engaged Buddhism	278	(2)
The American/Vietnam War and Engaged Buddhism	280	(1)
The Cao Dai and Hoa Hao movements	281	(4)
Indonesia	285	(1)
The construction of `theistic' Buddhism, Confucianism and Hinduism	286	(2)
Varieties of Islam	288	(2)
Resurgent Sufism and modernist and neo-modernist Islam	290	(1)
SUBUD	291	(2)
Conclusions	293	(1)
References and select bibliography	294	(2)
East Asia (1): Japanese NRMs	296	(23)
New religion	297	(1)
Japanese NRMs and the religious past	298	(3)
Goals of the New Religions	301	(3)
Accounting for the rise and decline of Japanese NRMs	304	(2)
Engaged spirituality	306	(1)
Japan's Christian NRMs	307	(2)
Japanese NRMs abroad	309	(1)
Aum Shinrikyo: the path to violence	310	(6)
Conclusions	316	(1)
References and select bibliography	316	(3)
East Asia (2): NRMs in China, Taiwan and Korea	319	(32)
Governments and religion in China	320	(1)
The religious landscape of China and Taiwan	321	(5)
New Religions in China and Taiwan: world transformation as self-transformation	326	(1)
From Yiguandao (Way of Pervading Unity) to Tian Dao (The Way)	327	(2)
Foguangshan	329	(2)
Buddhist Compassion Relief (Tzu Chi)	331	(1)
Falun Gong	332	(4)
Qigong and Chinese martial arts outside China	336	(1)
Chinese Christian NRMs	337	(1)
Korea	337	(2)
Korea's NRMs	339	(1)
Tonghak/Ch'ondogyo	339	(3)
Unification Church (UC) (T'ongil-gyo)	342	(4)
Won Buddhism	346	(2)
Conclusions	348	(1)
References and select bibliography	349	(2)
PART VI Conclusion	351	(10)
Future trends	353	(8)
The distinguishing features of NRMs and of new forms of spirituality	353	(4)
The future of NRMs, the new spirituality and/or congregational religion	357	(2)
References and select bibliography	359	(2)
General bibliography	361	(4)
Index	365