This archive introduces academic organizations, journals and reference collections that examine emerging and alternative religious communities without reducing them to a single label.
Context before conclusions.Terms used in public debate can carry assumptions. Academic study usually begins by describing a movement's history, teachings, organization and social setting.
The word “cult” is often used broadly in news and everyday conversation, especially for groups portrayed as secretive or harmful. Scholars may instead use terms such as new religious movement, alternative religion or emerging religious community, depending on the subject and period.
That vocabulary does not settle questions about conduct or harm. It helps distinguish an analytical description of beliefs from a judgment about a community.
Research can include origins, leadership, ritual, conversion, texts, family life, institutional change, public controversy and relationships with wider society.
Academic neutrality does not mean ignoring evidence. It means testing claims carefully and allowing different kinds of sources to be compared.
The following resources appeared in the original archive as starting points for further study. External links are presented as references, not endorsements.
A scholarly forum focused on improving understanding of new religious movements past and present. Visit the archived group resource.
CESNUR is an international network associated with the study of new religious movements, religious minorities and contemporary spirituality. Its research website provides background and bibliographic material.
ISAR has supported collections and reference projects concerning American religious history and contemporary movements. Its archive includes material related to controversial religious movements and the International Religions Directory Project.
Organizations such as the Association for the Sociology of Religion, the International Society for the Sociology of Religion and the Religious Research Association connect religious studies with social-scientific research.
Older web resources include the New Religious Movements collection, Academic Info's NRM resources and a bibliography of cults and new religious movements.
Further reading may be found through Nova Religio and Religion Watch, which cover alternative religion and developments in the study of religion.
Use several kinds of evidence and keep the age, purpose and standpoint of each source visible.
Establish the movement's preferred name, period, location and relationship to older traditions.
Keep a group's self-description separate from external allegations, legal findings and media shorthand.
Read scholarship, primary material and critical accounts together where they are available.
Record when a resource was published. Older links and descriptions may need independent verification.
No. It is a broad descriptive term for relatively recent or emerging religious communities. It does not by itself make a claim about safety, truth or social value.
Labels reflect different periods, disciplines and purposes. A movement may describe itself one way while journalists, courts or scholars use other terminology.
No. Academic research may defend the value of fair inquiry or freedom of conscience without endorsing a movement's teachings or conduct.
Some references originate in an older archive. Check the linked organization's current website, publication date and editorial information before relying on details.
Start with the new religious movements menu, the comparison section or the glossary.
Use the contact page or email info@religioustolerance.en-html.org with the page title and correction.