Robert C. Fuller’s Spiritual but not Religious explored faith traditions embraced by the seekers of spiritual growth. These were those individuals who were interested in Swedenborgianism, Transcendentalism, mesmerism, spiritualism, and countless others. But what was of interest to this reviewer was the role played by psychology of such figures like William James, Abraham Maslow, Carl Jung, and Carl Rogers. Gordon Allport, professor of personality theory at Yale University, and James Fowler, director of the Center for Faith Development at Emory University commented on the stages of spiritual growth. These stages could invariably lead to spiritual maturity, but some remain stuck in a traditional religious mode.
A religion like Wicca saw God in the monotheistic religions was patriarchal and women weren’t considered playing leading roles in religious life. God was the Father in the Old Testament; Jesus Christ was his Son in the New Testament. Most of the prophets were male, and it was always them who made decisions concerning women. In the ancient societies of Asia, Rome, Greece, and the Middle East males dominated. For it was the men who were wealthy, held power, and made decisions.
Ancient cultures considered women as inferior. The laws mainly made for men didn’t recognize the rights of women. This was prevalent in the gospels of the New Testament. That’s the reason why all of Christ’s disciples were male. Only Mary – Jesus’s mother was given any importance in the Catholic Church’s teachings. Even the angels were all male. These were divine and celestial beings in the Bible that had the power to carry out God’s plans.
The World’s Religions were no different. In Islam the Prophet Muhammad had many wives. These were his concubines, and for the most part they were young women. The Koran has accounts of women fighting for their equality before Muhammad was able to recognize their rights. Laws were against women and if a woman was unfaithful to her husband the judgment was that she would be stoned to death.
Other aspects of the scared scriptures of the world’s faiths showed that there was rampant class discrimination. Hinduism was known for its caste system. The untouchables were the pariahs in India. This class was condemned to live lives as outcasts. With the coming of India’s independence legislation was instituted to change this law. But this stigma still persists. Buddhism’s outlook was different. Buddha was instrumental in doing away with these class distinctions in his teachings. But still this problem continues to exist in the Eastern tradition culture.
Culturally the sacred texts emphasized values that are skewed in favor of Europeans. In most cultures in the East and West - Asian, and African, Europeans are favored with their lighter complexion. So in the Bible although Jesus was Middle Eastern, countries that have been colonized by Europeans always present God, the Father, and Jesus, his Son, with white complexions. It was only in contemporary times when the religious holiday of Christmas is celebrated that some cultures began seeing Santa Claus not only as white, but of different ethnicities.
Undoubtedly, there have been some changes in people’s spiritual life. Many protestant churches presently have both male and female priests and deacons, but the Catholic Church still insists that their priests should be male. The Episcopal Church and other denominations have gay priests and bishops. But still there is controversy about LGBTQIA’s in the life of congregations. Abortion is hotly debated, so are issues about the environment in the major faith traditions of the world. Change is however inevitable as seekers of a new spirituality are evolving to deal with these issues. ( )