Student Resources - Chapter 1
- Internet Activity
- Multiple Choice Quiz
- Matching Exercise
- Worksheets & Handouts
- Related Internet Links
Internet Activity 1.1
- In pairs or groups, carry out a brief case study of a New Religious Movement or New Age group, using the websites identified in the book or via a Google search. You should report on things like the group’s origins, size, how it recruits, the levels of commitment demanded, what it believes, how it worships or other practices it is involved in, how it regards the world and other useful information.
Pages 38-9 provide some examples of NRMs, and the Kendal Project provides a useful starting point for New Age ideas, though a Google search on New Age ideas produces a wide range of information. - Each pair/group should produce and prepare no more than a one-sided handout to present to the rest of the group, with a copy provided to each student so they have some detail on a range of groups.
The following websites are useful for this activity, and there are further links on the Internet links page for this chapter:
www.kendalproject.org.uk
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/
www.religioustolerance.org/
Multiple Choice Quiz 1
Click here to access the Multiple Choice Quiz for this Chapter.
Matching Exercise 1
Click here to access the Matching Exercise for this Chapter.
Worksheets & Handouts
Click here to download the Worksheets & Handouts on Beliefs in Society.
Internet links - Beliefs in Society
- www.kendalproject.org.uk - the site of the Kendal Project, a unique academic research project which studied religion and spirituality in depth in a particular locality in England. A useful source for examining New Age ideas.
- www.religioustolerance.org/ - a site packed with information on all sorts of religions and religious organizations.
- http://web.archive.org/web/20060907005952/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu
/relmove/ - the Religious Movements Homepage Project at the University of Virginia, containing detailed profiles of more than two hundred different religious groups and movements. - www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ - the BBC’s religion pages, with lots of information and links on all kinds of religions.
- www.hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/index.html - The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Society at the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary. Contains a huge range of material on all aspects of religion.
- www.englishbiz.co.uk/semiotics/basicsemiotics/ideologies.html - a useful and extensive discussion of ideology.
- http://www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org/ - the site of the Intelligent Design Network.
- http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/nhmag.html - an article from the Natural History magazine debating Intelligent Design theories.
- www.worldchristiandatabase.org/wcd/ - the World Christian Database, providing comprehensive statistical information on world religions, Christian denominations, and people groups.
- www.unification.org - the site of the Unification Church (the ‘Moonies’).
- http://www.scientology.org/home.html - Church of Scientology.
- www.iskon.com - the official site of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna).
- www.tm.org - site of Transcendental Meditation.
- www.paganfed.org/ - the site of the Pagan Federation.
- www.secularism.org.uk/ - the site of the National Secular Society.
- http://www.venganza.org/ - the site of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which has developed the Pastafarian creation theory. A spoof site critical of Intelligent Design
