Work
Shupe is a Professor of Sociology at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne campus at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He completed his doctorate in political sociology at Indiana University in 1975 and has held office in various professional associations, including the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion and the Association for the Sociology of Religion. In his research, Shupe has often collaborated with other scholars, notably David G. Bromley and Jeffrey K. Hadden.
An articulate champion of religious freedom, Shupe has conducted fieldwork on the Unification Church and other new religious movements, as well as their opponents. Together with David G. Bromley, Shupe is considered one of the foremost social science authorities on the anti-cult movement, based on a series of books and articles on the topic he coauthored with Bromley.
He co-authored and co-edited two books with Bronislaw Misztal in which they examined and pretty much anticipated the globalization's impact on religious fundamentalist movements. They have formed two important hypotheses about fundamentalist movements. In the stronger version they predicted the diffusion of fundamentalist movements as an antithesis to secularization, arguing that the more societies change the more likely they will be in opposition to modernity. In a weaker version of the globalization hypothesis they suggested that although the agendas of social action of various movements differ, they share, borrow and learn the methods of fundamentalist movements.
Other areas Shupe has researched include the New Christian Right, religious broadcasting, and the political impact of fundamentalism; he has also written about family violence and clergy misconduct, i.e. violent or exploitative behaviour on the part of pastors, ministers or gurus. He has frequently acted as a consultant to attorneys in lawsuits involving issues of religious freedom or clergy abuse.
Read more about this topic: Anson D. Shupe
Famous quotes containing the word work:
“What we often take to be family values—the work ethic, honesty, clean living, marital fidelity, and individual responsibility—are in fact social, religious, or cultural values. To be sure, these values are transmitted by parents to their children and are familial in that sense. They do not, however, originate within the family. It is the value of close relationships with other family members, and the importance of these bonds relative to other needs.”
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“Our kids will develop a work ethic only if we require them to pay a portion of the cost of some of the things they want. They’ll learn to defer gratification the moment we stop routinely pulling out our wallets. And they’ll learn self-discipline only if we care enough to enforce reasonable limits.”
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“The true finish is the work of time, and the use to which a thing is put. The elements are still polishing the pyramids.”
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