Sexuality and New Religious Movements

243 Pages·2014·3.615 MB·English

by  Henrik Bogdan, James R. Lewis (eds.)

Sexuality and New Religious
Movements
Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities
Series editors: James R. Lewis and Henrik Bogdan
Palgrave Studies in New Religions and Alternative Spiritualities is an
interdisciplinary monograph and edited collection series sponsored by
the International Society for the Study of New Religions. The series is
devoted to research on New Religious Movements. In addition to the
usual groups studied under the New Religions label, the series pub-
lishes books on such phenomena as the New Age, communal & utopian
groups, Spiritualism, New Thought, Holistic Medicine, Western esoteri-
cism, Contemporary Paganism, astrology, UFO groups, and new move-
ments within traditional religions. The Society considers submissions
from researchers in any discipline.
A Study of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness: Religious Innova-
tion and Cultural Change
—Diana G. Tumminia and James R. Lewis
India and the Occult: The Influence of South Asian Spirituality on Modern
Western Occultism
—Gordan Djurdjevic
Reading and Writing Scripture in New Religious Movements: New Bibles
and New Revelations
—Eugene V. Gallagher
Sexuality and New Religious Movements
—Edited by Henrik Bogdan and James R. Lewis
Sexuality and New Religious
Movements
Edited by Henrik Bogdan and
James R. Lewis
sexuality and new religious movements
Copyright © Henrik Bogdan and James R. Lewis, 2014.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-40962-1
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United
States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10010.
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Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
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Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
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Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-68146-4 ISBN 978-1-137-38643-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-38643-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sexuality and new religious movements / edited by Henrik Bogdan and
James R. Lewis.
pages cm. — (Palgrave studies in new religions and alternative
spiritualities)
1. Sex—Religious aspects. I. Bogdan, Henrik, editor of compilation.
BL65.S4S495 2014
201′.7—dc23 2013043628
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Amnet.
First edition: November 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Tables vii
1 Introduction: Sexuality and New Religious Movements 1
Henrik Bogdan and James R. Lewis
2 Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Empowerment in Mormon
Fundamentalist Communities 9
Jennifer Lara Fagen and Stuart A. Wright
3 Gender among the Branch Davidians 29
Martha Sonntag Bradley
4 Sex and Gender in the Words and Communes of Osho
(née Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) 59
Roshani Cari Shay and Henrik Bogdan
5 Sexual Practice, Spiritual Awakening, and Divine
Self-Realization in the Reality-Way of Adidam 89
Michael (Anthony) Costabile
6 Gurdjieff on Sex: Subtle Bodies, Si 12, and the Sex Life
of a Sage 127
Johanna J. M. Petsche
7 Sex Magic or Sacred Marriage? Sexuality in
Contemporary Wicca 149
Chas S. Clifton
8 Cult of Carnality: Sexuality, Eroticism, and Gender in
Contemporary Satanism 165
Per Faxneld and Jesper Aagaard Petersen
9 Raël’s Angels: The First Five Years of a Secret Order 183
Susan J. Palmer
vi CONTENTS
10 Fantasies of Abuse and Captivity in Nineteenth-Century
Convent Tales 213
James R. Lewis
Contributors 231
Index 235
List of Tables
5.1 Emotional-Sexual Conscious Exercise in the
Way of Adidam 111
5.2 Qualifying Factors (One of Which Must Pertain) for
Motiveless Celibate Practice in the Way of Adidam 114
1
Introduction: Sexuality and
New Religious Movements
Henrik Bogdan and James R. Lewis
Sexuality goes beyond the mere ability to procreate and to have erotic
experiences, feelings, and responses, or the various ways in which we
are sexually attracted to one another. Sexuality is intimately connected
to questions of identity: who we are as individuals and also our role in
society. Human sexuality is thus inextricably linked to cultural, political,
and philosophical aspects of life, which are regulated through legal systems
based on morality and ethics. Morality and ethics, even in our secularized
and late-modern society, are to a large extent based on traditional religious
doctrines and teachings (which of course differ in time and place), and
it is thus perhaps only natural that new forms of religion often challenge
the moral codes and deeply rooted views on sexuality prevalent in the
dominant forms of religion and, by extension, in society at large.
The new religious movements (NRMs) discussed in this collection can
be described as “new” in the sense that they were founded fairly recently
(especially during the second half of the twentieth century, with most
members being first- or second-generation members) and that the teach-
ings differ to such an extent from the dominant religious traditions of the
West that it is valid to speak of “new” forms of religion. For instance, chap-
ters 1 to 3 deal with the Mormons, the Branch Davidians, and the Fam-
ily International, respectively, movements that can be described as NRMs
with a Christian foundation but which have, in different ways, altered the
teachings of the host religion to such an extent that we can be said to be
dealing with new forms of religion. Admittedly, there are problems con-
nected with making such a distinction, and it should be kept in mind that
a group like the Branch Davidians would not consider itself a new religious
2 HENRIK BOGDAN AND JAMES R. LEWIS
movement but rather the “true” form of Christianity. Nevertheless, for ana-
lytical purposes, it is useful to use the term NRMM when discussing most of
the groups covered in this anthology. As indicated, the case studies selected
for this collection are Western in the sense that they are or have been active
particularlyy in the United States and in Europe, although many of them
are international movements and some of them have non-Western origins,
such as the Osho movement. The fact that we are dealing with Western
NRMs explains why most of the movements covered in this anthology
challenge in different ways the Christian notion of sexuality as something
connected to sin and needing to be controlled. Many NRMs react against
Christian teachings on sexuality and what they perceive as an oppressive
religious system, and instead advocate what they consider to be a posi-
tive understanding of sexuality, where sexual liberation is often seen as an
important aspect of spiritual enlightenment.
Critics of NRMs—who often refer to these movements as “cults” or
“sects,” with all the negative connotations associated with these terms—
tend to claim that NRMs are potentially harmful since the leadership often
more or less systematically abuses their members sexually. By emphasiz-
ing those NRMs that have propagated controversial sexual teachings and
practices, such as the use of sex in a ritualistic setting or marriage with
multiple partners, the critics (who often belong to what is usually referred
to as the “anticult movement”) argue that the religious dimension of these
teachings and practices is just an excuse or a cover for sexual abuse. What
these critics often fail to take into account, however, is the way that sexual-
ity is actually understood and used by the groups themselves, and to place
these teachings and practices within the broader context of the history of
religions.
As this anthology aims to show, sexual practices that, at face value, seem
bizarre or even dangerous might be understood differently when placed in
their proper context. That being said, it should be emphasized that some-
times the criticism levelled against certain NRMs is a valid critique, as
demonstrated in chapters 3 and 4 of the present collection. One should,
however, be careful in dismissing a contemporary movement as sexually
abusive based on events that happened early in the movement’s history,
and instead analyze how the movement has developed over the years and
whether it has dealt with past abusive practices. One should also be careful
about condemning an entire organization based on local or regional cases
of abuse. By way of comparison, one might consider contemporary criti-
cism of the Catholic Church and the numerous cases of sexual abuse by
priests: one rarely encounters criticism of the entire Church based on these
cases. Furthermore, although questions related to sexuality and gender are
central to most of the movements discussed in this anthology, sexual abuse