Introduction

The United States may have greatest amount of religious diversity in the world. Below is a list of questions about New Religious Movements in the United States. Look at the Internet links on this page to find answers to the questions.

Questions

1. What is the document that guarantees Americans their right to freedom of religion?
   
   
2. What groups are scholars referring to when they use the term 'New Religious Movement,' or NRM?
   
   
3. What three criteria are used by judges to test the 'establishment clause', and what is the test called?
   
   
4. What single NRM has had the most cases argued before the U.S. Supreme Court?
   
   
5. What NRM uses “The International Modest Code” as one of its most important doctrine to guide daily behavior?
   
   
6. What NRM leader coined the term “free love” for his group’s practice of “complex marriage”?
   
   
7. Ann Lee is a prophet to what NRM?
   
   
8. What events lead to the boom of Eastern religions in 1965?
   
   
9. The majority of people who join a NRM leave the group within what period of time?
   
   
10. Who is credited with starting the first religiously tolerant community, and in what state?
    
    

The Internet Resources

• Oneida Movement
• NRMs: Lecture Outline
• Jehovah's Witnesses
• Religious Freedom and the Courts
• Religious Freedom and the Law
• NRMs: An Introduction Essay
• The Watershed
• NRMs through the Centuries
• The Shakers
• Father Divine Peace Mission

The Big Question

What is a New Religious Movement (or NRM)? What guides lawmakers in regards to religious diversity? By examining NRMs beliefs and history what do we learn about American culture?