the new
The New Believers covers the origin, history, beliefs, practices and controversies of 60+ new religious movements, including the Family (formerly the Children of God), International Church of Christ, Osho (Rajneesh), New Kadampa Tradition, Wicca, Druidry, Chaos Magick, Scientology etc.
The New Believers incorporates the fully revised, updated and much-expanded text of the author’s well-received Sects, “Cults” & Alternative Religions (1996), plus much more, with ten completely new chapters including:
· Is it a cult, or a real religion?—The problem of definition
· Sects appeal—Conversion, recruitment, mind control or brainwashing?
· Would you let your daughter marry one?—Problems for families of members
· Cults that kill—How, why, and can it happen again?
· Watching the watchers—The variety of cult experts
plus a major case study, “Schism in a Sect”, on the Worldwide Church of God and its many offshoots; addresses and websites of every movement in the book; and dozens of rarely seen photographs.
Detailed, authoritative, challenging and often controversial, The New Believers is essential reading for anyone with a personal or professional interest in sects, “cults” and new religions and their effects on members and their families.