Antiquity and Social Reform: Religious Experience in the Unification Church, Feminist Wicca and Nation of Yahweh

222 Pages·2010·0.96 MB·English

by  Dawn Hutchinson

Antiquity and Social Reform

Antiquity and Social Reform:
Religious Experience in the Unification
Church, Feminist Wicca and Nation of Yahweh
By
Dawn L. Hutchinson
Antiquity and Social Reform:
Religious Experience in the Unification Church, Feminist Wicca and Nation of Yahweh,
by Dawn L. Hutchinson
This book first published 2010
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Copyright © 2010 by Dawn Hutchinson
All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
ISBN (10): 1-4438-2287-6, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-2287-9
This manuscript is dedicated to my husband Jesse
and daughter Piper.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements....................................................................................ix
Abstract......................................................................................................xi
Introduction.................................................................................................1
An Historical Approach to the study of New Religious Movements
Summary

Chapter One...............................................................................................21
The Unification Church as a Restoration Movement
Existing Scholarship on the Unification Church
History of the Unification Church
The Conservative Movement and the Unification Church
What the Unification Church Offered its Members
Explanation of Why Christianity Needed Restoration
Personal Religious Experience and Special Relationship with God
A Role in the Restoration of Christianity
America’s Role in the Restoration of Christianity
Summary
Chapter Two..............................................................................................61
Feminist Wicca, A Neopagan Religious Movement
Existing Scholarship on Feminist Wicca
History of Feminist Wicca
Rhetoric of the Feminist Movement
Rhetoric of the Re-emerging Goddess
What Feminist Wicca Offered its Members
Explanation of Why Judeo-Christian Religions Failed Women
Personal Religious Experience and Special Relationship
with the Goddess
The Possibility of Ending Patriarchal Oppression in America
Summary
viii Table of Contents
Chapter Three..........................................................................................117
Nation of Yahweh, A Black Hebrew-Israelite Religion
Existing Scholarship on the Nation of Yahweh
History of the Nation of Yahweh
Black Power Rhetoric
Hebrew Identity Rhetoric
What the Nation of Yahweh Offered its Members
Explanation of Why Christianity Failed Blacks
Personal Religious Experience and Special Relationship with God
The Possibility of Ending White Oppression in America
Summary
Conclusion...............................................................................................159
Afterword................................................................................................171
Notes........................................................................................................173
Bibliography............................................................................................197
Biographical Sketch.................................................................................209
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project began as a dissertation for the Department of Religion at the
Florida State University. Thus, I would like to acknowledge the guidance
of my dissertation committee: John Corrigan, Amy Koehlinger, Amanda
Porterfield, and Irene Padavic. Without John Corrigan’s careful tutelage, I
would not have been able to complete this project. Likewise, the faculty of
the Department of Religion at Florida State University prepared me for
this task. In addition, James Strange and Dell deChant at the University of
South Florida influenced the way that I approach primary texts and
religious people as subjects. I would also like to thank the faculty of the
Philosophy and Religious Studies Department at Christopher Newport
University, whose support and encouragement were instrumental for my
progress. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the help of
the library staff of the American Religions Collection, Department of
Special Collections, at the Donald C. Davidson Library, University of
California, Santa Barbara. In addition to donating the materials I perused
there, J. Gordon Melton also was able to guide some aspects of my
research.