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Apostasy

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"Apostate" redirects here. For other uses, see Apostate (disambiguation).
For other uses, see Apostasy (disambiguation).
Countries (red) in which, as of 2013, apostasy or blasphemy against the local or state religion was punishable by execution under the law. Currently, this only occurs in some Muslim-majority countries.[1][2][3][4]
Logo of The Campaign for Collective Apostasy in Spain, calling for defection from the Catholic Church

Apostasy (/əˈpɒstəsi/; ‹See Tfd›Greek: ἀποστασία apostasia, "a defection or revolt") is the formal disaffiliation from, or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion contrary to one's previous beliefs.[5] One who undertakes apostasy is known as an apostate. Undertaking apostasy is called apostatizing (or apostasizing – also spelled apostacizing). The term apostasy is used by sociologists to mean renunciation and criticism of, or opposition to, a person's former religion, in a technical sense and without pejorative connotation.

The term is occasionally also used metaphorically to refer to renunciation of a non-religious belief or cause, such as a political party, brain trust, or a sports team.

Apostasy is generally not a self-definition: few former believers call themselves apostates because of the negative connotation of the term.

Many religious groups and some states punish apostates; this may be the official policy of the religious group or may simply be the voluntary action of its members. Such punishment may include shunning, excommunication, verbal abuse, physical violence, or even execution.[6] Examples of punishment by death for apostates can be seen under the Sharia law found in certain Islamic countries. As of 2014, about a quarter of the world’s countries and territories (26%) had anti-blasphemy laws or policies,[7] of which 13 nations, all Muslim majority, have death penalty for apostasy.[8]

Sociological definitions

The American sociologist Lewis A. Coser (following the German philosopher and sociologist Max Scheler[citation needed]) defines an apostate as not just a person who experienced a dramatic change in conviction but "a man who, even in his new state of belief, is spiritually living not primarily in the content of that faith, in the pursuit of goals appropriate to it, but only in the struggle against the old faith and for the sake of its negation."[9][10]

The American sociologist David G. Bromley defined the apostate role as follows and distinguished it from the defector and whistleblower roles.[10]

  • Apostate role: defined as one that occurs in a highly polarized situation in which an organization member undertakes a total change of loyalties by allying with one or more elements of an oppositional coalition without the consent or control of the organization. The narrative documents the quintessentially evil essence of the apostate's former organization chronicled through the apostate's personal experience of capture and ultimate escape/rescue.
  • Defector role: an organizational participant negotiates exit primarily with organizational authorities, who grant permission for role relinquishment, control the exit process, and facilitate role transmission. The jointly constructed narrative assigns primary moral responsibility for role performance problems to the departing member and interprets organizational permission as commitment to extraordinary moral standards and preservation of public trust.
  • Whistle-blower role: defined here as when an organization member forms an alliance with an external regulatory agency through personal testimony concerning specific, contested organizational practices that the external unit uses to sanction the organization. The narrative constructed jointly by the whistle blower and regulatory agency is depicts the whistle-blower as motivated by personal conscience, and the organization by defense of the public interest.

Stuart A. Wright, an American sociologist and author, asserts that apostasy is a unique phenomenon and a distinct type of religious defection in which the apostate is a defector "who is aligned with an oppositional coalition in an effort to broaden the dispute, and embraces public claims-making activities to attack his or her former group."[11]

Human rights

See also: Religious conversion

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, considers the recanting of a person's religion a human right legally protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:

The Committee observes that the freedom to 'have or to adopt' a religion or belief necessarily entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, including the right to replace one's current religion or belief with another or to adopt atheistic views ... Article 18.2[12] bars coercion that would impair the right to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of threat of physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to their religious beliefs and congregations, to recant their religion or belief or to convert.[13]

History

As early as the 3rd century AD, apostasy against the Zoroastrian faith in the Sasanian Empire was criminalized. The high priest, Kidir, instigated pogroms against Jews, Christians, Buddhists, and others in effort to solidify the hold of the state religion.[14]

As the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its state religion, apostasy became formally criminalized in the Theodosian Code, followed by the Corpus Juris Civilis (the Justinian Code).[15] The Justinian Code went on to form the basis of law in most of Western Europe during the Middle Ages and so apostasy was similarly persecuted to varying degrees in Europe throughout this period and into the early modern period. Eastern Europe similarly inherited many of its legal traditions regarding apostasy from the Romans, but not from the Justinian Code.[citation needed]

With the rise of Islam came a relative religious tolerance in the Middle Eastern regions[citation needed]. Nevertheless, as the Middle Ages progressed, the successive Islamic caliphates began to enforce their own laws against apostasy, often modeled on those of the Romans and the Europeans.[citation needed]

Atrocity stories

The term "atrocity story" is controversial as it relates to the differing views amongst scholars about the credibility of the accounts of former members.

