Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements

Peter Clarke9780203484333, 0-203-48433-9, 0-203-59897-0

The press of late hasn’t been good for new religious movements (NRMs), cementing a negative view that equates them with cults, sects, or counterculture groups. While violence, brainwashing, and other instruments of control are all part of some new religious movements, they are not the complete story. This new reference work attempts to show that NRMs are a global phenomenon attracting millions and can offer religious innovation to existing traditions, or creative alternatives, whether by integrating the spiritual and the psychological or articulating a new model of authentic selfhood.