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1. The contemporary context of invented religions -- 2. Discordianism : chaos is a goddess -- 3. The Church of All Worlds : science fiction, environmentalism, and a holistic pagan vision -- 4. The Church of the SubGenius : science fiction mythos, culture jamming, and the sacredness of slack -- 5. Third millennium invented religions : Jediism, Matrixism, and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster -- Conclusion : imagination, fiction, and faith revisited.

pt. I. Tolkien's legendarium, the elven lineage and the internet -- pt. II. Film and television as sacred texts -- pt. III. Online mediation of invented, fiction-based and hyper-real religions -- pt. IV. Countercultural personal spiritualities and religions.

Introduction, Michael Stausberg (University of Bergen, Norway) -- 1. Religious Demise: Definitional Issues and Conceptual Considerations, Stuart A. Wright (Lamar University, USA), Michael Stausberg (University of Bergen, Norway) and Carol M. Cusack (University of Sydney, Australia) -- 2. How Religions End: A Case Study of the Urapmin of Papua New Guinea, Joel Robbins (University of Cambridge, UK) -- 3. The Ends and Endings of Aum Shinrikyo, Erica Baffelli (University of Manchester, UK) -- 4. The Demise of Religion: The Case of Knutby Filadelfia in Sweden, Lisolette Frisk (Dalarna University, Sweden) -- 5. Religious Failure Deferred: The Panacea Society, Alistair Lockhart (Cambridge University, UK) -- 6. Denominationalization or Death? Comparing Processes of Change within the Jesus Fellowship Church and the Children of God aka The Family International, Eileen Barker (London School of Economics, University of London, UK) -- 7. How Online Counter-Narratives Catalyze Change: The Fall of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Jessica Johnson (College of William and Mary, USA) -- 8. The Creation and End of an Anti-Religious Religion, Michael Stausberg (University of Bergen, Norway) -- 9. State Actions Leading to Religious Demise, Stuart A. Wright (Lamar University, USA) -- 10. Collective Violence as Religious Demise, James Lewis (Wuhan University, China) and Carole M. Cusack (University of Sydney, Australia) -- Bibliography -- Index

Why do religions fail or die? Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this open access book explores this important question that has received little scholarly attention to date. International contributors provide case studies from the United States, England, Sweden, Japan, New Guinea, and France resulting in a work that explores processes of attenuation, disintegration, transmutation, death, and extinction across cultures. These include: instances where mass suicides or homicides resulted in religious dissolution; the fall of Mars Hills Church and its larger-than-life megachurch pastor, accused of plagiarism and bullying in 2012; the death of the last member of the Panacea Society in England in 2012; and the disintegration of Knutby Filadelfia, a religious community in Sweden with Pentecostal roots that ceased to exist in May 2018 after a pastor shot his wife. Combining case studies and theoretical contributions, The Demise of Religion: How Religions End, Die, or Dissipate fills a gap in literature to date and paves the way for future research The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Centre for Advanced Study at theNorwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

"In this book, essayists investigate fan activities connected to books, film, and online games, such as Harry Potter-themed weddings, using The Hobbit as a sacred text, and taking on heroic roles in World of Warcraft. Popular culture is revealed to be a fertile source of religious and spiritual creativity in the contemporary world"--