A controversial report on Scientology and their disciplinary measures has revived  a debate on “brainwashing.” Charges of brainwashing were not unusual during the 1970s and `80s when discussing cults, but since then mostly anti-cult leaders have made this charge against new religious movements. That is until University of Alberta sociologist Stephen Kent delivered a paper at […]

It wasn’t surprising that Heaven’s Gate made it to the top of most reviews of religion in 1997. Yet the mass suicides last April had few repercussions on religion and society  as compared to several less sensational news events that took place last year.  To start off the year, we provide this review of  news and trends that […]

After being outlawed with its leader imprisoned, Aum Supreme Truth has survived and is proselytizing and even drawing new members, reports the Washington Post (Sept. 28). Two-and-a-half years after being charged with carrying out gas attacks in Tokyo’s subways, Aum’s leader Shoko Ashara is in jail and facing a probable death sentence. Authorities say that of the […]

While the Family, formerly the Children of God,  has drawn a lot of controversy in its short existence, the group’s  increasing emphasis on the importance of  UFOs in their theology is likely to generate new criticism and controversy, according to a recent report. The Family has been reportedly moving away from its unorthodox  beginnings, which included allegations of authoritarian […]

Many observers were shocked last year when a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks in Britain waged a public campaign against their leader, the Dalai Lama. But this conflict revealed simmering yet sharp differences between more traditional and “modern” Buddhists. In the Journal of  Contemporary Religion (October), David Kay writes that Tibetan Buddhism has long been divided between an […]

From a tradition which has produced the likes of Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman, today’s new high priestess of popular religion has become Marianne Williamson. Starting in the early 1990s with best selling books,  “A Course in Miracles” (39 weeks on the New York Times best seller list) and “A Woman’s Wrath” (19 weeks on […]

What once was considered a fad among religious extremists has now become the subject of serious, extended study on American campuses. Across the country scholars and publishers are expanding their investigations of what the appearance of the year 2000 means for the present and future of American religion. At least two major anthologies have already […]