Perspective: Toward a Definition of "New Religion"
Perspective: Toward a Definition of "New Religion"
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观点：“新宗教”的定义
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发表时间：
2004
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
J. Melton
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作者：
J. Melton
定义“新宗教”的问题始于对大量在流行和学术文献中被贴上邪教标签的团体的调查。寻找任何共同特征——信念、实践或属性——的尝试都失败了。因此，有人认为，新宗教所共有的一个共同缺陷是将它们推向社会边缘的有争议的空间。新宗教被更成熟和占主导地位的宗教文化以及世俗文化中的各种声音（政府官员、监督团体、媒体等）赋予其边缘地位。新的宗教运动与任何特定文化环境中占主导地位的公认宗教信仰/习俗存在严重分歧，和/或从事宗教和/或世俗当局不可接受的一系列活动中的一项或多项，例如暴力、非法行为、高压传教、非常规性接触或少数群体医疗实践。
The question of a defining ““new religion”” begins with a survey of a large number of groups that have been labeled as cults in the popular and scholarly literature. Attempts to locate any shared characteristics——beliefs, practices, or attributes——have failed. Thus it is suggested that what new religions share is a common deficiency that pushes them into contested space at the fringes of society. New religions are assigned their fringe status by the more established and dominant religious culture, and by various voices within the secular culture (government officials, watchdog groups, the media, etc.). New religious movements disagree significantly with the dominant accepted religious beliefs/practices in any given cultural setting and/or engage in one or more of a range of activities unacceptable to religious and/or secular authorities, such as violence, illegal behavior, high pressure proselytism, unconventional sexual contacts, or minority medical practices.