581. Robbins, Thomas, Dick Anthony, and Thomas Curtis. "The Limits of Symbolic Realism: Problems of Empathic Participant Observation in a Sectarian Context." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 12 (3), 1973: 259-73.
A truly ludicrous account of the difficulties encountered by Anthony in attempting to apply "symbolic realism" to a field study of a Jesus people movement. The difficulties were manifold: Anthony took symbolic realism (i.e., the acceptance of a group's meaning system, however screwball it may appear from an investigator's own perspective, as valid and meaningful from the point of view of the group) to amount to a Rogerian playing-back of the subjects' feelings in interviews. This worked as far as gaining the subjects' trust and empathy was concerned, but it left Anthony in what he perceived as a dilemma. Anthony is (or was) a dedicated follower of the Meher Baba movement, whose own ideology embraces an extreme form of theological relativism akin to Bellah's (1970: item 81, 82) symbolic realism, which helped him adopt an open attitude to the Jesus People. However, they did not accept Meher Baba (or much of anyone else) specifically condemning him and his followers as limbs of Satan, though they might be converted; this was a highly "conversionist" sect.
Even though he asked the Jesus Freaks (their own term) to discuss their religious experiences with him, Robbins flatly refused to discuss his own with them, claiming that his "scientific objectivity" would be damaged if he did so (and secretly fearing that the Jesus People would reject him out of hand). This amounted to a completely unacceptable rudeness in terms of ordinary human discourse, and the Jesus people reacted appropriately: they became furious with Anthony, and he with them, when they refused to give up trying to convert him (which after all was their major mission in life). The authors conclude that their approach simply won't work in such contexts.
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