The Importance of Religion

Think of religion as the ultimate comfort food – it can be that bowl of chicken soup for the soul. It often provides answers to life’s big questions and gives people a sense of purpose and community. It’s like a well-worn blanket that’s passed through generations; it’s an integral part of our identity.

The Big Five

When you hear ‘The Big Five’, you might think I’m talking about some cool superhero squad. But nah, we’re talking religions, my friend! These Big Five are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Picture this – they’re like the top chartbusters in the world of faith. Christianity takes the crown with its huge following. Then there’s Islam – it’s got a massive fanbase too! Hinduism is the ancient soul of the gang, while Buddhism goes deep into meditation and mindfulness. And, don’t forget Sikhism, the vibrant blend of traditions. Together, these guys make up the rich tapestry that keeps billions of people around the world tuned in! 

Christianity

Hold on to your hats, folks, because Christianity is the world’s largest religion!

Key Beliefs and Practices

Christians believe in one God and the Holy Trinity. You know, like an unbeatable team of superheroes – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, who is like the main character in the New Testament. For Christians, life is like a journey, and faith is their GPS.

Islam

Coming in second, Islam is another major player in the world religion scene.

Key Beliefs and Practices

Muslims believe in Allah and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. They have the Quran as their holy book, which is kinda like their ultimate guidebook for life. They’ve got the Five Pillars of Islam which include praying, fasting, and helping those in need. It’s all about balance and spiritual richness.

Hinduism

Hinduism is like an ancient tree with roots that dig deep into history.

Key Beliefs and Practices

Hindus have a pantheon of gods and goddesses. Imagine a family reunion where everyone is divine! They believe in karma, dharma, and reincarnation. Life for Hindus is like a game, and the actions you take earn you karma points that determine your next life.

Buddhism

Next up is Buddhism, a path of spiritual development.

Key Beliefs and Practices

Buddhists follow the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who’s more popularly known as Buddha. It’s all about attaining enlightenment through meditation and following the Eightfold Path. Imagine trying to level up in a video game, but the game is your soul!

Sikhism

Last but not least in the big five, Sikhism combines elements from Hinduism and Islam.

Key Beliefs and Practices

Sikhs believe in one God and the teachings of the ten Sikh Gurus. Their Holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, is like their compass in this ocean of life. They value honesty, equality, and service to others. It’s all about steering your ship in the right direction!

The Unexpected Connection: World Religions & Live Casinos

Wait a minute, folks! Let’s hit the brakes here. World religions and live casinos? That’s like saying peanut butter and pickles go together. But, hang on to your chips, because there’s actually more in common between these two than you might think. Let’s dive into this quirky combo, shall we?

The Thrill of Live Casinos

Hold up! What could religions possibly have in common with live casinos? Both can be quite the emotional roller coaster, full of highs and lows. Plus, in some faiths, certain games might have a religious significance.

Play Online Plinko

Speaking of games, have you tried Plinko? It’s an exciting game that blends chance and anticipation. What if I told you that you could experience this thrill from the comfort of your home? With online Plinko https://plinkogameonline.com/download/, you can! Maybe you’ll find your community here, just like in religion.

Lesser-Known Religions

Let’s dive back into our treasure chest of world religions and dig up some lesser-known gems. These religions might not have the massive followings like the Big Five, but they’re like those indie bands with a cult following – rich, original, and full of character!

1. Rastafarianism – Picture this: Jamaica, reggae beats, and dreadlocks. Rastafarianism’s all about Africa, natural living, and unity. Bob Marley was a fan!
2. Zoroastrianism – This one’s an ancient Persian hit. Zoroastrianism’s got a single deity and three golden rules – good thoughts, words, and deeds. Classic stuff!
3. Druidry – Imagine wandering through magical Celtic forests. Druidry’s the spiritual GPS here. Think nature spirits, ancient wisdom, and a dash of enchantment.
4. Pastafarianism – Get ready to LOL! Pastafarians worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It’s more satire than religion, but hey, it’s got pirates and pasta!
5. Atenism – Take a trip back to Ancient Egypt. Atenism was the ancient monotheistic trendsetter. Sun worship and naturalistic art were all the rage!
6. Tengriism – Galloping through Central Asia’s steppes, Tengriism’s the ancient shamanistic faith. Sky gods, nature, and ancestry are the heart and soul here.

