Anti-cult movement
The anti-cult movement (ACM; or the countercult movement) are groups that oppose any new religious movement (NRM) that they characterize as a cult.
- Anti-cult movement75 related topics
David G. Bromley
Professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, specialized in sociology of religion and the academic study of new religious movements.
Professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, specialized in sociology of religion and the academic study of new religious movements.
He has written extensively about cults, new religious movements, apostasy, and the anti-cult movement.
New religious movement
Religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture.
Religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture.
In Western nations, a secular anti-cult movement and a Christian countercult movement emerged during the 1970s and 1980s to oppose emergent groups.
Cult
Social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal.
Social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal.
Since the 1970s, the secular anti-cult movement has opposed certain groups, and in reaction to acts of violence which have been committed by some of their members, it has frequently charged them with practicing mind control.
Anson D. Shupe
American sociologist noted for his studies of religious groups and their countermovements, family violence and clergy misconduct.
American sociologist noted for his studies of religious groups and their countermovements, family violence and clergy misconduct.
Together with David G. Bromley, Shupe was considered one of the foremost social science authorities on the anti-cult movement, based on a series of books and articles on the topic he coauthored with Bromley.
Apostasy
Formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person.
Formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person.
Their motivations, the roles they play in the anti-cult movement, the validity of their testimony, and the kinds of narratives they construct, are controversial.
Christian countercult movement
Social movement among certain Protestant evangelical and fundamentalist and other Christian ministries and individual activists who oppose religious sects that they consider cults.
Social movement among certain Protestant evangelical and fundamentalist and other Christian ministries and individual activists who oppose religious sects that they consider cults.
Some Christians also share concerns similar to those of the secular anti-cult movement.
International Cultic Studies Association
The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is a non-profit anti-cult organization focusing on groups it defines as "cultic" and their processes.
Unification Church
New religious movement whose members are called Unificationists and sometimes colloquially Moonies.
New religious movement whose members are called Unificationists and sometimes colloquially Moonies.
In the 1970s, the Unification Church, along with some other new religious movements, became a target of the anti-cult movement.
J. Gordon Melton
American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he resides.
American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he resides.
Melton drew a distinction between the Christian countercult and the secular anti-cult movements.
The Family International
Christian New Religious Movement founded in Huntington Beach, California, USA, in 1968 by David Berg that has been criticized as an authoritarian cult.
Christian New Religious Movement founded in Huntington Beach, California, USA, in 1968 by David Berg that has been criticized as an authoritarian cult.
The Family has been criticized by the press and the anti-cult movement.