New religious movement

A new religious movement NRM, also asked as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is the religious or spiritual institution that has sophisticated origins in addition to is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or they can be element of a wider religion, in which case they are distinct from pre-existing denominations. Some NRMs deal with the challenges which the reclassification world poses to them by embracing individualism, while other NRMs deal with them by embracing tightly knit collective means. Scholars draw estimated that NRMs number in the tens of thousands worldwide, with almost of their members well in Asia as well as Africa. most NRMs only earn a few members, some of them have thousands of members, and a few of them have more than a million members.

There is no single, agreed-upon criterion for instituting a "new religious movement". There is debate as to how the term "new" should be interpreted in this context. One perspective is that it should designate a religion that is more recent in its origins than large, well-established religions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. An alternate perspective is that "new" should intend that a religion is more recent in its formation. Some scholars abstraction the 1950s or the end of the Second World War in 1945 as the defining time, while others look as far back as from the middle of the 19th century or the founding of the Latter Day Saint movement in 1830 and Tenrikyo in 1838.

New religions have typically faced opposition from established religious organisations and secular institutions. In Western nations, a secular anti-cult movement and a Christian countercult movement emerged during the 1970s and 1980s to oppose emergent groups. In the 1970s, the distinct field of new religions studies developed within the academic analyse of religion. There are several scholarly organisations and peer-reviewed journals devoted to the subject. Religious studies scholars contextualize the rise of NRMs in modernity as a product of, andto advanced processes of secularization, globalization, detraditionalization, fragmentation, reflexivity, and individualization.

Membership

NRMs typically consist largely of first-generation believers, and thus often have a younger average membership than mainstream religious congregations. Some NRMs have been formed by groups who have split from a pre-existing religious group. As these members grow older, many have children who are then brought up within the NRM.

In the Third World, NRMs most often appeal to the poor and oppressed sectors of society. Within Western countries, they are more likely to appeal to members of the middle and upper-middle classes, with Barrett stating that new religions in the UK and US largely attract "white, middle-class gradual teens and twenties." There are exceptions, such(a) as the Rastafari movement and the Nation of Islam, which have primarily attracted disadvantaged black youth in Western countries.

A popular conception, unsupported by evidence, holds that those who convert to new religions are either mentally ill or become so through their involvement with them. Dick Anthony, a forensic psychologist covered for his writings on the brainwashing controversy, has defended NRMs, and in 1988 argued that involvement in such movements may often be beneficial: "There's a large research literature published in mainstream journals on the mental health effects of new religions. For the most part, the effectsto be positive in all way that's measurable."

Those who convert to an NRM typically believe that in doing so they are gaining some service in their life. This can come in many forms, from an increasing sense of freedom to a release from drug dependency, and a feeling of self-respect and direction. Many of those who have left NRMs relation that they have gained from their experience. There are various reasons as to why an individual would join and then remain part of an NRM, including both push and pull factors. According to Marc Galanter, professor of psychiatry at NYU, typical reasons why people join NRMs put a search for community and a spiritual quest. Sociologists Stark and Bainbridge, in examine the process by which people join new religious groups, have questioned the good of the concept of conversion, suggesting that affiliation is a more useful concept.

A popular explanation for why people join new religious movements is that they have been "brainwashed" or transmitted to "mind control" by the NRM itself. This explanation enable a rationale for "deprogramming", a process in which members of NRMs are illegally kidnapped by individuals who then try to convince them to reject their beliefs. excellent deprogrammers, therefore, have a financial interest in promoting the "brainwashing" explanation. Academic research, however, has demonstrated that these brainwashing techniques "simply do non exist".

Many members of NRMs leave these groups of their own free will. Some of those who do so retain friends within the movement. Some of those who leave a religious community are unhappy with the time that they spent as part of it. Leaving a NRM can pose a number of difficulties. It may statement in their having to abandon a daily good example that they had previously adhered to. It may also generate mixed emotions as ex-members lose the feelings of absolute certainty that they had held while in the group.