Conclusion

World religions are like different colors in a rainbow, each one vibrant and unique. Whether you’re finding solace in a sacred text or the thrill of a game, these experiences shape our lives and cultures. So, let’s celebrate this kaleidoscope of faiths that enrich our world!

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Non-traditional religions have been widespread since the late 1950s, when they began to appear in the United States and Western Europe as a result of the mass disappointment of believers, especially young people, in traditional religions and churches. The total number of non-traditional religions in the world is difficult to estimate, since there are no statistics on this issue. According to the available data, there are about three hundred of them only in France and more than two thousand in the USA.

Two types of non-traditional religions predominate: those formed on the basis of Christianity and those emerging under the influence of Eastern religions (mainly Hinduism and Buddhism). A separate type is Baha’ism, whose main temple is located in Jerusalem, which proposes to synthesize the scriptures of all the world’s most represented religions and religious-philosophical systems (Abrahamic, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, etc.) and is therefore characterized by extreme eclecticism and has a small number of supporters. A distinctive feature of “New Christian” religions is that their followers formally worship Christ, but actually honor their leaders as “messengers of God” and “new messiahs. The most typical example of non-traditional religions of Eastern origin is Vaishnavism, better known as the Krishna Consciousness Society (Hare Krishna, Krishnaites).

The reason for the emergence of non-traditional religions is considered to be the existential vacuum in which many Western societies found themselves in the 1940s-1950s, their spiritual crisis and the loss of their high standards of valuable life meanings, the loss of moral and social orientation of the individual. The origins of these crises seem to lie in the decline of the post-industrial materialistic culture – the large-scale transformation of values after World War II; the backlash against secularization in the form of mass sacralization of non-sacred objects and the replacement of traditional religiosity by quasi-religious consciousness; the intensification of the sense of tragedy of the rise of global threats (environmental, etc., challenges to the environment, political extremism, etc.) and the crisis of the human mind. The growing sense of loneliness, alienation, and the powerlessness of man in the face of the enormity of the problems that have fallen upon him.

According to the doctrinal principle, the following currents of non-traditional religions can be distinguished.

Pseudo-Christian

Pseudo-Christian ones use theosophical and Eastern religious schemes to interpret the Christian legacy, or they make arbitrary adjustments to the traditional Christian positions, placing an emphasis on eschatology. Their leaders most often present themselves as “continuers of the work of Christ” (Moon’s Unification Church), prophets of the “Third Testament” (Theological Center), new messiahs (Vissarion Church), the Mother of Peace (Great White Brotherhood), etc. Pseudo-Christianity includes some neo-Protestant doctrines (Children of God, Christian Meditation, School of Christian Unity). Among these are the “New Revelation” cults (e.g., Moonists, Vissarionists) and pseudo-Biblical cults that “improve” the Bible with arbitrary translations and interpretations, even to the point of creating new texts (e.g., Jehovah’s Witnesses). They are joined by some Protestant denominations that emerged the century before last – Mormons and the Christian Science Church are particularly notable among them.

Neo-Orientalist

Neo-orientalists have generally developed from Hinduism, Yoga, Taoism, and Confucianism. Their main emphasis is on the discovery of man’s inner abilities through mastering psychotechnologies: such are Vaishnavism, Transcendental Meditation, Sanatana Dharma Spiritual Revival League, The Only Religion (Osho), Aum Shinrekyo. These non-traditional religions are instrumentalist in nature, which ensured their incredible popularity in the West in the 1960s and 1970s.

Occultism

Occultism, which is characterized by ideas about the ecology of the spirit, a special mystical orientation and concepts borrowed from science such as energy, evolution, etc. These include theosophy, astrology, spiritualism, manticism (the system of divination I Ching, Tarot, etc.), voodoo and similar to the latter rituals.

Neopaganism

Neo-paganism: druids, vican religion, witchcraft, “Slavic” cults, etc. The ideology of the New Acropolis and the Church of Navi is connected to them. Neo-paganism is also the basis of ideas of right-wing religious and political organizations (the movement Toward Godliness).

Satanism. Pseudo-psychological and pseudo-medical

Satanism. Pseudo-psychological and pseudo-medical movements proceed from the doctrine of improvement of man’s spiritual power and his physical condition. Recently, due to the active use of suggestive practices by the distributors of certain types of products, we have begun to speak of the appearance of commercial pseudo-cults such as Herbalife.

