First, thanks for the patience in waiting for me to reply. I spent the evening and most of today in the hospital and am now getting back to things.
Malka, I think I have finally figured out what you were asking, and now it seems so obvious. I apologize for not fully getting you before. My intent was never to include Chabad alone -- other movements are of course welcome. I think my confusion was that I thought you were asking for all of Orthodoxy to be included, and that's where I got lost. Changing the name to say "Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidism" is a great solution, especially since it really helps to clarify what we're talking about. I'll make that change now.
The list I had included was not at all meant to be comprehensive; that's why I stressed it being incomplete. If there are other rabbis who should be added from other movements, please, by all means, add them in. I simply put in some names to remind myself of people I knew of who should be added.
Hatte, yes, I agree that Chabad is mainstream, just like Pentecostalism and others listed; I think we've discussed that above. I am going to completely remove the connection to the Wikipedia article because I think that is where a lot of the confusion/upset is coming from. The article is biased and is stressing the "cult" aspect too much, certainly more than any academic would. Being an NRM does *not* mean being a cult. I will say that I know of no one who does not consider the LDS to be an NRM, and even Mormon colleagues who publish on NRMs do not have a problem with that terminology. I've actually had discussions with several about that topic because I was raised in an NRM myself (it's in the project), one that is often compared to the LDS, and none of us have an issue with it. Maybe that's because we use the academic definition of the term. But that of course cannot account for everyone's personal views -- it's just a small sample.
I do feel the need to stress one major point, which is that this is not my definition or my list. This is an entire academic field of study that's been around for decades. I am getting the impression that this is still seen as "my" list, and it's not. I would be happy to provide a bibliography or reading list if that would help?
I'm also hesitant for us to start separating groups based on "favorable" and "unfavorable." I don't want to pull groups out because they're seen by some as cults, because then we're validating the idea that some groups are better than others. It works both ways -- someone might be upset to see themselves listed as a new movement, but someone else might be offended that they've been pushed off the list entirely for not being good enough. There's no way to do any religious list and make everyone happy. When you say that the majority of the groups listed are seen as cults, I'm just not seeing that. Pentecostals, JWs, Seventh-day Adventists, the A.M.E., Salvationists, etc. are all equally established compared to the LDS and Chabad, the two you're citing as the accepted ones. I'm not seeing them as standing out from the others. Are there particular groups you object to? Feel free to message me privately if you don't want to say it directly on the board.
I will say, and I believe I've said this to a few others now since being told there are discussions going on about this project elsewhere, that I'm deliberately avoiding any inclusion of groups like Peoples Temple, Heaven's Gate, etc. simply because they're obviously a separate issue. No one here is going to compare Joseph Smith to Jim Jones. I don't want anyone to be afraid of that. Aside from being flat-out wrong, that's just not the scope.
I appreciate that the two of you have dialogued directly with me on this. If anyone following but not participating is concerned, *please*, by all means, feel free to contact me. I fully understood when making this project that religion is a difficult topic and one that a lot of people feel ownership over, but I'm trying to balance perfectly understandable feelings vs. academic honesty, and I know we can do this together.