Ten Comments on Watching Closely the Gaps between Beliefs and Actions

In: Terrorism and political violence, Band 14, Heft 1, S. 123-144

Abstract

Can we develop a credible risk assessment system for new religious movements? We are challenged by the complexity of interactions between beliefs, individual members, leadership & the surrounding environment. In addition, our ability to predict the actions of specific groups is severely hampered by a strong apologetic bias on the part of most NRM researchers. Beyond the problem of bias, we are faced with one practical problem & that is obtaining reliable intelligence. The truth is that scholars do not really know much about what is going on inside the thousands of religious groups in existence today. Adapted from the source document.