Apostasy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Apostasy (disambiguation).

Apostasy (IPA: /əˈpɒstəsi/) is the formal religious disaffiliation or abandonment or renunciation of one's religion, especially if the motive is deemed unworthy. In a technical sense, as used sometimes by sociologists without the pejorative connotations of the word, the term refers to renunciation and criticism of, or opposition to, one's former religion. One who commits apostasy is an apostate, or one who apostatizes. The word derives from Greek αποστασία (apostasia), meaning a defection or revolt, from απο, apo, "away, apart", στασις, stasis, "standing".

Apostasy is generally not a self-definition: very few former believers call themselves apostates and they generally consider this term to be a pejorative. Many religious movements consider it a vice (sin), a corruption of the virtue of piety in the sense that when piety fails, apostasy is the result.

Many religious groups and even some states punish apostates. The concept of apostasy is used to enforce group cohesion and utilize fear to suppress the free will of the individual. Apostates may be shunned by the members of their former religious group^[1] or worse. This may be the official policy of the religious group or may happen spontaneously. A church may in certain circumstances respond to apostasy by excommunicating the apostate, while some Abrahamic scriptures (Judaism: Deuteronomy 13:6-10) and Islam: al-Bukhari, Diyat, bab 6) demand the death penalty for apostates.

Unlike apostasy, heresy is the rejection or corruption of certain doctrines, not the complete abandonment of one's religion. Heretics claim to still be following a religion (or to be the "true believers"), whereas apostates reject it entirely.

The term is also used to refer to renunciation of a belief or cause by (generally facetious) extension of the religious connotation such as in allegiance to .e.g. politics, sports teams, etc.

1 Sociological definitions
2 In international law
3 In Christianity
4 In Islam
5 In Judaism
6 In Hinduism and Buddhism
7 In new religious movements and alleged cults
- 7.1 Apostates' testimony and their motivations
8 Other uses of the term
9 Noted apostates
10 See also
11 References
12 Further reading
- 12.1 Testimonies, memoirs, and autobiographies
- 12.2 Writings by others

[edit] Sociological definitions

The American sociologist Lewis A. Coser (following the German philosopher and sociologist Max Scheler^{[citation needed]}) holds an apostate to be not just a person who experienced a dramatic change in conviction but “a man who, even in his new state of belief, is spiritually living not primarily in the content of that faith, in the pursuit of goals appropriate to it, but only in the struggle against the old faith and for the sake of its negation."^[2]^[3]

The American sociologist David G. Bromley defined the apostate role as follows and distinguished it from the defector and whistleblower roles.^[3]

Apostate role: defined as one that occurs in a highly polarized situation in which an organization member undertakes a total change of loyalties by allying with one or more elements of an oppositional coalition without the consent or control of the organization. The narrative is one which documents the quintessentially evil essence of the apostate's former organization chronicled through the apostate's personal experience of capture and ultimate escape/rescue.
Defector role: an organizational participant negotiates exit primarily with organizational authorities, who grant permission for role relinquishment, control the exit process, and facilitate role transmission. The jointly constructed narrative assigns primary moral responsibility for role performance problems to the departing member and interprets organizational permission as commitment to extraordinary moral standards and preservation of public trust.
Whistleblower role: defined here as one in which an organization member forms an alliance with an external regulatory unit through offering personal testimony concerning specific, contested organizational practices that is then used to sanction the organization. The narrative constructed jointly by the whistleblower and regulatory agency is one which depicts the whistleblower as motivated by personal conscience and the organization by defense of public interest.

Stuart A. Wright, an American sociologist and author, asserts that apostasy is a unique phenomenon and a distinct type of religious defection, in which the apostate is a defector "who is aligned with an oppositional coalition in an effort to broaden the dispute, and embraces public claimsmaking activities to attack his or her former group."^[4]

[edit] In international law

[edit] In Christianity

Main article: Apostasy in Christianity

See also: Apostata capiendo and Backslide

The New Testament does not mention any punishment for apostasy, however there are references in the Mosaic Law of the Old Testament. Some of them are:

"If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying: Let us go and worship other gods, do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people."(Deuteronomy 13:6-9)

"And he should go and worship other gods and bow down to them or to the sun or the moon or all the army of the heavens, ...and you must stone such one with stones and such one must die."(Deuteronomy 17:3-5)

Catharism was a name given to a radical Christian religious sect with dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Catholic Church regarded the sect as dangerously heretical and in 1208 AD, the Pope unleashed a crusade known as the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars. In the ensuing 20-year military campaign, thousands of apostates were executed including 7000 residents of a town called Beziers, who were locked and burnt in a church. According to historians, a horrified onlooker rushed to the papal gates and reminded the crusaders that some Christians were still trapped in the church together with the Cathars. The officer overseeing the massacre then made a remark that has resounded through the centuries: “Kill them all. God will know his own”^[6]

