Apostasy

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Apostasy (IPA: /əˈpɒstəsi/) is a term generally used to describe the formal 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 apostatises. The word derives from Greek αποστασία, 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. 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, due in some sense to psycho-social factors as well. Historically as well as currently, the offense can be punishable by death. The Catholic Church may in certain circumstances respond to apostasy by excommunicating the apostate, while the traditional holy writings of both Judaism (Deuteronomy 13:6-10) and Islam (al-Bukhari, Diyat, bab 6) demand the death penalty for apostates.

The reliability of the testimonies of apostates is an important and controversial issue in the study of apostasy in cults and new religious movements.

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 followers"), whereas apostates reject it entirely.

The term is also used to refer to renunciation of belief in a cause other than religion to which one has voluntarily professed any form of allegiance, particularly in politics. Conversely, some atheists and agnostics use the term "deconversion" to describe loss of faith in a religion. Self-described "Freethinkers" and those who may view traditional religion negatively may see it as gaining rationality and respect for the scientific method.

Other terms to describe leaving a faith and the associated process are treated in religious disaffiliation.

[edit] Sociological definitions

The American sociologist Lewis A. Coser (following the German philosopher and sociologist Max Scheler) 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

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, considers the recanting of a person's religion a human right legally protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: "The Committee observes that the freedom to 'have or to adopt' a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views [...] Article 18.2 bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to their religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert."^[5]

See also: Religious conversion

[edit] In Christianity

Flavius Claudius Iulianus, Roman Emperor (361-363), was raised as Christian, but rejected this faith upon becoming emperor. His Christian enemies called him apostate, and therefore he is still widely known in English as Julian the Apostate.

The prophecy in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians has often been cited concerning apostasy:

"Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,"^[6]

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"^[7]

"Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction"^[8]

The Byzantine Emperor Justinian I instituted the punishment of death for apostasy in the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law), directed towards Jews, Samaritans, Manichæans, and other heretics (10 c., "De pag.", I, 11). This legal statute formed the basis of Western European law for several centuries.

Restorationist churches generally believe that this foretold apostasy, "The Great Apostasy," began with the death of the early apostles and continued throughout the Middle Ages. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), a Restorationist church, believe that the "priesthood" (the authority to act in God's name) was lost during this time, and that the church as it existed in the days of Christ needed to be restored to its original condition. They believe the "restoration" was performed by Joseph Smith in the early nineteenth century.

Many non-Restorationists would argue that, in reference to the church as a whole, the Bible speaks of apostasies, but only of partial apostasies (see I Tim. 4:1, II Tim. 3:1-5). A partial apostasy (some, or a group of people turning from the faith) would not mean the church ceased to exist; it would only mean its size diminished. This view would hold that all of the proof texts suggested by Mormons would actually deal with either apostasy of Israel (Amos 8:11, Isa. 29) a partial apostasy during the church age, or apostasy during the tribulation period (future).

The apostasy can alternatively be interpreted as the pre-tribulation Rapture of the Church. This is because apostasy means departure (translated so in the first seven English translations).^[9]

Regarding apostasy on an individual level, some denominations quote Jude and Titus 3:10 saying that an apostate or heretic needs to be "rejected after the first and second admonition." Hebrews 6:4-6 notes the impossibility of those who have fallen away "to be brought back to repentance".

Jesus himself seemed fully aware of the individuals' loss of faith. His parable of the Sower in Luke chapter 8 talks of a farmer who sowed seed that fell along a path and was eaten by birds, seed that fell on a rock and whithered for lack of moisture, seed that was choked out by thorns, and seed that fell on good soil and yielded good crops, reflecting well the states of disbelief, apostasy of one type or another, and belief. In another situation, John 6:66 relates that, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." In speaking of the end times, Jesus said, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other." (Matthew 24:10) There is also the possibility that Judas Iscariot's betrayal was related to apostasy (as opposed to never having believed).

