Pseudoreligion

From Wikinfo

Pseudoreligion (or pseudotheology) is a generally pejorative term applied to a non-mainstream belief system or philosophy which is functionally similar to a religious practice, typically having a founder, principal text, liturgy and faith-based beliefs.

Belief systems such as Theosophy,(1) corporate Kabbalism,(2) The Nation of Islam,(3) Scientology and Objectivism(4-6) have all been referred to as pseudoreligions, as have various New Age religions. While the more serious-minded participants in these groups may prefer to consider themselves part of a proper religion or even non-religious philosophy, the mainstream ascribes to them fringe status.

Satirical, unserious, or parody religions, such as Discordianism, Church of the SubGenius, or the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, have been viewed as pseudoreligions, particularly when members claim that their group is as real and/or as valid as other more widely accepted belief systems.

Pseudoreligions which are seen as dangerous, exploitive, secretive, or closed have been referred to as cults; others which as innocuous or inclusive, such as New Age movements or parody religions, as sub-cultures or cultural phenomena.

Some pseudoreligions may begin as splinters or hold-overs from traditional religions based in Apocryphal or Pseudepigraphical writings not accepted within the originating religion. Examples of this include the various sects of Gnosticism.

Professor James Carmine, chair of Carlow University's philosophy department, proposes a three-pronged test to distinguish "authentic" religions from pseudoreligions(7):

Any religion lacking a guiding coherent theology is a pseudo-religion.
Any religion entirely self referential is pseudo-religion.
Any religion whose only fruit is adherence to itself is pseudo-religion.

Examples of pseudoreligions

Judeo-Christian pseudoreligions:

Gnosticism, based on Greek philosophy, along with Jewish and Christian Apocrypha
Corporate Kabbalism, based on Jewish mysticism

Invented pseudoreligions:

Church of All Worlds, based on Robert Heinlein's science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land
[[Ra�lism]], based on an extraterrestrial visit to Claude Vorilhon (Ra�l)
Scientology, based on L. Ron Hubbard's lectures and writings

Philosophical pseudoreligions:

Marxism, based on the writings of Karl Marx and later, Vladimir Lenin(8)
Theosophy, based on writings of "Madame" Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Randianism/Objectivism, based on writings of Ayn Rand

Parody or joke religions:

Discordianism, based on writings of Kerry Thornley and friend Greg Hill
MOOism, based on online virtual community
Lachrymology, based on claims by band Tool

References

Guenon, Rene (1921). Theosophy, a History of a Pseudo-Religion. 0900588799.
Wenig, Gaby, "Q & A With Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, 2003-11-07. �Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: There is no spirit in it, no message in it. This is part of a general term toward the esoteric that seems to be a' la mode for the time being, but it is not important on any real level. At best, it is shallow and unimportant. At worst, it may become slightly dangerous for Judaism and for the people who get involved in it. To get involved in any kind of pseudo-science or pseudo-religion is always slightly dangerous for the religion.�
McCloud, Sean (2004-03-01). �Monitoring the Marginal Masses�, Making the American Religious Fringe: Exotics, Subversives, and Journalists, 1955-1993. UNC Press. 0807854964. �William Buckley's more conservative National Review dubbed the group a "pseudo-religion." Writing in Ebony, Hans J. Massaquoi concurred, calling the Nation of Islam a "quasi-religion."�
Ellis, Ph.D., Albert (1968). Is Objectivism a religion?. New York: Lyle Stuart. B0006BV6Y2.
Rothbard, Murray N., "The Sociology of the Ayn Rand Cult". �It should be clear at this point in history that an ideological cult can adopt the same features as the more overtly religious cult, even when the ideology is explicitly atheistic and anti-religious.�
Parrott, M. R. M (2002-10). Synthetic a Priori. Rimric Press. �Her thought boils down to a very clever type of religion, or pseudo-philosophy cult, in that it preys upon the unsuspecting mind and feeds it with lots of "newspeak" about individuality, honesty, consistency and happiness, when on closer inspection, it leads to the same totalitarianism, mysticism, and blind faith which it claims to avoid.�
Carmine, James D., "Bad Religions and Good Religions", 2005-12-14. �As astrology, psychoanalysis and creationism are pseudo-sciences, so too are scientology, new-age-eco-feminism and Heaven�s Gate pseudo-religions. But pop-religions have no corner on the pseudo-religion market. The great Western religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism have each spun off superb examples of extraordinarily obtuse pseudo-religions, and so too have the great American political ideologies of liberalism and conservatism spun off equally obtuse pseudo-religions.�
Hartshorne, Charles (1983-06-01). �Modern (European) Philosophers�, Insights and Oversights of Great Thinkers: An Evaluation of Western Philosophy. SUNY Press. 0873956818, 226. �The total renunciation of religion by the Marxists has gone with a sort of pseudoreligion, the worship of leaders, Lenin, or Marx, himself-- or the Party-- viewed as in principle beyond fundamental criticism.�

External links

"Pseudo-Science and Pseudo-Theology: (A) Cult and Occult"; Bube, Dr. Richard A., Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, Issue 29, March 1977.
"Bad Religions and Good Religions"; Carmine, Professor James D, IntellectualConservative.com, 14 December 2005.