Výzkum na poli sekt a nových náboženských hnutí postupuje mílovými kroky. Špičková práce světově známých a uznávaných odborníků Douglase Cowana a Davida Bromleyho shrnuje nejaktuálnější trendy v bádání a ve velmi koncentrované podobě vás seznámí s vývojem bádání v posledních letech. Na příkladech historického vývoje několika nejznámějších nových náboženských hnutí (např. hnutí Transcendentální meditace, u nás ještě málo známého společenství Ramthova škola osvícení a dalších) vás autoři provedou nejožehavějšími otázkami současných i dřívějších výzkumů a seznámí vás s aktuálním stavem odborné diskuse.
Kniha je určena všem zájemcům o nová náboženská hnutí z řad laiků i odborníků, stejně tak i studentům religionistiky, teologie, psychologie, pedagogiky a příbuzných oborů.
This unparalleled introduction to cults and new religious movements has been
completely up-dated and expanded to reflect the latest developments; each
chapter reviews the origins, leaders, beliefs, rituals and practices of a NRM,
highlighting the specific controversies surrounding each group.
Magic, Monsters, and Make-Believe Heroes looks at fantasy film, television, and participative culture as evidence of our ongoing need for a mythic vision—for stories larger than ourselves into which we write ourselves and through which we can become the heroes of our own story. Why do we tell and retell the same stories over and over when we know they can’t possibly be true? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not because pop culture has run out of good ideas. Rather, it is precisely because these stories are so fantastic, some resonating so deeply that we elevate them to the status of religion. Illuminating everything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Dungeons and Dragons, and from Drunken Master to Mad Max, Douglas E. Cowan offers a modern manifesto for why and how mythology remains a vital force today.
"Throughout history, the religious imagination has attempted to control nothing so much as our bodies: what they are and what they mean; what we do with them, with whom, and under what circumstances; how they may be displayed-or, more commonly, how they must be hidden. Religious belief and mandate affect how our bodies are used in ritual practice, as well as how we use them to identify and marginalize threatening religious Others. This book examines how horror culture treats religious bodies that have stepped (or been pushed) out of their 'proper' place. Unlike most books on religion and horror, This book explores the dark spaces where sex, sexual representation, and the sexual body come together with religious belief and scary stories. Because these intersections of sex, horror, and the religious imagination force us to question the nature of consensus reality, supernatural horror, especially as it concerns the body, often shows us the religious imagination at work in real time. It is important to note that the discussion in this book is not limited either to horror cinema or to popular fiction, but considers a wide range of material, including literary horror, weird fiction, graphic storytelling, visual arts, participative culture, and aspects of real-world religious fear. It is less concerned with horror as a genre (which is mainly a function of marketing) and more with the horror mode, a way of storytelling that finds expression across a number of genres, a variety of media, and even blurs the boundary between fiction and non-fiction. This expanded focus not only deepens the pool of potential examples, but invites a much broader readership in for a swim"
America's dark theologian: reading Stephen King religiously -- Thin spots: what peeks through the cracks in the world -- Deadfall: ghost stories as God-talk -- A jumble of blacks and whites: becoming religious -- Return to Ackerman's field: ritual and the unseen order -- Forty years in Maine: Stephen King and the varieties of religious experience -- If it be your will: theodicy, morality, and the nature of God -- The land beyond: cosmology and the never-ending questions
This Element explores the history of this movement from its origins in the
anti-heresy writings of the early Church to its modern development as a
reaction to religious pluralism in North America. It explains how faith-based
opposition both to new religious movements and to non-Christian religions only
deepens as religious pluralism increases.
Neue Religionen, oft als Jugendsekten oder Psychogruppen stigmatisiert, haben in der Öffentlichkeit ein geringes Ansehen. Sie werden mit Begriffen wie Gehirnwäsche, finanzieller Ausbeutung einer kleinen Elite oder sogar der Gefährdung der Rechtsordnung assoziiert. Diese Außensicht stellt den Anspruch der betroffenen Gruppen, religiös zu sein, in Frage. Die Religionswissenschaftler Douglas E. Cowan und David G. Bromley betrachten neue Religionen aus einer Außenperspektive, zweifeln jedoch nicht am religiösen Selbstverständnis der Akteure. In der Analyse werden acht neureligiöse Bewegungen vorgestellt, darunter große Organisationen wie Scientology und kleinere Gruppen wie die UFO-Anhänger von „Heaven’s Gate“, bekannt durch ihren tragischen Suizid. Der Fokus liegt darauf, zu verstehen, wie solche Bewegungen entstanden sind und was ihre Anziehungskraft ausmacht: Wer sind die Gründer, welche Überzeugungen vertreten sie, und wie rekrutieren sie Anhänger? Die Kernelemente ihrer Lehren und Rituale werden untersucht, gefolgt von einer Analyse der Organisationsform und Sozialstruktur. Jedes Porträt ist eigenständig, dient aber auch als Beispiel für die generellen Konflikte zwischen religiösen Minderheiten und der Mehrheitsgesellschaft, etwa in Bezug auf Gewalt, Sexualität und die Rolle der Medien. Die zentrale Frage bleibt: Wer bestimmt, was als Religion gilt?