The apostles also acknowledged individual apostasy. In addition to witnessing the aforementioned loss of faith by many disciples of Jesus recorded in John 6, Peter said that for believers in Christ who knowingly turn away from their faith that "the last state has become worse for them than the first" (2 Peter 2:20-22). John addresses the same problem (I John 2:18-19). The apostle Paul cited Hymenaeus and Alexander as specific examples of those who had rejected the faith (I Timothy 1:20).

The Catholic Church holds that in certain circumstances apostasy can cause one to be excommunicated latae sententiae.

In the first centuries of the Christian era - as well as other times such as 17th century Japan (See Kakure Kirishitan) - apostasy was most commonly induced by persecution, and was indicated by some outward act, such as offering incense to a heathen deity or blaspheming the name of Christ.^{[citation needed]} (The readmission of such apostates to the church was a matter that occasioned serious controversy.) The emperor Julian's "Apostasy" is discussed under Julian the Apostate. In the Catholic Church the word has been applied to the renunciation of monastic vows (apostasis a monachatu)^{[citation needed]}, and to the abandonment of the clerical profession for the life of the world (apostasis a clericatu)^{[citation needed]}, though this usage is a technical one, and refers to the renunciation of the respective states. Such defection was formerly often punished severely^{[citation needed]}.

See also Great Apostasy; for an Arminian doctrine of individual apostasy, see Conditional Preservation of the Saints.

[edit] In Islam

Main articles: Apostasy in Islam and Takfir

In Islam, apostasy is called "ridda" ("turning back") and is considered to be a profound insult to God. A person born of Muslim parents that rejects Islam is called a "murtad fitri" (natural apostate), and a person that converted to Islam and later rejects the religion is called a "murtad milli" (apostate from the community).

The appropriate penalty for apostasy in Islam (i.e. in the Qur'an or under shariah law) is a highly controversial topic that is passionately debated by various scholars. The Quran itself speaks repeatedly of people going back to unbelief after believing, but is silent on the appropriate punishment. In practice, however, Islam has enforced harsh penalties against apostasy for hundreds of years.

According to most scholars, if a Muslim consciously and without coercion declares their rejection of Islam and does not change their mind after the time given to him/her by a judge for research, then the penalty for male apostates is death, and for women, life imprisonment. However, this view has been rejected by a small minority of modern Muslim scholars (eg Hasan al-Turabi), who argues that the hadith in question should be taken to apply only to political betrayal of the Muslim community, rather than to apostasy in general.^[10] These scholars regard apostasy as a serious crime, but argue for the freedom to convert to and from Islam without legal penalty, and consider the aforementioned Hadith quote as insufficient justification for capital punishment. Today apostasy is punishable by death in the countries of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Sudan, Afghanistan, Mauritania and the Comoros. In Qatar apostasy is a capital offense, but no executions have been reported for it.^[11]

The hadith "Whosoever changes his religion, Kill Him", has been used both by supporters of the death penalty as well as critics of Islam. Islamic scholars point out it is important to understand the hadith in proper historical context. The order was at a time when the nascent Muslim community in Medina was fighting for its very life, and there were many schemes, by which the enemies of Islam would try to entice rebellion and discord within the community.^[12] Clearly any defection would have serious consequences for the Muslims, and the hadith may well be about treason, rather than just apostasy. It must also be pointed out that under the terms of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, any Muslim who returned to Mecca was not to be returned, terms which the Prophet accepted. Despite this historical point, Islamic law as currently practiced does not allow the freedom for the individual to choose one's religion.

The Qur'an says:

Let there be no compulsion in the religion: Clearly the Right Path (i.e. Islam) is distinct from the crooked path.

—Qur'an, ^{[Qur'an 2:256]}

A section of the 'People of the Book' (Jews and Christians) says: "Believe in the morning what is revealed to the believers (Muslims), but reject it at the end of the day; perchance they may (themselves) turn back (from Islam).