Some of the newest and oldest non-traditional religions are distinguished by the worship of the leader as a living deity, severe centralization of management and discipline in the organization, excessive material donations from believers or their complete rejection of property in favor of the community and/or its leader, focus on a rapid and radical change in the mind of a new convert, aggressive methods of attracting and retaining adherents, complete destruction of the follower’s social connections outside the group of adherents, unification of a believer’s personality, and the removal of his/her religious identity.

Among non-traditional religions there are destructive religions that distinguish methods of recruiting followers and psychological treatment of the neophyte: “bombardment with love”, when he is made the center of attention, admiration and love; informational comfort, when he immediately receives seemingly exhaustive answers to all the questions that concern him; restriction of the communication circle of fellow believers; strict regime of sleep restriction and fasting, grueling spiritual practices, hard physical labor.

Some pseudo-Christian – Moonists, Jehovists, Scientologists – and neo-orientalist – Vaishnavism, Yoga and other branches of Hinduism, some Taoist sects – religions actively attract followers from among the artistic, intellectual and political elite and try to have a profound influence on the determination of the ways of development of this or that society. Their influence has taken on serious proportions, particularly in Hollywood. In many countries (Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Poland, Ukraine, etc.) the activities of non-traditional religious organizations recognized as destructive (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Aum Shinrikyo, the White Brotherhood, the Unification Church, the Virgin Center, the Scientologists, etc.) are prohibited by law.

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On the basis of this criterion, we can roughly divide NSDs into several groups:

1. “secondary” Protestant (second Protestant) associations – Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Church of Christ (“Boston Movement”);
2. pseudo-Christian movements (Moon’s Unification Church, the Last Covenant Church of Vissarion, the White Brotherhood);
3. Scientology cults (“Christian Science,” Ron Hubbard’s Church of Scientology, Clonade, the White Environmentalist Movement, etc.);
4. neo- and quasi-orientalist schools and cults (“Living Ethics” (Agni Yoga), Krishna Consciousness Society, Transcendental Meditation, Aum Shinrikyo, Sahaja Yoga, etc.)
5. Neopagan organizations and cults. The most striking examples of this range are the church “Rodna Ukrainska Natsionalna Vira”, abbreviated “RUNvira”, which arose and took shape among the Ukrainian diaspora and spread in Ukraine.
6. Second Protestant movements arose as a result of Protestantism’s free interpretation of the Bible, which allowed a departure from the basic tenets of Christianity. In some ways these confessions continue the line of intra-Christian heresies of the Ecumenical Council period (Monophysite and Monothelite trends) on the one hand, and the period of early Protestantism (Anabaptism in Western Europe and Arianism in Rzeczpospolita) on the other.

Pseudo-Christian movements of the NRD are characterized by an aspiration to unite Christianity with the worldview peculiar to Eastern religions. Both Christianity and Oriental religions are interpreted from the position of “many-knowledgeable,” wise and good ecologically-minded modern man.

Pseudo-Christian trends are characterized by:

• The scholarly presentation of doctrinal principles;
• Eschatological and messianic motifs;
• The presence of a charismatic leader, “the living God” called to bring a new revelation to mankind.

Scientology cults (from Latin scientia, science) are eclectic doctrines that seek to combine religious ideas and pseudoscientific concepts. Their modern version is characterized by the perception of scientific data primarily as a basis for doctrines of faith. The American Mary Baker-Eddy, a patient and follower of the famous “healer” F. Quimby, who believed that all diseases could be cured by Christ’s example, formulated the principles of healing by “spiritual action” alone, without the use of drugs. These principles were formulated by M. Baker-Eddie in a book with the self-speaking title “Science and Health. The Key to the Scriptures.” According to the principles she set forth, only God has true reality, and human suffering, including bodily suffering, is illusory and therefore curable through the sole awareness of that fact. More modern versions of Scientology cults view Christianity as only one segment of world culture, offering people a way out of their fears and anxieties through certain spiritual, intellectual, physical and psychological trainings.

Neo- and quasi-orientalist cults are “translations” of Eastern teachings into a language accessible to Western secularized thinking. They are distinguished by their anti-intellectualistic orientation and the emphasis on the meditative release of the spiritual “inner possibilities” of a person.

