New Religious Movements
The principle of religious freedom introduced in Western society in the early 19th century facilitated the emergence of numerous new religious movements. Early examples were derived from western occultism and the tradition of secret societies such as the Freemasons, but from the later 19th century, influence of Eastern religions, notably Buddhism and Hinduism played an increasing role. From the mid 20th century, Eastern and Western spiritual traditions were increasingly syncretized in the various movements associated with the New Age and Neopagan countercultures.
Read more about this topic: Western Religion
Famous quotes containing the words religious and/or movements:
“A few years ago, the liberal churches complained that the Calvinistic church denied to them the name of Christian. I think the complaint was confession; a religious church would not complain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“In a universe that is all gradations of matter, from gross to fine to finer, so that we end up with everything we are composed of in a lattice, a grid, a mesh, a mist, where particles or movements so small we cannot observe them are held in a strict and accurate web, that is nevertheless nonexistent to the eyes we use for ordinary living—in this system of fine and finer, where then is the substance of a thought?”
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)