Lewis/Sects and Stats, 3. Increasing Complexity versus Prior Generalizations

In the third chapter, I underline the point about the greater diversity of members of new religions by examining data from the New Zealand and Australian censuses – both of which, in contrast to Canada and the United Kingdom, hold censuses every five years instead of every ten years – though I will also periodically refer to census data from the latter two nations. Not only has the earlier profile of members of non-traditional religions reached in the 1970s and 1980s been superseded, but, further, it has become increasingly difficult to discuss NRM members “in general,” as a class demographically distinct from members of other religious organizations.