Bryan R. Wilson, Reader Emeritus of Sociology of the University of Oxford says apostates of new religious movements are generally in need of self-justification, seeking to reconstruct their past and to excuse their former affiliations, while blaming those who were formerly their closest associates. Wilson, thus, challenges the reliability of the apostate's testimony by saying that the apostate "must always be seen as one whose personal history predisposes him to bias with respect to both his previous religious commitment and affiliations, the suspicion must arise that he acts from a personal motivation to vindicate himself and to regain his self-esteem, by showing himself to have been first a victim but subsequently to have become a redeemed crusader." Wilson also asserts that some apostates or defectors from religious organisations rehearse atrocity stories to explain how, by manipulation, coercion or deceit, they were recruited to groups that they now condemn.[16]

Jean Duhaime of the Université de Montréal writes, referring to Wilson, based on his analysis of three books by apostates of new religious movements, that stories of apostates cannot be dismissed only because they are subjective.[17]

Danny Jorgensen, Professor at the Department of Religious Studies of the University of Florida, in his book The Social Construction and Interpretation of Deviance: Jonestown and the Mass Media argues that the role of the media in constructing and reflecting reality is particularly apparent in its coverage of cults. He asserts that this complicity exists partly because apostates with an atrocity story to tell make themselves readily available to reporters and partly because new religious movements have learned to be suspicious of the media and, therefore, have not been open to investigative reporters writing stories on their movement from an insider's perspective. Besides this lack of information about the experiences of people within new religious movements, the media is attracted to sensational stories featuring accusations of food and sleep deprivation, sexual and physical abuse, and excesses of spiritual and emotional authority by the charismatic leader.[18]

Michael Langone argues that some will accept uncritically the positive reports of current members without calling such reports, for example, "benevolence tales" or "personal growth tales". He asserts that only the critical reports of ex-members are called "tales", which he considers to be a term that clearly implies falsehood or fiction. He states that it wasn't until 1996 that a researcher conducted a study[19] to assess the extent to which so called "atrocity tales" might be based on fact.[19][20][21]

Contemporary criminalization of apostasy

Further information: Application of sharia law by country, Use of capital punishment by nation, and Freedom of religion

Historically, apostasy was considered a criminal offense in many societies, commonly likened with the crimes of treason, desertion, or mutiny. For instance, European converts from Christianity to Islam who sought refuge in the Barbary States or in the Ottoman Empire were termed "renegades" in the history of that region.

As of 2016, sixteen Muslim countries criminalize public apostasy, and their apostasy laws only concern apostasy from Islam, citing Islamic law as justification. No country in the Americas or Europe had any law forbidding the renunciation of a religious belief or restricting the freedom to choose one's religion.

The following countries have criminal statutes that forbid apostasy or blasphemy:[22]

Countries that criminalize apostasy from Islam or blasphemy has been proposed as of 2013. Some Muslim countries impose the death penalty or a prison sentence for apostasy from Islam, or ban non-Muslims from proselytizing.[23]

(Note that apostasy from other religions to Islam is legal in all countries indicated below)

  • Afghanistan – illegal (death penalty, though the U.S. and other coalition members have put pressure that has prevented recent executions)[24]
  • Brunei – per recently enacted Sharia law, Section 112(1) of the Brunei Penal Code states that a Muslim who declares himself non-Muslim commits a crime that is punishable with death, or with up to 30 year imprisonment, depending on the type of evidence. However, if the accused has recanted his conversion, he may be acquitted of the crime of apostasy.[25]
  • Comoros[26]
  • Iran – not in the Penal Code.[27]
  • Jordan – possibly illegal (fine, child custody loss, marriage annulment) although officials claim otherwise, convictions are recorded for apostasy[28][29][30]
  • Kuwait – Apostasy is not illegal in Kuwait,[31][32][33] although apostasy is penalized in family courts for Muslims.[31][32] For Muslims, apostasy in family court can result in loss of child custody, inheritance rights, annulment if married to a Muslim[31][32] and possibly death penalty.[34]
  • Malaysia – illegal in five of thirteen states (fines) if they do not get conversion permission from Sharia court.[35]
  • Maldives[26]- illegal for Muslim nationals (loss of citizenship).[36][37] Illegal to proselytise for religions other than Islam.
  • Mauritania – illegal (death penalty if still apostate after 3 days)[38]
  • Morocco – not illegal, but official Islamic council decreed apostates should be put to death.[39] Illegal to proselytise for religions other than Islam (six months to three years imprisonment)[40]
  • Oman – illegal (prison) according to Article 209 of Oman penal code, and denies child custody rights under Article 32 of Personal Status Law[39]
  • Qatar – illegal (death penalty)[39]
  • Saudi Arabia – illegal (flogging, imprisonment and death penalty, although there have been no recently reported executions)[30][41]
  • Somalia – illegal (death penalty)[42][2]
  • Sudan – illegal (death penalty)[43]
  • Syria[26]
  • United Arab Emirates – illegal (3 years' imprisonment, death penalty)[39][44]
  • Yemen – illegal (death penalty)[39][2]