Neo-pagan organizations and cults, based on an attempt to reconstruct “indigenous” ethnic forms of spirit and religion, in modern conditions emphasize ecological problems with reference to peaceful coexistence of ancestors with nature (“golden age”), the basis of which was the pagan worldview. It is in neopaganism, among all other NSDs, that the political component is most strongly expressed.

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The term “NSD” is used to denote and characterize religious and/or quasi-religious movements that differ from what is commonly referred to as “traditional” as well as “established”/”established”/”historical” faiths/religions. In the future we will mainly use the term “traditional” confessions/religions as the most commonly used of the given number of related concepts.

Since there is no unambiguous definition and, accordingly, no clear criteria of confessional/religious “traditionalism,” we will try to define this concept based on the most commonly attributed characteristics.

So, among the distinguishing characteristics of “traditional” confessions/religions are usually mentioned:

1. some long history of their existence (most often in the literature on NSD in Russian this history is tied to a particular ethnicity; i.e. not just Orthodoxy as a branch of Christianity, but Russian, or Greek, or Serbian Orthodoxy, not just Catholicism, but Polish, or Spanish, or Italian versions of it, are considered);
2. internal integrity, wholeness, formality and even “completeness” of doctrine of “traditional” confessions/religions in the sense that nothing can be added to their doctrinal arsenal, which, it should be noted, does not quite correspond to reality (for example, the Roman Catholic Church, whose “traditionalism” is difficult to challenge, after a long break in the XIV century renewed the practice of doctrine-making, which remains in force to this day);
3. sustainability of religious practices of “traditional” confessions, especially cultic (ritual) practices;
4. institutional structure of organizations (not always hierarchical, as for example in some Protestant denominations), and the system of internal discipline in “traditional” confessions/religions, which makes it possible to reproduce at least a relative unity of specific religious organizations (for versions of Christianity – churches) over a long historical period;
5. with respect to “traditional” confessions/religions (especially in Russian journalism) we often mention “rootedness” of their “spirit” in national languages, ethno-cultural stereotypes, “mentality”, transmitted in some unchanged form from generation to generation;
6. The characteristic of “traditionalism” also accentuates “habituality”, “familiarity” of the forms of external manifestation of the activities of “traditional” confessions, which does not cause sharp rejection among the carriers of the modern mass secularized consciousness;
7. Several characteristics of “traditional” confessions/religions also emphasize their world nature, though it should be noted that NSDs may also initially emerge as varieties of world religions (Bahai religion) or claim similar status (the most famous example of this series is the Unification Church of Moon).

Accordingly, among the attributes of the NSD we can point to:

1. the relatively short time span of existence of these movements/faiths/religions;
2. lower degree of formation (even amorphous) of their doctrines compared to “traditional” confessions/religions, coupled with attempts to combine different cultural and religious doctrinal traditions (pretensions to synthesis of the world religious heritage);
3. striving to unite basic science, artistic heritage, religion and modern technology to achieve “higher” goals (Sri Aurobindo Ghosh’s Integral Yoga), which in the long run should lead to the “removal” of any conflicts, especially social ones;
4. desire to “expand” the natural possibilities of individual consciousness by applying a variety of both old and new psychotechniques or their imitations (examples: Dianetics, i.e. “technology that reveals the causes of undesirable feelings and emotions “2) based on fear (in R. Hubbard’s Scientology Church), yogic in origin techniques in Transcendental Meditation, etc.
5. NSDs cause almost unambiguous negative reaction of “traditional” confessions. The latter see them as a serious competitor, even despite the real low degree of distribution of specific NSDs and their often negative image, formed, importantly, under the influence of the media, whose experts are often representatives of “traditional” confessions. The same kind of arguments can be used by the authorities. Quite indicative in this regard is the story of the authorities liquidating the Mosaic Shater religious organization with reference to the discrepancy between the new reading of the Judaism doctrinal statements proposed by the Shater activists and those of the “traditional” branches of the Jewish religion. As a result, the denial of re-registration gave the leaders of this organization grounds to ask the U.S. authorities to grant them the right to enter the country for reasons of religious discrimination in their home country.

Thus, opposition to the NSD can serve as a platform for possible temporary alliances between “traditional” confessions that disagree and conflict with one another on most doctrinal positions.

