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This volume, dedicated to the late James Lewis, covers a wide range of topics on violence and conspiracies amongst new religious movements. James was a prodigious scholar, being the author or editor of 50 books and author or co-author of more than 128 articles and reference book entries, as well as journals focusing on religious violence. The wide variety of papers in this volume are a tribute to the wide influence James had in the study of New Religious Movements (NRMs), and especially their use of violence and manipulation in the control of their followers. He staunchly repudiated simple aspersions of “brainwashing” for members of new religious movements, as well as exaggerations of a leader’s charisma to explain mass casualty events and maintained a wide-eyed skepticism about proclaimed motives of these NRMs.

Published: Nov 13, 2024

Book Contributors

• Editor - Margo Kitts ([email protected] - mkitts) 'Hawai'i Pacific University '
• Author - Mark Juergensmeyer ([email protected] - juergens) 'University of California, Santa Barbara'
• Author - Michael Barkun ([email protected] - mbarkun) 'Syracuse University'
• Author - David G. Bromley ([email protected] - dbromley) 'Virginia Commonwealth University '
• Author - Mattias Gardell ([email protected] - mgardell) 'Uppsala University'
• Author - Rebecca Moore ([email protected] - rmoore) 'San Diego State University'
• Author - Catherine Wessinger ([email protected] - Wessinger701887997) 'Loyola University'
• Author - Carole M. Cusack ([email protected] - carolecusack) 'University of Sydney'
• Author - Stefano Bigliardi ([email protected] - stefanobigliardi) 'Al Akhawayn University '
• Author - Zhang Xinzhang ([email protected] - xinzhang) 'Hangzhou City University'
• Author - Xu Weiwei ([email protected] - xweiwei) 'Hangzhou City University'
• Author - Abdelmojib Chouhbi ([email protected] - achouhbi)
• Author - Mohamed Amine Ghafil ([email protected] - maghafil)
• Author - Amine Nakari ([email protected] - anakari)
• Author - Danya Tazi Mokha ([email protected] - dmokha)
• Author - Salma Zahidi ([email protected] - szahidi)

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Section	Chapter	Authors
Chapter 1
	Violence, Conspiracies, and New Religions: A Tribute to James R. Lewis	Margo Kitts
Part I: Religion and Violence
	2. Researching Religious Terrorism	Mark Juergensmeyer
	3. Conspiracy Theories Across Borders	Michael Barkun
	4. Lost Cause: The Rise and Fall of a Symbolic Crusade Movement	David G. Bromley
	5. By the Cleansing Flames of Fire: Qur'an Burnings, Racialized Religion and Politized Nostalgia in Sweden	Mattias Gardell
Part II: New Religious Movements
	6. James R. Lewis and Jonestown Studies	Rebecca Moore
	7. The Charisma of David Koresh	Catherine Wessinger
Part III: Media and the Law
	8. Invented Religions and the Law: Jediism and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster	Carole M. Cusack
	9. Director’s Cu(l)ts, Reel Researchers: Exploring Sects in the Movies	Stefano Bigliardi, Abdelmojib Chouhbi, Mohamed Amine Ghafil, Amine Nakari, Danya Tazi Mokha, Salma Zahidi
	10. The Complicated Relationship between Xie Jiao and Cult in the PRC	Zhang Xinzhang, Xu Weiwei
End Matter
	Index	Margo Kitts

Reviews

James R. Lewis was a pioneer in the academic study of New Religious Movements, conspiracy theories, and their intersections with violence. Violence, Conspiracies, and New Religions brings together leading scholars to explore these subjects through a rich, interdisciplinary lens, reflecting the vast impact of Lewis’s scholarship. This volume is essential for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of contemporary religious movements, their entanglement with conspiracy thinking, and the narratives driving acts of violence in today's world. A fitting tribute to a towering figure in the field.
Amarnath Amarasingam, Associate Professor, School of Religion, Queen's University

An engaging set of well-crafted essays, many by leading researchers, covering many of the dominant concerns of Jim Lewis’s prolific scholarship. The volume provides new and significant insights into the nature, study of, and societal response to, new religious movements, religiously inspired violence, and conspiracy thinking.
Lorne L. Dawson, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo, Canada