
Description
Sociologist Susan J. Palmer has studied the Raelian movement for more than a decade, observing meetings and rituals and enjoying unprecedented access to the group's leaders as well as to its rank-and-file members. In this pioneering study she provides a thorough analysis of the movement, focusing on issues of sexuality, millenarianism, and the impact of the scientific worldview on religion and the environment. Rael's radical sexual ethics, his gnostic anthropocentrism, and shallow ecotheology offer us a mirror through which we see how our worldview has been shaped by the forces of globalization, postmodernism, and secular humanism.
Product Details
Publisher | Rutgers University Press |
Publish Date | September 29, 2004 |
Pages | 244 |
Language | English |
Type | |
EAN/UPC | 9780813534763 |
Dimensions | 8.9 X 5.9 X 0.7 inches | 0.8 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
Skillfully weaving together engaging narrative and careful sociological analysis, Susan Palmer has written a ground-breaking study that will be the benchmark for all future studies of alternative religions.--James R. Lewis "general editor of The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements and author of L"
Susan Palmer has an extraordinary ability to probe beyond stereotypes and understand unconventional religious and social movements. Her latest book admirably combines rigorous scholarship and honest empathy in depicting one of the most poorly understood movements of our time.--Timothy Miller "University of Kansas"
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