In terms of institutional arrangements, NSDs take a variety of forms, from interest clubs with non-fixed membership to centers providing ritual or “spiritual” services to the public, to virtually full-fledged cults, denominations, and churches. The latter circumstance gives rise to debate about the appropriateness of using the word “movement” when describing some NSDs, because among the distinctive features of NSDs, as noted above, there is an indication of organizational amorphousness. Perhaps it was this lag between the theory and the terminology in which it was expressed and the real situation that allowed anti-cultists to substitute the concept of NSD with terms of uncertain meaning – “totalitarian sect” or “destructive cult”. It should be noted that the massive propaganda campaign against NSD deployed by domestic anti-cultists actively introduced these very terms in the mass consciousness.

In this connection, it should be noted that the phrase “totalitarian sect” used by the opponents of NSD as a synonym for NSD does not stand up to criticism, because:

1. is not a scientific term, but a publicistic cliché, because it has an evaluative nature, unacceptable in a scientific study;
2. by its semantics does not correspond to the real institutional structure and organizational forms of a large part of NSD.

Accordingly, the vagueness of the phrase “totalitarian sect” leads to the possibility of its application to absolutely any religious movements. Thus, the activity of the Roman Catholic Church, “non-traditional” for the East Slavic medieval states.

Summarizing the above, we can distinguish at least three possible uses of the term NSD:

1. to characterize religious movements and attitudes that emerged in the second half of the 20th century, grouped under the term “new age” (the terms NRD and NE are used synonymously here);
2. To characterize religious movements that went beyond the doctrinal positions of “traditional” confessions and/or consciously opposed them, just as Bahaism, which emerged and formed in the bosom of Islam, opposed itself, even in a mild form, to the doctrine and practice of Muslims of the time;
3. to characterize any religious movement that is not “traditional” for a given nation, country, culture, or territory. The last use of the term, as we have already noted, is not correct, because in the limit it can include any religious formations, except, perhaps, tribal.

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American researchers have noticed an increase in the number of non-traditional teachings in the pre-war period. In 1936 a book entitled Chaos of Cults was published in large circulation, from which the American reader could for the first time get a holistic view of the nature, doctrines and forms of distribution of religious new formations. The book was written by Karel van Baalen, pastor of the Christian Reformed Church. The unconcealed hostility to “cults” is combined in the book with a detailed analysis of the doctrines of dozens of different religious movements. Rejecting cults as contrary to the Bible, van Baalen at the same time linked the emergence of new religious movements solely to the weakening of traditional religions. He urged us to remember that cults are the unpaid bills of the church.

Immediately after World War II researchers note the emergence of 500 to 600 new religious groups. Over 100 of these belonged to ethnic religions and recruited followers exclusively from small, closed population groups. They spoke their own language, thereby creating barriers to the spread of the faith outside the group.

In the 1950s and 1960s, numerous groups emerged in the United States whose beliefs and practices radically diverged from the doctrinal norms of traditional religions. In addition, such groups urged their followers to break with established social ties, to begin to live anew, fully entrusting their destiny to the “prophets of the new truth.

The noisy new religious formations immediately attracted a great deal of media interest. Reports about cults with exotic names and their leaders proclaiming themselves messiahs and deities were broadcast on television and published in the most authoritative and large-circulation periodicals.

The emphasis was on exposing the sophisticated methods by which people were lured into cults. They reported on the cult leaders’ vast wealth obtained through corrupt means such as extortion, deceitful promises, and promises to people who believed them.

Such reports shaped American public perceptions of new religious movements. They were supplemented by extensive denunciatory information from denominational circles, mainly Protestant denominations. Researchers studying the nature of new religious movements and the specific manifestations of the phenomenon disagreed with these stereotypes. Their published works note that the real number of adherents of new religious groups is significantly lower than media reports. Often, the adherents of these groups were counted as attendees of a seminar held by a “cult. Only the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) were found to have followers throughout the United States. All other religious formations have spread only in some parts of the country. Of the groups that emerged in the 20th century, only the American Muslim Mission has more than 10,000 followers. The Church of Unification (followers of Moon’s teachings), which has been the most frequent focus of media attention, has no more than 7,000-8,000 followers.

