Examining contemporary understandings of the term ‘cult’, this book brings together scholars from multiple disciplines, including sociology, anthropology and religious studies. Focusing on how ‘cult rhetoric’ affects our perceptions of new religious movements, the contributors explore how these minority groups have developed and deconstruct the language we use to describe them.
Ranging from the ‘Cult of Trump’ and ‘Cult of COVID’, to the campaigns of mass media, this book recognises that contemporary ‘cult rhetoric’ has become hybridised and suggests a more nuanced study of contemporary religion. Topics include online religions, political ‘cults’, ‘apostate’ testimony and the current ‘othered’ position of the study of minority religions.
Foreword: Introduction to the ‘Religion at the Boundaries’ Series – Suzanne Newcombe (Inform and the Open University, UK) and Sarah Harvey (Inform)
Part I: Approaches to ‘Cult’ Rhetoric
Chapter 1: ‘Cult’ Rhetoric in the 21st Century: The Disconnect Between Popular Discourse and the Ivory Tower, Aled Thomas (University of Leeds, UK) and Edward Graham-Hyde (University of Central Lancashire, UK)
Chapter 2: Balancing Pragmatism and Precision: Inform’s Approach to Cult Rhetoric, Suzanne Newcombe (Inform and the Open University, UK) and Sarah Harvey (Inform)
Chapter 3: A History of Anti-Cult Rhetoric, George D. Chryssides (York St John University, UK)
Chapter 4: The Paradigm Shift from Sacred to Profane, William Sims Bainbridge (Independent Scholar)
Chapter 5: The Dangerous Cult Exercise: Popular Culture and the Ongoing Construction of the New Religious Threat, Douglas E. Cowan (University of Waterloo, USA)
Chapter 6: The Recognition of Cults, Roderick P. Dubrow-Marshall (University of Salford, UK)
Part II: Contemporary ‘Cultic’ Issues
Chapter 7: The Light of the World: La Luz del Mundo, Liminality, and NRM Studies, Donald A. Westbrook (San Jose State University, USA)
Chapter 8: Cults of Conspiracy and the (On-Going) Satanic Panic, Bethan Juliet Oake (University of Leeds, UK)
Chapter 9: ‘There is no QAnon’: Cult Accusations in Contemporary American Political and Online Discourse, Susannah Crockford (University of Exeter, UK)
Chapter 10: Playing at Religion: Understanding Contemporary Spiritual Experiences in Popular Culture, Vivian Asimos (Independent Scholar)
Chapter 11: Attempting to Educate Journalists about the Role of Cult Essentialism in the Branch Davidian-Federal Agents Conflict, Catherine Wessinger (Loyola University New Orleans, USA)
Afterword: Critical Reflections and Conclusions, W. Michael Ashcraft (Truman State University, USA)
Bibliography
Index
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