New Religious Movements
The term New Religious Movement (NRM) is used by sociologists of religion to classify faith-based communities or groups of relatively recent origin.
The NRM can be completely new (even if, like the Church of Scientology, it borrows heavily from other religions), or be an offshoot (sect) of an established religion.
Are New Religious Movements ‘cults’?
The term New Religious Movement, or its abbreviation NRM, is frequently used as an alternative for ‘cult‘ — a word that, when carelessly used, is often seen as carrying too many negative connotations. [See Cult Definition
]
However,
That said, some groups identified as New Religious Movements are cults — either sociologically and/or theologically. [See Sociological vs. Theological definitions of the term 'cult.']
Some religion scholars and other interested parties use the term New Religious Movement to obfuscate the fact that a certain movement is, indeed, a cult (usually in the sociological sense). Many cult apologists — people who defend cults — use the NRM term this way.
Alternative Religious Movements
Some scholars prefer to use an alternative for the term ‘New Religious Movement,’ such as alternative religious movement or emergent religion.
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