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Material in this section focuses on New Religious Movements. The Overview article is a good place to start, which introduces some of the definitional concerns that arise when discussing new religious movements, known more pejoratively as “cults.”  The articles also help us to understand why new religious movements exist; what contextual factors, such as time and place, contribute to the birth and growth of new religions; who involves themselves in new religions; and how such movements spread, sustain themselves, dissolve, or flame out in spectacular fashion.