Religions and human cultures are constantly being renewed and invigorated. This Religious Movements site provides a foundation for understanding how religious groups emerge, grow, stagnate, reinvigorate themselves, and sometimes die.
This site was originally identified as the New Religious Movements Homepage, but the concept "new" has always been interpreted rather broadly. At some point, every religion was new. There are no exceptions. And every vital religion is more or less constantly experiencing movement from within and pressures from the outside to change and adapt. Thus, movement activity is ubiquitous to all religions, and the concept religious movement is central to scholarly inquiry about religion.
While the focus of this site is on "new" religions, our concern with the processes of change and development leads us to an examination of groups that are older than the major Western monotheistic traditions, and some that are so new that they have few members and appear to exist primarily as web sites. We also explore groups that are not really religions, but have characteristics that are very much like religions. Scholars typically identify them as quasi-religions, or para-religious organizations.
In addition to creating a foundation for understanding religion, this site also seeks to promote tolerance and appreciation of all religions without preference for any particular faith tradition.
The resources on this site are rather considerable. Students in my courses on the sociology of religion at the University of Virginia have created Profiles on more than two hundred groups. These Profile pages provide links to significant web sites on each group, selected because they offer content that will better help the reader understand specific issues or traditions. In addition, each Profile page presents a print bibliography for those who wish to explore a particular group in depth.
In addition, my lecture notes are available for all to explore, and each lecture includes a select bibliography. Some of these items are available on-line. In the future, we hope to increase the number of readings available. You will also find a select bibliography dealing with important issues that have been broadly characterized as "cult controversies."
If this is your first visit, or you are returning for more information, may I encourage you to take a few minutes to explore several resources that will help you better understand the content, rationale, and organization of the site.
First, I would invite you to read the mission statement for this site. Second, the site index will give you a better orientation to what is available and how to find it. Third, examine the index of group profiles. Finally, I hope you'll be interested in exploring our offerings on Religious Freedom and Religious Broadcasting. Religious freedom, we argue, is the cornerstone of human liberty. Religious broadcasting has been the instrument that has forged two of the most successful religious movements of the Twentieth Century.
I welcome you to this site and encourage you to explore the rich resources my students have created. Our goal is to create accurate and current information. Feedback from readers has been enormously helpful to us in moving toward the achievement of these goals. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.
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