Religious sects and cults
Religious sects and cults are groups that often hold beliefs and practices distinct from mainstream religious traditions. Examples include the Amish, Mennonites, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-Day Adventists. These groups frequently encounter challenges from secular authorities and public opinion, particularly regarding their lifestyle choices and adherence to religious tenets. In the United States, the Supreme Court serves as the ultimate authority on the balance between religious freedoms and governmental regulations, guided by the First Amendment and subsequent interpretations through various rulings.
The legal landscape surrounding these groups has shifted over time, especially with landmark cases like Lemon v. Kurtzman, which emphasized governmental neutrality in religious matters, and Employment Division v. Smith, which allowed for the application of general laws to religious practices. Additionally, the historical context of religious freedom in America reveals a complex interplay of acceptance and intolerance, as seen during events such as the Salem witch trials and the backlash against new religious movements in the late 20th century. This dynamic illustrates the ongoing dialogue about the rights of religious minorities in a diverse society, highlighting both the protections afforded to them and the societal tensions they may face.
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Religious sects and cults
SIGNIFICANCE: Religious and lifestyle practices of groups such as the Amish, Mennonites, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, and others are often subjected to challenges by secular legal authorities and civilian critics. The US Supreme Court is the final arbiter of the extent to which the practices of these religious groups are protected.
Basic religious freedoms guaranteed to all Americans by the US Constitution include the forbidding of religious tests for holding government offices and First Amendment guarantees that Congress may neither establish a state religion nor prohibit the free exercise of religion. All these guarantees have been extended to the actions of state and local governments by the Fourteenth Amendment. However, court interpretations of these guarantees have varied over the years.
In its 1970 Lemon v. Kurtzman ruling, the Supreme Court constructed a wall of separation between church and state and required a total neutrality of government toward religion when it established the so-called “Lemon test” to judge the constitutionality of laws and government actions. Under that ruling, no law may prefer one religion over another, prefer religion to nonreligion, have a primary effect that promotes religion, or cause undue entanglement between government and religious organizations. Some religions welcomed this wall of separation, but others believed the United States is a nation founded on religion and that the wall actually favors nonreligion over religion.
At the practical level, this separation means that the Amish do not have to obey school attendance laws, the Bible’s Ten Commandments cannot be posted in schools, and religious groups must be given access to equal facilities on public university campuses. In 1990, however, the Supreme Court backed away from the Lemon doctrine in Employment Division v. Smith and ruled that government could require religious actors to obey general laws so long as the laws are not aimed specifically at religion or any particular religious institution. The case involved a Native American’s right to smoke illegal hallucinogenic substances as part of religious ritual. Following the Court’s ruling in Boerne v. Flores (1997), government required religious groups and actors to obey general law, so long as the laws themselves are based on compelling reason, are neutral with respect to religion, and are applied to all persons equally.
In the twenty-first century, the US Supreme Court has taken a different approach. In Van Orden v. Perry (2005), for example, the court ruled that although the Ten Commandments are religious, they have historical significance. The presence of a religious message does not violate the Establishment Clause.
The roots of American religious freedom go back to the nation’s settlement by European religious dissidents in the seventeenth century, but even then, religious bigotry was seen in the Salem witchcraft trials and religious intolerance in Massachusetts Colony. In the late twentieth century, religious rights came under attack by nongovernment civilian actors in the negative reactions of established religious bodies to the New Religion movement of the 1970s and 1980s. Anticult groups formed and members of cults and sects, such as the Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna) and the Unification Church, were kidnapped, forced to endure deprogramming, and had their mental competency challenged in court. That period also saw a rise in anti-Semitism and attacks on Fundamentalist and predominantly African American churches.
Bibliography
Cookson, Catharine, ed. Encyclopedia of Religious Freedom. New York: Routledge, 2003.
Davis, Derek, and Barry Hankins, ed. New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America. Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2002.
Fieldstadt, Elisha. "The Most Terrifying Cults in History." CBS News, 30 June 2021, www.cbsnews.com/pictures/cults-dangerous-deadly-history/18/. Accessed 10 July 2024.
Fisher, Louis. Congressional Protection of Religious Liberty. New York: Novinka Publications, 2003.
"14.6: Religious Organizations." LibreTexts Social Sciences, socialsci.libretexts.org/Courses/Solano‗Community‗College/SOC‗002%3A‗Social‗Issues‗and‗Problems/14%3A‗Religion/14.06%3A‗Religious‗Organizations. Accessed 10 July 2024.
Munro, Daniel. "Cults, Conspiracies, and Fantasies of Knowledge." Episteme, 2023, pp. 1-22. DOI: 10.1017/epi.2022.55. Accessed 10 July 2024.
"Religion Supreme Court Cases." JUSTIA U.S. Supreme Court, 2022, supreme.justia.com/cases-by-topic/religion/. Accessed 10 July 2024.
Tabor, James D., and Eugene V. Gallagher. Why Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America. U of California P, 2023.