2.9.4. Some characteristic of religion and their possible use

V. I. Melnikov

A given list of factors of religion’s environment, as well as the known researches of religion [35, 36] allow to determine a series of important peculiarities and regularities of religion (further referred to as features), that can be used in order to answer the question of whether a society can influence religions processes. Among the main features the following can be named:

1. All doctrines are grounded on unsubstantiated faith.

2. Emotional-sensory nature of faith.

3. Possibility to originate, be maintained, changed and destructed.

4. Combination of evolutional and revolutionary character of development.

5. Cyclicity (recurrence) of development.

6. Simultaneous combination of purity of confessions and eclectic character of religious beliefs.

7. Territorial mobility and time dynamics.

8. Ideological and dogmatic, organizational, structural and functional multi-dimension.

9. Combination of conservatism and dynamism.

10. Combination of irreconcilability, aggressiveness and tolerance and pluralism.

11. Ability to centralize, universalize and unify.

It is possible to divide the above mentioned features of religion into two groups based on their ability to influence the concept of a particular religion.

1. Features making for change of substance and functions of religion:

-ability to come into existence, to develop and to extinct;

-evolutional and cyclic character of changes;

- tendencies to universalize and centralize;

- ability to interpenetrate.

2. Features hindering change of substance and functions of religion:

- penetration into subconscious;

- foundation on the principle of faith;

- conservatism.

Ability to influence religion mainly depends on its capability to originate, develop and vanish, i.e. – on an evolutional and cyclic character of changes.

Efficient influence on religious processes can be exercised by the joint use of combination of both features and corresponding environment’s factors. Among the most promising factors the following can be named: combination of religion’s features (cl. 3,4,5,9 and 11) and factors (cl. 2,1, 2.3, 2.4, 4.2, 4.3).

A series of common issues of TCS can also be used in order to reach this task [50, 62].

1. Environment creates, maintains, changes and destroys the object.

2. Any interaction of the environment and the object is directed towards equalization of their states.

3. Intensity of the interaction increases with the enhancement of the difference in states’ levels and decreases with the increase of resistance of the dividing zone.

The most dynamic and efficient factors influencing the religion are informational actions (such as upbringing and education), psycho-emotional state of a personality, fashion, intellectual and spiritual development of a personality.

Irrespective of a conscious and purposeful change of religion, to some extent it is possible to forecast the way of the natural development of religion being influenced by constantly acting unidirectional factors.

1. Integration, globalization and unification of consciousness contributes to harmonization of positions of confessions, strengthening of pluralism and tolerance.

2. Development of science, improvement of the level of education and intellectual development narrows the degree of religion’s influence.

3. Increase in a cultural level and living standard, improvement of emotional state decreases the degree of religion’s influence.

Based on the aforementioned it is possible to approximately outline the main ways of religious processes’ governance.

1. Influence only upon the subconscious of believers.

2. Upbringing from “tabula rasa” (i.e. from the childhood) using emotional and sensual methods, creation of a corresponding fashion, needed opinion and public mood – is the most effective.

3. Substitution of negative personal states of mind for any positive non-religious methods.

4. To increase and accelerate integration and unification processes.

5. To use the natural cyclicity of religion’s development, to strive for the attainment of a peculiar “spiritual resonance”.

6. To encourage formation of the world outlook’s other components’ unity of the other confessions’ representatives.