The 2022 CESNUR Conference
Co-organized by:
Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR)
Centre de Ressources et d’Observation de l’Innovation Religieuse (Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
International Society for the Study of New Religions (ISSNR)
RELIGIOUS PLURALISM IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION
LE PLURALISME RELIGIEUX À L'ÈRE DE LA MONDIALISATION
Quebec City (Quebec, Canada), 16-18 June 2022
Université Laval
Pavillon La Laurentienne - 1030 Avenue du Séminaire
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
Thursday June 16, 2022
8.30 a.m. - 9 a.m. / Registration
9 a.m. - 10.30 a.m. / Session 1 - Opening Plenary Session
Religions and Their Critics Between Globalization and Localization
Chair: Massimo INTROVIGNE
Greetings from Academic Authorities
Once Upon a Time, There Were Three New Religions: Global, Local and Glocal. But Wherein Lies the Difference?
Eileen BARKER (London School of Economics / INFORM, London, UK)
Transformations of the Quebec Religious Field (1950-2020)
Alain BOUCHARD (Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
Are There “Cults” in China? Branding Religions as “Xiejiao” in the Peoples’s Republic
J. Gordon MELTON (Baylor University, Waco, Texas, U.S.A.)
Movie: Bitter Winter presents The Long Arm of the Dragon: Chinese Persecution of Refugees Fleeing Religious Persecution
10.30 a.m. / 11 a.m. Coffee Break
11 a.m. - 1 p.m. / Session 2 - Plenary
Scientology Studies 2.0
Chair: George CHRYSSIDES
Game Maker: Reassessing L. Ron Hubbard’s Life and Legacy Beyond Biography/Hagiography
Donald WESTBROOK (Claremont Graduate University, California, U.S.A.)
Scientology as a Modern Gnosis
Eric ROUX (European Interreligious Forum for Religious Freedom, Brussels, Belgium)
Scientology’s Disconnection Policy in Comparative Perspective
Massimo INTROVIGNE (CESNUR, Turin, Italy)
Scientology’s Human Rights Campaigns and Their Enemies: Who Hates Scientology and Why
Rosita ŠORYTĖ (European Federation for Freedom of Belief, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Hubbard College of Administration
Bernadette RIGAL-CELLARD (Bordeaux Montaigne University, France)
1 p.m. - 2 p.m. / Business Lunch
1 p.m. - 2 p.m. / Meeting of the members of the International Society for the Study of New Religions (ISSNR members only; box lunch provided)
2 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. / Session 3
Saints and Sinners: Old and New Stories and Controversies
Chair: Chris HARTNEY
New Developments in Native North American Catholicism: The Opening of Black Elk’s Canonization Cause
Bernadette RIGAL-CELLARD (Bordeaux Montaigne University, France)
Already Globalized; How Jehovah’s Witnesses Maintain a Unified Organization
George D. CHRYSSIDES (University of Birmingham, UK)
The Wandjina of Lurline Street: A Successful Blasphemy Case in Australian Law?
Zoe ALDERTON (University of Sydney, Australia)
The Satanic Temple and Religious Pluralism in the US
Mathieu COLIN (Ph.D. candidate, University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
2 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. / Session 4
Shincheonj and the Deprogramming Controversy in South Korea
Chair: Eileen BARKER
What Is Shincheonji?
Massimo INTROVIGNE (CESNUR, Turin, Italy)
An Introduction to the Theology of Shincheonji
Holly FOLK (Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A.)
Deprogramming in South Korea and Its Political Context
Rosita ŠORYTĖ (European Federation for Freedom of Belief, Vilnius, Lithuania)
2 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. / Session 5
A New, Emerging Italian Movement: Archeosophy - A Panel Discussing Issue 4:1 of The Journal of CESNUR
Presiding and introducing:
A Presentation of the Issue 4:1 of The Journal of CESNUR
PierLuigi ZOCCATELLI (Pontifical Salesian University, Turin, Italy)
Introduction to the Life of Tommaso Palamidessi
Elisa BURGIO (Cólegio Bernardette Romeira, Quelfes, Portugal)
Introduction to the Archeosophical Works of Tommaso Palamidessi
Daniele CORRADETTI (PhD candidate, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal)
Archeosophy, Scuola Archeosofica, Associazione Archeosofica: Religious Liberty and Unity of Religions
Francesco CRESTI (Attorney at Law, Rome, Italy)
3.30 p.m. - 4 p.m. / Coffee Break
4 p.m. - 6.30 p.m. / Session 6
Religion et spiritualité, célébration et controverse [in French]
Chair: Alain BOUCHARD
Impératif du bien-être et sociologie des religions : étude des croyances et pratiques du développement personnel
Virginie BEAULIEU (Quebec University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
La fête des Morts ressuscitée
Denis BOIVIN (Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
La laïcité dans le pluralisme juridique religieux au Canada et la liberté de culte pour les musulmans dans un système glocalisé
Rachida HASSANE (Abdou Moumouni University, Niamey, Niger)
Les croyants non-catholiques dans un sanctuaire catholique : Défis du vivre-ensemble
Jonas ST-MARTIN (Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
Réactions de la communauté de Bountiful aux allégations d’entorses aux lois. De 1990 à 2018 : de l’ouverture à l’autre à la réclusion ?
