NEW RELIGIONS EAST AND WEST

The controversy over new religions is a complex social issue that has engendered an emotional and often mean-spirited debate. At the center of this debate is a wide variety of diverse groups that often have little in common. Most embrace belief systems at odds with mainstream religion, though some are quite orthodox. Also, while they are usually relatively small, new organizations, almost always have roots in older, larger traditions. The one trait these groups share is that they have been controversial at one point or another in their existence. Decades of social conflict have left their impress on the term “cult,” which, to the general public, indicates a religious group that is false, dangerous, or otherwise bad.

The sharpness of this controversy has tended to polarize participants into extreme positions, making it difficult to find a middle ground from which to approach the issue. Hence, rather than tackling the problem directly, it might well repay our efforts to work our way into the debate indirectly through the stories of two contrasting religious groups that will serve to highlight some of the dilemmas associated with the cult controversy.

In the following sections, the story of the Solar Temple, the group involved in a series of murder/suicides in 1994, 1995, and 1997, will be used to exemplify the concerns that “anti-cultists” bring to the controversy. Falun Gong, the physical culture (Qi Gong) group that has been heavily persecuted in China since 1999, will, on the other hand, be used to exemplify the concerns of religious libertarians.