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Summary
This is a source of reliable information on the most important new and alternative religions covering history, theology, impact on the culture, and current status. It includes a chapter on the Branch Davidians.
This is a single-volume source of reliable information on the most important alternative religions, covering for each such essentials as history, theology, impact on the culture, and current status. The chapters of the book were written by experts who study the movements they have written about.
"Given the sometimes inflammatory rhetoric and less than objective stance of many of the books published about what are often called 'cults,' Miller's collection provides a sorely needed balance and a dispassionate source of information about these groups. The book provides a broad and deep coverage of the topic. The appended bibliographies guide the reader to further sources of reliable information. The concluding essay by Shupe and Bromley on the 'Evolution of Modern-American Anticult Ideology' explores and interprets the reaction that these alternative religious groups have engendered. Indeed, many of the so-called anti-cult groups have made it their business to publish books about these groups that are often less than accurate and filled with attempts at a 'theological' debunking of them. This book serves as a voice of sanity and of tolerance in what has often been an overcharged and less than rational environment of debate. Miller's book enters into the fray of this cult and anti-cult debate where it will be welcomed by those who have often been pained at the misinformation and provocation that has been all too common in this arena.
"We are still at a very primitive stage of mistrust and of (what one of the authors calls) the 'satanizing' of whatever religious or spiritual groups do not fit into the culture's prevalent categories. Persecution follows on the heels of ignorance and mistrust. This book goes a long way toward helping to dispel ignorance about these alternative religions." -- Paul Muller-Ortega, Michigan State University
"America's Alternative Religions fills a real need in the literature of non-mainline religions, religions that have typically been marginalized and misunderstood by outsiders. The burning of the Branch Davidian's Mount Carmel center in Waco--the death of so many innocents--shows the extreme tragedy that may result from such misunderstanding. No other book provides such a useful consideration of so many smaller groups in America's diverse religious landscape. At the same time, this book clearly shows how yesterday's 'cults'--persecuted and scorned by society--become today's acceptable members of America's long-standing religious pluralism. A serious reading of this book will go far to reveal the scare tactics and reductionistic thinking so effectively promulgated through sensationalist media presentations and by organizations like the Cult Awareness Network. America's greatness is revealed in its diversity and through its ability to accommodate alternatives to consensus reality. America's Alternative Religions reveals this long-standing diversity and accommodation. There are other books that survey the same topic, but none that I know of combine the same mix of breadth and depth." -- Jeffrey Timm, Wheaton College
Timothy Miller is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Timothy Miller
Part I. Established Christian Alternatives
1 The Anabaptists
Donald F. Durnbaugh
2 Symbol and Sign in Methodist Holiness and Pentecostal Spirituality
Charles Edwin Jones
3 The Adventist and Jehovah's Witness Branch of Protestantism
Jerry Bergman
4 The Latter Day Saint Churches
Steven L. Shields
5 Christian Science and American Culture
John K. Simmons
6 On the Verge: The Evolution of American Quakerism
Margaret Hope Bacon
7 Swedenborgianism
Eugene Taylor
8 Unitarian Universalism: An Interpretation Through Its History
Mason Olds
Part II. Contemporary Christian and Jewish Movements
9 Roman Catholic Traditionalism
William Dinges
10 Hasidism and Its Effects on Alternative Jewish Movements in America
S. Daniel Breslauer
11 God and Race: British-Israelism and Christian Identity
William L. Ingram
12 The Children of God
David E. Van Zandt
13 The Boston Church of Christ
Russell Paden
14 From Holy Order of MANS to Christ the Savior Brotherhood: The Radical Transformation of an Esoteric Christian Order
Phillip Lucas
15 The Branch Davidians: A Social Profile and Organizational History
David G. Bromley and Edward D. Silver
Part III. Religions from Asia
16 Buddhism in America: The Dharma in the Land of the Red Man
Jane Hurst
17 Hinduism Arrives in America: The Vedanta Movement and the Self-Realization Fellowship
Catherine Wessinger
18 Hindu Movements Since Mid-Century: Yogis in the States
Gene R. Thursby
19 Hare Krishna in America: Growth, Decline, and Accommodation
E. Burke Rochford, Jr.
20 The Unification Church
Eileen Barker
Part IV. Religions from the Middle East
21 Expressions of Islam in America
Gisela Webb
22 The American Bahá'í Community in the Nineties
Robert H. Stockman
23 Sufism in America
Gisela Webb
24 Gurdjieff in America: An Overview
George Baker and Walter Driscoll
25 Subud
Gisela Webb
Part V. African-American Freedom Movements
26 Black Jews and Black Muslims
Timothy Miller
27 Father Divine's Peace Mission Movement
Robert Weisbrot
28 Santería and Vodou in the United States
Joseph M. Murphy
29 The Rastafari Abroad
Barry Chevannes
30 Peoples Temple
John R. Hall
Part VI. Ancient Wisdom and New Age Movements
31 Theosophy
Robert S. Ellwood
32 New Thought and the Harmonial Family
Gail Harley
33 Spiritualism and Channeling
Shawn Michael Trimble
34 Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft
Carol Matthews
35 Whither the New Age?
J. Gordon Melton
36 The Association for Research and Enlightenment: Saved by the New Age
Phillip Lucas
37 ECKANKAR: From Ancient Science of Soul Travel to New Age Religion
Roger E. Olson
38 The Evolution of Hippie Communal Spirituality: The Farm and Other Hippies Who Didn't Give Up
Albert Bates and Timothy Miller
Part VII. And Many More.…
39 New Religions and American Indian Religion
James R. Lewis
40 The Church of Scientology: Lightning Rod for Cultural Boundary Conflicts
Mary Farrell Bednarowski
41 UFO Religious Movements
Robert S. Ellwood
42 Satanism and Satanic Churches: The Contemporary Incarnations
David G. Bromley and Susan G. Ainsley
43 The Evolution of Modern American Anticult Ideology: A Case Study in Frame Extension
Anson Shupe and David G. Bromley
Appendix I: A Bibliographical Guide to Alternative Religions
Appendix II: Chronology of Alternative Religions in America
