Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: The Rise of New Religions in Modern America 2. The Native American Church: Ancient Tradition in a Modern Legal Context 3. Mormonism and Plural Marriage: The LDS and the FLDS 4. Spiritualism: Women, Mediums, and Messages from Other Worlds 5. The Nation of Islam and the Five Percenters: Race, Religion, and Hip-Hop 6. Rastafari: Messianism, Music, and Ganja 7. The Church of Scientology: New Religions and Tax Exemption 8. Wicca and Neopaganism: Magic, Feminism, and Environmentalism 9. The Church of Satan and the Temple of Set: Religious Parody and Satanic Panic 10. ISKCON (Hare Krishna): Eastern Religions in America and the "Brainwashing" Debate 11. Channeling and the New Age: Alternative Spirituality in Popular Culture and Media 12. Peoples Temple: Mass Murder-Suicide, the Media, and the "Cult" Label 13. The Branch Davidians: Millenarian Movements, Religious Freedom, and Privacy 14. The Raelians: UFOs and Human Cloning Appendix: Method and Theory in the Study of New Religions Index

About the Author

Hugh B. Urban is Professor of Religion at Ohio State University and the author of The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion; "Magia Sexualis": Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism; Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics, and Power in the Study of Religion; and The Economics of Ecstasy: Tantra, Secrecy and Power in Colonial Bengal.

Reviews

"Urban points to the need for respect as well as critical thinking in approaching these new religious movements, and he prods readers to be thoughtful in discussing and debating these issues... There is no better textbook available on this topic. Summing Up: Highly recommended." CHOICE