Table Of ContentNew Religious Movements
and Religious Liberty in America
This volume is the forty-fourth published by the Markham Press Fund of
Baylor University Press, established in memeory of Dr. L. N. and Princess Finch
Markham of Longview, Texas, by their daughters, Mrs. R. Matt Dawson of
Waco, Texas, and Mrs. B. Reid Clanton of Longview, Texas.
Copyright ©2003 by Baylor University Press
Waco, Texas, 76798
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
New religious movements and religious liberty in America / edited by
Derek H. Davis and Barry Hankins.— 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-918954-92-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Cults—United States—Congresses. 2. United
States—Religion—Congresses. 3. Freedom of religion—United
States—Congresses. I. Davis, Derek, 1949- II. Hankins, Barry, 1956-
BL2525.N487 2003
323.44’2’0973—dc22
2003018212
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
New Religious Movements
and Religious Liberty in America
edited by
Derek H. Davis and Barry Hankins
Second Edition
Baylor University Press
Waco, Texas USA
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Preface ix
Introduction 1
Barry Hankins
1 Controversial Christian Movements:
History, Growth, and Outlook
Timothy Miller 9
2 The Cult Awareness Network and the Anticult Movement:
Implications for NRMs in America
Anson Shupe, Susan E. Darnell, and Kendrick Moxon 25
3 A Contemporary Ordered Religious Community:
The Sea Organization
J. Gordon Melton 43
4 Women in Controversial New Religions:
Slaves, Priestesses, or Pioneers?
Susan J. Palmer 63
5 Satanism and Witchcraft:
Social Construction of a Melded but Mistaken Identity
James T. Richardson 69
6 A Critical Analysis of Evidentiary and Procedural Rulings
in Branch Davidian Civil Case
Stuart A. Wright 79
v
vi Table of Contents
7 New Religious Movements and Conflicts with
Law Enforcement
Catherine Wessinger 89
8 Christian Reconstruction after Y2K:
Gary North, the New Millennium, and Religious Freedom
Adam C. English 107
9 A Not So Charitable Choice: New Religious Movements
and President Bush’s Plan for Faith-Based Social Services
Derek H. Davis 119
10 Fighting for Free Exercise from the Trenches:
A Case Study of Religious Freedom Issues Faced by Wiccans
Practicing in the United States
Catharine Cookson 135
11 The Persecution of West Virginia Jehovah’s Witnesses and
the Expansion of Legal Protection for Religious Liberty
Chuck Smith 155
Notes 183
About the Contributors 227
Index 231
Preface
All the essays in this book were presented at a symposium at Baylor University
entitled “New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America,” 12-13
February 2001. The J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies would like
to thank Baylor University for its generous funding over the years that has made
symposia, lectureships, and books like this one possible. We would like to thank
specifically President Robert Sloan and his administration for their gracious
support of our work. Chancellor Herbert Reynolds, Provost Donald
Schmeltekopf, Vice-Provost Dianna Vitanza, and Arts and Sciences Dean
Wallace Daniel, as always, were also supportive of this project.
Several people at the Institute had a hand in bringing both the symposium
and this volume to successful completion. Administrative assistant Wanda
Gilbert has never left even one stone unturned in the planning of an event,
while Janice Losak takes on all tasks with great aplomb. Editorial assistant Pat
Cornett seems at times capable of working miracles with computerized text.
She has been at the center of this project every step of the way. It would be
impossible to plan and execute symposia, conferences, and lectureship without
the assistance of these three individuals. Doctoral Fellow Marshall Johnston was
a great help in organizing and planning for the conference that spawned this
book. Graduate students Hui Fui and Kathy Maxwell performed the tedious yet
important task of compiling the index. Also, a special word of thanks is due to
those Baylor faculty who serve on our Church-State Studies Faculty Committee
vii
viii Preface
and Journal of Church and State Editorial Board. They regularly give of their
time and expertise in order to keep the work of the Institute and Journalmov-
ing forward.
Finally, thanks to all of the contributors. In both symposium planning and
the editing of this book, you have been most accommodating. Your dedication
and commitment to religious liberty for people everywhere and of every reli-
gious persuasion has been humbling, and has reassured us that publishing
books like this one is a worthwhile endeavor.
Derek H. Davis
Barry Hankins
Baylor University
March 2002
Introduction
Barry Hankins
It has been said that the measure of healthy and civilized society is how well it
treats its elderly and indigent. Perhaps it should be said also that the measure
of the health of religious liberty in a society is the degree to which minority,
nontraditional faiths are protected. This book is a collection of essays on the
subject of religious liberty and new religious movements (NRMs). Most of the
chapters were first delivered as papers at a conference sponsored by the J.M.
Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University in March 2001.
NRMs are often called “cults” by popular media commentators and the pub-
lic at large, but scholars eschew that term because it is so pejorative that it
skews the argument from the very beginning. By contrast, the term “new reli-
gious movements” attempts to place NRMs squarely in the mix with older,
more traditional forms of religion. This is due in part to the fact that in
America there should be no correlation between the level of social approval a
group has achieved and the degree of religious liberty it enjoys. As the Supreme
Court itself averred famously in the 1872 case Watson v. Jones, “The Law
knows no heresy and is committed to the support of no dogma, the establish-
ment of no sect.” While often falling short of this ideal, the United States
Constitution, specifically the First Amendment, is interpreted by the courts to
mean that all groups should enjoy religious liberty, not just those who adhere
to long-standing and traditional variations of the Christian faith. Make no
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