Abstract

The study of affiliation and disaffiliation from New Religious Movements has until now focused exclusively on communal groups that are in high tension with society. This study shows that in New Age and Neo-Pagan New Religious Movements, both of which are at a state of low tension with society, the process of leaving and joining these movements are radically different. Issues such as leader intervention, group pressure and community bonding do not pressure those within the religion because the religions are of such an individualized nature. Questioning the authority of the individual to seek out religious fulfillment and the challenges to find a community all influence the process of learning what each person needs from their own religion. The creation of the Internet has created a community for religious seekers that exists no where, yet gives security and support to those who wish to explore religion in privacy or those who are geographically or otherwise physically isolated. It will be argued that this changes the process of affiliation and disaffiliation in these groups into being an accepted and necessary learning process for each individual.