IV. Percpectives of religious thinking and denomination
For the future development in the near time, i.e., for the 21st century, there are three possibilities of development of religious thinking and belief, however, corresponding only very slightly to the approximate political division to the right, middle, and left.
In the right wing of the religious spectrum, there are always extreme, fundamental, and orthodox teachings that differ very sharply already today and decline from other religions, either Islamic or Christian.
They will further expand as far as count is concerned, divide, and isolate from other movements (even within the same religion).
This development trend will become more acute and may create dangerous problems, or increase the intolerance within this religious grouping, i.e., within Islam and within the Christian religion.
On the other hand, Buddhism is departing the history of religion slowly and without notice, but the departure will certainly last several centuries.
Probably, it will not disappear entirely and will very likely remain in Tibet, Mongolia, and elsewhere.
What is happening is the division of the single big and leading idea that was differentiated according to national, cultural, and language specialties in individual parts of Asia.
Buddhism, which was originally the center, the equanimity, and the peace, is currently showing the same tendency as other movements of the center, especially the political, with the difference that religious thinking is not short term, rather very long-term, and its fall and dying may be recorded in longer periods and time intervals of history.
Today, some more important religions of the New Age may be included in the religious center, especially those trying to integrate and unify the individual teachings, churches, and religions.
Currently, the most represented is the Church of Unity or the International Movement for Unity and World Peace, the Church of Scientology, and other religious societies.
Among them, there is the movement of unitarians and universalists and others. We may even suppose that the universal religion and religious movement will further gain strong development in the beginning of the 21st century, and will become the important unifying element in the world.
It is a movement, not only religious and humanitarian, emphasizing not only the theories and teachings, but primarily an utilitarian one.
Most movements in the religious left may again be differentiated as the movements closer to the center or movements in the center (e.g., the movement of Hare Krishna, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others), as movements of rather extreme left that already depart the platform of religious thinking, or only pretended to do so , or represent its opposite (e.g., satanists, atheists, non-believers).
These alternatives on the left may temporarily and locally gain a greater number of supporters, however, their destiny is generally influenced by their unformed, limited, and extreme views.
Many of them stem from the protest and refusal to accept existing religious teachings and churches, especially oriented to those which are primarily orientated to the right.
In the religious world of the 21st century, man will act less pompously, less ceremoniously and liturgically than today, however, on the other side, especially in the countries of the Third World, religion will be infiltrated by folk traditions as they enter the existing practices.
It has happened in the past and it is the current situation in Oceania, in Brazil, in Mexico, and elsewhere.
"Sub speciae aeternitatis," this lifelong process will appear as amateur religious teaching, however, it will be a process of quality, healing, and closer approach to human religion - a process that in many aspects records returns to original clean forms of religious life, and in many other aspects it will mean an adjustment to the rhythm and claims of the time of developing science, art, and technology.
There may be different illnesses and collapses of old and new ideas, but development of religious ideas may be characterized as an integral and necessary part of man in the future.
Pope John Paul II stressed that mercy is the only power that may save the world.
Is it actually that simple? The natural world around us and our society suffers daily because of violence and unfair practices.
Closer and better relations among people are necessary for the future of the human race.
This internal contamination is many times more harmful than the external contamination of nature and people.
The positive life relation to transcendant reality is necessary, but not eminent, or entirely formal, therefore noneffective.
As material space is getting smaller and the world can be accessed more easily through mass media or through new transportation means, the spiritual, the cultural, the social, and transcendental world before us is getting bigger and wider.
We enter the age of a "single global family" and worldwide society where we will live next to those whose religion, nationality, and skin color is different from ours.
In this world, we will need a pure, real, and approving mutual acceptance.
For any individual and group, it will be impossible to have a selfishly divided territory, society, and culture.
It will be necessary to protect all nature and all humans in accordance with the needs of the world community and future generations.
What will be the rule of this new age and new society, and how are we going to reach the realization that we are all members of this global society?
Can this question be answered and solved through the power of human society or only through the power of God's Creation and his formative means of love, hope, and belief?
World religions knew the answers to these questions for a long time, however, world science and philosophy does not know the complete answers, although they have attempted to find them for centuries.It seems that we underestimate and do not fully appreciate the role of arts and artistic talents and expression, as other nonsensual or exceptional abilities of people, including natural peoples and nations, who also belong to the cultural treasury of man.