American scholars have called for objective reflection on the nature of new religious movements and have questioned the validity of the “cult epidemic” sweeping America. In their book Strange Cults, sociologists D. Bromley and E. Schoop note that it is impossible to say exactly how many cults are active in the United States and how many people are involved in them, but, at any rate, the real number of followers of the six most famous new religious movements is much smaller than the data appearing in the media.

Other U.S. researchers have estimated that in 1995 there were some 600 new religious movements in the United States, with between 150,000 and 200,000 followers.

Other information on the scale of the spread of new religious movements can be found in the publications of American researchers R. Stark and W. Bainbridge. Using methods of comprehensive statistical analysis, they come to the following conclusions: In 1985, there were 417 sects and 501 religious movements in the USA. About 7 million Americans, or 3 percent of the country’s population, are involved in new religions.

These figures differ little from those of a Gallup poll conducted in 1987: 2% of Americans said they belonged to other religions. It is noteworthy that young people were more receptive to new faiths (5%).

Contrary to claims of widespread enthusiasm for new religious movements, sociological research has revealed that such movements reach a fairly narrow segment of the U.S. population. For example, Eastern-oriented religious movements are mainly represented by young people (18-25 years old), while other age groups have found immunity to Eastern exoticism. At the same time, followers of oriental cults and large associations with a different doctrinal orientation mostly belong to the middle classes. Universities have become a favorite recruiting ground for new religious movements by missionary groups.

Researchers such as R. Melton, G. K. Nelson, T. Robbins, R. Stark, and W. Haack attribute the emergence of this phenomenon to the social ills of the modern world, economic and environmental crises, and demographic shifts in the 1960s and 1970s, which led to an increase in the proportion of young people in the U.S. population structure.

Studying the reasons for the spread of oriental cults in the mid-20th century, American scientists pointed to the connection of this phenomenon with the wide emigration to the United States from Asian countries observed in the second half of the 20th century. Already then, Buddhist and Hindu missionaries appeared in West Coast cities. In the 1960s, immigrants from India, Japan, and Southeast Asia came to North America. Along with them came an impressive number of teachers and gurus. Their work was a significant factor in the rapid spread of Eastern religions. It was in their favor that young Americans made their choices, seeking answers to the questions that plagued them.

Secular scholars have noted the connection between the spread of new religious movements and the processes taking place in the religious life of a state or region. According to some of them, much of the success of new religious movements is due to the alienation of groups, especially young people, from traditional churches, which are perceived as institutions with fixed doctrines and a predominance of external forms of religiosity. Some American youth are rebelling against the rigid rules of “institutional churches” and are seeking to move away from the religious traditions of their ancestors.

The rise of new religious movements has raised concerns in various sectors of American society. Population groups and influential institutions voiced their disapproval of the new religious associations. Their opposition to the invasion of cults varied in motivation and was carried out in a variety of religious ways. A very loud association emerged, which was called the “anti-cult movement” in the United States and Western European countries.

Active participants in the “anti-cult movement” were the organizations specifically created to counter the spread of new religious movements. One of the centers leading the fight against new religious movements was the “Cults Awareness Network” (CAN). It collected and publicized negative information, mainly about the activities of Scientologists and the Unification Church. The new religious movements were also attacked from the Internet. With the support of psychiatrists and the press, former members of the new religious movements disclosed confidential information about the inner workings of the organizations to which they belonged.

Protestant movements in the U.S. have been the most intransigent towards the new religious movements since the beginning. It was fundamentalist theologians in Protestantism who were the first authors of special publications that drew attention to the phenomena of new religious movements. They also coined terms such as “cults,” “destructive cults,” and later “totalitarian sects.

By classifying such new formations as “cults,” Protestant fundamentalists deny the religious nature of these new formations. Their doctrines of faith are seen as pseudo-religious constructs, artificially constructed and unshackled by deep traditions. They are dismissed as unreliable revelations received from above by the founders of the new religious movements and underlying the doctrines they have created[4].

4] Without altering the general hostility toward the new religious movements, some traditional religions have at the same time rejected their condemnation as malignant heresies resulting from the wiles of the devil, deception and blackmail. In 1986, the Vatican publishes a document entitled “The Phenomenon of Sects, or New Religious Movements, a Pastoral Challenge. For the first time it places part of the responsibility for the spread of hundreds of religious associations on the Catholic Church. The document lists serious flaws in various areas of Catholicism that allow missionaries of new religious movements to operate freely and effectively in countries that have traditionally been considered “Catholic.”

