Alternative American Religions (Religion in American Life)

161 Pages·2000·0.57 MB·English

by  Stephen J. Stein

Alternative American
Religions
Stephen J. Stein
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Alternative
American
Religions
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JON BUTLER & HARRY S. STOUT
GENERAL EDITORS
Alternative
American
Religions
Stephen J. Stein
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York • Oxford
To many friends among members of alternative religions
Oxford University Press
Oxford New York
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Copyright © 2000 by Stephen J. Stein
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stein, Stephen J., 1940–
Alternative American religions / Stephen J. Stein.
p. cm. — (Religion in American life)
Includes index.
Summary: Examines various alternative religions, or New Religious Movements, that have existed
in the United States from colonial times through the twentieth century and from the perspectives
of both insiders and outsiders.
ISBN 0-19-511196-6 (alk. paper)
1. Sects—United States—History—Juvenile literature. 2. Cults—United States—History—
Juvenile literature. 3. United States—Religion—Juvenile literature. [1. Cults. 2. Religions.]
I. Title. II. Series.
BL2525 .S73 1999 99-042370
291.9'0973 21—DC21
On the cover:The Shakers of New Lebanon, New
ISBN 0-19-511196-6 (library edition) York, Religious Exercises in the Meeting-houseby
Joseph Becker.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Frontispiece:On June 13, 1998, couples filled New
Printed in the United States of America York City’s Madison Square Garden to receive the
on acid-free paper blessing of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Con-
troversy surrounding these ceremonies stems from
Design and layout: Loraine Machlin the fact that marriages are arranged by the Unifica-
Picture research: Lisa Kirchner tion Church.
•
Contents
Editors’ Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Jon Butler & Harry S. Stout
Introduction: Talking About Religious Outsiders . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
C H A P T E R 1
Early Dissenters and Popular Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
C H A P T E R 2
Peace Movements in Colonial America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
C H A P T E R 3
Communitarians Living on the Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
C H A P T E R 4
Apocalyptic Traditions: Watching and Waiting for the End . . . . .75
C H A P T E R 5
Healers and Occultists: Women of Spiritual Means . . . . . . . . . . .93
C H A P T E R 6
Sectarians in the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
C H A P T E R 7
20th-Century Sects and Cults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148
Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154
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Editors’ Introduction
JON BUTLER & HARRY S. STOUT, GENERAL EDITORS
C
reative and diverse, New Religious Movements have distinguished
American religion for more than 300 years. Typically formed as self-
conscious alternatives to America’s already complex varieties of
Protestantism, Catholicism, and Judaism, these movements have
fascinated and sometimes infuriated Americans. Some believers
came from overseas and prospered here—witches, Quakers, Mennonites,
Shakers, Theosophists, Krishnas, and adherents of Transcendental Medita-
tion. But even more were born in America—Vermont Pilgrims, Millerites,
Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostals, Black Muslims,
Jesus People, Branch Davidians, Scientologists, and believers in UFOs.
Stephen J. Stein’s scrupulously fair and marvelously lively history
reveals the full range of New Religious Movements in America. He
describes their relationship to traditional American religion and assesses
their appeal. Throughout American history these movements have chal-
lenged the old and opened up new ways of thinking about healing, modes
Two Shaker sisters at of meaning, religious texts and liturgies, the social and political order,
Canterbury, New Hamp-
and the relationships between religion and race, class, gender, and region.
shire, display their
Stein highlights the intriguing, important, and often controversial careers
saxophones. Members of
alternative religions do not of key figures—Ann Lee, William Miller, Ellen Gould White, Charles Taze
always conform to unin- Russell, Helena Blavatsky, Katherine Tingley, Father Divine, Elijah
formed stereotypes. These
Muhammad, L. Ron Hubbard, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Jim Jones, David
religious women obviously
enjoy secular music. Koresh, and Marshall Herff Applewhite—passionate leaders whose fasci-
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• Alternative American Religions
nating and important religious groups have continually enlivened the
American experience of religion.
This book is part of a unique 17-volume series that explores the evolu-
tion, character, and dynamics of religion in American life from 1500 to the
end of the 20th century. As late as the 1960s, historians paid relatively little
attention to religion beyond studies of New England’s Puritans. But since
then, American religious history and its contemporary expression have
been the subject of intense inquiry. These new studies have thoroughly
transformed our knowledge of almost every American religious group and
have fully revised our understanding of religion’s role in U.S. history.
It is impossible to capture the flavor and character of the American
experience without understanding the connections between secular activ-
ities and religion. Spirituality stood at the center of Native American soci-
eties before European colonization and has continued to do so long after.
Religion—and the freedom to express it—motivated millions of immi-
grants to come to the United States from remarkably different cultures,
and the exposure to new ideas and ways of living shaped their experience.
It also fueled tension among different ethnic and racial groups in Ameri-
ca and, regretfully, accounted for difficult episodes of bigotry in Ameri-
can society. Religion urged Americans to expand the nation—first within
the continental United States, then through overseas conquests and mis-
sionary work—and has had a profound influence on American politics,
from the era of the Puritans to the present. Finally, religion contributes to
the extraordinary diversity that has, for four centuries, made the United
States one of the world’s most dynamic societies.
The Religion in American Life series explores the historical traditions
that have made religious freedom and spiritual exploration central fea-
tures of American society. It emphasizes the experience of religion in
America—what men and women have understood by religion, how it has
affected politics and society, and how Americans have used it to shape
their daily lives.
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RELIGION IN COLONIAL AMERICA
Jon Butler
RELIGION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY AMERICA
Grant Wacker
RELIGION IN TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICA
JON BUTLER & HARRY S. STOUT
Randall Balmer
GENERAL EDITORS
BUDDHISTS, HINDUS, AND SIKHS IN AMERICA
Gurinder Singh Mann, Paul David Numrich & Raymond B. Williams
CATHOLICS IN AMERICA
James T. Fisher
JEWS IN AMERICA
Hasia R. Diner
MORMONS IN AMERICA
Claudia Lauper Bushman & Richard Lyman Bushman
MUSLIMS IN AMERICA
Frederick Denny
ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA
John A. Erickson
PROTESTANTS IN AMERICA
Mark Noll
AFRICAN-AMERICAN RELIGION
Albert J. Raboteau
NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGION
Joel W. Martin
ALTERNATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS
Stephen J. Stein
CHURCH AND STATE IN AMERICA
Edwin S. Gaustad
IMMIGRATION AND AMERICAN RELIGION
Jenna Weissman Joselit
WOMEN AND AMERICAN RELIGION
Ann Braude
BIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT AND SERIES INDEX
Darryl Hart & Ann Henderson Hart