ABSTRACT
Wesley Jamison, Caspar Wenk, and James Parker have found that the goals of animal rights activists in Switzerland and the United States often require extremely high levels of commitment and conviction. An analysis of the movement as a functional religion demonstrates some of the sources of this commitment. The analysis uses Yinger’s five categories: intense and memorable conversion experiences, newfound communities of meaning, normative creeds, elaborate and well-defined codes of behavior, and cult formation. The authors predict changes within the movement should it evolve into a mainstream political force.