From 1985 to 2006, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom listed a total of four cases of execution for apostasy in the Muslim world: one in Sudan in 1985; two in Iran, in 1989 and 1998; and one in Saudi Arabia in 1992.

Religious views

Baha'i

See also: Covenant-breaker, Freedom of religion in Iran, and List of former Bahá'ís

Both marginal and apostate Baha'is have existed in the Baha'i community[45] who are known as nāqeżīn.[46]

Muslims often regard adherents of the Bahá'í faith as apostates from Islam,[47] and there have been cases in some Muslim countries where Baha'is have been harassed and persecuted.[48]

Christianity

Main article: Apostasy in Christianity
See also: Apostata capiendo and Backslide

The Christian understanding of apostasy is "a willful falling away from, or rebellion against, Christian truth. Apostasy is the rejection of Christ by one who has been a Christian ...", though certain Protestants believe that biblically this is impossible ('once saved, forever saved').[49] "Apostasy is the antonym of conversion; it is deconversion."[50] B. J. Oropeza states that apostasy is a "phenomenon that occurs when a religious follower or group of followers turn away from or otherwise repudiate the central beliefs and practices they once embraced in a respective religious community."[51] The Ancient Greek noun ἀποστασία apostasia ("rebellion, abandonment, state of apostasy, defection")[52] is found only twice in the New Testament (Acts 21:21; 2 Thessalonians 2:3).[53] However, "the concept of apostasy is found throughout Scripture."[54] The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery states that "There are at least four distinct images in Scripture of the concept of apostasy. All connote an intentional defection from the faith."[55] These images are: Rebellion; Turning Away; Falling Away; Adultery.[56]

  • Rebellion: "In classical literature apostasia was used to denote a coup or defection. By extension the Septuagint always uses it to portray a rebellion against God (Joshua 22:22; 2 Chronicles 29:19)."[56]
  • Turning away: "Apostasy is also pictured as the heart turning away from God (Jeremiah 17:5-6) and righteousness (Ezekiel 3:20). In the OT it centers on Israel's breaking covenant relationship with God through disobedience to the law (Jeremiah 2:19), especially following other gods (Judges 2:19) and practicing their immorality (Daniel 9:9-11) ... Following the Lord or journeying with him is one of the chief images of faithfulness in the Scriptures ... The ... Hebrew root (swr) is used to picture those who have turned away and ceased to follow God ('I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me,' 1 Samuel 15:11) ... The image of turning away from the Lord, who is the rightful leader, and following behind false gods is the dominant image for apostasy in the OT."[56]
  • Falling away: "The image of falling, with the sense of going to eternal destruction, is particularly evident in the New Testament ... In his [Christ's] parable of the wise and foolish builder, in which the house built on sand falls with a crash in the midst of a storm (Matthew 7:24-27) ... he painted a highly memorable image of the dangers of falling spiritually."[57]
  • Adultery: One of the most common images for apostasy in the Old Testament is adultery.[56] "Apostasy is symbolized as Israel the faithless spouse turning away from Yahweh her marriage partner to pursue the advances of other gods (Jeremiah 2:1-3; Ezekiel 16) ... 'Your children have forsaken me and sworn by god that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes' (Jeremiah 5:7, NIV). Adultery is used most often to describe the horror of the betrayal and covenant breaking involved in idolatry. Like literal adultery it does include the idea of someone blinded by infatuation, in this case for an idol: 'How I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts ... which have lusted after their idols' (Ezekiel 6:9)."[56]

Speaking with specific regard to apostasy in Christianity, Michael Fink writes:

Apostasy is certainly a biblical concept, but the implications of the teaching have been hotly debated.[58] The debate has centered on the issue of apostasy and salvation. Based on the concept of God's sovereign grace, some hold that, though true believers may stray, they never totally fall away. Others affirm that any who fall away were never really saved. Though they may have "believed" for a while, they never experienced regeneration. Still others argue that the biblical warnings against apostasy are real and that believers maintain the freedom, at least potentially, to reject God's salvation.[59]