—Qur'an, ^{[Qur'an 3:72]}

But those who reject faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of faith, never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have (of set purpose) gone astray.

—Qur'an, ^{[Qur'an 3:90]}

Those who blasphemed and back away from the ways of Allah and die as blasphemers, Allah shall not forgive them.

—Qur'an, ^{[Qur'an 4:48]}

Those who believe, then reject faith, then believe (again) and (again) reject faith, and go on increasing in unbelief,- Allah will not forgive them nor guide them on the way.

—Qur'an, ^{[Qur'an 4:137]}

O ye who believe! If any from among you turn back from his faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He (Allah) will love as they will love Him lowly with the believers, Mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of Allah, and never afraid of the reproachers of such as find fault. That is the Grace of Allah which He will bestow on whom He (Allah) pleases. And Allah encompasses all, and He knows all things.

—Qur'an, ^{[Qur'an 5:54]}

The Hadith (a collection of sayings attributed to Muhammad and his companions) includes statements taken as supporting the death penalty for apostasy, such as:

• Kill whoever changes his religion. Sahih Bukhari 9:84:57

• The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims. Sahih Bukhari 9:83:17

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, a Pakistani Islamic scholar, writes that punishment for apostasy was part of Divine punishment for only those who denied the truth even after clarification in its ultimate form by Muhammad (he uses term Itmam al-hujjah), hence, he considers this command for a particular time and no longer punishable.^[13]

In 2006, Abdul Rahman, the Afghan convert from Islam to Christianity has attracted worldwide attention about where Islam stood on religious freedom. Prosecutors asked for the death penalty for him. However, under heavy pressure from foreign governments, the Afghan government claimed he was mentally unfit to stand trial and released him.

Islam Online, a hugely popular Muslim website,^{[citation needed]} contains a fatwa dated 21 March 2004 and ascribed to 'IOL Shariah Researchers' says:

• "If a sane person who has reached puberty voluntarily apostatizes from Islam, he deserves to be punished.‏ In such a case, it is obligatory for the caliph (or his representative) to ask him to repent and return to Islam. If he does, it is accepted from him, but if he refuses, he is immediately killed."^[14] No one besides the caliph or his representative may kill the apostate. If someone else kills him, the killer is disciplined (for arrogating the caliph's prerogative and encroaching upon his rights, as this is one of his duties).

[edit] In Judaism

Main article: Jews in apostasy

See also: yetzia bish'eila and List of converts to Christianity#From Judaism

See also: Spanish_inquisition

The term apostasy is also derived from Greek ἀποστάτης, meaning "political rebel," as applied to rebellion against God, its law and the faith of Israel (in Hebrew מרד) in the Hebrew Bible.

Other expressions for apostate as used by rabbinical scholars are "mumar" (מומר, literally "the one that is changed") and "poshea yisrael" (פושע ישראל, literally, "transgressor of Israel"), or simply "kofer" (כופר, literally "denier" and heretic).

The Torah states:

Deuteronomy 13:6-10:

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which [is] as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; [Namely], of the gods of the people which [are] round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth; Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.^[15]

The prophetic writings of Isaiah and Jeremiah provide many examples of defections of faith found among the Israelites (e.g., Isaiah 1:2-4 or Jeremiah 2:19), as do the writings of the prophet Ezekiel (e.g., Ezekiel 16 or 18). Israelite kings were often guilty of apostasy, examples including Ahab (I Kings 16:30-33), Ahaziah (I Kings 22:51-53), Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:6,10), Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:1-4), or Amon (2 Chronicles 33:21-23) among others. (Amon's father Manasseh was also apostate for many years of his long reign, although towards the end of his life he renounced his apostasy. Cf. 2 Chronicles 33:1-19)

Paul of Tarsus was accused of apostasy by the council of James and the elders, for teaching apostasy from the law given by Moses (Acts 21:17-26). Scholars consider this the reason by which some early Christians, such as the Ebionites, repudiated Paul for being an apostate.

