Religion and Culture

New Religious Movement Project

For this project, you will pick a “new” (originated in the last 100 years or so) religious movement to study and write a short paper on. You can choose a religious movement from any of the ones listed below, or if you have an idea for a different religious movement, just let me know! The list below is definitely not a complete list!

Possible Religious Movements Include:

• Jews for Jesus Snakehandling Churches
• Branch Davidians Buddhist Christianity
• Kabbalah Messianic Judaism
• Hare Krishna Self-Realization Fellowship
• Black Liberation Theology Nation of Islam
• Rastafarians Santeria
• Scientology Christian Science
• Heaven’s Gate Wicca
• Church of Satan Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Unification Church Theosophy
• Ghost Dance Native American Church
• Soka Gakkai Cao Dai
• Core Shamanism Falun Gong
• Raelism The Satanic Temple

You will then write a 1250-word (minimum – you can always write more) paper that answers the following questions:

1. When did this religious tradition start? Was it started by a single individual? Give a general overview of the origins of this religious movement.

2. What are the tradition’s doctrines/truth claims? (i.e. what do they believe about the world, its origins, God or another higher power, what happens after death, etc.)

3. Sacred Texts – Do they have any sacred texts or stories? If so, what are they?

4. Ethics – what is this religion’s view of the good life? How are practitioners encouraged to behave, live their lives, and treat others?

5. Ritual – are there any rituals that are performed in this religious movement? If so, what are they?

6. Society – who can become an authority figure in this tradition? Is it restricted to a certain gender?

7. Your overall impression of this religious movement, including your conclusions on the following:

• Do you think this movement qualifies as a “religion”? Why or why not?
• Do you think that this movement will grow or fade away in the future? Why?
• What did you find most interesting/surprising about this religion?

*Your paper must include a bibliography that has at least 4 sources. Your sources can be books, online sources, or news articles, but they MUST be from a reputable source! If your tradition has a sacred text or texts, you can use those as a source. But for other sources, please make sure that it comes from an academic, unbiased source. A good rule of thumb is to make sure that any website you use has a “.edu” address or that your news article is from a major, respected publication (The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Time Magazine, etc.). Also, Wikipedia is not an acceptable source for your bibliography! You can, however, start your research by looking at the organization’s Wikipedia page. Then scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Wikipedia page’s own bibliography! These are all sources that you can check out on your own and get your information directly from those sources!