Home > Op-ed | To bottom

New religious movements

“Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do.”—Matthew 7:21

A Religious Phenomenon

Last year, I was invited to present a paper on new religious movements in a consultation held in Tainan, Taiwan. The consultation was organized to deal with the new religious movements growing in various parts of the world. I would like to share some of the things I shared in that consultation.

During the Martial Law years, the Marcos Regime worked hard to subjugate the mainline churches, but realized later that trying to domesticate them was an exercise in futility. Therefore, it turned to the new religious groups, who were more than willing to lend helping hands. Hence, the Martial Law era was a period of steady and marked increase in the influx of evangelists both in person and in electronic media. There was no government restriction of any kind to their operations. In recent years, the new religious movements in the Philippines seem to have found renewed vigor.

In his studies on the worldviews of the new religious movements, Michael Guinan presents the following characteristics:

1. Mentality under siege. The new religious movements see the world as filled with chaos and evil; it is an enemy. As such, they attempt to build a fortress of protection to make themselves secure. They search for security, a place of safety in the midst of a world that seems to be collapsing around it. This particular type of siege mentality can also help us to understand the attraction to and love for military images. They embarked on a holy war! Put on the armor of truth! Onward Christian soldiers! Everyone is against us; they don’t understand us. They are evil and perverse! Anyone who is not living within the fortress, within the “safe circle” is seen as a potential threat.

2. Very sectarian. The new religious movements think in this manner: “We are right, everyone else is wrong. Our group is like a fortress keeping the world out, the world full of sin and evil. Inside our group, you are safe. Not only safe, but also saved! In order to enter the door, you must experience salvation; you must be ‘born again’. The way is through conversion experience. It is an emotional experience that turns you around and puts you in another direction. You can speak of real ‘before’ and real ‘after’ of this experience: I once was lost, but now I’m found.”

Sectarianism fosters very much an “us” and “them” mentality. James Barr says that the real fault in new religious movements is its lack of intellectual gifts; its way of looking on other people. New religious movements have no insight into ways in which it might live with Christians who think quite differently, or live alongside people who are not Christians at all. The only real positive message to anyone is that they must be converted to Christ, which in effect means that they must become part of the new religious movements. Justification, therefore, is not by faith in Jesus Christ, but by conversion to the new religious movements. Their approach is essentially an imperialistic one.

3. Bi-modal or dual thinking. “Bi-modal” means “two ways”. The new religious movements love anti-thesis. There are only two possibilities: either this or that: you are saved or lost; holy or unholy; it is true or it is false; it is good or evil; creation or evolution.

There are only two clear-cut sides: God’s side and the devil’s side; and “we are, of course, on God’s side”.The new religious movements claim to have all the answers; they pontificate on everything. Anyone who disagrees on anything is totally dismissed. There is no middle ground. This is unfortunate, because most issues in life are so complex, and most people stand in the middle.

4. A particular cognitive style. The new religious movements have a particular approach to knowing and understanding that wants clear knowledge. Hence, they have a low tolerance for ambiguity. Therefore, they take truth as literal truth.

Most of this view of literal truth is evidently shown in their understanding of the Bible. If the Bible is true, then it must be scientifically and historically true. As we might foresee, the places where the new religious movements misread the Bible most dramatically are precisely those places dealing with birth and death, the birth of the universe or creation and the death of the universe or parousia and end of the world. For the new religious movements, the Bible provides them a sense of security; it is used in defense of themselves and their ideas over against the whole world in error, including other Christians.

5. Low self-esteem. Some new religious movements adhere to the doctrine of “human depravity”. They think that to be human is to be rotten, corrupt, and to live in a rotten world. This view of human depravity presupposes that since we are weak, rotten and corrupt, we need someone out there to tell us what to do. The new religious movements are prone to being controlled by strong charismatic figures.

Growth of New Religious Mov’ts

In the study done by Fort Nicolas, Jr. and Jojo de Leon, they mentioned several factors or conditions that brought about the existence and growth of the new religious movements:

1. Historical Factors. The Filipino’s attachment to religious traditions, rites, and practices before and during the Spanish times may have something to do with the attraction and attachments to the new religious movements which are known for their lively form of worship, using the whole body and evoking wide range of human emotions, not to mention the miraculous healing performed by the evangelists.

2. Psycho-sociological Factors. People from the rural areas who migrate to the urban centers get uprooted from a psychologically secure and familiar atmosphere. They become confronted with the alienating conditions of the city. The new religious movements take them in and make them very important as members of a big family of believers. These individuals do not only cling to these groups, they also become fanatical. Fanaticism seems to be the logical result once the new religious movements apply their methods and teach their ideas. Using the worldview of “us against the world”, individuals are made more loyal to the group. This worldview creates an awareness of an external enemy that in turn creates a religious fervor among believers. This leads to fanaticism. In such case, religion creates more division than unity.

3. Secularization Factor. Secularization refers to the removal of sacred aura in things and the recognition of their scientific explanations. In this case, secularization reduces the power of the church to control the minds of the people. With the technological advancements, science was able to demystify a number of things considered mysterious in older times. Storms, earthquakes, and other calamities thought to be caused by angry gods can now be measured and controlled by science.

The new religious movements with their form of worship, lay participation and leadership, are said to be products of this secularization process. Their pastors do not need to have a seminary training to preach or teach. Their Bible study leaders do not need to be licensed by any authority to explain the faith and convince people. They only need themselves as they relate the Bible verses to their personal experiences and give emotional testimonies on how they were converted to the new faith.

On the other hand, some contend that new religious movements are exactly a reaction against secularization. As secularization demystifies and gives scientific explanations, the new religious movements aims to bring back the strange and the unexplainable, like miraculous healing, speaking in tongues, rapture, and Armageddon.

Now, are the new religious movements a product of secularization or a reaction against it? Well, they can be both. They can be a counter-process within a process. In our increasingly rational world, we seem to refuse to know everything rationally. We prefer that some things remain irrational, strange, and mysterious.

4. Socio-economic Factors. The seemingly hopeless economic situation in the Philippines is one of the factors causing the proliferation of the new religious movements in the country. The situation of poverty makes the people susceptible and defenseless to new forms of religious beliefs and practices. It makes them grab any kind of help offered, such as the promise of salvation and instant success. In his study on the new religious movements, Thomas Marti says that people troubled by the complexity of life find satisfaction in simple, clear-cut answers, provided by an individual or a group that exudes a semblance of certitude and confidence.

Charles Brock also claims that people join revivalist religious movements as an expression of felt religious need. To him, he sees the new religious movements as a protest against mainline religious groups who have failed to address these felt needs. As such, the new religious movements are not a threat to the churches, but a challenge. #

Home > Op-ed | Back to top