In the Talmud, Elisha Ben Abuyah (known as Aḥer) is singled out as an apostate and epicurean by the Pharisees.

During the Spanish inquisition, a systematic conversion of Jews to Christianity took place, some of which under threats and force. These cases of apostasy provoked the indignation of the Jewish communities in Spain.

Several notorious Inquisitors, such as Juan Torquemada, and Don Francisco the archbishop of Coria, were descendants of apostate Jews. Other apostates who made their mark in history by attempting the conversion of other Jews in the 1300s include Juan de Valladolid and Astruc Remoch.

However, the issue of what qualifies as "apostasy" in Judaism can be complicated, since in many modern movements in Judaism, rabbis have generally considered the behavior of a Jew to be the determining factor in whether or not one is considered an adherent or an apostate of Judaism.

Abraham Isaac Kook,^[16][17] first Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in then Palestine, held that atheists were not actually denying God: rather, they were denying one of man's many images of God. Since any man-made image of God can be considered an idol, Kook held that, in practice, one could consider atheists as helping true religion burn away false images of god, thus in the end serving the purpose of true monotheism.

[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 accepted in these communities, as there is no Hindu or Buddhist procedure that defines apostasy. One reason for their lack of enforcement is because neither of them are organized to mandate specific beliefs within all the followers.

[edit] In new religious movements (NRMs) and alleged cults

Some scholars of new religious movements 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^[18] 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,^[19]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.^[20] 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.^[21]

[edit] Opinions about the reliability of 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:

Beit-Hallahmi

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.^[22]

Bromley and Shupe

Bromley and Shupe, while discussing the role of anecdotal atrocity stories by apostates, proposes 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.^[23][24]

Charles

Dr. Phillip Charles Lucas^[25] interviewed ex-members of the Holy order of MANS^[26] 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.^[27]

Duhaime

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.^[28]

Dunlop

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 [6], 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.^[29]

Introvigne

Massimo Introvigne in his Defectors, Ordinary Leavetakers and Apostates^[30] 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 it intends 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 his loyalties and becoming a professional enemy of the organization he has 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.

Johnson

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. ^[31]

Kliever

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 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.^[32]

Langone

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.^[33]

Melton

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.^[34] 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.^[35]

Wilson

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.^[36] 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."^[37]

Wright

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." ^[38]

Zablocki

Benjamin Zablocki, when analyzing leaver responses, found the testimonies of former members as least as reliable as statements from the groups themselves.^[39]

[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]}

[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
• Maria Monk sometimes considered an apostate of the Catholic Church, though there is little evidence that she ever was a Catholic.

[edit] Islam

• Ayaan Hirsi Ali labelled an apostate by Theo van Gogh according to Ayaan Hirsi Ali^[40]
• 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^[41]

[edit] Judaism

• Tiberius Julius Alexander, 1st century Roman governor and general
• Baruch de Spinoza, a 17th century Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin

[edit] See also

• Religious conversion
• Religious intolerance
• Excommunication
• Defection
• Faith Freedom International
• Religious disaffiliation
• Apostata capiendo
• Mutaween
• Backslide

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Dunlop, Mark, The culture of Cults, 2001 [7]
• 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 [8]
• The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906). The Kopelman Foundation. [9]
• 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
• 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
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Apostates of Islam, why Islam should be avoided [10]

[edit] Bibliography

[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 [11]
• 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, [12]
• Wakefield, Margery, Testimony, 1996 [13]
• Lawrence Woodcraft, Astra Woodcraft, Zoe Woodcraft, The Woodcraft Family, Video Interviews [14]

[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 [15]
• Palmer, Susan J. Apostates and their Role in the Construction of Grievance Claims against the Northeast Kingdom/Messianic Communities [16]
• 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): pp. 172-82

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