Contemporary Problems of Social Work Современные проблемы социальной работы academic journal

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VOLUME 2, No. 1, 2016
shaped by the social environment in which he moves, and he imposed value- and ideological 
clich
és.
Moreover, the follower of “alternative spirituality” as a result – he believes – “self-
determination” (actually – assimilation and mainstreaming embedded in the consciousness 
of stereotyped settings) sincerely believes he has found a spiritual niche, which is a zone of 
psychological comfort, in which he is protected from external negative influences. On the one 
hand, this area is a classic result of bipolarization of thinking, formed by the sect: dividing the 
world into “white” (life within the community) and “black” (darkness and chaos beyond it) [26]. 
On the other hand, the artificial creation of this zone may occur outside religious cults with 
their structuring, doctrinal principles and well- developed technique of mind control.
A characteristic feature of a person, who has mastered the bipolar way of thinking, is the 
feeling of innocence for worldwide evil, abstracting from it, sets him above the outrage that 
they felt as dissolved in this world. Therefore, as in the sect, and outside it, a man with a similar 
way of perceiving reality opposes himself to the integrality of the world, artificially inflating 
self-esteem and nurturing a spirit of proud extolling over others. That is why the very idea of 
its origin “alternative spirituality” is an ideal breeding ground for the growth of anti-social 
elements with destructive consciousness [23].
So, in opposition to own stereotypes based sustainable forms of life that is an inferiority 
complex, which grows on the background of self-exaltation. Due to the tendency of the human 
arrogance and pride, it formed a pronounced consciousness of the protest in relation to the 
traditional moral culture and spiritual outlook, until their rejection and exclusion. For example, 
followers of the theosophical doctrine (which exists in the form of Roerich’s doctrine in modern 
Russia often) in conversation with Christians will look quite favorably, all kind showing attention 
and respect to the interlocutor. However, during a deeper and more thorough religious dispute 
it turns out that their benevolence – just a screen behind which the corresponding principle 
lies: “Yes, of course, Christianity – that’s fine... the initial way of becoming spiritual, but we 
have long outgrown its being at a much higher stage of development, and we hope that you, too, 
will go beyond the limitations of their own”. In other words, the followers of the theosophical 
doctrine originally negatively biased against Christians, including their religious concepts 
backward and primitive.
As said one of the founders of the Theosophical teachings Annie Besant: “Do not be held, on 
the contrary, help theosophy and reinforce the faltering Christian Church?.. Theosophy does 
not bring anything new to Christianity, but it revives the forgotten, old truths, wipes the dust of 
centuries, with its treasures and shows a new radiance of its great beauty” [2].
The same benevolence can be observed among the followers of the International Society for 
Krishna Consciousness. A man joined in a dialogue with them does not understand that smiling 
mask that hides the face of an adept, due to the realization that his companion just as he 
prays to Krishna (though does not aware of this). After all the founders of religious traditions 
and doctrines, according to the teachings of neo-Vaishnava – only avatars of Krishna, and the 
incomplete avatars: “Even if a person knows that all other forms of God – Krishna, too, he should 
not worship any other form – it must focus on the form of Krishna. Krishna has many forms, but 
people should worship only the image of Krishna with a flute in his hands. Just focus on this 
form” [20]. Do not it be better to overcome the narrowness of his thinking and praying “real” 
Krishna instead of choosing an object for worship among “defective semi-deities”, in which 
there is only a small part of the true Krishna?
The notion of exclusivity clearly observed among the other newly religious communities. 
Thus, Jehovah’s Witnesses declaring the doctrine of the Trinity as “the invention of Satan” 
extremely negative view of Christians of any denomination: “A man who sincerely wants to 
know the true God and to serve Him, it will be difficult to love to pray some monstrous three-
headed deity... Therefore, the author of the doctrine of the Trinity – Satan” [15].

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CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS OF SOCIAL WORK
In the community of “The Last Testament” among the followers of Vissarion and exaggerated 
sharply negative view of Christians as an renounced their Savior, because of their rejection 
of the latter-day pretender, pretentiously declared himself as the “second coming”. Vissarion 
denounces the whole Christianity as a particular religious tradition, claiming that it “does not 
have anything of what I pledged” [25], with the result that it “has become the most unattractive 
in fact faith in the world”. Vissarion calls Christians as generally unbelievers [25]. A Christian 
church he identifies with the blinds, driven by other blinds that “cannot find doors themselves... 
and now came close to the bottomless pit...” [25].
In the movement of neo-pentecostalism the traditional Christianity is seen, again, with a 
fair share of mockery too low it is a Christian religious status, as long as he is not rushing into 
convulsions and does not fall into oblivion by the hysterical laughter that arises due to the 
“impact of the spirit...”. “I could feel a palpable shock running through me, then I was falling 
backwards, as if my legs had been kicked away from underneath me. I hit the floor – I swear 
this is the truth – laughing like a drain”, – the phenomenon is described, experienced first-
hand, by the journalist Mick Brown, one of the first who began to promote this practice [12].
Academician V.M. Bekhterev long before the emergence of the phenomenon of neo-
Pentecostals movements characterized such events as a serious mental disorder with symptoms, 
identical with what is happening at the meetings of communities of a religious movement. He 
wrote: “Although the hysterical convulsions are very different in appearance, but is most often 
seen following the general picture. Among the total noise, shouting and confusion some fall 
as slain by lightning, others enthusiastic and plaintive cry, cry, jump, clap, beat himself in the 
face, pulled their hair, pounding in the chest, stomp their feet, dancing, publish all kinds of 
sounds and cries that meet a variety of emotional states of joy, happiness, despair, fear, horror, 
surprise, prayer, the expression of physical pain... and so on, then, finally, imitating a dog 
barking, neighing of horses and other wild sounds. Spasmodic movements often last until the 
exhaustion of the subject” [1].
Taking these symptoms hysteroid psychopathy for “acts of Holy Spirit”, the adepts of neo-
pentecostalism communities perceive the followers of traditional Christian denominations for 
the spiritually immature people that are very far from the “heights” that they reach in a state 
of exaltation, have outlined for themselves. Therefore, the attitude towards them can be called 
arrogant, condescending.
It is significant that such a perception of religiosity, we find not only in the cults that have 
arisen in the past century and a half, but in the seemingly traditional Buddhism. On one of the 
interfaith forums, organized by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches, in the speech of 
the Dalai Lama was suggested, adopted to “hurray” by tolerant-minded audience. After the usual 
greetings, the head of the Buddhists expressed sincere appreciation for the fact that gathered at 
the forum the adherents of different religions are sequentially selected initially by [see 7]. In the 
mouth of the Dalai Lama, such thought means only one thing: the atman at the present stage of its 
development should be worthy to live allotted him his life, to later be reborn in a higher way of life – 
eventually grow to a Buddhist, and there are already at this higher stage of development connect 
to a Brahmin. Such haughty pretension of other religions fits into the Buddhist world view, where 
a believer, realizing his potential, without assistance, reveals a deity and literally becomes of him.
The sense of own “chosen”, typical for the adopters of destructive cults, we also can see 
outside of a religious environment. The phenomenon of “cult thinking” becomes as the basis of 
radicalism in politics and culture, and any other area that has no direct relationship to religion. 
The basis of it, as already mentioned, is the pursuit of hiding own flaws, self-removing beyond 
the world of evil and the artificial creation of the internal sense of innocence to this evil. It 
is characteristically that, as a consequence, in all the radical systems, the internal atmosphere 
which is based on the principles of religious cults, the idea of repentance turns into a fiction or 
completely absolutely absent.

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