Reviews

Five volumes may seem like a long introduction to alternative religions, but there is a lot of ground to cover, including the definition of "new religious movement" and how a movement rises to the status of a religion. While other sets have sought to catalog hundreds of emerging religions (e.g., Oxford University's New Religions: A Guide; New Religious Movements, Sects and Alternative Spiritualities), this set offers just a handful of in-depth explorations within the broader context of their association with major religions. Scholars have shed the pejorative term cults to refer to religions outside the mainstream, but it continues in popular use. Here, contributors, including professors, and anthropologists, as well as practitioners of the religions profiled, seek to reduce the marginalization of these groups by providing factual, unbiased accounts of their rise and doctrines. The first volume addresses new religious movements as they negotiate globalization, law, gender issues, and prevailing religious beliefs with scholarly yet accessible articles on the history and controversies swirling around them. The remaining volumes profile specific groups like the Hare Krishna movement, the Branch Davidians, and Heaven's Gate, touching on the origin and development of each group's ideology, its internal structure, types of leadership, and issues that have projected the religion into the national spotlight. Bottom Line Altogether, a solid and readable course in alternative religions suitable for high school and college students and particularly laudable for its inclusive stance on alternative faiths. Best purchased for circulating collections.-Kelli Perkins, Herrick Dist. Lib., Holland, MI Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.