New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America PDF
Preview New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America
New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America This volume is the forty-fourth published by the Markham Press Fund of Baylor University Press, established in memeory of Dr. L. N. and Princess Finch Markham of Longview, Texas, by their daughters, Mrs. R. Matt Dawson of Waco, Texas, and Mrs. B. Reid Clanton of Longview, Texas. Copyright ©2003 by Baylor University Press Waco, Texas, 76798 All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data New religious movements and religious liberty in America / edited by Derek H. Davis and Barry Hankins.— 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-918954-92-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Cults—United States—Congresses. 2. United States—Religion—Congresses. 3. Freedom of religion—United States—Congresses. I. Davis, Derek, 1949- II. Hankins, Barry, 1956- BL2525.N487 2003 323.44’2’0973—dc22 2003018212 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America edited by Derek H. Davis and Barry Hankins Second Edition Baylor University Press Waco, Texas USA Contents Acknowledgments vii Preface ix Introduction 1 Barry Hankins 1 Controversial Christian Movements: History, Growth, and Outlook Timothy Miller 9 2 The Cult Awareness Network and the Anticult Movement: Implications for NRMs in America Anson Shupe, Susan E. Darnell, and Kendrick Moxon 25 3 A Contemporary Ordered Religious Community: The Sea Organization J. Gordon Melton 43 4 Women in Controversial New Religions: Slaves, Priestesses, or Pioneers? Susan J. Palmer 63 5 Satanism and Witchcraft: Social Construction of a Melded but Mistaken Identity James T. Richardson 69 6 A Critical Analysis of Evidentiary and Procedural Rulings in Branch Davidian Civil Case Stuart A. Wright 79 v vi Table of Contents 7 New Religious Movements and Conflicts with Law Enforcement Catherine Wessinger 89 8 Christian Reconstruction after Y2K: Gary North, the New Millennium, and Religious Freedom Adam C. English 107 9 A Not So Charitable Choice: New Religious Movements and President Bush’s Plan for Faith-Based Social Services Derek H. Davis 119 10 Fighting for Free Exercise from the Trenches: A Case Study of Religious Freedom Issues Faced by Wiccans Practicing in the United States Catharine Cookson 135 11 The Persecution of West Virginia Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Expansion of Legal Protection for Religious Liberty Chuck Smith 155 Notes 183 About the Contributors 227 Index 231 Preface All the essays in this book were presented at a symposium at Baylor University entitled “New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America,” 12-13 February 2001. The J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies would like to thank Baylor University for its generous funding over the years that has made symposia, lectureships, and books like this one possible. We would like to thank specifically President Robert Sloan and his administration for their gracious support of our work. Chancellor Herbert Reynolds, Provost Donald Schmeltekopf, Vice-Provost Dianna Vitanza, and Arts and Sciences Dean Wallace Daniel, as always, were also supportive of this project. Several people at the Institute had a hand in bringing both the symposium and this volume to successful completion. Administrative assistant Wanda Gilbert has never left even one stone unturned in the planning of an event, while Janice Losak takes on all tasks with great aplomb. Editorial assistant Pat Cornett seems at times capable of working miracles with computerized text. She has been at the center of this project every step of the way. It would be impossible to plan and execute symposia, conferences, and lectureship without the assistance of these three individuals. Doctoral Fellow Marshall Johnston was a great help in organizing and planning for the conference that spawned this book. Graduate students Hui Fui and Kathy Maxwell performed the tedious yet important task of compiling the index. Also, a special word of thanks is due to those Baylor faculty who serve on our Church-State Studies Faculty Committee vii viii Preface and Journal of Church and State Editorial Board. They regularly give of their time and expertise in order to keep the work of the Institute and Journalmov- ing forward. Finally, thanks to all of the contributors. In both symposium planning and the editing of this book, you have been most accommodating. Your dedication and commitment to religious liberty for people everywhere and of every reli- gious persuasion has been humbling, and has reassured us that publishing books like this one is a worthwhile endeavor. Derek H. Davis Barry Hankins Baylor University March 2002 Introduction Barry Hankins It has been said that the measure of healthy and civilized society is how well it treats its elderly and indigent. Perhaps it should be said also that the measure of the health of religious liberty in a society is the degree to which minority, nontraditional faiths are protected. This book is a collection of essays on the subject of religious liberty and new religious movements (NRMs). Most of the chapters were first delivered as papers at a conference sponsored by the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University in March 2001. NRMs are often called “cults” by popular media commentators and the pub- lic at large, but scholars eschew that term because it is so pejorative that it skews the argument from the very beginning. By contrast, the term “new reli- gious movements” attempts to place NRMs squarely in the mix with older, more traditional forms of religion. This is due in part to the fact that in America there should be no correlation between the level of social approval a group has achieved and the degree of religious liberty it enjoys. As the Supreme Court itself averred famously in the 1872 case Watson v. Jones, “The Law knows no heresy and is committed to the support of no dogma, the establish- ment of no sect.” While often falling short of this ideal, the United States Constitution, specifically the First Amendment, is interpreted by the courts to mean that all groups should enjoy religious liberty, not just those who adhere to long-standing and traditional variations of the Christian faith. Make no 1
The list of books you might like