In the recent past, in the Roman Catholic Church the word was also applied to the renunciation of monastic vows (apostasis a monachatu), and to the abandonment of the clerical profession for the life of the world (apostasis a clericatu) without necessarily amounting to a rejection of Christianity.[60]

Jehovah's Witnesses

Main article: Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs § Apostasy

Jehovah's Witness publications define apostasy as the abandonment of the worship and service of God, constituting rebellion against God.[61] They apply the term to a range of conduct, including open dissent with the religion's doctrines, celebration of "false religious holidays" (including Christmas and Easter), and participation in activities and worship of other religions.[62] Members of the religion who are accused of apostasy are typically required to appear before a congregational judicial committee, by which they may be "disfellowshipped"—the most severe of the religion's disciplinary procedures that involves expulsion from the religion and shunning by all congregants, including immediate family members not living in the same home.[63] Baptized individuals who leave the organization because they disagree with the religion's teachings are also regarded as apostates and are shunned.[64]

Watch Tower Society literature describes apostates as "mentally diseased" individuals who can "infect others with their disloyal teachings".[65][66] Former members who are defined as apostates are said to have become part of the antichrist and are regarded as more reprehensible than non-Witnesses.[67]

Mormonism

Main article: Ex-Mormon

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the Mormons) are considered by church leadership to engage in apostasy when they publicly teach or espouse opinions and doctrines contrary to the teachings of the church. Apostasy is also assumed in cases of a member engaging in activities forbidden by the church's teachings, such as adultery or homosexual relations. In such circumstances the church will frequently subject the non-conforming member to a disciplinary council which may result in disfellowshipment (a temporary loss of church participation privileges) or excommunication (a semi-permanent loss of church membership). The nature of the disciplinary council varies with the member's standing within the church as men's cases are often heard by a much larger group than women's.

Hinduism

Hinduism grants absolute freedom for an individual to leave or choose his or her faith on the Path to God. Hindus believe all sincere faiths ultimately lead to the same God.[68] However, according to Mahabharata Santi Parva Sections XXXIV–XXXV, abandonment of Hinduism and adopting another creed is frowned upon.[69]

However, if a Hindu embraces a Dharma (duty) or a Varna other than the one he/she was already believed in, it is a sin according to Hinduism. An example for apostasy in Hinduism is the King Ravana. Ravana was born as a Brahmin but in his later life chose to be a Kshatriya. Because he did not follow his Dharma, he had committed a sin according to Hinduism. This is so because according to Lord Shiva, devotees should not leave their Varna for material pleasures. King Ravana later lost all of his wealth, his powers, became blind and was considered evil.[70] Criticizing, forgetting and opposing a Veda is also a sin in Hinduism according to Manusmriti verse 11.56.[71][72]

Buddhism

There is no concept of heresy or apostasy in Buddhism, and people are free to leave Buddhism and renounce their beliefs in Buddhism without any consequence.[73]

Islam

Main articles: Apostasy in Islam and Takfir
A ruling by Al-Azhar, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, and chief centre of Islamic and Arabic learning in the world.[74] The case examined an Egyptian Muslim man marrying a German Christian woman, and then the man converting to Christianity. Al-Azhar ruled that the man committed the crime of apostasy, he should be given a chance to repent and return to Islam, and if he refuses he must be killed. Al-Azhar issued the same sentence for his children once they reach the age of puberty, in this September 1978 ruling.

In Islamic literature, apostasy is called irtidād or ridda; an apostate is called murtadd, which literally means 'one who turns back' from Islam.[75] Someone born to a Muslim parent, or who has previously converted to Islam, becomes a murtadd if he or she verbally denies any principle of belief prescribed by Quran or a Hadith, deviates from approved Islamic belief (ilhad), or if he or she commits an action such as treating a copy of the Qurʾan with disrespect.[76][77][78] A person born to a Muslim parent who later rejects Islam is called a murtad fitri, and a person who converted to Islam and later rejects the religion is called a murtad milli.[79][80][81]

There are multiple verses in Quran that condemn apostasy,[82] but none which prescribe any punishments for apostasy and multiple Hadiths include statements that support the death penalty for apostasy.[83] The majority of modern Ulama have come to the conclusion that despite the Quran suggesting that an apostate cannot be punished for apostasy,[84] that the select Hadith which do support the death for apostasy override the Quranic verses which suggest otherwise.

