Identifi cation of Sectarianism

• Main Author: Martinovich Vladimir
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 2016-03-01
• Series: Вестник Православного Свято-Тихоновского гуманитарного университета: Серия I. Богословие, философия
• Subjects: identification of sectarianism; unconventional religiosity; new religious movements; intentionality of cult studies; borderlines of unconventional religiosity; cults and society
• Online Access: http://periodical.pstgu.ru/en/pdf/article/3253
• ISSN: 1991-640X; 1991-640X

«New religious movements and society» is traditionally one of the most sophisticated topics in the area of new religions studies. Its problem field is so huge that up to now by far not all important research themes where even touched by scientists from all over the world. The problem of the process of the identification of sectarianism by diff erent societal institutions is one of such untouched themes that is taken as the main subject of this article. This process by itself is an inseparable part of the every societal deliberate reaction to the very existence of unconventional religiosity, its unstructured and mainly structured types. The focal point of the article is step-by-step analysis of the general structure elements of the process of the identification of sectarianism without any reference to the specific time and place of its flow. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the subjects of the identification of sectarianism, to the criteria for religious groups to be qualified as new religious movements, and to the specific features of the process of documents filtration. The causes of selective perception of sectarianism are disclosed. Some main consequences and unpredictable outcomes of the process of the identification of sectarianism are described.