[edit] In Islam

Main articles: Apostasy in Islam and Takfir

[edit] In Judaism

Main article: Jews in apostasy

[edit] In Hinduism and Buddhism

Contrary to Abrahamic dogmas, there is no concept of an apostate in Hinduism or Buddhism, as everyone is accepted as one and the same. Converts to other religions from Hinduism or Buddhism are somewhat accepted in these communities, as there is no Hindu or Buddhist procedure that defines apostasy. Formal conversion and rejection of doctrine are, however, discouraged, and there are scriptural references that discourage such practices. (See the Gita and other Hindu scriptures for more information.)

[edit] In new religious movements and alleged cults

Some scholars of new religious movements (NRMs) define apostates specifically as individuals who leave new religious movements and publicly oppose them, to distinguish them from others who do not speak against their former faiths. Other scholars dispute this distinction.

Some scholars use the term post-cult trauma to describe the emotional and social problems that some members of cults and new religious movements experience after leaving the group, while other scholars assert that such traumas are either only applicable in rare cases or are more likely caused by deprogramming or pre-existing psychological problems, not by voluntary leavetaking.

Some notable apostates are part of the secular opposition to cults and new religious movements or the Christian countercult movement.^{[citation needed]} Some apostates of new religious movements make public stands against their former religion to warn the public of what they see as its dangers and harm.^{[citation needed]} Several of those apostates maintain websites on their former groups with unflattering perspectives, testimonials and information which, they say, is not disclosed by those groups to the public. Critics like Basava Premanand complain about ad hominem attacks on them by their former organizations or by apologists of their former faith, and claim that their goal is to provide information that enables current and prospective members to make an informed choice about joining or staying with a religious movement. Some of the groups being criticized, such as Adidam^[15] in turn, claim being the target of religious intolerance, hate and ill-will by these critics.

James T. Richardson proposes a theory related to a logical relationship between apostates and whistleblowers, using Bromley's definitions,^[16]in which the former predates the latter. A person becomes an apostate and then seeks the role of whistleblower, which is then rewarded for playing that role by groups that are in conflict with the original group of membership such as anti-cult organizations. These organizations further cultivate the apostate, seeking to turn him or her into a whistleblower. He also describes how in this context, apostates' accusations of "brainwashing" are designed to attract perceptions of threats against the well being of young adults on the part of their families to further establish their new found role as whistleblowers.^[17] Armand L. Mauss, define true apostates as those exiters that have access to oppositional organizations which sponsor their careers as such, and which validate the retrospective accounts of their past and their outrageous experiences in new religions, making a distinction between these and whistleblowers or defectors in this context.^[18]

[edit] Apostates' testimony and their motivations

The validity of testimony by former members of new religious movements, their motivations, and the roles they play in the opposition to cults and new religious movements are controversial subjects among scholars of religion, sociologists and psychologists:

Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, a professor of psychology at the University of Haifa, argues that academic supporters of New religious movements are engaged in a rhetoric of advocacy, apologetics, and propaganda, and writes that in the cases of cult catastrophes such as Peoples Temple, or Heaven's Gate, accounts by hostile outsiders and detractors have been closer to reality than other accounts, and that in that context statements by ex-members turned out to be more accurate than those of offered by apologists and NRM researchers.^[19]

Bromley and Shupe, while discussing the role of anecdotal atrocity stories by apostates, propose that these are likely to paint a caricature of the group, shaped by the apostate's current role rather than his experience in the group, and question their motives and rationale. Lewis Carter and David G. Bromley claim that the onus of pathology experienced by former members of new religions movements should be shifted from these groups to the coercive activities of the anti-cult movement.^[20]^[21]

Dr. Phillip Charles Lucas^[22] interviewed ex-members of the Holy order of MANS^[23] and compared them with stayers and outside observers, and came to the conclusion that their testimonies are as (un-)reliable as those of the stayers.^[24]

Jean Duhaime, a professor of religious studies and science of religion at the Université de Montréal writes, based upon his analysis of three memoirs by apostates of NRMs (by Dubreuil, Huguenin, Lavallée, see bibliography), that he is more balanced than some researchers, referring to Wilson, and that apostate testimonies cannot be dismissed, only because they are not objective, though he admits that they write atrocity stories in the definition by Bromley and Shupe. He asserts that the reasons why they tell their stories are, among others, to warn others to be careful in religious matters and to put order in their own lives.^[25]