It seems that currently everything is involved, especially all things living and human, and their maintenance and understanding of the principles of life on Earth and in the universe.
Can we, in this unusual situation, find the smart and new solution, or can we find it on any old and proven routes of the past?
There are more people living in the world today than at any time before, however, the world is no more human nor closer to each other as we might expect - the truth is different.
The level of humanity doesn't depend on quantity but on the quality of human life: on the level of understanding and sympathy.
It is not only in the area of knowledge, in the area of sense, but also in the area of sensitivity and will.
This is not a new notion, the ancient Greeks knew that; they stood by the cradle of civilization.
Their life ideal was also within reach.
It was the "kalokagatheia", a creation of a physical and spiritual harmony and their cultivation in the life of any individual.
This ideal was again emphasized during the time of the Renaissance and lives today in the form of human ideals of people.
A new world at the end of the 20th century requires either an entirely new thinking and new approach to a person and the world, and new principles of world unification - in all spheres of life, thinking, and activities, the same as in the areas of science, arts, philosophy, and religion, or it must be cleaned, revived, and returned to original moral, philosophical, and religious ideals.
We can feel that today's principles of democracy are nonsufficient and are inadequately effective: the Christian code of the Ten Commandments is best created in the history of the human race, however, it is not binding on human beings - most people don't even know it nor do they respect it, and it is not an imperative for them.
Also some basic elements of the Christian faith that are based on original sin and the fall of man, on the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary and her Marian cult, the interpretation of the most Secular Trinitarianism, and other theological teachings of the Roman-Catholic, orthodox, and other churches.
For man in the 21st century, it will be very difficult to accept it, understand it, and provide new interpretation of the Christian religion, or enable man of the post-industrial society [to have] a more natural and more direct relationship and connection with God, divinity, and the spiritual world.
Even a new Catechism of Pope John Paul II, published in the end of 1992, suggests it.
Tomorrow requires a more secure system, theory, and practice.
However, is there something more effective and better than the Christian belief, hope, love, or ideas of humanism, democracy, etc.?
Are not the principles and basics of the lifelong and worldwide education and its application more important?
The fact that find our knowledge in the past, i.e., especially in the past and only somewhat in the present and not in the future, is alarming.
The future world cannot be built only on the past and the present.
Human beings must care about the future world more and more. Human life makes sense only from the point of future, from the point of view of future generations and our descendants.
At the same time, it suggests a recognition that in this world we live not only for ourselves, but preferably for others.
It is not a coincidence that the new interpretation of man and the new approach and the meaning of human life can be found not only within the Christian teachings and church, but also in the ideas of the movement of Unity, Scientology, and Dianetics, in conscious universalism and in common ecumenical efforts for spiritual revival, the Taize movement, or the Fokolaric movement, Charismatic Revival, or in the efforts of the World Ecumenical Church.
If we succeed to build and realize these ideas from the point of view of science, the arts, and religion, as well as from the point of view of humanitarian ideals of people mentioned above, it will be possible to accomplish further physical and spiritual development of people on this planet even in the future.
The biblical Eden on Earth is not the only idea of ancient origin of the human race, but it is also a longtime idea or common goal of all people that we are approaching at the same speed as this Eden is leaving behind.However, if we fall off in our efforts or abandon it, we would contribute to the fulfillment of an apocalyptic vision of the world.
Human life would lose any sense forever.
But because man is more a "zoon politicon," or a social creature, and Homo creans, or a creative person, who is able to create and participate in everything permanently, and everywhere, such danger exists only when he fails and loses his ideals.
It is understandable that the danger of chaos, contamination, and destruction of life on Earth will be there forever, however, if people will adopt the basics of world ethics, human behavior, and activities within the law, if they are going to be more tolerant and friendly to others, and as long as individual teachings, religions, and philosophies are going to get closer to each other, and they all will act together, i.e., scientists, theologians, and philosophers, politicians and citizens of this common world, and we all will understand this necessity to learn to participate in general and lifelong education, we will not live in individual states and within boundaries, but in a human community without boundaries on the surface of the single live planet, in the real paradise of the universe on our Earth.
Previous Table of Contents Next