New Religious Movements in Five Minutes

Lukas K. Pokorny is Professor and Chair of Religious Studies and Head of Department, University of Vienna, Austria.Franz Winter is professor and chair at the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Graz, Austria.Pokorny and Winter are co-editors of the Handbook of East Asian New Religious Movements (Brill, 2018) which was awarded an accolade in the Social Sciences category at the International Convention of Asia Scholars in 2019.

• IntroductionWhy new religious movements? Lukas K. Pokorny and Franz WinterGeneral questions1. What are new religious movements? Lukas K. Pokorny2. New religious movements, new religions, sects, cults – what’s the difference? Franz Winter3. What is "new" in new religious movements? Franz Winter4. Are all new religious movements similar? Franz Winter5. How big can new religious movements be? Lukas K. Pokorny6. How many new religious movements are there? Lukas K. Pokorny7. When is a new religious movement no longer "new"? Suzanne Owen8. Why do people join new religious movements? Joseph P. Laycock9. Why do people leave new religious movements? Carole Cusack10. Are all new religious movements dangerous? Marie W. Dallam11. Do new religious movements financially exploit members? Lukas K. Pokorny12. Are most new religious movements violent? Rebecca Moore13. When do new religious movements succeed, when do they fail? Franz WinterFeatures14. Are new religious movements "global" religions? Ugo Dessì15. What happens when founders die? Eileen Barker16. What is it like being raised in a new religious movement? Sanja Nilsson17. What about women and new religious movements? Nicole M. Bauer18. Are new religious movements founded or led only by men? Lukas K. Pokorny19. What is the attitude toward sex in new religious movements? Sanja Nilsson20. Are new religious movements more "spiritual" than the "old" religions? Steven J.Sutcliffe21. What is the relationship between new religious movements and esotericism? Olav Hammer22. Do new religious movements have sacred books? Marco Frenschkowski23. Do new religious movements have myths? Olav Hammer24. Do all new religious movements have apocalyptic beliefs? Lukas K. Pokorny25. How do new religious movements respond to failed prophecies? Lukas K. Pokorny26. What is the relationship between new religious movements and science? Olav Hammer27. Do all new religious movements have secret teachings? Hugh Urban28. What do new religious movements say about UFOs and Ets? Benjamin E. Zeller29. How do new religious movements use social media? Aled Thomas30. Which challenges do new religious movements face online? Aled Thomas31. Have new religious movements emerged in cyberspace? Aled Thomas32. When do new religious movements become therapeutic? Nicole M. Bauer33. Do Japanese manga deal with new religious movements? Elisabetta PorcuMovements34. Are there new religious movements in Judaism? Boaz Huss35. Are there new religious movements in Islam? Carole Cusack36. Was Christianity once a new religious movement? Marco Frenschkowski37. Why are there so many new religious movements in Japan? Ugo Dessì38. Are there new religious movements in Africa? Asaf Augusto and Eva Spies39. Are there new religious movements in South America? Bettina Schmidt40. Is Paganism a new religious movement? Ethan Doyle White41. Is Satanism a new religious movement? Per Faxneld42. Is the New Age Movement a new religious movement? Steven J. Sutcliffe43. What do yoga and meditation have to do with new religious movements? SuzanneNewcombe Yoga and meditation and NRMs?44. Are festivals new religious movements? Sára Eszter Heidl45. Are Mormons Christian? Matthew Bowman46. Do Mormons practice polygamy? Matthew Bowman47. Do the Baha'i integrate all other religions into their own? Franz Winter48. Why do Jehovah’s Witnesses reject blood transfusions? Milda Ališauskienė49. What is the deal with Joan of Arc, Victor Hugo, and Jesus in Caodaism? Lukas K. Pokorny50. Why did Soka Gakkai attract more converts than any other Japanese new religious movement? Levi McLaughlin51. Was Bob Marley the Rastafari Messiah? Vivaldi Jean-Marie52. Why does the Unification Church hold mass weddings in sports stadiums? Lukas K. Pokorny53. Is Scientology really so dangerous? Donald A. Westbrook54. How "Hindu" is the Hare Krishna Movement? Frank Neubert55. What went wrong in Jonestown? Rebecca Moore56. Was Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (aka Osho) really a sex guru? Hugh Urban57. What happened in the Branch Davidians-Federal Agents Conflict? Catherine Wessinger58. Do the ancestors make refrigerators? Garry Trompf59. What happened with the "Away Team" of Heaven's Gate? Benjamin E. Zeller60. Why did Aum Shinrikyo attack society? Elisabetta Porcu61. Why is Falun Gong persecuted in China? Joseph Chadwin62. Do Jedi exist? Markus Davidsen63. Is Pastafarianism a made-up religion? Kristian Klippenstein64. Are angels popular in new religious movements? Markus DavidsenControversies65. What explains the enduring bias against new religious movements? Stephen E. Gregg66. Should scholars be advocates of new religious movements? Benjamin E. Zeller67. Should academics defend new religious movements against society? Stephen E. Gregg68. How do states react to new religious movements? Bernard Doherty69. Should society control new religious movements more than other religions? Eileen Barker70. Are all members of new religious movements brainwashed? Jacques Parker71. Is the anti-cult movement itself a cult? Franz Winter72. Who are deprogrammers? Jacques Parker73. What is love bombing? Jacques Parker74. How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect new religious movements? Georges Chryssides75. What is the relation between new religious movements and conspiracy theories? Asbjørn Dyrendal76. What is the relation between new religious movements and crime? Franz Winter77. How do new religious movements engage politically? Mary F. BriggsStudying and Teaching78. How should scholars approach new religious movements? David Bromley79. How did scholars research new religious movements? Georges Chryssides80. Are ex-members a reliable source of information about new religious movements? Massimo Introvigne81. How to deal with controversial new religious movements? Milda Ališauskienė82. How to get in touch with members of new religious movements? Holly Folk83. How to teach new religious movements in class? David Bromley84. Should specialized courses on new religious movements be taught? Franz Winter85. How to teach about new religious movements at school? Robert Wurzrainer