12 Modern Religious Movements
Cults and prophets were discussed in the opener of this part. Here, some of the more specific behaviors seen in more modern religions and religious movements will be touched on. Many of these newer movements are not based on literal ancestry and kin relations like early religions might have been, but rather metaphorical ancestry and kin relations. For example, it’s common practice in the LDS church to refer to other members as “brother” or “sister” regardless of how literally related they are to each other. This is because of their metaphorical ancestry established by the communicated acceptance of the supernatural claim that they are all children of God “The Father.”
Mitchell’s Musings:
I am still on a registry somewhere in the LDS church because I still get visits from Mormon missionaries from time to time. My most recent run-in resulted in me getting a free couch and glass coffee table! I had just moved into my new apartment and had very little in the way of furniture. One evening I heard a knock on my door and there were two Mormon missionaries standing there out in the cold. Of course I invited them in, calling them “brother” this and “brother” that in the process. Though we had nowhere to sit and our voices were echoing off the empty walls, we had a pretty respectful chat.
My lack of furniture likely prompted them to let me know that someone in their ward (technically my ward, too, based on geography) needed to get rid of a couch and coffee table. When they offered it to me, I accepted. The literal next day, the young kids of the ward were carrying a couch and coffee table to my third floor apartment! Without any obvious pressure to return to the church or reciprocate, I was still being treated as metaphorical kin by the local LDS members in my neighborhood. All I had to do was behave as a metaphorical brother to the missionaries by letting them in and having a pretty normal conversation with them.
Because they are only metaphorically related, members of larger world religions don’t often have the luxury of growing up together and establishing kin-like relationships through decades of friendship. And, with converts joining churches relatively frequently, there is almost always someone (a stranger more or less) that members are being encouraged to treat as family, even though they don’t really know them.
This is where particularly emotional behavior comes in to play, especially when newer religious groups are forming. Bearing one’s testimony during the Fast and Testimony meeting in the LDS church, chanting Hare Krishna down a busy New York City street, and performing Glossolalia (speaking in tongues) are all meant to drop
https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxg3uhJinCvKSzlj5l8seVKndxf-ZLkeVP?si=H5V5Z7vnfz0o9Yfn