What is a new religious movement and why are they important?

Answer 1

NRMs (New Religious Movements) were usually founded after World War II (although this is not true in every case), and they're not necessarily attached to a mainstream religious group or denomination. NRMs is the term that academicians prefer over the term "cult", which is judgmental. Some NRMs are fast-growing groups with many members.

A few groups that were founded earlier than the Second World War are sometimes (but not always) lumped in with NRMs because they sometimes considered to lie outside of mainstream religion. Examples would be the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Some people consider these NRMs, but many others don't.

They're important because these groups are gaining increasingly more membership worldwide, and it's important to study social phenomena. NRMs affect not only their individual members, but often the families of the members. Sometimes, NRMs are the targets of hostility or misunderstanding. It's important to study what people actually believe, rather than jumping to conclusions.

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/