Scientific study of religion

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The Scientific study of religion represents the systematic effort by scholars and researchers to investigate religious phenomena, as well as the sociology of church participation.

The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion was founded in 1949 by scholars in religion and social science, and it publishes the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , a quarterly which "offers perspectives on national and international issues such as brainwashing and cults, religious persecution, and right wing authoritarianism". [1]

The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion was formed to advance research in the social scientific perspective on religious institutions and experiences.

<i>Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion</i> journal

The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (JSSR) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell in the United States of America under the auspices of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, dedicated to publishing scholarly articles in the social sciences, including psychology, sociology and anthropology, devoted to the study of religion. It is not a theology journal, as its publications tend to be empirical papers in the aforementioned disciplines, rather than papers assessing the truth or falsity, or otherwise attempting to clarify, theological doctrines. However, the eminent theologian Paul Tillich wrote a preface to the first edition, published in 1961. A former editor, Ralph W. Hood, is a major name in the psychology of religion, having published scales to assess religious experience and mystical experience. Hood was succeeded as editor in 1999 by Ted Jelen, the first ever political scientist to edit the journal. Jelen was later succeeded as editor by sociologist Rhys Williams. The current editor of the journal is Tobin Grant.

The Center for the Scientific Study of Religion (CSSR) at the University of Texas at Austin is a leading center for the sociology of religion, and particularly for the study of religious influences on human behavior and population outcomes. The CSSR went offline in 2007. [2] [3]

University of Texas at Austin public research university in Austin, Texas, United States

The University of Texas at Austin is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. The University of Texas was inducted into the Association of American Universities in 1929, becoming only the third university in the American South to be elected. The institution has the nation's eighth-largest single-campus enrollment, with over 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students and over 24,000 faculty and staff.

See also

Brainwashing process in which a group or individual "systematically uses unethically manipulative methods to persuade others to conform to the wishes of the manipulator(s), often to the detriment of the person being manipulated"

Brainwashing is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently, to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into the subject's mind, as well as to change his or her attitudes, values, and beliefs.

Cult A social group defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs

In modern English, the term cult has usually been used in reference to a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs, or by its common interest in a particular personality, object or goal. This sense of the term is controversial and it has divergent definitions both in popular culture and academia and it has also been an ongoing source of contention among scholars across several fields of study. It is usually considered pejorative.

Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within society to alienate or repress different subcultures is a recurrent theme in human history. Moreover, because a person's religion often determines to a significant extent his or her morality, worldview, self-image, attitudes towards others, and overall personal identity, religious differences can be significant cultural, personal, and social factors.

Related Research Articles

Margaret Singer clinical psychology

Margaret Thaler Singer was a clinical psychologist and researcher with her colleague Lyman Wynne of family communication. She was a prominent figure in the study of undue influence in social and religious contexts.

Eileen Barker British professor of sociology

Eileen Vartan Barker OBE, is a professor in sociology, an emeritus member of the London School of Economics (LSE), and a consultant to that institution's Centre for the Study of Human Rights. She is the chairperson and founder of the Information Network Focus on Religious Movements (INFORM) and has written studies about groups she defines as cults and new religious movements (NRMs).

New religious movement Religious community or spiritual group of modern origins

A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion or alternative spirituality, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or part of a wider religion, in which case they are distinct from pre-existing denominations. Some NRMs deal with the challenges posed by the modernizing world by embracing individualism, whereas others seek tightly knit collective means. Scholars have estimated that NRMs now number in the tens of thousands worldwide, with most of their members living in Asia and Africa. Most have only a few members, some have thousands, and a few have more than a million members.

CESNUR, is an organization based in Turin, Italy. It was established in 1988 by Italian attorney Massimo Introvigne. It has been described as "the highest profile lobbying and information group for controversial religions".

J. Gordon Melton American religious scholar

John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently the Distinguished Professor of American Religious History with the Institute for Studies of Religion at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he resides. He is also an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.

Massimo Introvigne Italian philosopher

Massimo Introvigne is an Italian patent/trademark lawyer and independent scholar. He is a founder and the managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), a Turin-based organization which has been described as "the highest profile lobbying and information group for controversial religions".

David G. Bromley is a professor of sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA and the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. He has written extensively about cults, new religious movements, apostasy, and the anti-cult movement.

The anti-cult movement is a social group which opposes any new religious movement (NRM) that they characterize as a cult. Sociologists David Bromley and Anson Shupe initially defined the ACM in 1981 as a collection of groups embracing brainwashing-theory, but later observed a significant shift in ideology towards pathologizing membership in NRMs. One element within the anti-cult movement, Christian counter-cult organizations, oppose NRMs on theological grounds and distribute information to this effect through church networks and via printed literature.

Anson D. Shupe, Jr. was an American sociologist noted for his studies of religious groups and their countermovements, family violence and clergy misconduct. He was affiliated with the New Cult Awareness Network, an organisation operated by the Church of Scientology, and has had at least one article published in Freedom magazine.He is very against cults which pose heratic threats.

Stephen A. Kent Canadian sociologist

Stephen A. Kent, is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He researches new religious movements, and has published research on several such groups including the Children of God, the Church of Scientology, and newer faiths operating in Canada.

Ronald M. Enroth has been a Professor of Sociology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, prominent evangelical Christian author of books concerning what he defines as "cults" and "new religious movements" and important figure in the Christian countercult movement.

The academic study of new religious movements is known as new religions studies (NRS). The study draws from the disciplines of anthropology, psychiatry, history, psychology, sociology, religious studies, and theology. Eileen Barker noted that there are five sources of information on new religious movements (NRMs): the information provided by such groups themselves, that provided by ex-members as well as the friends and relatives of members, organisations that collect information on NRMs, the mainstream media, and academics studying such phenomena.

<i>Misunderstanding Cults</i> book by Benjamin Zablocki

Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field was edited by Benjamin Zablocki and Thomas Robbins. The book was published by University of Toronto Press, on December 1, 2001 and includes contributions from ten religious, sociological and psychological scholars.

<i>The Politics of Religious Apostasy</i> book by David G. Bromley

The Politics of Religious Apostasy: The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of Religious Movements is a 1998 book edited by David G. Bromley. It presents studies by several sociologists of new religious movements on the role played by apostates The volume examines the apostate's testimonies, their motivations, the narratives they construct to discredit their former movements, and their impact on the public controversy between such movements and society.

Thomas Robbins is an author and an independent scholar of sociology of religion.

Benton Johnson is an American sociologist and professor emeritus of the University of Oregon's Department of Sociology.

Lorne L. Dawson is a Canadian scholar of the sociology of religion who has written about new religious movements, the brainwashing controversy, and religion and the Internet. His work is now focused on religious terrorism and the process of radicalization, especially with regard to domestic terrorists.

Dick Anthony is a forensic psychologist noted for his writings on the validity of brainwashing as a determiner of behavior, a prolific researcher of the social and psychological aspects of involvement in new religious movements.

References

  1. ↑ "Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion - Wiley Online Library". Blackwellpublishing.com. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  2. ↑ Roemer, Michael K. "About the Center". Center for the Scientific Study of Religion (CSSR). University of Texas at Austin. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  3. ↑ Gerrow, Robin (2003). "UT Feature Story --The Science of Religion: Researchers study how religious beliefs influence people's lives". Office of Public Affairs. University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved September 7, 2015.


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