Mark Dunlop, a former member of FWBO, argues that ex-members of cultic groups face great obstacles in exposing abuses committed by these groups, stating that ex-members "have great difficulty in disproving ad hominem arguments, such as that they have a personal axe to grind, that they are trying to find a scapegoat to excuse their own failure or deficiency [...] Cults have a vested interest in challenging the personal credibility of their critics, and may cultivate academic researchers who attack the credibility and motives of ex-members." Dunlop further expands on the specific difficulties faced by ex-members in proving harms done to them: "If an ex-member claims that they were subjected to brainwashing or mind-control techniques, not only is this again unprovable, but in the mind of the general public, it is tantamount to admitting that they are a gullible and easily led person whose opinions, consequently, can't be worth much. If an ex-member suffers from any mental disorientation or evident psychiatric symptoms, this is likely to further diminish their credibility as a reliable informant." He concludes with "In general, the public credibility of critical ex-cultists seems to be somewhere in between that of Estate Agents and flying saucer abductees." In the article's summary^[26], Dunlop argues that given that the apostates' testimony is ineffective due to lack of public credibility, and that other forms of criticism are also ineffectual for various reasons, cults are virtually immune from outside criticism making it very difficult to expose cults.^[27]

Daniel Carson Johnson, in his Apostates Who Never Were: The Social Construction of Absque Facto Apostate Narratives, refers to the stories told by apostates, to be stories of captive involvement in the past with the targeted religious group, and stories of rescue and redemption in the present. He asserts that these narratives is what confirms the apostate role, and that the stories are not recitations of real-world experiences and happenings but are social constructed and shaped along the lines dictated by an established literary form called "apostate narrative". He advises social scientists studying the subject to consider the possibility that substantial portions, and perhaps entire accounts have nothing to do with real world happenings or experiences.^[28]

Dr. Lonnie D. Kliever (1932 - 2004), Professor of Religious Studies of the Southern Methodist University, in his paper The Reliability of Apostate Testimony about New Religious Movements that he wrote upon request for Scientology, claims that the overwhelming majority of people who disengage from non-conforming religions harbor no lasting ill-will toward their past religious associations and activities, but that there is a much smaller number of apostates who are deeply invested and engaged in discrediting, and performing actions designed to destroy the religious communities that once claimed their loyalties. He asserts that these dedicated opponents present a distorted view of the new religions and cannot be regarded as reliable informants by responsible journalists, scholars, or jurists. He claims that the lack of reliability of apostates is due to the traumatic nature of religious disaffiliation, that he compares to a divorce, but also due to the influence of the anti-cult movement, even on those apostates who were not deprogrammed or did not receive exit counseling.^[29]

Michael Langone argues that some will accept uncritically the positive reports of current members without calling such reports, for example, "benevolence tales" or "personal growth tales". He asserts that only the critical reports of ex-members are called "tales", which he considers to be a term that clearly implies falsehood or fiction. He states that it wasn't until 1996 that a researcher conducted a study (Zablocki, 1996) to assess the extent to which so called "atrocity tales" might be based on fact.^[30]

Gordon Melton, while testifying as an expert witness in a lawsuit, said that when investigating groups one should not rely solely upon the unverified testimony of ex-members, and that hostile ex-members would invariably shade the truth and blow out of proportion minor incidents, turning them into major incidents.^[31] Melton also follows the argumentation of Lewis Carter and David Bromley (above) and claims that as a result of this study, the [psychological] treatment (coerced or voluntary) of former members largely ceased, and that a (perceived) lack of widespread need for psychological help by former members of new religions would in itself be the strongest evidence refuting early sweeping condemnations of new religions as causes of psychological trauma.^[32]

Bryan R. Wilson, who was a professor of Sociology at Oxford University, writes that apostates of new religious movements are generally in need of self-justification, and seek to reconstruct their past and to excuse their former affiliations, while blaming those who were formerly their closest associates. Wilson utilizes the term atrocity story, [a story] that is in his view rehearsed by the apostate to explain how, by manipulation, coercion or deceit, he was recruited to a group that he now condemns.^[33] Wilson also challenges the reliability of the apostate's testimony by saying that "the apostate [is] always seen as one whose personal history predisposes him to bias with respect to his previous religious commitment and affiliations, [so] the suspicion must arise that he acts from a personal motivation, to vindicate himself and to regain his self-esteem, by showing himself to have been first a victim, but subsequently a redeemed crusader."^[34]

