The future of organized religion : analysis of a taken-for-granted opinion

Samenvatting

If the anti-institutional mood, which became manifest in today's youth but has spread out far beyond these limits over all the contemporary Western society, has accomplished anything it is the growing awareness that Western rationalism has not only produced greater efficiency & affluence but also basic human deprivation. Some balance will come about in the future between rationalism & irrationalism (a balance which will limit the nonrational). This has far reaching implications for religion. Irrationally religious man will then search again for institutional rationality, without however, allowing the latter to overwhelm him. For that reason, those institutions that will govern his religious life, may not carry too many characteristics of bureaucratic efficiency & austere rationality, but they ought to carry, nevertheless, the features characteristic of institutions. It is precisely the Roman Catholic Church that is able to offer such an arrangement. Although an organized religion par excellence, the Roman Catholic Church has always claimed & believed to be a mystery that transcends the individual & his fallibility. If the Roman Church yields to the liberal & radical forces, which base their opinions & plans on emotional desires rather than on a long range vision, it would easily end up, after the initial enthusiasm, being just another multinational corporation--modern, efficient, but meaningless. In contrast to this myopia, the Pope's stubborn refusal to abolish the traditional directives which transcend him & every other individual in this Church, might very well preserve a long range vision. Modified Author's Summary.