Dianne CASONI (University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and Marie-Andrée PELLAND (University of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada)
Maurice Chabas (1862-1947) et les mondes de l’au-delà
Myriam DE PALMA (Art Historian, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
4 p.m. - 6.30 p.m. / Session 7
Polygamy and the Police: The Case of the Ambash Family
Chair: Constance JONES
Daniel Ambash and Israel’s Anticult Narrative
Susan PALMER (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Na Nachs and Neo-Kabbalism: Ambash Family Theology and the Message of Israel Dov Odesser
Holly FOLK (Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A.)
Respondents: Aderet Dorit AMBASH and Shiran Aslan AMBASH
Followed by the projection of the movie The Ambash Ladies, introduced by its director, Jessica VATURI-DEMBO
4 p.m. - 6.45 p.m. / Session 8
Popular Minorities, Contested Minorities, and Religious Experience
Chair: Fiona CHANG
Spiritual Tourism in Glastonbury, UK
Eriko KAWANISHI (Professional Institute of International Fashion, Osaka, Japan)
Challenges to Religious Pluralism in Contemporary Lithuania: the Case of the Ancient Baltic Faith Community Romuva
Milda ALISAUŠKIENĖ (Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania)
A Legitimate Component of the Nepalese Religious Polytropy? Toward Christian Politics of Recognition
Guillaume BOUCHER (University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Mainstreaming Scientology
Phil LORD (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
50 Shades of Pinks and Grays: L. Ron Hubbard, Drugs, and OT III
Ian CAMACHO (Independent scholar, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.)
Notes on a Survey Among Religious Studies Scholars
PierLuigi ZOCCATELLI (Pontifical Salesian University, Turin, Italy)
William James and Seon Master Daehaeng on Religious Experience
KIM Chae Young (Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea)
4 p.m. - 6 p.m. / Session 9
A Rumor of Spirits
Chair: Massimo INTROVIGNE
“More Knowledge and Less Faith”: Arthur Conan Doyle’s Quest to Restore True Religion
Michael W. HOMER (Attorney and Independent Scholar, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.)
Dutch Mediumistic Art of the Interwar Period: Artistic, Religious and Social Aspects
Wim KRAMER (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Séance: Contemporary Spiritualism and the Iconography of Ectoplasm
Shannon TAGGART (Author and photographer, New York, U.S.A.)
Spiritualism and Science on the Canadian Prairies Between the Wars
Serena KESHAVJEE (University of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)
Friday June 17, 2022
9.30 a.m. - 11 a.m. / Session 10
The Alternative Altars of Quebec
Chair: Mike KROPVELD
The Mystical Geography of Quebec Since the Quiet Revolution
Susan PALMER (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Roch Thériault’s Ant Hill Kids/Holy Moses Mountain Community: An Exploration of Violence in a Quebec Commune
Andrew AMES (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Contesting Traditional Parenthood: The Upbringing of Children in Ecoovie
Marie-Eve MELANSON (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Secularism and Jewish Schools in Quebec: The Right to Education and the Threat of Assimilation
Shane DUSSAULT (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
9.30 a.m. - 11 a.m. / Session 11
Canada’s Strange Neighbor, the United States
Chair: Michael W. HOMER
Black History in Christian Science
Cindy Peyser SAFRONOFF (Independent Scholar, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.)
“Insane over Christian Science”? Contests over Madness and Faith at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
Alexandra PRINCE (University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.)