Stuart A. Wright explores the distinction between the apostate narrative and the role of the apostate, asserting that the former follows a predictable pattern in which the apostate utilizes a "captivity narrative" that emphasizes manipulation, entrapment and becoming a victim of "sinister cult practices". These narratives provide a rationale for a "hostage-rescue" motif in which cults are likened to POW camps, and deprogramming is seen as a heroic hostage rescue effort. He also makes a distinction between "leavetakers" and "apostates", asserting that despite the popular literature and lurid media accounts of stories of "rescued or recovering 'ex-cultists'", empirical studies of defectors from NRMs "generally indicate favorable, sympathetic or at the very least mixed responses toward their former group."^[35]

Benjamin Zablocki, when analyzing leaver responses, found the testimonies of former members as least as reliable as statements from the groups themselves.^[36]

Massimo Introvigne in his Defectors, Ordinary Leavetakers and Apostates^[37] defines three types of narratives constructed by apostates of new religious movements:

Type I narratives characterize the exit process as defection, in which the organization and the former member negotiate an exiting process aimed at minimizing the damage for both parties.
Type II narratives involve a minimal degree of negotiation between the exiting member, the organization they intend to leave, and the environment or society at large, implying that the ordinary apostate holds no strong feelings concerning his past experience in the group.
Type III narratives are characterized by the ex-member dramatically reversing their loyalties and becoming a professional enemy of the organization they have left. These apostates often join an oppositional coalition fighting the organization, often claiming victimization.

Introvigne argues that apostates professing Type II narratives prevail among exiting members of controversial groups or organizations, while apostates that profess Type III narratives are a vociferous minority.

[edit] Other uses of the term

In popular usage, religious terminology like "apostasy" is often appropriated for use within other public spheres characterized by strongly-held beliefs, like politics. Such usage typically carries a much less negative connotation than the religious usage does, and sometimes people will even describe themselves as apostates. Authors Kevin Phillips (a former Republican strategist turned harsh critic of the Bush administration) and Christopher Hitchens (a former left-wing commentator turned enthusiastic supporter of the Iraq War) are examples of people who are often described as political apostates.^{[citation needed]}

The term "apostasy" is also used by several death and black metal bands to assert the fact that they are removed from, and against, religion.

[edit] Noted apostates

This is a list of some notable persons that have been reportedly labeled as an apostate in reliable published sources.

[edit] Christianity

Julian the Apostate ex-Christian and Roman emperor
Abraham ben Abraham, (Count Valentine (Valentin, Walentyn) Potocki), a Polish nobleman of the Potocki family who is claimed to have converted to Judaism and was burned at the stake in 1749 because he had renounced Catholicism and had become an observant Jew.
Maria Monk sometimes considered an apostate of the Catholic Church, though there is little evidence that she ever was a Catholic.
Brian Moore, spoke strongly about the effect of the Church on life in Ireland.
Charles Templeton ex-Christian, declared himself an agnostic.
Grant Allen, despite his religious father, became an agnostic and a socialist.
Dan Savage, an openly gay American sex advice columnist, author, media pundit, journalist and newspaper editor. Savage has stated that he is now "a wishy-washy agnostic", he has said that he still considers himself "culturally Catholic".^[38]^[39]
Timothy McVeigh professed his belief in "a God", although he said he had "sort of lost touch with" Catholicism and "never really picked it [back] up". The Guardian reported that McVeigh wrote a letter claiming to be an agnostic.
Zach Galifianakis, an American comedian, actor, and writer. He was raised Greek Orthodox, but now says he "isn't sure" on the subject of religion.^[40]
Bart D. Ehrman, is an American New Testament scholar and textual critic of early Christianity. He became an Evangelical Christian as a teen but gradually began questioning his faith in the Bible as the inerrant, unchanging word of God. He now considers himself an agnostic.
Adefunmi (born Walter King) was the first African-American to ever be initiated into the priesthood and initiation cult of any traditional African Religion/spiritual system). His initiation paved the way for other African-Americans to recover and begin to practice traditional African beliefs that had been lost as a result of the transplantation of Africans during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
Ryan G. Anderson, an American convicted of attempting to engage in espionage for al-Qaeda.
Dan Barker, a prominent American atheist activist who served as a Christian preacher and musician for 19 years.
Ole Brunell, converted to Judaism his wife, and four daughters, renaming himself to Shlomo Brunell.
Robert D. Crane, the former adviser to President of the United States Richard Nixon, and is former Deputy Director (for Planning) of the U.S. National Security Council, has worked full-time as a Muslim activist in America since the 1980s.
David XI of Kartli, a convert to Islam, was a brother of the Kartlian king Simon I, who led a long-lasting liberation war against the Safavid Persian and Ottoman empires.
De Veenboer, a 17th century Dutch corsair. A privateer during the Eighty Years' War, he later turned to piracy and became an officer under Simon the Dancer. He later converted to Islam, becoming known as Süleyman Reis (also spelled Sulayman, Soliman or Slemen Reis), and had a highly successful career as a Barbary corsair commanding the Algiers corsair fleet during his later years.
Raymond Franz, a former member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.

