Cults, Religion, and Violence

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511499326

This explores the question of when and why violence by and against new religious cults erupts and whether and how such dramatic conflicts can be foreseen, managed and averted. The authors, leading international experts on religious movements and violent behavior, focus on the four major episodes of cult violence during the last decade: the tragic conflagration that engulfed the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas; the deadly sarin gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo in Tokyo; the murder-suicides by the Solar Temple in Switzerland and Canada; and the collective suicide by the members of Heaven's Gate. They explore the dynamics leading to these dramatic episodes in North America, Europe, and Asia, and offer insights into the general relationship between violence and religious cults in contemporary society. The authors conclude that these events usually involve some combination of internal and external dynamics through which a new religious movement and society become polarized.

‘The merit of this book is its diversity, both in analytical and topical scope … this book may very well serve as the culmination of theoretical sociological analysis on a highly controversial social issue.’

Source: Journal of Contemporary Religion

- Aa Reduce text
- Aa Enlarge text

View selected items
Save to my bookmarks
Export citations
Download PDF (zip)
Save to Kindle
Save to Dropbox
Save to Google Drive
Save content to
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to .

To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Please be advised that item(s) you selected are not available.
You are about to save
Your Kindle email address

Please provide your Kindle email.

@free.kindle.com @kindle.com (service fees apply)

By using this service, you agree that you will only keep content for personal use, and will not openly distribute them via Dropbox, Google Drive or other file sharing services

Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Contents
pp v-vi
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Acknowledgments
pp vii-vii
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Contributors
pp viii-xii
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Prologue
pp xiii-xx
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

1 - Violence and Religion in Perspective
pp 1-10
- By David G. Bromley, Professor of Sociology and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies Virginia Commonwealth University, J. Gordon Melton, Founder and director Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, California; Research Specialist in the Department of Religious Studies University of California, Santa Barbara
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

2 - Dramatic Denouements
pp 11-41
- By David G. Bromley, Professor of Sociology and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies Virginia Commonwealth University
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

3 - Challenging Misconceptions about the New Religions–Violence Connection
pp 42-56
- By J. Gordon Melton, Founder and director Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, California; Research Specialist in the Department of Religious Studies University of California, Santa Barbara, David G. Bromley, Professor of Sociology and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies Virginia Commonwealth University
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

4 - Sources of Volatility in Religious Movements
pp 57-79
- By Thomas Robbins
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

5 - Crises of Charismatic Legitimacy and Violent Behavior in New Religious Movements
pp 80-101
- By Lorne L. Dawson, Associate Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies University of Waterloo in Canada
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

6 - Public Agency Involvement in Government–Religious Movement Confrontations
pp 102-122
- By Stuart A. Wright, Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Lamar University
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

7 - Watching for Violence: A Comparative Analysis of the Roles of Five Types of Cult-Watching Groups
pp 123-148
- By Eileen Barker, Professor of Sociology with Special Reference to the Study of Religion London School of Economics (LSE)
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

8 - Mass Suicide and the Branch Davidians
pp 149-169
- By John R. Hall, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for History, Society, and Culture University of California-Davis
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

9 - Occult Masters and the Temple of Doom: The Fiery End of the Solar Temple
pp 170-188
- By Massimo Introvigne, Managing Director Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) in Torino, Italy, Jean-François Mayer, Swiss Historian
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

10 - Dramatic Confrontations: Aum Shinrikyô against the World
pp 189-208
- By Ian Reader, Professor of Religious Studies Lancaster University, England
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

11 - Making Sense of the Heaven's Gate Suicides
pp 209-228
- By Robert W. Balch, Professor of Sociology University of Montana in Missoula, David Taylor, Training and Development Director for the City of Portland, Oregon and Adjunct Professor of Sociology Marylhurst University in Portland
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

12 - Lessons from the Past, Perspective for the Future
pp 229-244
- By J. Gordon Melton, Founder and director Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, California; Research Specialist in the Department of Religious Studies University of California, Santa Barbara, David G. Bromley, Professor of Sociology and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies Virginia Commonwealth University
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Index
pp 245-249
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Total number of HTML views: 0

Total number of PDF views: 0 *

Loading metrics...

Total views: 0 *

Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Cults, Religion, and Violence

This Book has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.

Book description

Reviews

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

Acknowledgments
pp vii-vii

Contributors
pp viii-xii

Prologue
pp xiii-xx

1 - Violence and Religion in Perspective
pp 1-10

2 - Dramatic Denouements
pp 11-41

3 - Challenging Misconceptions about the New Religions–Violence Connection
pp 42-56

4 - Sources of Volatility in Religious Movements
pp 57-79

5 - Crises of Charismatic Legitimacy and Violent Behavior in New Religious Movements
pp 80-101

6 - Public Agency Involvement in Government–Religious Movement Confrontations
pp 102-122

7 - Watching for Violence: A Comparative Analysis of the Roles of Five Types of Cult-Watching Groups
pp 123-148

8 - Mass Suicide and the Branch Davidians
pp 149-169

9 - Occult Masters and the Temple of Doom: The Fiery End of the Solar Temple
pp 170-188

10 - Dramatic Confrontations: Aum Shinrikyô against the World
pp 189-208

11 - Making Sense of the Heaven's Gate Suicides
pp 209-228

12 - Lessons from the Past, Perspective for the Future
pp 229-244

Index
pp 245-249

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Book summary page views

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

Accessibility Information

Cults, Religion, and Violence

Book description

Reviews

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Save Search

Contents

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Book summary page views

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

Accessibility Information