James R. Lewis (scholar)
James R. Lewis | |
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Born | James Roger Lewis November 3, 1949 Leonardtown, Maryland, United States |
Died | October 11, 2022 | (aged 72)
Occupation(s) | Academic, sociologist of religion, researcher, and writer |
Academic background | |
Alma mater |
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Academic work | |
Main interests | |
Website | www |
James Roger Lewis (November 3, 1949 – October 11, 2022) was an American philosophy professor at
.Early life and education
James Roger Lewis was born November 3, 1949[1][2] in Leonardtown, Maryland, and raised in New Port Richey, Florida. In his youth, in the early and mid-seventies, he was a member of Yogi Bhajan's 3HO, a new religious movement combining the teachings of kundalini yoga and Sikhism. Feeling disenchanted with the organization, he formed a small and short-lived breakaway movement.[3]
He graduated
Works
In 1992, he formed an academic association called AWARE, with the primary goal "to promote intellectual and religious freedom by educating the general public about existing religions and cultures, including, but not limited to, alternative religious groups." Describing its outlook as "scholarly and non-sectarian", AWARE stated that it sought to educate scholars and the general public about the persecution of religious and cultural minorities in the United States and abroad, and to assist the United States in its efforts to counter prejudice.[4]
Other scholars involved in the formulation of AWARE as an "anti-anti-cult organization" included
Some months prior, in May 1995, Lewis, fellow scholar
Lewis edited a series on Contemporary Religions for Brill, and co-edited a series on Controversial New Religions for Ashgate.[8] He was a co-founder of the International Society for the Study of New Religions and editor-in-chief of the Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review (ASSR).[9][10] He taught in the University of Wisconsin System, where he edited a book titled Scientology,[11] and, on an adjunct basis, at DePaul University. Lewis was an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Wales, Lampeter, before becoming a professor at Wuhan University in Wuhan, Hubei, China.[1][9]
Reception
A prolific author, Lewis won a Choice Outstanding Academic Titles award in 1999 for Cults in America. The Choice review described it as a "very readable book" that offered a "balanced overview of controversies centering on cults in America", containing basic information on several dozen groups, as well as the more general conflict between "anti-cultists" seeking government assistance to eliminate cults, and religious "libertarians" defending religious liberty even for disliked groups. The review stated that while Lewis differed with the anti-cult view, he presented "arguments and references from both sides – respectfully and in language free from insinuation or invective. Strongly recommended".[12] Lewis won another Choice Outstanding Academic Title award for The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, with a second edition of this handbook published in 2016 with Inga Tøllefsen as co-editor.[13]
The work of AWARE in the 1990s was criticized by
In December 2017 conference, Lewis was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as claiming that Falun Gong-founded media Sound of Hope and New Tang Dynasty Television "are in fact manipulated and sponsored by international anti-China forces".[17]
In 2018, Lewis authored Falun Gong: Spiritual Warfare and Martyrdom.[18][19] The book covers various aspects of the group, focusing primarily on the more controversial teachings of the Falun Gong and its leader Li Hongzhi, including the group's pattern of targeting critics and Lewis's changing opinions on the group.[18][19] Reviewer Huang Chao praised the book, positively comparing it to David Ownby's work on the group, Falun Gong and the Future of China, which Chao argued downplayed negative aspects of the Falun Gong. He said that Lewis's book was important in correcting these weaknesses "by highlighting these aspects without degenerating into an anti-cult diatribe." Chao did criticize Lewis's treatment of Hongzhi's "self-aggrandizing assertions", which he thought was overly lengthy and did not contribute much to the stated purpose of the book (the violent side of the group), though he described his criticisms of the book overall as "relatively minor".[18] Another reviewer, Heather Kavan, praised the book for its content and style. Kavan argued that supporters of the group may find the book "confronting", saying that though Lewis did not support the treatment of the group, he did not whitewash the harmful beliefs of the group; she noted the book could have been subtitled "Why it is unwise to join Falun Gong."[19]
Lewis edited Enlightened Martyrdom: The Hidden Side of Falun Gong (2019), alongside Huang Chao.[20][21] Lewis argues in the book's final chapter that due to the media strategies of the group, they were presented largely sympathetically, but the tides were turning and they would soon be viewed as a dangerous group.[20] Reviewer Carole M. Cusack recommended the book, though described the chapters as "of uneven quality". She described the book as timely due to the change in public opinion of the group at the time of its publication, with more coverage of the leader and the group's beliefs instead of previously sympathetic stories.[21]
Death
Lewis died on October 11, 2022, after suffering a head injury.[1][2]
Selected bibliography
- ——, ed. (1994). ISBN 978-0-8476-7915-7.
- ——; ISBN 0-9639501-2-6.
- ——, ed. (1998). Cults in America: A Reference Handbook. ISBN 1-57607-031-X.
- ——, ed. (2006). ISBN 978-0-7546-5285-4.
- ——, ed. (2008). The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements. ISBN 0-19-514986-6.
- ——, ed. (2009). ISBN 0-19-533149-4.
- ——, ed. (2011). Violence and New Religious Movements. ISBN 978-0-19-973563-1.
- ——; Tøllefsen, Inga B., eds. (2016). The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements: Volume II. ISBN 978-0-19-046617-6.
- —— (2018). Falun Gong: Spiritual Warfare and Martyrdom. ISBN 978-1-108-44565-8.
- ——; Chao, Huang, eds. (2019). Enlightened Martyrdom: The Hidden Side of Falun Gong. ISBN 978-1-78179-499-9.
References
- ^ ISSN 1092-6690.
- ^ a b "About". James R. Lewis Memorial website. Department of Religious Studies, Wuhan University, China. 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
- ISSN 1612-2941.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8020-8188-9.
- ^ Archive.org.
- ^ a b c Reid, T. R. (May 5, 1995). "Tokyo Cult Finds an Unlikely Supporter". The Washington Post.
- ^ ISSN 1092-6690.
- ^ "Lewis, James R." eBooks.com.
- ^ a b "James R. Lewis". Observatoire Européen des religions et de la laïcité (in French). Archived from the original on January 22, 2011.
- ^ "Academic Publishing: Editorial board". Academic Publishing. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011.
- ISBN 978-0195331493.
- ISBN 978-0-8389-8232-7.
- ISSN 1092-6690.
- Skeptic Magazine. Vol. 6, no. 3. pp. 36–44. Retrieved May 18, 2024 – via skent.ualberta.ca.
- ISBN 0-7658-0323-2.
- Skeptic Magazine. Vol. 7, no. 1. pp. 14–17. Retrieved August 25, 2011 – via CESNUR.
- Xinhua. Archivedfrom the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ . Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ ISSN 1541-8480.
- ^ ISSN 1092-6690.
- ^ ISSN 1743-0623. Retrieved June 6, 2024.