Susan J. Palmer

Susan Jean Palmer (born 1946) is a Canadian sociologist of religion and author whose primary research interest is new religious movements. Formerly a professor of religious studies at Dawson College in Westmount, Quebec, she is currently an Affiliate Professor at Concordia University. She has authored and edited several books on NRMs.

Quotes

• New religions are like weeds in our garden. Society’s gardeners will attempt to pull out weeds to make room for cultured plants and familiar religions. However, some weeds may be cherished flowers in other lands, and those deemed “invasive” might be edible or have healing properties.
  • "How Media Defame “Cults”: The Case of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. 1. Inventing a “Cult”", Bitter Winter (July 28, 2025)

• Media reports on “cults” frequently show bias and hasty, inadequate research methods, and are shaped by a militant secularism that showcases a group’s weirdest beliefs without context or any explanatory framework. Many journalists openly declare their mandate to “unmask” the cults and their proto-criminal leaders. They will seek out apostates and whistleblowers who are dedicated to broadcasting the “bad news” about their former religion.
  • "How Media Defame “Cults”: The Case of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light. 2. Be Scofield, Anti-Cultist", Bitter Winter (July 29, 2025)

• In their analyses of conflicts and controversies involving children in new religious movements (NRMs), scholars have identified anti-cult activists as the “moral entrepreneurs” behind the action. And what about the overwhelming majority of NRMs that are unresearched and hold uneventful track records—groups whose ex-members and second-generation adults have not yet complained? Is it fair or appropriate that members of NRMs must suffer being framed as child abusers, negligent parents, or “pedophiles,” or find their community dubbed as “the next Waco” in the morning newspapers, despite no evidence of any wrongdoing? Is it fair for religious parents to lose custody of their beloved children just because some obscure anti-cult group, or self-made podcaster, or estranged husband or wife in the throes of a custody battle has branded their religion as a “cult”?
  • "The 2026 Raid on the Children of the Twelve Tribes in Hamburg, NY. 3. The Trial", Bitter Winter (August 24, 2026)

See also

• Pages that link to this entry

(Related in the sense of Bitter Winter:)

• Massimo Introvigne
• Marco Respinti
• Willy Fautré

External links

• Biography at the World Religions and Spirituality Project
• Palmer's articles at Bitter Winter