Handbook of Conspiracy Theory and Contemporary Religion

Asbjørn Dyrendal (b.1965), PhD., is Professor in the History of Religion at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has published widely on conspiracy beliefs and new religious movements, including the recently co-authored The Invention of Satanism (Oxford UP, 2016).David G. Robertson (b. 1975), PhD., is Lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University and co-founder of the Religious Studies Project. His work applies critical theory to the study of alternative and emerging religions, and to "conspiracy theory" narratives. He is the author of UFOs, the New Age and Conspiracy Theories: Millennial Conspiracism (Bloomsbury 2016) and co-editor of After World Religions: Reconstructing Religious Studies (Equinox 2016). Egil Asprem (b. 1984) , PhD., is Associate Professor in the History of Religion at Stockholm University, Sweden. He has published extensively on Western esotericism, occultism, and magic, including the monographs Arguing with Angels: Enochian Magic and Modern Occulture (SUNY, 2012) and The Problem of Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse, 1900–1939 (Brill, 2014). Contributors are: Asprem, Egil; Atkinson, Matthew D.; Aupers, Stef; Berridge, Willow; Bretfeld, Sven; Cusack, Carole M.; DeWitt, Darin; Douglas, Karen M.; Dyrendal, Asbjørn; van Eck Duymaer van Twist, Amanda; Endresen, Cecilie; Falkof, Nicky; Farley, Helen; Frydenlund, Iselin; Hagemeister, Michael; Harambam, Jaron; Jackson, Paul; Keeley, Brian L.; Makeeff, Tao Thukier; Nefes, Türkay Salim; Newcombe, Suzanne; Partridge, Christopher; Poli, Barbara De; Robertson, David G.; Shnirelman, Victor A.; Ryutaro, Tsuji; Uscinski, Joseph E.; Wood, Michael J.

• ForewordMichael BarkunList of AuthorsIntroducing the Field: Conspiracy Theory in, about, and as ReligionDavid G. Robertson, Egil Asprem and Asbjørn DyrendalPart 1: Explanations1 Conspiracy Theories and the Study of Religion\s: What we are Talking about, and Why it is ImportantAsbjørn Dyrendal, Egil Asprem and David G. Robertson2 Rational Enchantments: Conspiracy Theory between Secular Scepticism and Spiritual SalvationStef Aupers and Jaron Harambam3 Is a Belief in Providence the Same as a Belief in Conspiracy?Brian L. Keeley4 Are Conspiracy Theories a Surrogate for God?Michael Wood and Karen Douglas5 A Web of Conspiracy? Internet and Conspiracy TheoryJoseph E. Uscinski, Darin DeWitt and Matthew D. AtkinsonPart 2: Correspondences6 The Satanism Scare in Apartheid South AfricaNicky Falkof7 “Trust Me, You Can’t Trust Them”: Stigmatised Knowledge in Cults and ConspiraciesAmanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist and Suzanne Newcombe8 Popular Music, Conspiracy Culture, and the SacredChristopher Partridge9 Close Companions? Esotericism and Conspiracy TheoriesEgil Asprem and Asbjørn Dyrendal10 The Counter-Elite: Strategies of Authority in Millennial ConspiracismDavid G. RobertsonPart 3: Locations11 Buddhism Endangered by Hidden Enemies: Conspiracy Narratives in Sri Lankan Buddhist Present and PastSven Bretfeld12 Buddhist Islamophobia: Actors, Tropes, ContextsIselin Frydenlund13 Islamism and the Instrumentalisation of ConspiracismWillow J. Berridge14 Anti-Jewish and Anti-Zionist Conspiracism in the Arab World: Historical and Political RootsBarbara De Poli15 A Fantastic People and Its Enemies: An Analysis of an Emerging Albanian MythologyCecilie Endresen16 Was Aristotle an Anti-Semitic Alien? Conspiracy Theory, Ufology, and the Colonisation of the Past in Contemporary GreeceTao T. Makeeff17 The Role of Conspiracy Theory in the Aum Shinrikyo IncidentTsuji Ryutaro18 Framing of a Conspiracy Theory: The Efendi SeriesTurkay Nefes19 The Third Rome Against the Third Temple: Apocalypticism and Conspiracism in Post-Soviet RussiaMichael Hagemeister20 Alexander Dugin: Between Eschatology, Esotericism, and Conspiracy TheoryVictor Shnirelman21 Conspiracy Theories and Neo-Nazism in the Cultic MilieuPaul Jackson22 Evil Cult or Persecuted Minority? Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Falun Gong and the Government of the People’s Republic of ChinaHelen Farley23 The Messiah is a Salesman, Yet Consumerism is a Con(spiracy): The Church of the SubGenius, Work, and the Pursuit of Slack as a Spiritual IdealCarole M. CusackAfterword: Further Reflections, Future DirectionsEgil Asprem, David G. Robertson and Asbjørn DyrendalIndex

"No one before has undertaken the tremendously important and timely task of compiling a volume, dealing with the relationship between conspiracy theories and religion (...) The book not only examines the intersection of religion and conspiracy theories, but also provides a survey about the global phenomenon of conspiracy theories by discussing examples in different times and cultural environments."- Dominic Bornand, Andrews University Seminary Studies 56, 2018." As I read the chapters in this volume, I thought about how I might use this material in a course on conspiracy theories and religions. (...) I highly recommend this book for college or university libraries."- W. Michael Ashcraft, Truman State University, Reading Religion, September 15, 2020.