Analysis: new religious movements in Western Europe
By Silvio Ferrari, 23 October 2006
“In Western Europe public opinion became aware of the presence of new religious movements in the 1970s. two questions started being asked: Are these movements real religions? and: Are they dangerous to individuals and society? These questions are far from simple, and answering them requires reconsidering some crucial notions that are at the foundation of the relationship between law and religion in Western Europe.” – Analysis by Silvio Ferrari, Professor of Church and State Relations at the University of Milano.
Religions are born at any time and in any place: but in the second half of the last century this phenomenon acquired dimensions that were unknown in the history of the West. Many religious movements were born and prospered, either as a development of well-known religious traditions or as the result of a syncretic approach to different religions. In many cases their doctrines and practices differed widely from those of the mainstream religions: moreover, the “closed” structure of some of these groups, the unconventional behaviour of their members, and some tragic events in which they were involved gave rise to considerable social alarm…
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