Spiritual opportunism

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Spiritual opportunism refers to the exploitation of spiritual ideas (or of the spirituality of others, or of spiritual authority): for personal gain, partisan interests or selfish motives. Usually the implication is that doing so is unprincipled in some way, although it may cause no harm and involve no abuse. In other words, religion becomes a means to achieve something that is alien to it, or things are projected into religion that do not belong there.

Any human being has at least some kind of spiritual sense, developed through personal reflection or undeveloped but evident from lifestyle and communications, which defines the meta-meanings of human existence, the purpose of life, the meaning of the universe and one's own place in it, and so on. This belief system may, or may not be expressed through the categories and concepts of a religion; it could be only assumed, rather than explicit. Whatever the case, such beliefs can be used in a way that they become a source of profit.

If a religious authority acquires influence over the "hearts and minds" of people who are believers in a religion, and therefore can "tap into" the most intimate and deepest-felt concerns of believers, it can also gain immense power from that. This power can be used in a self-interested manner, exploiting opportunities to benefit the position of the religious authority or its supporters in society. This could be considered as inconsistent with the real intentions of the religious belief, or it might show lack of respect for the spiritual autonomy of others. The "good faith" of people is then taken advantage of, in ways that involve some kind of deceit, or some dubious, selfish motive.

Even although, in his Treatise on Toleration (1763), the famous French liberal philosopher Voltaire expressed a distaste for religious fanaticism, he was at the same time convinced that religion could be a useful tool to keep the masses under control. He said famously, "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him." In his Épître à l'Auteur du Livre des Trois Imposteurs , a criticism of atheism in which he makes this remark, Voltaire opined that faith in God is a "sublime system" that is "necessary to man": it is, "...the sacred tie that binds society." Similar ideas have been expressed by numerous political leaders, business leaders, and intellectuals for centuries, both right-wing and left-wing. In their utopias of social engineering, early socialistic thinkers such as Auguste Comte (Treatise on Sociology Instituting the Religion of Humanity 1851-54) and Henri de Saint-Simon (New Christianity 1825) envisaged a new secular (or "scientific") belief-system, analogous to a religion, which would unite the people humanely, and ensure social cohesion. [1] This idea is not as unrealistic as it sounds, [2] but it could be interpreted as an opportunist use of people's faith for political purposes.

Politicians around the world recognize the power of religion, and therefore they usually try to keep on the good side of religious authorities and believers. [3] They are very aware, that religion can be not just a force for social stability, but can also be the cause of enormous animosity among the peoples, if spiritual sensitivities are offended. For example, when in February 2012 protests broke out in various parts of Afghanistan over the improper disposal of Korans at the US military Bagram Air Base, the US government apologized officially (see 2012 Afghanistan Quran burning protests). Some religious wars and crusades have lasted a very long time, being pursued quite relentlessly - regardless of the number of casualties, and regardless of who happened to be winning. It creates plenty potential to exploit religious likes and dislikes opportunistically, to advance political, social or business interests.

The term spiritual opportunism is also used in the sense of casting around for suitable spiritual beliefs borrowed and cobbled together in some way to justify, condemn or "make sense of" particular ways of behaving, usually with some partisan or ulterior motive. This may not be abusive, but it often gives rise to criticisms or accusations [4] that the given spiritual beliefs:

Supporters of traditional religions such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or Buddhism sometimes complain that people (such as New Age enthusiasts) seek out spiritual beliefs that serve only themselves, as a form of "spiritual opportunism". Such complaints are often highly controversial, because people are considered to have the right to their own spiritual beliefs (they may not have that right, to the extent that they are socially excluded unless they profess certain spiritual beliefs, but they may only subscribe "formally" or "outwardly" to them).

Because spiritual beliefs are a highly personal matter in the first instance and concern personal meanings, they are often difficult to criticize because "they just are what they are". As they concern highly abstract, metaphysical principles, it is difficult to prove their inconsistency, even using the criterion of whether people "act according to their beliefs". People can always argue that the personal meaning they attach to something or the personal associations they make, cannot be adequately expressed in the language of others. If accusations of spiritual opportunism are made, therefore, evidential proof depends greatly on what people are willing to reveal (or "confess") about themselves in what they say and do.

Spiritual opportunism sometimes refers also to the practice of proselytizing one's spiritual beliefs when any opportunity to do so arises, for the purpose of winning over, or persuading others, about the superiority of these beliefs. In this context, the spiritual opportunist may engage in various actions, themselves not directly related to the spiritual beliefs, with the specific aim of convincing others of the superiority of his own belief system – it may effectively amount to "buying their support".

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Faith, derived from Latin fides and Old French feid, is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often think of faith as confidence based on a perceived degree of warrant, while others who are more skeptical of religion tend to think of faith as simply belief without evidence.

Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliating with another. This might be from one to another denomination within the same religion, for example, from Baptist to Catholic Christianity or from Sunni Islam to Shi’a Islam. In some cases, religious conversion "marks a transformation of religious identity and is symbolized by special rituals".

Sociology of religion branch of sociology

Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use of both quantitative methods and qualitative approaches such as participant observation, interviewing, and analysis of archival, historical and documentary materials.

