FROM THE PUBLISHER

Chryssides provides important analysis of the 'killer cults' -- the Jonestown Peoples Temple, Waco, the Solar Temple and Heaven's Gate -- and examines the factors that made their followers willing to die for their cause. Older groups like Jehovah's Witnesses and the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are discussed, and the author traces the development of a variety of strands of spirituality, ranging from New Thought to Transcendentalism and Theosophy. Subsequent chapters include: the Baha'i, The Family (formerly Children of God), the Hare Krishna Movement (ISKCON), the Jesus Army, the Rastafarians, the Church of Scientology, Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the Unification Church ('the Moonies'). Some less well-known groups are also featured: est (Erhard Seminar Training), the New Kadampa Tradition, Brahma Kumaris, Sai Baba, Subud and the Western Buddhist Order. Also included is a study of the New Age phenomenon, and an account of responses to new religions, at religious, societal, and political levels.

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