[edit] Islam

Ayaan Hirsi Ali labelled an apostate by Theo van Gogh according to Ayaan Hirsi Ali^[41]
Salman Rushdie was accused of being an apostate of Islam by Ruhollah Khomeini due to the publication of his book The Satanic Verses
Tasleema Nasreen, from Bangladesh, the author of Lajja, has been declared apostate - "an apostate appointed by imperialist forces to vilify Islam" - by several fundamentalist clerics in Dhaka^[42]

[edit] Judaism

Tiberius Julius Alexander, 1st century Roman governor and general
Baruch de Spinoza, a 17th century Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin
Rita Levi-Montalcini, an Italian neurologist who received the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Lewis Black,a Grammy Award-winning American stand-up comedian, author, playwright and actor.
Milton Friedman American Nobel Laureate economist and public intellectual.
Brian Greene, a theoretical physicist and one of the best-known string theorists.
Stephen Jay Gould, raised in a secular Jewish home, did not formally practice religion and preferred to be called an agnostic.
David Horowitz, an American conservative writer and activist, he is the editor of the conservative website FrontPage Magazine, and also writes for NewsMax.
Wilhelm Reich, promoted adolescent sexuality, the availability of contraceptives and abortion, and the importance for women of economic independence.
Arthur Rubinstein, widely considered as one of the greatest piano virtuosi of the 20th century.
Sherwin B. Nuland, considers himself agnostic, but continues to attend synagogue.
Carl Sagan, pioneered astrobiology.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

