Cults, religion, and violence /
edited by David G. Bromley, J. Gordon Melton.
- Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- 1 online resource (xx, 249 pages)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Violence and religion in perspective / David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton -- Dramatic denouements / David G. Bromley -- Challenging misconceptions about the new religions-violence connection / J. Gordon Melton and David G. Bromley -- Sources of volatility in religious movements / Thomas Robbins -- Crises of charismatic legitimacy and violent behavior in new religious movements / Lorne L. Dawson -- Public agency involvement in government-religious movement confrontations / Stuart A. Wright -- Watching for violence: a comparative analysis of the roles of five types of cult-watching groups / Eileen Barker -- Mass suicide and the Branch Davidians / John R. Hall -- Occult masters and the Temple of Doom: the fiery end of the Solar Temple / Massimo Introvigne and Jean-François Mayer -- Dramatic confrontations: Aum Shinrikyô against the world / Ian Reader -- Making sense of the Heaven's Gate suicides / Robert W. Balch and David Taylor -- Lessons from the past, perspective for the future / J. Gordon Melton and David G. Bromley.
This text explores the question of when and why violence by and against new religious cults erupts and whether and how such dramatic conflicts can be foreseen, managed and averted.