classtime, #NUcults! I& #39;ll keep an eye out for your AMA questions, but your Medium responses include a lot of
what do I call these groups if I can& #39;t call them cults
what if these groups really ARE dangerous
so I& #39;ma tweet about that today
what do I call these groups if I can& #39;t call them cults
what if these groups really ARE dangerous
so I& #39;ma tweet about that today
so I went into Great Detail about why "cults" is a problem for the podcast y& #39;all listened to last week
#NUcults https://keepingit101.buzzsprout.com/810974/4113314-smart-grrl-summer-cults">https://keepingit101.buzzsprout.com/810974/41...
#NUcults https://keepingit101.buzzsprout.com/810974/4113314-smart-grrl-summer-cults">https://keepingit101.buzzsprout.com/810974/41...
And I& #39;ve talked about it a bit on our Medium site as well
#NUcults https://medium.com/cults-sects/cults-3e19ca471a6c">https://medium.com/cults-sec...
#NUcults https://medium.com/cults-sects/cults-3e19ca471a6c">https://medium.com/cults-sec...
#NUcults
a of all: Jonestown wasn& #39;t a cult
it wasn& #39;t even a group
it was a PLACE
where a group of people (Peoples Temple), many of them Black women, worked themselves to exhaustion trying to create a better, more just world
here& #39;s what Jonestown was:
a of all: Jonestown wasn& #39;t a cult
it wasn& #39;t even a group
it was a PLACE
where a group of people (Peoples Temple), many of them Black women, worked themselves to exhaustion trying to create a better, more just world
here& #39;s what Jonestown was:
but this isn& #39;t a thread about Jonestown or Peoples Temple
it& #39;s about why the word "cult" matters
I& #39;m not telling you not to use it bc it& #39;s not polite
I& #39;m telling you not to use it because words DO things, and cult DOES the wrong thing when we think about religion
#NUcults
it& #39;s about why the word "cult" matters
I& #39;m not telling you not to use it bc it& #39;s not polite
I& #39;m telling you not to use it because words DO things, and cult DOES the wrong thing when we think about religion
#NUcults
it MATTERS that when you hear "cult" you think
* pile of bodies
* brainwashing
* charismatic leader
* (some? all?) religion is dangerous
#NUcults
* pile of bodies
* brainwashing
* charismatic leader
* (some? all?) religion is dangerous
#NUcults
it matters that "cult" makes you go like "ooh, if I click this headline I& #39;m going to read some weird shit about freaky sex, manipulative assholes, and people too dumb to know they& #39;re being taken advantage of"
(yes I DID pause to make this image just for y& #39;all)
#NUcults
(yes I DID pause to make this image just for y& #39;all)
#NUcults
I once taught an entire class called "How to Do Things with Words" (ask @ThePookyJ) so this is a theme for me
but I& #39;m not the only one making this argument
#NUcults https://religiondispatches.org/culting-from-waco-to-fundamentalist-mormons/">https://religiondispatches.org/culting-f...
but I& #39;m not the only one making this argument
#NUcults https://religiondispatches.org/culting-from-waco-to-fundamentalist-mormons/">https://religiondispatches.org/culting-f...
Wessinger: "& #39;cult& #39; can also be seen to imply that it is only in small, unconventional religious groups that believers commit hurtful and illegal actions; socially dominant religious groups are somehow let off the hook, as if their members never transgress in this way"
#NUcults
#NUcults
#NUcults *super* short version?