^ Muslim apostates cast out and at risk from faith and family, The Times, February 05, 2005
^ Lewis A. Coser The Age of the Informer Dissent:1249-54, 1954
^ ^a ^b Bromley, David G. (Ed.) The Politics of Religious Apostasy: The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of Religious Movements CT, Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-275-95508-7
^ Wright, Stuart, A., Exploring Factors that Shape the Apostate Role, in Bromley, David G., The Politics of Religious Apostasy, pp. 109, Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-275-95508-7
^ CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, General Comment No. 22., 1993
^ The Crusades : Five Centuries of Holy Wars, 1996, Malcolm Billings, Sterling Publishing New York
^ Islam & Pluralism: A Contemporary Approach from IslamOnline.net
^ freedomhouse.org: Country Report: Qatar from freedomhouse.org
^ Is Killing An Apostate in the Islamic Law? from irfi.org
^ Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, The Punishment for Apostasy, Renaissance - Monthly Islamic Journal, Al-Mawrid, 6(11), November, 1996
^ Islam Online
^ Deuteronomy 13:6-10
^ template.htm Introduction to the Thought of Rav Kookby, Lecture #16: "Kefira" in our Day from vbm-torah.org (the Virtual Beit Midrash)
^ template.htm Introduction to the Thought of Rav Kookby, Lecture #17: Heresy V from vbm-torah.org (the Virtual Beit Midrash)
^ Religious Tolerance: We Still Have a Long Way to Go: Articles and Essays
^ Bromley, David G. (ed.); Richardson, James T. (1998). "Apostates, Whistleblowers, Law, and Social Control". in The politics of religious apostasy: the role of apostates in the transformation of religious movements. New York: Praeger. pp. 171. ISBN 0-275-95508-7. "Some of those who leave, whatever the method, become “apostates” and even develop into “whistleblowers”, as those terms are defined in the first chapter of this volume."
^ Bromley, David G. (ed.); Richardson, James T. (1998). "Apostates, Whistleblowers, Law, and Social Control". in The politics of religious apostasy: the role of apostates in the transformation of religious movements. New York: Praeger. pp. 185–186. ISBN 0-275-95508-7.
^ Bromley, David G. (ed.); Richardson, James T. (1998). "Apostasy and the Management of Spoiled Identity". in The politics of religious apostasy: the role of apostates in the transformation of religious movements. New York: Praeger. pp. 185–186. ISBN 0-275-95508-7.
^ Beit-Hallahmi 1997 Beith-Hallahmi, Benjamin Dear Colleagues: Integrity and Suspicion in NRM Research, 1997.
^ Bromley David G. et al., The Role of Anecdotal Atrocities in the Social Construction of Evil,
^ in Bromley, David G et al. (ed.), Brainwashing Deprogramming Controversy: Sociological, Psychological, Legal, and Historical Perspectives (Studies in religion and society) p. 156, 1984, ISBN 0-88946-868-0
^ < Lucas, Phillip Charles Ph.D. - Profile
^ "Holy Order of MANS". http://www.holyorderofmans.org. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
^ Lucas 1995 Lucas, Phillip Charles, From Holy Order of MANS to Christ the Savior Brotherhood: The Radical Transformation of an Esoteric Christian Order in Timothy Miller (ed.), America's Alternative Religions State University of New York Press, 1995
^ Duhaime, Jean (Université de Montréal) Les Témoignages de convertis et d'ex-adeptes (English: The testimonies of converts and former followers, in Mikael Rothstein et al. (ed.), New Religions in a Postmodern World, 2003, ISBN 87-7288-748-6
^ http://www.ex-cult.org/fwbo/CofC.htm#advantages
^ Dunlop 2001 The Culture of Cults
^ Bromley, David G. (ed.); Richardson, James T. (1998). "Apostates Who Never Were: The Social Construction of Absque Facto Apostate Narratives". in The politics of religious apostasy: the role of apostates in the transformation of religious movements. New York: Praeger. pp. 134–5. ISBN 0-275-95508-7.
^ Kliever 1995 Kliever. Lonnie D, Ph.D. The Reliability of Apostate Testimony About New Religious Movements, 1995.
^ The Two "Camps" of Cultic Studies: Time for a Dialogue Langone, Michael, Cults and Society, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001
^ http://www.hightruth.com/experts/melton.html
^ "Melton 1999"Melton, Gordon J., Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory, 1999.
^ Wilson, Bryan R. (Ed.) The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism, Rose of Sharon Press, 1981.
^ Wilson, Bryan R. Apostates and New Religious Movements, Oxford, England, 1994
^ Wright, Stuart, A., Exploring Factors that Shape the Apostate Role, in Bromley, David G., The Politics of Religious Apostasy, pp. 95-114, Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-275-95508-7
^ Zablocki 1996 Zablocki, Benjamin, Reliability and validity of apostate accounts in the study of religious communities. Paper presented at the Association for the Sociology of Religion in New York City, Saturday, August 17, 1996.
^ Introvigne 1997
^ Walsh, Jeff (1999-10-01). "Savage Dan". Oasis magazine. http://www.oasisjournals.com/Issues/9910/cover.html.
^ Anderson-Minshall, Diane (2005-09-13). "Interview with Dan Savage". AfterElton.com. http://www.afterelton.com/archive/elton/print/2005/9/dansavage.html.
^ Zach Galifianakis' interview from brianmpalmer.com (Brian M. Palmer)
^ Open letter by Ayaan Hirsi Ali published on the website of the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting dated 3 November 2004
English translation: "Theo's naivety was not that it could not happen here, but that it could not happen to him. He said, "I am the local fool; they won't harm me. But you should be careful. You are the apostate.""
Dutch original "Theo's naïviteit was niet dat het hier niet kon gebeuren, maar dat het hem niet kon gebeuren. Hij zei: "Ik ben de dorpsgek, die doen ze niets. Wees jij voorzichtig, jij bent de afvallige vrouw." "
^ Taslima's Pilgrimage By Meredith Tax, from The Nation

[edit] Further reading

Bromley, David G. 1988. Falling From the Faith: The Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostasy. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Dunlop, Mark, The culture of Cults, 2001 [1]
Introvigne, Massimo Defectors, Ordinary Leavetakers and Apostates: A Quantitative Study of Former Members of New Acropolis in France - paper delivered at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, San Francisco, November 23, 1997 [2]
The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906). The Kopelman Foundation. [3]
Lucas, Phillip Charles, The Odyssey of a New Religion: The Holy Order of MANS from New Age to Orthodoxy Indiana University press;
Lucas, Phillip Charles, Shifting Millennial Visions in New Religious Movements: The case of the Holy Order of MANS in The year 2000: Essays on the End edited by Charles B. Strozier, New York University Press 1997;
Lucas, Phillip Charles, The Eleventh Commandment Fellowship: A New Religious Movement Confronts the Ecological Crisis, Journal of Contemporary Religion 10:3, 1995:229-41;
Lucas, Phillip Charles, Social factors in the Failure of New Religious Movements: A Case Study Using Stark's Success Model SYZYGY: Journal of Alternative Religion and Culture 1:1, Winter 1992:39-53
Wright, Stuart A. 1988. "Leaving New Religious Movements: Issues, Theory and Research," pp.143-165 in David G. Bromley (ed.), Falling From the Faith. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Wright, Stuart A. 1991. "Reconceptualizing Cult Coercion and Withdrawal: A Comparative Analysis of Divorce and Apostasy." Social Forces 70 (1):125-145.
Wright, Stuart A. and Helen R. Ebaugh. 1993. "Leaving New Religions," pp.117-138 in David G. Bromley and Jeffrey K. Hadden (eds.), Handbook of Cults and Sects in America. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
Zablocki, Benjamin et al., Research on NRMs in the Post-9/11 World, in Lucas, Phillip Charles et al. (ed.), NRMs in the 21st Century: legal, political, and social challenges in global perspective, 2004, ISBN 0-415-96577-2