From the very beginning, relatives of followers of new religious movements joined the “anti-cult movement. Parents, mostly from the middle class, created local and national associations whose main task was to oppose “destructive cults”-primarily those in which thousands of young Americans found themselves under strict spiritual and organizational control. In 1971 the first mass action was held in Dallas, where participants accused cults of destroying families and forcing their followers to give up their studies and jobs. One of the immediate causes of this action was a couple’s conflict with the notorious “Children of God” religious group. The parents’ unsuccessful attempts to get their daughter out of the congregation forced them to seek support from the American public through the media. They were joined by citizens whose children were also involved in the Children of God association. After meetings and exchanges of experience, Children of God Freedom was established in 1972. But it soon became clear that dramatic problems awaited not only the relatives of the Children of God. And in 1974, the American Family Foundation was formed in Denver. It included parents who had experienced fear and anxiety for children who had become followers of one or another version of the new religious movements.

In 1975 the number of active participants in parent associations exceeded 1,500. During this period, their main efforts were directed against the “Unification Church,” whose founder, Sang Men Moon, had by this time settled in the United States. With the support of Senator R. Dole, congressional hearings were held, citing the negative effects of cults on people’s health, the destruction of families, and extortion. The tragic events in Guyana (November 1978), which led to the deaths of hundreds of followers of the “People’s Temple” movement, strengthened the position of the anti-cult movement. All this led to the emergence of several national and local anti-cult organizations. They were joined by some social psychologists and psychiatrists, including Harvard University professor D. R. Clark.

Parents, who were gravely concerned about their children leaving their families and abandoning their family faith, accused religious groups of using hypnosis and brainwashing to attract and isolate young people. All of these and other methods of attracting and controlling converts to groups were called “programming” – imposing a system (program) of views and behavior beneficial to the group. Some parents consider “deprogramming” to be the most effective means of liberation from the ideas and ideals of life formed by the “new teachers. Professional deprogrammers, mainly psychiatrists and psychologists, undertake to rid (often by harsh methods) the person of false beliefs and return to the true belief. The average deprogramming process lasts at least two weeks, but it can also take several months.

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Concept of Religion

Religion is a certain system of views based on belief in the supernatural. It includes the observance of moral norms as well as rituals, depending on the particular belief. The terms “religion” and “faith” are often used synonymously, because faith is the acceptance of any fact as truth without evidence or reasoning, which is precisely what is characteristic of religion.

Beliefs serve a number of important functions for society:

• forming a picture of the world and an understanding of oneself;
• defining the meaning and purpose of life for a particular person;
• psychological relief by turning to God (removal of stress, no feeling of loneliness);
• unification of people, but also the flip side – the opposition (in the case of different religions);
• the development of art through religious works;
• education and instruction in specific rules of behavior.

“The term ‘religion’ comes from the Latin religare, to bind, or religio, to worship. Thus, religion is the connection between man and God, the world of the material and the ideal, the profane (secular, worldly) and the sacred (sacred).

History of Religion

Scientists date the appearance of religion to the emergence of mankind. Although at that time faith was still primitive and took unfamiliar forms for our time, it nevertheless helped to comprehend the world, to describe certain life situations and strengthen communication between people.

Even primitive people believed in life after death, because they could not know exactly what happens to a person at the end of his earthly existence. This also includes natural phenomena, which influenced the life of communities – people sincerely believed that the rain was controlled by one God, and the wind by another. Even in animals people found in common with humans and ascribed supernatural abilities to them. Hence the first religions, such as totemism and animism.

Totemism is a religion based on the supernatural connection between humans and animals that are similar to them in external features or habits. It was believed that because people identified themselves as predators, they were better able to hunt or fight with other tribes. Also, totemism relieved the fear of death because people sincerely believed that their soul would move into their totem animal and get rid of the weak human body.

Animism was a religion that originated in dreams. People were convinced that if they could wander in dreams, it meant that the soul was capable of existing separately from the body and in real life. Man believed in the existence of the “spirit” and tried in every way to please him, for example, through ritual dances or offerings.

What are the world’s religions?

The exact number of religions in the world is unknown, but scientists count about 10,000 religious movements. Of these, only a few are considered world religions because of their mass appeal.

