The Nature, incidence and significance of new religious movements in the West. Introduction The emergence and rapid growth of many new religious movements since WWII has caught the attention of the public, media and academia alike and has been the source of interest, fear and controversy. Sects and cults have many definitions depending on the user's frame of reference. Beckford describes cults as "...relatively small, new, and unconventional religious groups..." (1985: 1) whilst other people's perceptions of …showed first 75 words of 1832 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1832 total…to move forward and resolve the challenges facing us. BIOGRAPHY Beckford, J.A 1985. Cult controversies: the social response to new religious movements. <Tab/>London: Tavistock. Wilson B & Cresswell J 1999. New religious movements: challenge and response. <Tab/>London: Routledge. The Cult Controversy : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longtermcult/cultmain.htm Rethinking Jonestown: http://archive.salon.com/books/feature/1998/06/cov_17feature.html http://www.religioustolerance.org