New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction

By Eileen Barker

Book Overview

New Religious Movements

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0113409273
• ISBN13: 9780113409273
• Release Date: January 1990
• Publisher: Unipub
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

For those sympathetic to the cause of... truth

This is an excellent book for concerned parents who prefer facts and reason to propaganda and hysteria. Unlike the deprogrammers or "exit counsellors", Professor EileenBarker has no vested interest in attacking ordefending the "cults". She does not draw her conclusionsfrom "discussions with current cult leaders", either(anyone who can say that obviously has not read any ofher books). We're talking here about a lady whose research into the Moonies was perhaps the most extensive work ever done within the field - and "discussionswith cult leaders" hardly featured in it at all.Any thinking person will be impressed with thescientific rigor of Barker's work ("scientific rigor"being something Steven Hassan would not recognize even if it came up and bit him on the nose), and her findings are made even more trustworthy bythe fact that she remains so obviously unimpressedwith the cults' doctrines.Highly recommended!

Excellent Approach to NRMs

In this work, Barker has given parents excellent suggestions for steps that they should take when a child joins a religious group whose beliefs they might not agree with. She emphasizes the importance of letting adult children make their own decisions about their religious beliefs, but also stresses the importance of keeping contact with the new convert and learning about the beliefs and social structure of the group. Parents who have a child in a "cult" would be much better off if they would read this book as opposed to any of Bob Larson's or the rest of the anti-cult movement. Individuals who like this book should also take a look at Timothy Miller's "America's Alternative Religions" or any work by Bryan Wilson for a neutral examination of New Religious Movements.