In the face of the increasingly variegated ideological landscape of contemporary America, cults have become the focus of public controversy. The growth of new r

Religious power assumes many strikingly different forms, which are often regarded as unique, unrelated, and even mutually exclusive. Religion in Context, howeve

What is a cult? Why do they emerge? Who joins them? And why do tragedies such as Waco and Jonestown occur? This reader brings together the voices of historians,

Gods, deities, symbolism, deposition, cosmology and intentionality are all features of the study of early ritual and cult. Archaeology has great difficulties in

He also analyzes controversial issues such as the accusations of brainwashing and sexual deviance that are sometimes made against cults; discusses why cults som