Prompt
Format: Below is an essay question which draws together a number of themes and subjects that we have explored since the midterm (although issues and ideas from the first part of the course will clearly be relevant to your thinking). Your answer must be from 7-10 pages double-spaced in length, and should take the form of an essay. In other words, give me a clear thesis, a well-argued and well-researched body, and a concise conclusion. You MUST use the texts particular to each movement we have studied, and you must document these with proper citation. (In addition, if you wish to consult outside sources I will be happy to give you some recommendations.)
Question:
As we come to the end of our complicated journey with new religious movements in the United States, certain comparative themes have emerged in our conversations. One such theme has recurred often: the relationship between freedom/liberation and constraint/limits.
Karl Marx once wrote that religion is “the sigh of the oppressed, the heart of a heartless world.” While he meant this as a disparaging remark, this notion actually helps us understand what religions DO for people, how they help people create meaning, and how they often work to preserve identity or community.
In this essay, I want you to explore this relationship between freedom and constraint in American new religious movements. You must discuss at least three of the following new religious movements or impulses in your essay: the Nation of Islam, Wicca, Vodou/Santeria, Rastafarianism, New Age, Scientology, UFO religions, invented religions, bright side/dark side religious impulses, or the People’s Temple.
With each movement, describe the ways in which constraint and freedom are experienced with regard to the following three areas: the body, society/community, and intellect/mind. Be very specific about how each tradition deals with these three areas – how are limits perceived in each area, and how do these traditions attempt to create freedom therein? What do these movements promise or offer people? How do they respond to people’s suffering and their experience of limits? How do they reshape people’s experience of their world, through specific beliefs, practices, and communities?
In your responses, you may wish to consider the role of religious eclecticism (including the limits of what counts as a “religion” in terms of pop culture, fantasy narratives, conspiracy, and invented religions), the ways in which the mainstream defines the religious “other,” the growing number of religious consumers/seekers, and other key concepts we have dealt with over the semester.
————–
Texts (only write about these NRMs):
The People’s Temple”
What do they think are the Limits of the body, society/community, intellect/mind
How do they create freedom in these areas
What does this nrm offer to people?
How do they respond to peoples suffering?
How do they reshape peoples experiences of the world?
Reading:
Sikivu Hutchinson, “Why Did So Many Black Women Die?”: https://religiondispatches.org/why-did-so-many-black-women-die-jonestown-at-35/.
Jim Jones interview: https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=14016.
People’s Temple promotional booklet: https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/03-pt-booklet.pdf.
“Wicca”
What do they think are the Limits of the body, society/community, intellect/mind
How do they create freedom in these areas
What does this nrm offer to people?
How do they respond to peoples suffering?
How do they reshape peoples experiences of the world?
Reading :
Urban Chpt. 8: https://catalog.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog/NCSU4290574.
Zitkala-Sa, “Why I Am a Pagan”: https://classes.matthewjbrown.net/teaching-files/american/Zitkala-Sa-Pagan.md.pdf.
“W.I.T.C.H. Manifesto” at: https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/4588-witchy-bitchy.
“The Nation of Islam”
What do they think are the Limits of the body, society/community, intellect/mind
How do they create freedom in these areas
What does this nrm offer to people?
How do they respond to peoples suffering?
How do they reshape peoples experiences of the world?
Reading :
Elijah Muhammad, “Message to the Blackman in America”: Allah is God – Who is That Mystery God? Part 2; Original Man – Know Thyself; The Black Woman; A Program for Self-Development.
https://newsyllabus.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/message-to-the-blackman-elijah-muhammad.pdf.
Urban chapter 5: https://catalog.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog/NCSU4290574.
“Scientology”
What do they think are the Limits of the body, society/community, intellect/mind
How do they create freedom in these areas
What does this nrm offer to people?
How do they respond to peoples suffering?
How do they reshape peoples experiences of the world?
Reading:
Tuesday April 9: Bright Side
Reading: Urban Chpt. 7: https://catalog.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog/NCSU4290574.
Skim: https://www.scientologycourses.org/tools-for-life/integrity/steps/two-rules-for-happy-living.html.
“Rastafarianism “
What do they think are the Limits of the body, society/community, intellect/mind
How do they create freedom in these areas
What does this nrm offer to people?
How do they respond to peoples suffering?
How do they reshape peoples experiences of the world?
Religious eclestism
Religious other
Reading:
The Holy Piby, chpt. 3: https://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/piby/piby08.htm.
Zora Neale Hurston, “Hoodoo in America,” pp. 362-68: https://www.jstor.org/stable/535394.
Laine Kaplan-Levenson, “Mother Catherine Seals and the Temple of the Innocent Blood”: https://www.wwno.org/post/mother-catherine-seals-and-temple-innocent-blood.
Urban chapter 6: https://catalog.lib.ncsu.edu/catalog/NCSU4290574.

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