The Family Unification Church Scientology New Age Branch Davidians Conventional Wisdom About Religious Movements in American History New religions have long been considered an aberration on the religious landscape. As a result, they have not been recognized as the dynamic, cutting edge of religious growth and renewal. Environments that permit religious pluralism are likely to experience religious growth.
Disestablishment is key to institutionalizing a vigorous religious economy.
From the beginning, religious history was written by those who were part of the religious establishment. If the time period in question is pretty short, this gain may seem considerable. When the concept of market share in introduced, we get a rather different perspective. This is exactly what has happened to the older established denominations in American history. Until the 1960s almost every religious tradition in America continuted to grow in absolute numbers, but the older groups had experienced a long trend of declining market share.