Religious eclecticism is the new religion

Pope Francis I of the Catholic church

While each of the major religions claims to be the one growing the fastest in the world, what is distinct about faith in most places has to do with how people actually practice their religion. It turns out that religious eclecticism is the new religion that is likely growing the fastest.



While Pope Francis makes pronouncements about marriage between a man and a woman, and the Church frowns upon birth control, forbids abortion and divorce, what do most Catholics believe and practice? It turns out that most Catholic women practice birth control and use contraceptive methods that have been banned by the Catholic Church. Research in 2011 found that 98% of women do not follow the Church's dictates on family planning. The same is true of most Protestant women.



What about divorce? Divorce is frowned upon or forbidden by the tenets of most followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. How divorce occurs is somewhat different in all these religions; however, divorce and strong religious belief are compatible in the sense that the most faithful when it comes to general religious practices and church attendance still divorce. They also have extra-marital and premarital sex, despite church admonitions against these practices. It turns out that the rate of divorce is increasing among conservative Protestant groups, according to a recent study. “Generally, religion, religious belief and religious activities are thought to strengthen marriages,” said co-author Jennifer Glass, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “It appears that the cessation of education, early marriage and early parenthood, you’re set up for relationship conflict, financial stress and dissolution.”



Most people of faith make compromises with their religion. They sift through the beliefs, sorting one from another, following one and not another. The examples are numerous with relationships, particularly marriage. While faith groups teach the value of knowing someone well but not sexually, most people enter marriage having had sex not just once but several times. While religion emphasized particularly the virginity of women, the modern world sees women as sexually free as men and having the same rights and sexual needs. Furthermore people of faith who are single also live together without being married, a practice that is also growing just as the rate of divorce is ending marriages.



In addition to personal practices, there are specific beliefs or tenets that are part of each religion that people disregard when they are discussing their own particular take on almost anything. For example, mainstream Christianity does not believe in reincarnation. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for people of all faiths to talk about past lives, have their palms read, and talk about auras, mediums and gurus of all kinds. The religion of an individual may form the core of belief but out of that core are many deviations of practice and even manipulation of the tenets in order to accommodate practice.



Mixing tenets is a common practice, according to the Pew Forum. Many Americans, for example, blend Christianity with New Age beliefs. Furthermore it is not uncommon for people to belong to one denomination and attend the services of another. And a sizable number of Christians believe in ghosts or supernatural experiences. In addition it is common practice to have a religiously mixed marriage. In most of these marriages the partners attend various churches or groups as opposed to only one. 



More than 20% of Christians believe in reincarnation. Nearly three in ten people believe they have been in contact with someone who has died. These types of supernatural experiences are part of the eclecticism that is found among religions of all kinds across the world. While members of different faiths will profess the value of their beliefs, many people are willing to go along to get along when it comes to personal practice. Yet despite of these factors, religious hostilities are said to have reached a six-year high. This impacts nearly one-third of the world. It turns out that people are willing to make compromises for themselves but are less willing to understand and accept the beliefs of others.



Much of the eclecticism that occurs has its roots in antiquity. The ancient Greeks adopted eclecticism in philosophy and thought. The major religions each went through periods of borrowing from each other or modifying beliefs and thoughts in order to make accommodations. Islam also, with its many branches, indulges in eclecticism, with varying practices, borrowing from one another while at the same time maintaining one's own beliefs as the essential ones. And for many people essential is sometimes argued as being the only valid beliefs.



Is being eclectic a form of hypocrisy? Likely so, but does it work toward bringing people together in a harmonious and spiritual way that allows people to embrace and accept differences given the divergent tenets of the world's religions? The issue remains that by not admitting to ones' hypocrisy and holding to rigid ideals when dealing with others, while practicing far less than those ideals, does not allow the understanding and acceptance necessary for true religious tolerance. Eclecticism is growing in practice, but it has yet to yield the greater understanding for religious unity, which is paramount to peace.