In 1830, a young man named Joseph Smith claimed to have been visited by an angel who told him where to find golden plates buried in a hill in upstate New York. This event launched the Latter Day Saint movement, one of the largest new religious movements in history, which now counts over 17 million members. Smith's story is not merely a tale of religious origin but a foundational moment that redefined how a new faith could emerge in the modern world. The movement grew from a single visionary's claim into a global force, challenging the established religious order of the time. Smith's death in 1844, killed by a lynch mob, marked a pivotal moment in the history of religious persecution and the struggle for religious freedom in America. The movement's survival and growth after his death demonstrated the resilience of new religious movements, even in the face of violent opposition. The story of Smith and his followers is a testament to the power of belief and the human capacity to create new spiritual paths in a rapidly changing world.
The Global Expansion
The spread of new religious movements across the globe began in the 19th century and accelerated in the 20th century, driven by globalization and the decline of traditional religious structures. In Japan, the Shinto Directive of 1945 forced the government to separate itself from Shinto, which had been the state religion, leading to a surge in new religious groups. This period saw the rise of movements like Tenrikyo, founded in 1838, and Soka Gakkai, which gained popularity after the war. In the United States, the 1950s and 1960s were a time of great religious experimentation, with groups like Scientology, founded by L. Ron Hubbard in 1954, and the Unification Church, established by Sun Myung Moon in 1954, gaining significant followings. The 1960s also saw the rise of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, founded by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and the Transcendental Meditation movement, which gained public attention after the Beatles' visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1967. These movements reflected a broader trend of individuals seeking spiritual meaning outside the confines of traditional religious institutions, often embracing new ideas and practices that challenged the status quo.The Cult Wars
The 1970s and 1980s marked a period of intense scrutiny and opposition to new religious movements, known as the cult wars. This era was characterized by the rise of the anti-cult movement, which charged these groups with psychological abuse and brainwashing. The term brainwashing, originally developed by journalist Edward Hunter and later used by Robert J. Lifton to describe methods employed by Chinese forces during the Korean War, was applied to the techniques used by new religious movements to convert recruits. The Christian countercult movement, led by figures like Walter Ralston Martin, who published The Kingdom of the Cults in 1965, sought to counter the influence of these groups. The movement gained momentum with the publication of books like The Chaos of Cults by Jan Karel van Baalen in 1938, which became a foundational text for anti-cult activists. The cult wars were fueled by public fears and moral panics, particularly around Satanism, and led to the development of deprogramming practices, where members of new religions were illegally kidnapped and convinced to reject their beliefs. Despite these efforts, scholars like Eileen Barker argued that the vast majority of new religious movements had not engaged in criminal activities, and that the term cult had become too laden with negative connotations to be used in academic discourse.