Christianity

One of the world’s largest religions (it has about 2.3 billion followers around the planet). It is based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The most popular currents in Christianity at the moment:

• Orthodoxy;
• Catholicism;
• Protestantism.

Christianity is based on several dogmas (doctrinal statements):

• belief in the resurrection of Christ and the universal resurrection of men;
• the unity of the Most High in three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit);
• the incarnation of the Son of God into a representative of the human race for the purpose of ridding the human race of its sins.

The list of other doctrines varies according to the direction of Christianity. Originally this religion spread only among the Jews, but then, through the actions of various historical figures, it took on a mass character and spread to other pagan (non-Christian) nations.

Islam

The second largest religion after Christianity (more than 1.8 billion people). The founder of Islam is Muhammad – a man of ignorant origin from Mecca, who was given a divine revelation. His followers regard him as a prophet.

There are two main branches in the Muslim religion:

• Sunnism;
• Shi’ism.

Islamic doctrine is based on six tenets (pillars):

• belief in One God;
• Faith in God’s prophets;
• Faith in the scriptures revealed to the prophets;
• faith in angels;
• faith in the Day of Judgment and the future life;
• belief in destiny and predestination.

Buddhism

A religion originating in northeastern India and named after its founder, the Buddha (Shakyamuni Buddha), whose former name was Siddhartha Gautama. Legend has it that he grew up in a wealthy family, unaware of many troubles, and one day, as an adult, went outside his palace. Seeing the misery people were experiencing, he decided to wander all the way to self-denial. Throughout his life he sought the truth, studied various techniques of self-knowledge, and eventually became a preacher, called the Buddha (the enlightened one).

The basic concepts of the Buddhist religion are:

• Sansara – the rebirth and reincarnation of a person in another body;
• Karma – understanding the connection between bad and good deeds, which have their reflection in the future;
• Nirvana – liberation from suffering through spiritual growth and meditation.

Buddha’s religion is practiced by over 520 million people around the world.

Judaism

The Jewish religion is first and foremost the religion of the Jewish people, so it is rightly considered a national creed. The name of the religion came from the name of the tribe of Judah.

Today Judaism, which is practiced by about 14 million people, consists of three main directions:

• Rtodox (a classical form of religion);
• Reform (renounces rituals entirely, but retains the injunctions);
• Conservative (renounces part of the rituals).

The main commandments of Judaism are:

• God is one and he is real;
• God is spirit – he is an absolute being;
• God is the creator of all things, it is a force that acts constantly and everywhere, rules the whole world.

Shamanism

A religion based on communion with spirits. Perhaps one of the most ancient faiths, which was formed at the dawn of humanity. Shamanism has its roots in magic and totemism, but also fits well into the modern ways of many peoples. The religion has no specific founder, but resonates with many because of its ideas.

The main features of shamanism are:

• all material things have a soul;
• man is a mediator between spirits and nature;
• the soul can travel through dimensions;
• active self-government and self-knowledge.

National Religions

In short, these are the religions of one nation or state. They include Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, and many others.
The emergence and formation of such religions is directly related to the development of the nation. Every nation in its time needed an ideology and opposition to other nations (which, at times, can be traced even today), therefore the formation of new faiths or the adoption of existing ones was inevitable.

New Religious Movements

The very name “new religious movements” suggests the recent timing of their emergence. Some researchers suggest that those movements formed beginning in the second half of the 19th century be considered new. Others speak of the 2nd half of the 20th-beginning of the 21st century-this, in the expert’s opinion, is a more justified classification. These can include: altruria, anthoinism, oomoto, mahikari, kopimism, kerista, jedaism, and many others.

• According to the religious scholar, the reasons for the emergence of new religious movements are:

• The separation of the institution of the church from the state. This leads to a kind of uneducation about traditional religions and provides the ground for the spread of new religious movements;
• Globalization – the consolidation of societies, corporations, processes, etc. Linked to this phenomenon is one of the features of new religious movements – syncretism. That is, the connection of different religious beliefs into one. For example, “new age” (new era) combines Buddhism, neo-paganism, shamanism, oriental practices, magic, etc;
• connection of traditional and new beliefs, for example, on the basis of Christianity and Islam there are new cults, which go far from the teachings of these religions, bringing modern innovations (astrology, numerology)

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