Contents

Contributors

Introduction

PART ONE: Western Religious Traditions

1.  A Family for the Twenty-first Century—JAMES CHANCELLOR

2.  The Unification Church—SARAH M. LEWIS

3.  The Controversies about Peoples Temple and Jonestown—REBECCA MOORE

4.  The Branch Davidians—EUGENE V. GALLAGHER

5.  Charismatic Controversies in the Jesus People, Calvary Chapel, and Vineyard Movements—JANE SKJOLDLI

6.  Kabbalah Centre: Marketing and Meaning—JODY MYERS

7.  Controversial Afro-American Muslim Organizations—GÖRAN LARSSON

PART TWO: Asian and Asian-Inspired Traditions

8.  The Earth School: The Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness—JAMES R. LEWIS

9.  Contested Genealogies and Cross-Cultural Dynamics in the Hare Krishna Movement—MALCOLM HADDON

10.  Transcendental Meditation, the Art of Living Foundation, and Public Relations: From Psychedelic Romanticism to Science and Schism—INGA B. TØLLEFSEN

11.  Controversy, Cultural Influence, and the Osho/Rajneesh Movement—MARION S. GOLDMAN

12.  Aum Shinrikyo and the Aum Incident: A Critical Introduction—MARTIN REPP

13.  Falun Gong: A Narrative of Pending Apocalypse, Shape-Shifting Aliens, and Relentless Persecution—HELEN FARLEY

PART THREE: Western Esoteric and New Age Groups

14.  Scientology: The Making of a Religion—KJERSTI HELLESØY

15.  The Church Universal and Triumphant: Controversy, Change, and Continuance—JOCELYN H. DEHAAS

16.  The Order of the Solar Temple—HENRIK BOGDAN

17.  New Age Spiritualities—SIV ELLEN KRAFT

18.  Contemporary Paganism—MANON HEDENBORG-WHITE

19.  Popularity of—and Controversy in—Contemporary Shamanism—ANNE KALVIG

PART FOUR: Other Groups and Movements

20.  “Come on up, and I will show thee”: Heaven’s Gate as a Postmodern Group—GEORGE D. CHRYSSIDES

21.  “Those who came from the sky”: Ancient Astronauts and Creationism in the Raëlian Religion—ERIK A. W. ÖSTLING

22.  Wolf Age Pagans—MATTIAS GARDELL

23.  Carnal, Chthonian, Complicated: The Matter of Modern Satanism—JESPER Aa. PETERSEN

Index