The concept and punishment of Apostasy has been extensively covered in Islamic literature since the 7th century.[85] A person is considered apostate if he or she converts from Islam to another religion.[86] A person is an apostate even if he or she believes in most of Islam, but verbally or in writing denies of one or more principles or precepts of Islam. Similarly, a Muslim who doubts the existence of Allah, makes offerings to and worships an idol or stupa or any image of God, confesses a belief in rebirth or incarnation of God, disrespects Quran or Islam's Prophets are all individually sufficient evidence of apostasy.[87][88][89]

Many Muslims consider the Islamic law on apostasy and the punishment one of the immutable laws under Islam.[90] It is a hudud crime,[91][92] which means it is a crime against God,[93] and the punishment has been fixed by God. The punishment for apostasy includes[94] state enforced annulment of his or her marriage, seizure of the person's children and property with automatic assignment to guardians and heirs, and death for the apostate.[85][95][96]

According to some scholars, if a Muslim consciously and without coercion declares their rejection of Islam and does not change their mind after the time allocated by a judge for research, then the penalty for male apostates is death, and for females life imprisonment.[97][98]

According to the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect, there is no punishment for apostasy, neither in the Quran nor as taught by Muhammad.[99] This position of the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect is not widely accepted by clerics in other sects of Islam, and the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam acknowledges that major sects have a different interpretation and definition of apostasy in Islam.[99]: 18–25  Ulama of major sects of Islam consider the Ahmadi Muslim sect as kafirs (infidels)[99]: 8  and apostates.[100][101]

Today, apostasy is a crime in 16 out 49 Muslim majority countries; in other Muslim nations such as Morocco, apostasy is not legal but proselytizing towards Muslims is illegal.[22] It is subject in some countries, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, to the death penalty, although executions for apostasy are rare. Apostasy is legal in secular Muslim countries such as Turkey.[102] In numerous Islamic majority countries, many individuals have been arrested and punished for the crime of apostasy without any associated capital crimes.[26][103][104][105] In a 2013 report based on an international survey of religious attitudes, more than 50% of the Muslim population in 6 Islamic countries supported the death penalty for any Muslim who leaves Islam (apostasy).[106][107] A similar survey of the Muslim population in the United Kingdom, in 2007, found nearly a third of 16 to 24-year-old faithfuls believed that Muslims who convert to another religion should be executed, while less than a fifth of those over 55 believed the same.[108]

Muslim historians recognize 632 AD as the year when the first regional apostasy from Islam emerged, immediately after the death of Muhammed.[109] The civil wars that followed are now called Riddah wars (Wars of Islamic Apostasy), with the massacre at Battle of Karbala holding a special place for Shia Muslims.

Judaism

Main article: Apostasy in Judaism
See also: Off the derech
Mattathias killing a Jewish apostate

The term apostasy is derived from Ancient Greek ἀποστασία from ἀποστάτης, meaning "political rebel," as applied to rebellion against God, its law and the faith of Israel (in Hebrew מרד) in the Hebrew Bible. Other expressions for apostate as used by rabbinical scholars are mumar (מומר, literally "the one that is changed") and poshea yisrael (פושע ישראל, literally, "transgressor of Israel"), or simply kofer (כופר, literally "denier" and heretic).

The Torah states:

If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.[110]

In 1 Kings King Solomon is warned in a dream which "darkly portray[s] the ruin that would be caused by departure from God":[111]

If you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.[112]

The prophetic writings of Isaiah and Jeremiah provide many examples of defections of faith found among the Israelites (e.g., Isaiah 1:2–4 or Jeremiah 2:19), as do the writings of the prophet Ezekiel (e.g., Ezekiel 16 or 18). Israelite kings were often guilty of apostasy, examples including Ahab (I Kings 16:30–33), Ahaziah (I Kings 22:51–53), Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:6,10), Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:1–4), or Amon (2 Chronicles 33:21–23) among others. Amon's father Manasseh was also apostate for many years of his long reign, although towards the end of his life he renounced his apostasy (cf. 2 Chronicles 33:1–19).

In the Talmud, Elisha ben Abuyah is singled out as an apostate and Epikoros (Epicurean) by the Pharisees.

During the Spanish Inquisition, a systematic conversion of Jews to Christianity took place to avoid expulsion from the kingdoms of Castille and Aragon as had been the case previously elsewhere in medieval Europe. Although the vast majority of conversos simply assimilated into the Catholic dominant culture, a minority continued to practice Judaism in secret, gradually migrated throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Ottoman Empire, mainly to areas where Sephardic communities were already present as a result of the Alhambra Decree. Tens of thousands of Jews were baptised in the three months before the deadline for expulsion, some 40,000 if one accepts the totals given by Kamen, most of these undoubtedly to avoid expulsion,[113] rather than as a sincere change of faith. These conversos were the principal concern of the Inquisition; being suspected of continuing to practice Judaism put them at risk of denunciation and trial.