[edit] Testimonies, memoirs, and autobiographies

Babinski, Edward (editor), Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists. Prometheus Books, 2003. ISBN-10: 1591022177; ISBN-13: 978-1591022176
Dubreuil, J. P. 1994 L'Église de Scientology. Facile d'y entrer, difficile d'en sortir. Sherbrooke: private edition (ex-Church of Scientology)
Huguenin, T. 1995 Le 54^e Paris Fixot (ex-Ordre du Temple Solaire who would be the 54th victim)
Kaufmann, Inside Scientology/Dianetics: How I Joined Dianetics/Scientology and Became Superhuman, 1995 [4]
Lavallée, G. 1994 L'alliance de la brebis. Rescapée de la secte de Moïse, Montréal: Club Québec Loisirs (ex-Roch Thériault)
Pignotti, Monica, My nine lives in Scientology, 1989, [5]
Wakefield, Margery, Testimony, 1996 [6]
Lawrence Woodcraft, Astra Woodcraft, Zoe Woodcraft, The Woodcraft Family, Video Interviews [7]

[edit] Writings by others

Carter, Lewis, F. Lewis, Carriers of Tales: On Assessing Credibility of Apostate and Other Outsider Accounts of Religious Practices published in the book The Politics of Religious Apostasy: The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of Religious Movements edited by David G. Bromley Westport, CT, Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-275-95508-7
Elwell, Walter A. (Ed.) Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 1 A-I, Baker Book House, 1988, pages 130-131, "Apostasy". ISBN 0801034477
Malinoski, Peter, Thoughts on Conducting Research with Former Cult Members , Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001 [8]
Palmer, Susan J. Apostates and their Role in the Construction of Grievance Claims against the Northeast Kingdom/Messianic Communities [9]
Wilson, S.G., Leaving the Fold: Apostates and Defectors in Antiquity. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 2004. ISBN-10: 0800636759; ISBN-13: 978-0800636753
Wright, Stuart. "Post-Involvement Attitudes of Voluntary Defectors from Controversial New Religious Movements". ''Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 23 (1984):172-182.
The Apostasy - When Did It Begin? From Bethel Church of God

[0] Muslim apostates cast out and at risk from faith and family, The Times, February 05, 2005

[1] Lewis A. Coser The Age of the Informer Dissent:1249-54, 1954

[bromley1998-2] Bromley, David G. (Ed.) The Politics of Religious Apostasy: The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of Religious Movements CT, Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-275-95508-7

[3] Wright, Stuart, A., Exploring Factors that Shape the Apostate Role, in Bromley, David G., The Politics of Religious Apostasy, pp. 109, Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-275-95508-7

[4] CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, General Comment No. 22., 1993

[5] The Crusades : Five Centuries of Holy Wars, 1996, Malcolm Billings, Sterling Publishing New York

[6] Islam & Pluralism: A Contemporary Approach from IslamOnline.net

[7] reedomhouse.org: Country Report: Qatar from freedomhouse.org

[8] Is Killing An Apostate in the Islamic Law? from irfi.org

[9] Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, The Punishment for Apostasy, Renaissance - Monthly Islamic Journal, Al-Mawrid, 6(11), November, 1996

[10] Islam Online

[11] Deuteronomy 13:6-10

[12] template.htm Introduction to the Thought of Rav Kookby, Lecture #16: "Kefira" in our Day from vbm-torah.org (the Virtual Beit Midrash)

[13] template.htm Introduction to the Thought of Rav Kookby, Lecture #17: Heresy V from vbm-torah.org (the Virtual Beit Midrash)

[14] Religious Tolerance: We Still Have a Long Way to Go: Articles and Essays

[15] Bromley, David G. (ed.); Richardson, James T. (1998). "Apostates, Whistleblowers, Law, and Social Control". in The politics of religious apostasy: the role of apostates in the transformation of religious movements. New York: Praeger. pp. 171. ISBN 0-275-95508-7. "Some of those who leave, whatever the method, become “apostates” and even develop into “whistleblowers”, as those terms are defined in the first chapter of this volume."

