Offering the accounts of “apostates” as evidence, anti-cultists insist that “cults” are not “genuine” religions and they gain converts through “brainwashing.”
Massimo Introvigne
“All Brothers”: Fraternity and the Tai Ji Men Case
Fraternity is a fruit of conscience, and is destroyed by corruption. The injustice vested on Tai Ji Men is an example of how corruption disrupts social harmony.
The Anti-Cult Movement. 5. Anti-Cultism Beyond the West
In Japan and South Korea, deprogramming continued for decades. In Russia and China, anti-cultism was sponsored and organized by the state.
Gli apostati sono affidabili? 3. Racconti di disaffiliazione e prigionia
C’è una differenza sostanziale tra lo studio accademico della disaffiliazione e una propaganda anti-sette che ricorda le antiche storie di fanciulle bianche rapite dai Nativi Americani.
The Anti-Cult Movement. 4. Anti-Cultism Goes to Europe
The suicides and homicides of the Order of the Solar Temple in the 1990s were used to justify a witch hunt against hundreds of groups. Scholars reacted.
Norge: En urettferdig avgjørelse mot Jehovas vitner
Den 27. januar nektet Statsforvalteren vitnene statstilskudd, noe de har mottatt i tretti år. Vedtaket innebærer en risiko for alle trossamfunn.
Gli apostati sono affidabili? 2. I falsi apostati
Alcuni che asseriscono di aver fatto parte di una religione o di un movimento, e di essere a conoscenza dei suoi segreti, semplicemente mentono.
Gli apostati sono affidabili? 1. Il problema dell’apostasia
Gli apostati sono ex membri di una religione o di un movimento religioso che diventano nemici giurati della fede che hanno abbandonato. Esistono da secoli.
The Anti-Cult Movement. 3. The Secular Anti-Cult Movement
Parents of students who left college to become full-time missionaries created a secular opposition to “cults.” Later, other targets were added.
The Anti-Cult Movement. 2. Counter-Cult vs. Anti-Cult
There is an important difference between counter-cultists as heresy hunters motivated by sectarian reasons, and the more secular anti-cultists.
Massimo Introvigne
Massimo Introvigne (born June 14, 1955 in Rome) is an Italian sociologist of religions. He is the founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), an international network of scholars who study new religious movements. Introvigne is the author of some 70 books and more than 100 articles in the field of sociology of religion. He was the main author of the Enciclopedia delle religioni in Italia (Encyclopedia of Religions in Italy). He is a member of the editorial board for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion and of the executive board of University of California Press' Nova Religio. From January 5 to December 31, 2011, he has served as the "Representative on combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination, with a special focus on discrimination against Christians and members of other religions" of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2012 to 2015 he served as chairperson of the Observatory of Religious Liberty, instituted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to monitor problems of religious liberty on a worldwide scale.