This is the first part of a two-part article on the concept of brainwashing in the study of new religious movements (NRMs). The use of this term has become so emotionally charged that scholars find it difficult to discuss its merits and scientific utility with calmness and objectivity. I devote Part One of this article to an examination of the cultural and structural sources of an extreme polar...

In ‘secular’ Western societies, religious topics permeate media texts of books, films, series and games and such texts even inform several religious-spiritual movements. Critically expanding on theories about ‘fiction-based religion’, ‘invented religion’ or ‘hyper-real religion’, this article studies if, how and why players of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of...

This article compares the characteristics of three movements of religious renewal that were born in the second half of the twentieth century and that have been active in interreligious dialogue: the Buddhist movement Risshō Kōseikai, which originated in Japan; the Catholic Focolare Movement, which started in Italy; and the Gülen Movement, which was born in Turkey. These religious renewal phenom...