Alternative Religiosity

U radu autori analiziraju rezultate mjerenja odnosa naših građana prema alternativnoj (u odnosu na kršćanstvo) religioznosti. Analizirali su odnos prema horoskopu, praznovjerju, New Ageu, gnostičkoj baštini, ezoteriji, magiji i okultizmu, te sinkretizmu. Rezultati pokazuju da u populaciji postoji značajna prihvaćenost, prakticiranje ili odobravanje pojedinih alternativnih religioznih praksi, obreda i vjerovanja. No to prihvaćanje još uvijek za većinu populacije nije na refleksivnoj razini. Stoga ne možemo reći da su zapadnjački New Age religiozni pokreti u značajnijoj mjeri prisutni kod nas. Prije možemo reći da je za njihovu implantaciju kod nas stvorena prilično dobra klima. Svakako treba očekivati njihov nadolazak. U kojoj mjeri, i kojom dinamikom? To ovisi o mnogim faktorima, kao što su npr. sekularizacija, pluralizam, individualizam, modernizacija; mnogo ovisi također o djelovanju Crkve i dinamici njezinog reagiranja..»Alternative religiosity«, where we refer to religious alternatives in relation to Christianity, we measured with 24 variables, by the scale of evaluations with five degrees. Using factor analysis we got five dimensions which correspond to the concepts with which we started our research. These factors are Superstition and horoscope. The beginning of the New Age, New religiosity and Gnostic heritage, Esoteric and Occult religiosity, and Syncretism. By the method of t-test, analysis of variance, and correlate analysis we established which category of people to a greater or lesser degree support some of these concepts. Superstition and horoscope are in a way a constituent part or follower of every religion. In our situation it is very difficult to say what the root is of this religiosity here in Croatia. Is it the remains of pagan religions which still live in some part of the population, or do we have to say that is the influence of new religious movements? Anyway, accepting the statements which constitute this Factor, most of them are at the level of 20%, except the attitude toward horoscope, which is at the level of 50%. This concept is much more accepted by distant Christians, people who are not sure whether they are religious or not, and much more by women than men. We found less acceptance in strong believers and atheists. The beginning of the New Age. It is very difficult to measure all these new religious movements which we call New Age movements. There are many different ways to be a follower of these movements. But we made some indicators by which we were able to get some view of it. We found that about 20% of the population support most of the attitudes which constitute this factor, and of course, younger people support this concept much more than older people do. Then, we can expect that in the very near future we will have New Religion movements here as in the rest of the West. The third Factor, which we called New religiosity and Gnostic heritage is supported by many more people who pray rarely or never, who believe in some way in a supernatural power, but they are not a member of a Church, or they believe only in part of their nominal Church teachings. Also, this factor is supported much more by distant believers, and practical believers are at much more of a distance from this kind of religiosity. We didn’t find that confession makes a difference. It is just as likely that somebody who is catholic, or protestant, or orthodox, or atheist supports it, but it does depend on how deeply somebody is into their religion. The fourth factor we considered is Esoteric and Occult religiosity. This kind of religiosity is pragmatically connected with selfishness. This factor is more strongly accepted by people who are at a distance from Catholic religiosity, and people who consider themselves as atheists and agnostics. Our final factor is Syncretism. It is an integral part of new religious movements. This concept is supported much more by people who are also at a distance from Church religiosity, who rarely go to the sacraments, and who are searching in their spiritual life. Finally we could say that about 20% of the Croatian population accepts only some statements used in our instrument for measuring this kind of religiosity. Most of them are younger; it is a general category, which is present across all the instruments and concepts of new religiosity which we were investigating. People who are close to this kind of religiosity are at a distance from Church religiosity. But we also have to say that a significant part of this population participates in some beliefs which are an integral part of a new religiosity, such as believing in reincarnation (about 15%), and we also got a significant degree of Catholics sympathising with belief in the horoscope. We cannot say that this kind of religiosity is present in the way it is in the West, but there are many signs that it will be more accepted in the very near future. What will actually happen depends on the reaction of the Catholic Church in Croatia, especially on its openess to young people, who show some affinity with these new religious movements