![]() ![]() As such, sects are often viewed as threatening and can evoke negative reactions in the larger society around them. On the opposite extreme of the spectrum are “sects.” These are small, often splinter groups, that exist in a state of high tension with the outside society. The church-sect typology describes a continuum, at one extreme end of which are “churches”-large-scale institutions that exist in little or no tension with the outside society. In his book The Angel and the Beehive, Armand Mauss builds on Max Weber’s church-sect typology, which set the groundwork for decades of sociological research regarding the development of Christian religious movements. Through this examination of science fiction, one can see that elements of Latter-day Saint history continue to reverberate through the popular perception of Mormons. Some of these imaginative features include segregation from the larger society through a pioneering exodus to a new frontier, family values that differ from the norm, and administrative and economic structures capable of supporting the creation of a new nation (or world, in the case of The Expanse). I argue that the portrayal of “Mormons” in Leviathan Wakes illustrates the fact that in some ways, the Mormon movement functions both as a church and as a sect in popular imagination. ![]() In doing so, it utilizes a religious studies approach, with sociologist Max Weber’s church-sect continuum as a framework (which classifies different types of religious groups) as seen elsewhere in Armand Mauss’s work, The Angel and the Beehive. #THE EXPANSE BOOKS MORMON SERIES#This essay examines popular social perceptions of the church through the lens of the book Leviathan Wakes, the first volume in the Expanse book series by James S. The portrayal of Mormons in science fiction can serve as a window to understanding outside conceptualizations of the church in real life. Popular perception of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has changed over the last two hundred years. “Mormons” in Leviathan Wakes : Applying the Church/Sect Typology ![]()
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