RST2603 NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS
ASSIGNMENT 03
PERTINENCE OF THE TERM “NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT” IN RELATION TO SPIRITUALISM,
SCIENTOLOGY AND DESTENI
In this assignment, the relevance of Barker’s (2014) definitions of “New”, “Religious” and “Movement”
to Spiritualism, Scientology and Desteni is explored.
Barker proposes that the “newness” factor of religious movements should be defined by the number
of first-generation followers at the present date, rather than the degree to which the movement
complies with popular assumptions such as extremism, human rights abuses, or “brainwashing”, for
example. In the same paper, the term “Religion” is described as a belief system that proposes answers
to existential questions such as the existence of a Higher Power / God, the purpose of life and what
happens at death. “Movements” in the context of NRM studies is a collective noun for groups,
communities, organisations, societies or networks.
SPIRITUALISM
In my opinion, the Spiritualist Movement cannot be described as “new” in terms of Barker’s definition,
as the movement started in the mid 1800’s and certainly no longer has any original first-generation
followers left. According to Nartonis (2010), the number of first-generation believers in the United
States increased markedly from the mid to late nineteenth century: by approximately 200% between
1856 and 1866, and by about 270% between 1867 and 1873. The website spiritualismlink.com alleges
that the number of spiritualist movement followers numbered “many millions” by 1855. Although the
movement also grew in the United Kingdom during this time, the numbers are more modest. Sutcliffe
(2002) estimated that membership in the United Kingdom reached around 250 000 by 1930. These
numbers have decreased significantly during the past century, with census statistics showing only
about 165 000 followers in the United States and 32 000 in the United Kingdom by 2008. This means
that even if Barker’s definition is expanded to include all first generational followers, i.e. all those not
born into the movement, the numbers have still decreased and the Spiritualist movement cannot be
seen as emerging or new any longer.
The US National Spiritualist Association of Churches states that “Spiritualism Is a Religion because it
strives to understand and to comply with the Physical, Mental and Spiritual Laws of Nature, which are
the laws of God.” The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)’s page on spiritualism also classifies
Spiritualism as a religion, because it has “rituals, doctrinal components, a belief in a transcendent
realm, and it has an experiential dimension”. On the question of life after death, the psychics.co.uk
blog explains the spiritualist perspective on the meaning of life, stating that a belief in the afterlife
gives meaning to the present life by using life as an opportunity to grow spiritually and by enhancing
the soul’s capacity to give and receive love. The Spiritualist belief system therefore complies with the
criteria proposed by Barker for a movement to be considered a religion.
Lastly, Spiritualism can be considered a “movement”, because it exhibits the characteristics of
“group”, “community”, “organisation” and “network” used by Barker in her definition of movement.
It can be concluded that Spiritualism is certainly a Religions Movement, but the relevance of the term
“New” is debatable.
Sources: Hamilton-Parker, Craig. Spirituality: Why are we here? 2010.
<https://psychics.co.uk/blog/ spirituality/>. Accessed 12 October 2019.
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