Femme Savante

. . . witnessing an unprecedented explosion of new religions—and the "problem religion" of the next century may not be the one you think.

This is the cover article in this month's issue of The Atlantic. An abstract of this article reads, Unfortunately, to read the entire article, you must purchase it from <a href="http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/theatlantic/index.html?ts=1012781630" target="_blank">their archives website</a> for $1.95.

I have an Atlantic subscription, so I read the hardcopy, and think it is definitely worth the two bucks. The article is well-written and balanced at 7,000-odd words. The upshot, bad news and good -- bad news : religion ain't gonna wither away ; good news : the fundies are gonna have a lot of competition.

The article outlines a series of new cults springing up, such as :
1. The Ahmadis, a messianic Muslim sect based in Pakistan, who are considered heretics by most Muslims and persecuted accordingly.
2. The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, a 5000,000-member meditation movement founded by a Hindu diamond merchant who experienced a series of powerful religious visions.
3. Cao Dai, a Vietnamese religion with 3,000,000 followers wich combines the teachings of Confucianism, Xianity, Islam, Geniism, Taoism, Judaism and Buddhism.
4. The Raelians, founded in 1973 by a French racing journalist named Claude Vorilhon who claims he was taken aboard a flying saucer, learned about and extraterrestrial ethos, and changed his name to Rael ; he has about 55,000 followers.
5. Soka Gakkai International, a form of Buddhism based on the teachings of Buddhist monk Nichiren ;its members believe that true Buddhists should pursue earthly experiences.
6. The Toronto Blessing. (My personal favorite.) "An unorthodox new evangelical Christian Charismatic movement, based in Canada, the movement emerged in 1994 within the Toronto Airport branch of the Vineyard Church (itself a remarkably successful new religious movement [cult] founded in 1974), after a service delivered by a Florida-based preacher named Rodney Howard Browne. To date about 300,000 people have visited the [cult's] main church. Services often induce 'a move of the Holy Spirit' that can trigger uncontrollable laughter, apparent drunkennes, barking like a dog, and roaring like a lion. The group finds support for its practices in passages from the Bible's book of Acts, among them 'All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues . . .'. . . . The Vineyard Church no longer recognizes the Toronto Blessing as an affiliate. . . .

Sorry, tendonitis is setting in. I encourage everyone to read this article and share your thoughts with me.

M.L.