Evangelical Schism: Mark Galli, Christianity Today, and Donald Trump
James A. BEVERLEY (Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
What it Means to Kneel: Religion, Civil Religion, and Controversies Surrounding the #Takeaknee Movement in American Football
Mathilde VANASSE-PELLETIER (University of Ottawa, Canada)
9.30 a.m. - 11 a.m. / Session 12
East Asian New Religions: Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea
Chair: Rosita ŠORYTĖ
Cosmology, Soteriology, Chronology: Outlining Caodaism’s Complex Millenarianism
Christopher HARTNEY (University of Sydney, Australia)
The Re-invention of Chinese Culture Orthodoxy: The I Ching, Fengshui, and Religious Practice of Taiwan’s Weixin Shengjiao
Fiona Hsin-Fang CHANG (National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan)
The Visual Arts in Daesoon Jinrihoe
LEE Gyungwon (Daejin University, Pocheon City, South Korea) and LEE Jeeyoung (Daejin University, Pocheon City, South Korea)
Religious Pluralism in Korean New Religions: Focused on the Harmonization of Three East Asian Religions in Daesoon Jinrihoe
LEE Suhyun (National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan)
11 a.m. - 11.30 a.m. / Coffee Break
11.30 a.m. - 1 p.m. / Session 13
Providence: A Church in the News Between South Korea and Taiwan
Presiding and introducing:
A Pastor Goes to Jail but His Church Grows
Massimo INTROVIGNE (CESNUR, Turin, Italy)
The Pursuit of Subjectivity and the Evangelization of Intellectual Elites by an Emerging Religion: Providence Church in Taiwan as an Example
TSAI Chih-Che (National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan)
The Creation of Feminism in the Religious Field: Providence Church in Taiwan as an Example
Haisul PALALAVI (National Cheng-Chi University, Taipei, Taiwan)
Respondent: CHOU Hsueh-Hua (National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan)
11.30 a.m. - 1 p.m. / Session 14
The Victory Altar: “Immortal Faith,” Religious Revolution and Veganism
Chair: LEE Gyungwon
Religious Revolution by the Victor Christ & a Vision of the Victory Altar
HAN Gang-Hyen (International Academy of Neo-Humans Culture, Bucheon City, South Korea)
The Immortal Science as a Religious Innovation by the Victor Christ: Centering on the Theo-Science of the Victory Altar and Veganism
AN Byung-Chun (World Immortality Association, South Korea)
The Secret of Nirvana from Birth to Aging, Sickness and Death by the Principle of Mind and Blood
KANG Yun-Min (International Academy of Neo-Humans Culture, Bucheon City, South Korea)
The Faith of the Flesh: Eternal Life in the Case of Victory Altar and Pluralism
KIM Jongsuk (The Institute of the History of Korean Messianic Movement, Chunan City, South Korea)
11.30 a.m. - 1 p.m. / Session 15
Viewing Doctrine and Tradition: How Popular Television and Film (Mis)Represent the Doctrines, Beliefs, and Traditions of New Religious Movements
Chair: Zoe ALDERTON
Shining a Light on Sabrina’s ‘Church of Night’ – How Religious Communities Interact with Their Depiction Onscreen
Chris MILLER (University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
Virtuous Vampires and Sinful Shape-Shifters: Racial Implications of Mormonism in the Twilight Series
Brooke Kathleen BRASSARD (University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada)
Respondent: Susan PALMER
1 p.m. - 2 p.m. / Business Lunch
2 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. / Session 16
The Luz del Mundo Church in Scholarly Perspective: A Panel Discussing Issue 4:2 of The Journal of CESNUR
Presiding and introducing: Holly FOLK
Panel: A Fast-Growing Religious Movement, a Global Charitable Work, and an Apostle in Jail
Panelists:
Massimo INTROVIGNE (CESNUR, Turin, Italy)
Sara POZOS BRAVO (Sâmann University of Jalisco, Guadalajara, Mexico)
J. Gordon MELTON (Baylor University, Waco, Texas, U.S.A.)
Rosita ŠORYTĖ (European Federation for Freedom of Belief, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Donald WESTBROOK (Claremont Graduate University, California, U.S.A.)
Respondent: Bigvai ESTRADA
2 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. / Session 17
Pluralism, Globalization, and the Future of Religion
Chair: Eriko KAWANISHI
“Glocalization” and the Paradox of Religious Pluralism: A Challenge to Globalization
John R. POTTENGER (University of Alabama, Huntsville, U.S.A.)
Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and the Future of Religion
Roland SHAINIDZE (York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Religious Pluralism between Acceptance and Rejection: Dilemmas of a Believer
Robert T. PTASZEK (The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland)
The Delicate Equilibrium Between Religious Freedom, Pluralism and Preservation of Traditional Worldviews in North-Western Amazonia
Bair PUIG ZHAMAGANOV (Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia)
2 p.m. - 3.30 p.m. / Session 18
Meanwhile in India
Chair: Alessandro AMICARELLI
Secularism as a Foundation Stone of Religious Pluralism: Glimpses from India
Vedpal DESWAL (Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India)
Responses to Current Hindu Nationalism: The Case of “Hindus for Human Rights”
Constance A. JONES (California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, U.S.A.)
