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Another Look at New Religions

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  • J. GORDON MELTON

Abstract

Two decades of intensive study of nonconventional religion in North America has provided a large data base to examine some of the basic ideas about the new religious movements that have become so prominent in the last generation. Common ideas about the ephemeral nature, lack of historical context, and the role of charismatic leaders, derived from studies of rather small samples of new religions, are challenged in this article by a study of 836 new religions that have operated in North America this century. They are best viewed not as marginal cultural phenomena, that is, as cults, but as products of the massive diffusion of the world's religions globally. The number of new and nonconventional religions has grown steadily since the passing of new immigration laws in 1965 and will continue to grow in the light of even higher quotas for Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants passed in 1990.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Gordon Melton, 1993. "Another Look at New Religions," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 527(1), pages 97-112, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:527:y:1993:i:1:p:97-112
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716293527001008
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