Abstract
Events described as shocking have been taking place across South Africa involving churches using new extremities like feeding people harmful substances such as petrol and bleach to perform ‘miracles’. Some of these extremities have also included compelling congregants to eat grass. The focus of this study is black South African women’s experience of being involved in New Religious Movements (NRMs). The focus on black women in this study is because of their social standing in a post-apartheid society which is still trying to fix the challenges that apartheid came with such as the lack of resources and proper education. While these issues persist, it is evident that the refuge sought in these churches is linked to daily challenges faced by these women. Their involvement in NRMs entails being in the church, watching and/or taking part in the activities that take place. Semi structured interviews were conducted with six women, two who were still members, two that only visited once, and two who were members but left the church, I included visitors because I wanted to find out what from their experience made them decide whether to go back to the NRM to be a member or not. They all came from different NRMs around Gauteng, both from the suburbs and townships, and snowball sampling was used to find the participants to be part of my study. My participants were attracted to NRMs because of the longing to belong to a group while others were in need of protection from supernatural forces or help with personal issues. My participants showed that there was an acceptance of authority and a submissive relationship which lead to destructive obedience in the relationship between the religious leader and congregant. There were evident methods of control that ensured that these congregants feared leaving the NRM. They feared losing protection, their blessings or miracles, their sense of identity and to be ostracised by the group. One of the significant findings in this regard was the pressure to conform as well as compliance to group norms. Lastly, there was evidence that showed that women experienced subordination in the form of patriarchy in the NRM but their responses to it differed. While some understood that this was how things worked, some of my participants felt that it was one of the reasons they left the NRM.
M.A. (Sociology)