Several notorious Inquisitors, such as Tomás de Torquemada, and Don Francisco the archbishop of Coria, were descendants of apostate Jews. Other apostates who made their mark in history by attempting the conversion of other Jews in the 14th century include Juan de Valladolid and Astruc Remoch.

Abraham Isaac Kook,[114][115] first Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community in then Palestine, held that atheists were not actually denying God: rather, they were denying one of man's many images of God. Since any man-made image of God can be considered an idol, Kook held that, in practice, one could consider atheists as helping true religion burn away false images of god, thus in the end serving the purpose of true monotheism.

In practice, Judaism does not follow the Torah's prescription on this point: there is no punishment today for leaving Judaism, other than being excluded from participating in the rituals of the Jewish community - including leading worship, Jewish marriage or divorce, being called to the Torah and being buried in a Jewish cemetery.

Sikhism

According to the Sri Guru Granth Sahib 1st (832/5/2708),[116]

He is a swine, a dog, a donkey, a cat, a beast, a filthy one, a mean man and a pariah (low caste), who tuns his face away from the Guru.

In Sri Guru Granth Sahib Page 1381-13,[117]

The head which does not bow to the Lord - chop off and remove that head.

In Sri Guru Granth Sahib Page 89-2,[118]

Chop off that head which does not bow to the Lord.

Other religious movements

Controversies over new religious movements (NRMs) have often involved apostates, some of whom join organizations or web sites opposed to their former religions. A number of scholars have debated the reliability of apostates and their stories, often called "apostate narratives".

The role of former members, or "apostates", has been widely studied by social scientists. At times, these individuals become outspoken public critics of the groups they leave. Their motivations, the roles they play in the anti-cult movement, the validity of their testimony, and the kinds of narratives they construct, are controversial. Some scholars like David G. Bromley, Anson Shupe, and Brian R. Wilson have challenged the validity of the testimonies presented by critical former members. Wilson discusses the use of the atrocity story that is rehearsed by the apostate to explain how, by manipulation, coercion, or deceit, he was recruited to a group that he now condemns.[119]

Sociologist Stuart A. Wright explores the distinction between the apostate narrative and the role of the apostate, asserting that the former follows a predictable pattern, in which the apostate uses a "captivity narrative" that emphasizes manipulation, entrapment and being victims of "sinister cult practices". These narratives provide a rationale for a "hostage-rescue" motif, in which cults are likened to POW camps and deprogramming as heroic hostage rescue efforts. He also makes a distinction between "leavetakers" and "apostates", asserting that despite the popular literature and lurid media accounts of stories of "rescued or recovering 'ex-cultists'", empirical studies of defectors from NRMs "generally indicate favorable, sympathetic or at the very least mixed responses toward their former group".[120]

One camp that broadly speaking questions apostate narratives includes David G. Bromley,[121] Daniel Carson Johnson,[122] Dr. Lonnie D. Kliever (1932–2004),[123] Gordon Melton,[124] and Bryan R. Wilson.[125] An opposing camp less critical of apostate narratives as a group includes Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi,[126] Dr. Phillip Charles Lucas,[127][128][129] Jean Duhaime,[130] Mark Dunlop,[131][132] Michael Langone,[133] and Benjamin Zablocki.[134]

Some scholars have attempted to classify apostates of NRMs. James T. Richardson proposes a theory related to a logical relationship between apostates and whistleblowers, using Bromley's definitions,[135] in which the former predates the latter. A person becomes an apostate and then seeks the role of whistleblower, which is then rewarded for playing that role by groups that are in conflict with the original group of membership such as anti-cult organizations. These organizations further cultivate the apostate, seeking to turn him or her into a whistleblower. He also describes how in this context, apostates' accusations of "brainwashing" are designed to attract perceptions of threats against the well being of young adults on the part of their families to further establish their newfound role as whistleblowers.[136] Armand L. Mauss, defines true apostates as those exiters that have access to oppositional organizations that sponsor their careers as such, and validate the retrospective accounts of their past and their outrageous experiences in new religions—making a distinction between these and whistleblowers or defectors in this context.[137] Donald Richter, a current member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) writes that this can explain the writings of Carolyn Jessop and Flora Jessop, former members of the FLDS church who consistently sided with authorities when children of the YFZ ranch were removed over charges of child abuse.

