On the Wave of Spiritual Tension (Late 60s of the 20th Century -the Beginning of the 21th Century)

Here the author continues to consider the cyclic-wave character of religious (spiritual) life. During the last third of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first century, a global phenomenon emerged which can be described (by sociologists, researchers of religions and political scientists) as «de-secularization», «religious revival» or «spiritual awakening». The author made an attempt to structure this phenomenon, to show stages of its development (the rise, the highest point and the recession) as well as its main features and characteristics. As the beginning of the wave the author considers the mass exodus of hippies into sects in the late 60’s — early 70’s and the formation of the Catholic «base communities» in Latin America. The first signs of change in the attitudes of the young toward religion were perceived by Soviet sociologists in 1969. At an individual level, a new religious wave in the European countries (including the USSR) began when people started to study and practice Eastern spiritual practices and ardently search for ways of spiritual perfection. This new religious revival was largely «interdenominational and non-institutional». This is evidenced by the rapid growth of new religious movements (NRM), especially the charismatic movement. The new religion was not connected with any religious education or with elementary theological literacy. This wave chronologically coincided with the emergence of the new worldwide information and communication medium — the Internet, which has become «the most organic medium channel for religious organizations». By the beginning of the second decade of the XXI century the religious tension has exhausted itself