Pahela Baisakh Festival in Bengali Diasporas: How Performances and Material Culture Work in creating Space and Collective Identity
Jannatul MAOA (University of Kansas, Lawrence, U.S.A.)
Sacred on Stage: Pluralism, Controversy and Need. Clashes of Ritual, Enactment and Performance in India
Svetlana RYZHAKOVA (Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia)
3.30 p.m. - 4 p.m. / Coffee break
4 p.m. - 6.30 p.m. / Session 19
A House Divided? A Conversation on the Unification Movement in 2020
Chair: Eileen BARKER
The Future of the Unification Community in Montreal
Franco FAMULARO (Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Unificationism and Pluralism: A Paradox of Triumphalist Universalism
Dan FEFFERMAN (Unification Theological Seminary, Barrytown, New York, U.S.A.)
“One Family Under God” as a Transformative Vision for Interreligious Dialogue in an Era of Globalization
YOO Yunkwon (Claremont Graduate University, California, U.S.A.)
The Word on the Substantial Word Research Group: Latest Unification Schism
Alexa BLONNER (Independent scholar, Gold Coast, Australia)
The Unification Church’s Movement for Unification, Pluralism, and its Degeneration
KIM Jongsuk (The Institute of the History of Korean Messianic Movement, Chunan City, South Korea)
Recent Developments in Litigation Involving the Family Federation/Unification Church
Michael MICKLER (Sunhak Institute of History, U.S.A.)
The Mainstream Religious Tradition of Sun Myung Moon versus the “Only Begotten Daughter” Movement of Mrs. Moon
Mark BRAMWELL (Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany)
4 p.m. - 6.30 p.m. / Session 20
Nouvelles spiritualités et ésotérismes [in French]
Chair: Mathilde VANASSE-PELLETIER
Transmariophanies contestataires, un cas québécois : l’Ordre du Cœur Immaculée et de saint Louis-Marie de Montfort
Alain BOUCHARD (Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
Stratégies d’adaptation d’une communauté de la Mission de l’Esprit-Saint à la suite de conflits au sein de l’église et à l’égard de l’exo-groupe
Dianne CASONI (University of Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and Marie-Andrée PELLAND (University of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada)
Pluralisme religieux et interpretation du bahaïsme par la Première Nation Innue (Quebec)
Marine CHAVANNE (Bordeaux Montaigne University, France)
La Commission de l’immigration et du statut de réfugié du Canada devant l’épreuve du Falun Gong
Pierre-Simon CLEARY (Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada)
Le sacré féminin au Nouvel Âge: le retour de la Déesse et ses significations culturelles dans la pratique ésotérique du nouveau millénaire
Alex KIEFER DA SILVA (Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada)
Universalisme contre mondialisation. De l’usage de René Guénon
Jean Pierre LAURANT (University of Paris - Sorbonne, France)
4 p.m. - 6.30 p.m. / Session 21
Studying, Watching, Living in, and Defending in Court New Religious Movements
Chair: J. Gordon MELTON
Reflection and Analysis on Info-Cult’s 40 Years of Existence
Mike KROPVELD (Info-Secte, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and Marie-Andrée PELLAND (University of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada)
Guwonpa-Good News Mission: A Dynamic Grassroots Group in Contemporary Korean Christian NRM History
David W. KIM (Australian National University, Canberra, Australia)
Non-Religion a Gateway to Global New Religions and Religious Creativity: A Case of Messianic Jews and Messianic Muslims
Richard CROFT (University of Eastern Finland, Helsinki, Finland)
Tantra, Yoga & Sacred Sexuality: Spirituality, Enlightenment, and Controversies
Alessandro AMICARELLI (European Federation for Freedom of Belief, London, UK)
Forms of Practice and Psychological Aspects of Tantra According to Guru Jára
Pavel HLAVINKA (Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic) and Kristyna TOMANOVÁ (Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic)
Legal Status and Human Rights Perspective in the Case of a New Religious Movement, the Guru Jára Path
Martin KRAJCA (Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic)
Saturday June 18, 2022
9.30 a.m. / Field Trip: The Wendat (Huron) Nation
Buses leave from the Pavillon La Laurentienne (1030 Avenue du Séminaire) at 9.30 a.m, to visit a Wendat (Huron) settlement. The Wendat representatives will guide us to visit a reconstructed traditional village and to discover their culture and religion. After a traditional Wendat meal, based on bison meat (vegetarian option available), and a show of Wendat dances (to which we will be invited to participate), we will return to Quebec City in the late afternoon.