Massimo Introvigne in his Defectors, Ordinary Leavetakers and Apostates[138] defines three types of narratives constructed by apostates of new religious movements:

  • Type I narratives characterize the exit process as defection, in which the organization and the former member negotiate an exiting process aimed at minimizing the damage for both parties.
  • Type II narratives involve a minimal degree of negotiation between the exiting member, the organization they intend to leave, and the environment or society at large, implying that the ordinary apostate holds no strong feelings concerning his past experience in the group. They may make "comments on the organization's more negative features or shortcomings" while also recognizing that there was "something positive in the experience."
  • Type III narratives are characterized by the ex-member dramatically reversing their loyalties and becoming a professional enemy of the organization they have left. These apostates often join an oppositional coalition fighting the organization, often claiming victimization.

Introvigne argues that apostates professing Type II narratives prevail among exiting members of controversial groups or organizations, while apostates that profess Type III narratives are a vociferous minority.

Ronald Burks, a psychology assistant at the Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center, in a study comparing Group Psychological Abuse Scale (GPA) and Neurological Impairment Scale (NIS) scores in 132 former members of cults and cultic relationships, found a positive correlation between intensity of reform environment as measured by the GPA and cognitive impairment as measured by the NIS. Additional findings were a reduced earning potential in view of the education level that corroborates earlier studies of cult critics (Martin 1993; Singer & Ofshe, 1990; West & Martin, 1994) and significant levels of depression and dissociation agreeing with Conway & Siegelman, (1982), Lewis & Bromley, (1987) and Martin, et al. (1992).[139]

Sociologists Bromley and Hadden note a lack of empirical support for claimed consequences of having been a member of a "cult" or "sect", and substantial empirical evidence against it. These include the fact that the overwhelming proportion of people who get involved in NRMs leave, most short of two years; the overwhelming proportion of people who leave do so of their own volition; and that two-thirds (67%) felt "wiser for the experience".[140]

According to F. Derks and psychologist of religion Jan van der Lans, there is no uniform post-cult trauma. While psychological and social problems upon resignation are not uncommon, their character and intensity are greatly dependent on the personal history and on the traits of the ex-member, and on the reasons for and way of resignation.[141]

The report of the "Swedish Government's Commission on New Religious Movements" (1998) states that the great majority of members of new religious movements derive positive experiences from their subscription to ideas or doctrines that correspond to their personal needs—and that withdrawal from these movements is usually quite undramatic, as these people leave feeling enriched by a predominantly positive experience. Although the report describes that there are a small number of withdrawals that require support (100 out of 50,000+ people), the report did not recommend that any special resources be established for their rehabilitation, as these cases are very rare.[142]

Examples

Historical persons

Recent times

  • In 2011, Youcef Nadarkhani, an Iranian pastor who converted from Islam to Christianity at the age of 19, was convicted for apostasy and was sentenced to death, but later acquitted.[143]
  • In 2013, Raif Badawi, a Saudi Arabian blogger, was found guilty of apostasy by the high court, which has a penalty of death.[144] However he was not executed, but was imprisoned and punished by 600 lashes instead.
  • In 2014, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag (a.k.a. Adraf Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah), a pregnant Sudanese woman, was convicted of apostasy for converting to Christianity from Islam. The government ruled that her father was Muslim, a female child takes the father's religion under Sudan's Islamic law.[145] By converting to Christianity, she had committed apostasy, a crime punishable by death. Mrs Ibrahim Ishag was sentenced to death. She was also convicted of adultery on the grounds that her marriage to a Christian man from South Sudan was void under Sudan's version of Islamic law, which says Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslims.[43] The death sentence was not carried out, and she left Sudan in secret.[146]
  • Tasleema Nasreen from Bangladesh, the author of Lajja, has been declared apostate – "an apostate appointed by imperialist forces to vilify Islam" – by several fundamentalist clerics in Dhaka[147]
  • Ivanka Trump. Daughter of U.S.A. president Donald Trump. She renounced Christianity and converted to Orthodox Judaism in 2009 so Jared Kushner could marry her.[148][149]
  • Karlie Kloss. Model. She renounced Christianity and converted to Judaism in 2018 after getting engaged to Josh Kushner (brother of Jared Kushner) so he can marry her.[150]