"cult" is a misdirect
it& #39;s smuggling in all sorts of assumptions about religions
it& #39;s three sexist, classist, white supremacist toddlers in a trench coat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bPjUz9X8I8">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
"cult" is a misdirect
it& #39;s smuggling in all sorts of assumptions about religions
it& #39;s three sexist, classist, white supremacist toddlers in a trench coat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bPjUz9X8I8">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
#NUcults - we read @IjeomaOluo for today, so you know racism and white supremacy aren& #39;t just about intentions
looking at minoritized religions and calling them cults has a long, white supremacist history in the US
we& #39;re covering some of that history this semester
looking at minoritized religions and calling them cults has a long, white supremacist history in the US
we& #39;re covering some of that history this semester
for today, though, let& #39;s get our definitions straight
whether you mean it to or not, "cult" (especially in what& #39;s now the US) makes people think
* dangerous
* pervy
* controlling + greedy + manipulative leaders
* stupid or trapped members
* RELIGION BUT BAD
#NUcults
whether you mean it to or not, "cult" (especially in what& #39;s now the US) makes people think
* dangerous
* pervy
* controlling + greedy + manipulative leaders
* stupid or trapped members
* RELIGION BUT BAD
#NUcults
"cult" smuggles in the idea that "real" religions are inherently good
and--as we& #39;ve already discussed quite a bit--Americans& #39; ideas of "real" religions just so happen to resemble white mainstream Christianity
#NUcults
and--as we& #39;ve already discussed quite a bit--Americans& #39; ideas of "real" religions just so happen to resemble white mainstream Christianity
#NUcults
you know I have so many readings on this for y& #39;all, #NUcults
but basically, "real/good" American religion is:
- private
- individual
- belief-based
- civil
- reserved
- text-based
- limited to certain times/locations
- pro-United States
you know, like this fellow:
but basically, "real/good" American religion is:
- private
- individual
- belief-based
- civil
- reserved
- text-based
- limited to certain times/locations
- pro-United States
you know, like this fellow:
all of those things are sound a lot like white supremacy (as @tylergabriel_ observed in @BucarLiz& #39;s Reporting Religion class)
and that is because they ARE components of white supremacy, #NUcults
and that is because they ARE components of white supremacy, #NUcults
religions in America that are
- community-focused
- ecstatic / enthusiastic
- practice-oriented
- uncivil / impolite
- experience, orality, and revelation-based
- not bounded by time/location
- critical of American imperialism
those are the ones that get called... #NUcults
- community-focused
- ecstatic / enthusiastic
- practice-oriented
- uncivil / impolite
- experience, orality, and revelation-based
- not bounded by time/location
- critical of American imperialism
those are the ones that get called... #NUcults
it just so happens that a lot of folks who join these groups are
- not white
- not men
- not wealthy
- not straight (OR just not doing sex in "normal" ways)
- not traditionally Christian
when I say "cult" is racist, sexist, classist, etc?
this is what i mean
#NUcults
- not white
- not men
- not wealthy
- not straight (OR just not doing sex in "normal" ways)
- not traditionally Christian
when I say "cult" is racist, sexist, classist, etc?
this is what i mean
#NUcults
so what do you say if you can& #39;t say "cult," #NUcults?
there& #39;s an easy (less good) answer
and a harder-but-better answer
(which is basically school in a nutshell, sorry)
there& #39;s an easy (less good) answer
and a harder-but-better answer
(which is basically school in a nutshell, sorry)
I wrote about this on our #NUcults Medium site, but the easy answer is "new religious movements"
that& #39;s what the textbook I use in my world religions class calls these kinds of movements, for example https://medium.com/@me.goodwin/generally-scholars-use-new-religious-movements-benjamin-but-then-we-tie-ourselves-in-knots-7faca93f0c1a">https://medium.com/@me.goodw...
that& #39;s what the textbook I use in my world religions class calls these kinds of movements, for example https://medium.com/@me.goodwin/generally-scholars-use-new-religious-movements-benjamin-but-then-we-tie-ourselves-in-knots-7faca93f0c1a">https://medium.com/@me.goodw...
but imo NRMs doesn& #39;t actually get at the real issues here
for example: scholars still talk about the Shakers (founded 1770) as an NRM
we do NOT talk about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (founded 1830) as an NRM
so I ask you, #NUcults
for example: scholars still talk about the Shakers (founded 1770) as an NRM
we do NOT talk about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (founded 1830) as an NRM
so I ask you, #NUcults
these groups aren& #39;t important bc math, #NUcults
they& #39;re important bc they tell us something abt how America defines religion: who counts & who doesn& #39;t
who the 1st amendment protects
who can put their monument on the grounds of a state capitol, say https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/26/606029241/arkansas-installs-a-new-ten-commandments-monument-at-its-capitol">https://www.npr.org/sections/...
they& #39;re important bc they tell us something abt how America defines religion: who counts & who doesn& #39;t
who the 1st amendment protects
who can put their monument on the grounds of a state capitol, say https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/26/606029241/arkansas-installs-a-new-ten-commandments-monument-at-its-capitol">https://www.npr.org/sections/...
and whose non-normative sexual practice gets used as an excuse to invade a community with armored personnel carriers and take all the community& #39;s children away from their families
#NUcults https://therevealer.org/abusing-religion-polygyny-mormonisms-and-under-the-banner-of-heaven/">https://therevealer.org/abusing-r...
