ABSTRACT

New Religious Movements in the 21st Century is the first volume to examine the urgent and important issues facing new religions in their political, legal and religious contexts in global perspective. With essays from prominent NRM scholars and usefully organized into four regional areas covering Western Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, Russia and Eastern Europe, and North and South America, as well as a concluding section on the major themes of globalization and terrorist violence, this book provides invaluable insight into the challenges facing religion in the twenty-first century. An introduction by Tom Robbins provides an overview of the major issues and themes discussed in the book.

chapter |24 pages

Introduction

Alternative Religions, the State, and the Globe

part 1|71 pages

Western Europe

chapter 4|13 pages

The Secte Response to Religious Discrimination

Subversives, Martyrs, or Freedom Fighters in the French Sect Wars?

chapter 6|11 pages

New Religions in Germany

The Publicity of the Public Square

part 2|52 pages

Eastern Europe and Eurasia

chapter 7|18 pages

New Religions in the New Russia

chapter 9|20 pages

Crushing Wahhabi Fundamentalists in Central Asia and the Caucasus

Subplot to the Global Struggle against Al Qa'ida or Suppression of Legitimate Religious Opposition?

part 3|62 pages

Africa, Asia, and Australia

chapter 10|28 pages

Prophets, “False Prophets,” and the African State

Emergent Issues of Religious Freedom and Conflict

chapter 11|12 pages

Religion on a Leash

NRMs and the Limits of Chinese Freedom

chapter 12|11 pages

Consensus Shattered

Japanese Paradigm Shift and Moral Panic in the Post-Aum Era

chapter 13|8 pages

New Religions in Australia

Public Menace or Societal Salvation? *

part 5|107 pages

Theoretical Considerations

chapter 18|18 pages

Apocalypse 9/11

chapter 21|11 pages

Cults, Porn, and Hate

Convergent Discourses on First Amendment Restriction

chapter 5|17 pages

Conclusion

The Future of New and Minority Religions in the Twenty-First Century: Religious Freedom under Global Siege