See also

Notes

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  3. ^ "International Humanist and Ethical Union – You can be put to death for atheism in 13 countries around the world". Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  4. ^ "The Freedom of Thought Report". International Humanist and Ethical Union. 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Mallet, Edme-François, and François-Vincent Toussaint. "Apostasy". The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Rachel LaFortune. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2012. Web. 1 April 2015. Trans. of "Apostasie", Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, vol. 1. Paris, 1751". quod.lib.umich.edu. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
  6. ^ Muslim apostates cast out and at risk from faith and family, The Times, February 05, 2005
  7. ^ Which countries still outlaw apostasy and blasphemy?, Pew Research Center, 29 July 2016.
  8. ^ "The countries where apostasy is punishable by death". indy100.com. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  9. ^ Lewis A. Coser The Age of the Informer Dissent:1249–54, 1954
  10. ^ a b Bromley, David G., ed. (1998). The Politics of Religious Apostasy: The Role of Apostates in the Transformation of Religious Movements. CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-95508-7.
  11. ^ Wright, Stuart, A. (1998). "Exploring Factors that Shape the Apostate Role". In Bromley, David G. (ed.). The Politics of Religious Apostasy. Praeger Publishers. p. 109. ISBN 0-275-95508-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Article 18.2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
  13. ^ "University of Minnesota Human Rights Library | CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4, General Comment No. 22., 1993". umn.edu. Retrieved 2015-08-16.
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  50. ^ Paul W. Barnett, Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments, "Apostasy," 73. Scott McKnight says, "Apostasy is a theological category describing those who have voluntarily and consciously abandoned their faith in the God of the covenant, who manifests himself most completely in Jesus Christ" (Dictionary of Theological Interpretation of the Bible, "Apostasy," 58).
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  53. ^ Michael Fink, "Apostasy," in the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 87. In Acts 21:21, "Paul was falsely accused of teaching the Jews apostasy from Moses ... [and] he predicted the great apostasy from Christianity, foretold by Jesus (Matt. 24:10-12), which would precede 'the Day of the Lord' (2 Thess. 2:2f.)" (D. M. Pratt, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "Apostasy," 1:192). Some pre-tribulation adherents in Protestantism believe that the apostasy mentioned in 2 Thess. 2:3 can be interpreted as the pre-tribulation Rapture of all Christians. This is because apostasy means departure (translated so in the first seven English translations) (Dr. Thomas Ice, Pre-Trib Perspective, March 2004, Vol.8, No.11).
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  148. ^ "Ivanka Trump Converts to Judaism for Fiancé". people.com. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  149. ^ "Jared Kushner once broke up with Ivanka Trump because she wasn't Jewish". timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  150. ^ "Karlie Kloss converted to Judaism to marry Josh Kushner". pagesix.com. 29 July 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.

References

Further reading

  • Bromley, David G. 1988. Falling From the Faith: The Causes and Consequences of Religious Apostasy. Beverly Hills: Sage.
  • Dunlop, Mark, The culture of Cults, 2001
  • Introvigne, Massimo (1997), Defectors, Ordinary Leavetakers and Apostates: A Quantitative Study of Former Members of New Acropolis in France, Nova Religio 3 (1), 83–99
  • The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906). The Kopelman Foundation.
  • Lucas, Phillip Charles, The Odyssey of a New Religion: The Holy Order of MANS from New Age to Orthodoxy Indiana University press;
  • Lucas, Phillip Charles, Shifting Millennial Visions in New Religious Movements: The case of the Holy Order of MANS in The year 2000: Essays on the End edited by Charles B. Strozier, New York University Press 1997;
  • Lucas, Phillip Charles, The Eleventh Commandment Fellowship: A New Religious Movement Confronts the Ecological Crisis, Journal of Contemporary Religion 10:3, 1995:229–41;
  • Lucas, Phillip Charles, Social factors in the Failure of New Religious Movements: A Case Study Using Stark's Success Model SYZYGY: Journal of Alternative Religion and Culture 1:1, Winter 1992:39–53
  • Wright, Stuart A. 1988. "Leaving New Religious Movements: Issues, Theory and Research," pp. 143–165 in David G. Bromley (ed.), Falling From the Faith. Beverly Hills: Sage.
  • Wright, Stuart A. 1991. "Reconceptualizing Cult Coercion and Withdrawal: A Comparative Analysis of Divorce and Apostasy." Social Forces 70 (1):125–145.
  • Wright, Stuart A. and Helen R. Ebaugh. 1993. "Leaving New Religions," pp. 117–138 in David G. Bromley and Jeffrey K. Hadden (eds.), Handbook of Cults and Sects in America. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
  • Zablocki, Benjamin et al., Research on NRMs in the Post-9/11 World, in Lucas, Phillip Charles et al. (ed.), NRMs in the 21st Century: legal, political, and social challenges in global perspective, 2004, ISBN 0-415-96577-2
Testimonies, memoirs, and autobiographies
Writings by others
  • The dictionary definition of apostasy at Wiktionary
  • Media related to Apostasy at Wikimedia Commons
Wikiquote has quotations related to Apostasy.
  • Laws Criminalizing Apostasy, Library of Congress (overview of the apostasy laws of 23 countries in Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia)
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