Which Tradition Shall I Reject? The Dilemma of Second-Generation Members of New Religious Movements

Whilst some young people leave the religion in which they have been raised because it is perceived to represent many of the beliefs and values that they want to reject, other young people prefer to stay within the womb of the traditional religion with the expectation that they themselves will carry forward its, their family's and their society's traditions. The situation becomes more complicated, however, when one grows up in a family in which one’s parents have rejected the main society and expect one to follow their new Truths.

Research indicates that the first cohort of second-generation members of new religious movements (NRMs) are likely to reject and leave the movements, while the second cohort of second-generation members are more likely to accept the movement's beliefs and practices and stay.

The paper will examine this phenomenon and discuss some of the possible explanations for its occurrence. It will draw in particular, but not exclusively, on some of the author’s research into the Unification Church, the Children of God/The Family International, the International Society of Krishna Consciousness and other NRMs that became visible in the West around the late 1960s. Comparisons will be made between first-generation converts in the 1970s and ’80s, and the first and second cohorts of second-generation members. The discussion will focus on what might appear to be pertinent changes in the movements’ beliefs and practices.