A Religion of Earth

Abstract

It is the observation of some clergy and teachers in the field of religion today that amidst a widespread disillusionment with doctrines, rituals and ceremonials of western religions there is a new search for spiritual nourishment in oriental religions, especially by young people. Professor Jacob Needleman at San Francisco State College, for example, in his The New Religions sees men and women moving away from the exhausted trappings and forms of Judaism and Christianity because they seek transcendental answers to the fundamental questions of life. He believes that the disenchantment is not basically intellectual, but deeply religious, indicating by that distinction that there is a lost sustenance to be found in these historic Asian faiths which could eventually lead, in years to come, to twenty million Americans becoming Buddhists. There is even the possibility, he suggests, that an equally astounding phenomenon could occur — twenty million Americans becoming real Christians or Jews. He never clearly indicates what this ‘real’ Judaism or Christianity would be.