"Viruses of the Mind" is an essay by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, first published in the book Dennett and His Critics: Demystifying Mind (1993). Dawkins originally wrote the essay in 1991 and delivered it as a Voltaire Lecture on 6 November 1992 at the Conway Hall Humanist Centre. The essay discusses how religion can be viewed as a meme, an idea previously expressed by Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976). Dawkins analyzes the propagation of religious ideas and behaviors as a memetic virus, analogous to how biological and computer viruses spread. The essay was later published in A Devil's Chaplain (2003) and its ideas are further explored in the television programme, The Root of All Evil? (2006).

A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition about the world is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take it to be true; for instance, to believe that snow is white is comparable to accepting the truth of the proposition "snow is white". However, holding a belief does not require active introspection. For example, few carefully consider whether or not the sun will rise tomorrow, simply assuming that it will. Moreover, beliefs need not be occurrent, but can instead be dispositional.

Spiritual may refer to:

Argument from inconsistent revelations argument against the existence of God. It asserts that it is unlikely that God exists because many theologians and faithful adherents have produced conflicting and mutually exclusive revelations

The argument from inconsistent revelations is an argument against the existence of God. It asserts that it is unlikely that God exists because many theologians and faithful adherents have produced conflicting and mutually exclusive revelations. The argument states that since a person not privy to revelation must either accept it or reject it based solely upon the authority of its proponent, and there is no way for a mere mortal to resolve these conflicting claims by investigation, it is prudent to reserve one's judgment.

Opportunism Taking advantage of circumstances

Opportunism is the practice of taking advantage of circumstances – with little regard for principles or with what the consequences are for others. Opportunist actions are expedient actions guided primarily by self-interested motives. The term can be applied to individual humans and living organisms, groups, organizations, styles, behaviors, and trends.

Religious fanaticism is uncritical zeal or with an obsessive enthusiasm related to one's own, or one's group's, devotion to a religion – a form of human fanaticism which could otherwise be expressed in one's other involvements and participation, including employment, role, and partisan affinities.

Criticism of religion involves criticism of the validity, concept, or ideas of religion.

Religious tourism Tourism to religious locations for personal reasons

Religious tourism, spiritual tourism, sacred tourism, or faith tourism, is a type of tourism with two main subtypes: pilgrimage, meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch of sightseeing.

Religious abuse is abuse administered under the guise of religion, including harassment or humiliation, which may result in psychological trauma. Religious abuse may also include misuse of religion for selfish, secular, or ideological ends such as the abuse of a clerical position.

Freedom of religion in Taiwan is provided for by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which is in force on Taiwan. Taiwan's progressive government generally respects freedom of religion in practice, with policies which contribute to the generally free practice of religion. Taiwan's strong human rights protections, lack of state-sanctioned discrimination, and generally high regard for freedom of religion or belief earned it a joint #1 ranking alongside The Netherlands and Belgium in the 2018 Freedom of Thought Report. Freedom House also gave Taiwan the top score for religious freedoms in 2018. Possibly the only coercion to practice a certain faith in Taiwan comes from within the family, where the choice to adopt a non-traditional faith can sometimes lead to ostracism "because they stop performing ancestor worship rites and rituals."

Surveys show that Americans without a religious affiliation, sometimes referred to as "Nones" range around 23.8%, 26%, 24.8%, 33%, 21%, and 31.4% of the population, with 'nothing in particulars' making up the majority of this demographic. Since the early 1990s, independent polls have shown the rapid growth of those without a religious affiliation.

"Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR), also known as "Spiritual but not affiliated" (SBNA), is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that takes issue with organized religion as the sole or most valuable means of furthering spiritual growth. Historically, the words religious and spiritual have been used synonymously to describe all the various aspects of the concept of religion, but in contemporary usage spirituality has often become associated with the interior life of the individual, placing an emphasis upon the well-being of the "mind-body-spirit", while religion refers to organizational or communal dimensions.

Intellectual opportunism is the pursuit of intellectual opportunities with a selfish, ulterior motive not consistent with relevant principles. The term refers to certain self-serving tendencies of the human intellect, often involving professional producers and disseminators of ideas, who work with idea-formation all the time.

Sexual opportunism is the selfish pursuit of sexual opportunities for their own sake when they arise, often with the negative moral connotation that in some way it "takes advantage" of others, or "makes use" of, or "exploits", other persons for sexual purposes. Sexual opportunism is sometimes also defined as the use of sexual favours for selfish purposes quite unrelated to the sexual activity, in which case taking a sexual opportunity is merely the means to achieve a quite different purpose, for example to advance one's career or obtain status or money. This may be accepted or tolerated, or it may be criticized because the concerns of others are not adequately taken into consideration.

Political opportunism refers to the attempt to maintain political support, or to increase political influence - possibly in a way which disregards relevant ethical or political principles.

Economic opportunism is a term related to the subversion of morality to profit. There exists no agreed general, scientific definition or theory of economic opportunism; the literature usually considers only specific cases and contexts.

Legal opportunism is a wide area of human activity, which refers generally to a type of abuse of the proper intention of legal arrangements. More specifically, it refers to deliberately manipulating legal arrangements for purposes they were not meant for, guided by self-interested motives.

References

  1. ↑ Frank Furedi, "Glaube: Wie aus dem Atheismus eine Pseudo-Religion wurde". NovoArgumente, 18 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Yasmin Anwar, "Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers". UC Berkeley News Center, April 30, 2012.
  3. ↑ For example, see: Subir Bhaumik, "China and India use Buddha for regional karma". Al Jazeera English (online), 11 January 2012.
  4. ↑ An example is Robert M. Price, Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today’s Pop Mysticisms. Prometheus Books, 2008
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