#NUcults https://therevealer.org/abusing-religion-polygyny-mormonisms-and-under-the-banner-of-heaven/">https://therevealer.org/abusing-r...
so yeah, NRMs is never going to be it for me
bc this isn& #39;t about who& #39;s the new kid on the block
it& #39;s about power
it& #39;s about who is protected and who is made a legitimate target of state violence
#NUcults
bc this isn& #39;t about who& #39;s the new kid on the block
it& #39;s about power
it& #39;s about who is protected and who is made a legitimate target of state violence
#NUcults
BUT
if "cult" is a dang problem (and it is)
and NRM doesn& #39;t really get the job done (and it doesn& #39;t)
then what DO you call these groups?
#NUcults
if "cult" is a dang problem (and it is)
and NRM doesn& #39;t really get the job done (and it doesn& #39;t)
then what DO you call these groups?
#NUcults
here& #39;s the harder and (I think) better move:
think about what questions you& #39;re trying to answer when you& #39;re asking about these groups
#NUcults
think about what questions you& #39;re trying to answer when you& #39;re asking about these groups
#NUcults
I look at "American minority religions," for example
because I& #39;m interested in the overlaps b/w how we treat a marginalized but not new group, like Islam, and how we treat a marginalized new group, like FLDS
#NUcults http://rutgersuniversitypress.org/abusing-religion/9781978807785">https://rutgersuniversitypress.org/abusing-r...
because I& #39;m interested in the overlaps b/w how we treat a marginalized but not new group, like Islam, and how we treat a marginalized new group, like FLDS
#NUcults http://rutgersuniversitypress.org/abusing-religion/9781978807785">https://rutgersuniversitypress.org/abusing-r...
my central question was about abuse, how abuse happens in minoritized religious communities, and how we respond differently to abuse in those communities than to abuse that happens elsewhere
and the conclusion I came to is: religion doesn& #39;t cause abuse
#NUcults
and the conclusion I came to is: religion doesn& #39;t cause abuse
#NUcults
abuse HAPPENS in minoritized religious communities, of course
but that& #39;s because abuse happens EVERYWHERE
religion doesn& #39;t cause abuse
people cause abuse
#NUcults https://sojo.net/articles/abuse-happens-because-let-it-Menlo-Park-John-Ortberg-Lavery">https://sojo.net/articles/...
but that& #39;s because abuse happens EVERYWHERE
religion doesn& #39;t cause abuse
people cause abuse
#NUcults https://sojo.net/articles/abuse-happens-because-let-it-Menlo-Park-John-Ortberg-Lavery">https://sojo.net/articles/...
so the central question of the semester
"is religion dangerous?"
is a trick question
bc no, religion isn& #39;t dangerous
PEOPLE are dangerous
and people use religion to DO dangerous things
#NUcults
"is religion dangerous?"
is a trick question
bc no, religion isn& #39;t dangerous
PEOPLE are dangerous
and people use religion to DO dangerous things
#NUcults
but that& #39;s just one way of looking at this!
#NUcults is reading a lot of @JLWeisenfeld this semester, too
_New World_ uses "religio-racial identity" to think more carefully about how religion and race, especially US Blackness, make space to reimagine history & belonging
#NUcults is reading a lot of @JLWeisenfeld this semester, too
_New World_ uses "religio-racial identity" to think more carefully about how religion and race, especially US Blackness, make space to reimagine history & belonging
I didn& #39;t make y& #39;all read JZ Smith& #39;s "religion, religions, religious," but that& #39;s the punchline
and to adapt for our purposes: there isn& #39;t one good word for these groups
there are infinity ways of describing them, bc there are infinity ways of doing religion
#NUcults
and to adapt for our purposes: there isn& #39;t one good word for these groups
there are infinity ways of describing them, bc there are infinity ways of doing religion
#NUcults
I want us to resist the urge to think religion is simple
that there are easy ways of describing it
I want us to know that HOW we talk and think about religion MATTERS
and that getting it wrong can have dire consequences
#NUcults https://www.vox.com/2018/4/19/17246732/waco-tragedy-explained-david-koresh-mount-carmel-branch-davidian-cult-25-year-anniversary">https://www.vox.com/2018/4/19...
that there are easy ways of describing it
I want us to know that HOW we talk and think about religion MATTERS
and that getting it wrong can have dire consequences
#NUcults https://www.vox.com/2018/4/19/17246732/waco-tragedy-explained-david-koresh-mount-carmel-branch-davidian-cult-25-year-anniversary">https://www.vox.com/2018/4/19...
we& #39;re going to spend the rest of the semester unpacking these issues, but this should be enough to get us started
thanks for hanging in, #NUcults, and feel free to AMA #onhere, Medium, or in the chat!
thanks for hanging in, #NUcults, and feel free to AMA #onhere, Medium, or in the chat!
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