[isbn0-275-95508-7-16] Bromley, David G. (ed.); Richardson, James T. (1998). "Apostates, Whistleblowers, Law, and Social Control". in The politics of religious apostasy: the role of apostates in the transformation of religious movements. New York: Praeger. pp. 185–186. ISBN 0-275-95508-7.

[isbn0-275-95508-7-B-17] Bromley, David G. (ed.); Richardson, James T. (1998). "Apostasy and the Management of Spoiled Identity". in The politics of religious apostasy: the role of apostates in the transformation of religious movements. New York: Praeger. pp. 185–186. ISBN 0-275-95508-7.

[18] Beit-Hallahmi 1997 Beith-Hallahmi, Benjamin Dear Colleagues: Integrity and Suspicion in NRM Research, 1997.

[19] Bromley David G. et al., The Role of Anecdotal Atrocities in the Social Construction of Evil,

[20] Bromley, David G et al. (ed.), Brainwashing Deprogramming Controversy: Sociological, Psychological, Legal, and Historical Perspectives (Studies in religion and society) p. 156, 1984, ISBN 0-88946-868-0

[21] < Lucas, Phillip Charles Ph.D. - Profile

[title-22] "Holy Order of MANS". http://www.holyorderofmans.org. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.

[23] Lucas 1995 Lucas, Phillip Charles, From Holy Order of MANS to Christ the Savior Brotherhood: The Radical Transformation of an Esoteric Christian Order in Timothy Miller (ed.), America's Alternative Religions State University of New York Press, 1995

[Duhaime_2003-24] Duhaime, Jean (Université de Montréal) Les Témoignages de convertis et d'ex-adeptes (English: The testimonies of converts and former followers, in Mikael Rothstein et al. (ed.), New Religions in a Postmodern World, 2003, ISBN 87-7288-748-6

[25] ttp://www.ex-cult.org/fwbo/CofC.htm#advantages

[26] Dunlop 2001 The Culture of Cults

[isbn0-275-95508-7-C-27] Bromley, David G. (ed.); Richardson, James T. (1998). "Apostates Who Never Were: The Social Construction of Absque Facto Apostate Narratives". in The politics of religious apostasy: the role of apostates in the transformation of religious movements. New York: Praeger. pp. 134–5. ISBN 0-275-95508-7.

[28] Kliever 1995 Kliever. Lonnie D, Ph.D. The Reliability of Apostate Testimony About New Religious Movements, 1995.

[29] The Two "Camps" of Cultic Studies: Time for a Dialogue Langone, Michael, Cults and Society, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001

[30] ttp://www.hightruth.com/experts/melton.html

[31] "Melton 1999"Melton, Gordon J., Brainwashing and the Cults: The Rise and Fall of a Theory, 1999.

[Wilson_1981-32] Wilson, Bryan R. (Ed.) The Social Dimensions of Sectarianism, Rose of Sharon Press, 1981.

[Wilson_1994-33] Wilson, Bryan R. Apostates and New Religious Movements, Oxford, England, 1994

[34] Wright, Stuart, A., Exploring Factors that Shape the Apostate Role, in Bromley, David G., The Politics of Religious Apostasy, pp. 95-114, Praeger Publishers, 1998. ISBN 0-275-95508-7

[35] Zablocki 1996 Zablocki, Benjamin, Reliability and validity of apostate accounts in the study of religious communities. Paper presented at the Association for the Sociology of Religion in New York City, Saturday, August 17, 1996.

[36] Introvigne 1997

[Oasis-37] Walsh, Jeff (1999-10-01). "Savage Dan". Oasis magazine. http://www.oasisjournals.com/Issues/9910/cover.html.

[After_Elton-38] Anderson-Minshall, Diane (2005-09-13). "Interview with Dan Savage". AfterElton.com. http://www.afterelton.com/archive/elton/print/2005/9/dansavage.html.

[39] Zach Galifianakis' interview from brianmpalmer.com (Brian M. Palmer)

[40] Open letter by Ayaan Hirsi Ali published on the website of the Nederlandse Omroep Stichting dated 3 November 2004
English translation: "Theo's naivety was not that it could not happen here, but that it could not happen to him. He said, "I am the local fool; they won't harm me. But you should be careful. You are the apostate.""
Dutch original "Theo's naïviteit was niet dat het hier niet kon gebeuren, maar dat het hem niet kon gebeuren. Hij zei: "Ik ben de dorpsgek, die doen ze niets. Wees jij voorzichtig, jij bent de afvallige vrouw." "

[41] Taslima's Pilgrimage By Meredith Tax, from The Nation

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]