The feminist movement is losing impetus. In a long and thoughtful article in FORUM (an American journal, privately circulated) for December 1985 Riane Eisler and David Loye ascribe this to a dividedness in its ideology. Only in their manifest ideology, they say, are the feminists opposed to domination of the female by the male; deeper… read more »
Cal McCrystal writes about a book, due out later this year, from the Centre for New Religious Movements at King’s College, London, which estimates that there are 400-500 cults in Britain. Scientology is now an old story and so are the Moonies, but we had not previously encountered the Bugbrooke Christian Fellowship, which bans Christmas,… read more »
The Pope has been reported (Sunday Times 3 May 87) as urging that available work be distributed fairly; he believes those without it would be happier if given some. In our youth the religious people used to be keen on a book they called the Bible. It had a lot of stories about an old… read more »
In the orthodox view ideology appears as a distorting influence which shrivels under the hard light of science, but systematic ideology suggests otherwise. It shows science to be as much an ideological activity as politics, for here, too, the course of action depends upon the assumptions accepted, and assumptions are the units of which ideologies… read more »
The unprepared ecclesiastical visitor to the Soviet Union usually gains the impression that the Russian Orthodox Church is thriving. Its coffers are full, its seminaries over-subscribed, its hierarchs sleek and well spoken, and its divine services crowded to overflowing. Beyond these impressive externals, moreover, there is much evidence of a religious revival among the population… read more »
When discussing (or, to be more realistic, when arguing about) the periods at which the various major ideologies first appeared as significant social movements, the suggestion that socialism appeared early is sometimes supported by the claim that Christ was a socialist. Here is a different view: … Jesus virtually never mentioned the poor with the… read more »
Autogestion and omnarchy have been suggested as better names for the “anarchist” movement. For too many people, anarchy requires disorder, and this presumption gets in the way of communication. Because the goal of the true anarchist is to open up a personal space, free of external governance, so that we may be free to be… read more »
Summary of a talk given at a Forum held by the South Place Ethical Society at Conway Hall on November 30th 1986. SPES is an organisation of humanists, having for its aim “the study and dissemination of ethical principles based on humanism, and the cultivation of a rational way of life.” Its members range from… read more »
The mystics have long insisted on the need for recognition of the dark side, and one achievement of the past century has been to link this intuition with the methods of science, producing rational studies of the irrational. One example appears in Aldous Huxley’s studies of consciousness-changing drugs (mainly, in those innocent days, peyoti) but… read more »
IC holds out a continuing invitation: We undertake to print any statement of up to 1,000 words carrying the approval of this party or one of its branches. Letters from individual members or supporters will be printed if they are cogent, interesting and concise, and if space permits. If you want your letter to appear… read more »