Cutting the Dogma

The new humanism can be seen in the decline of organised religion. People, especially young people, are rejecting ecclesiastic bureaucracy in favour of a personalised morality. They are rejecting institutionalised religion, with all its ritual and all its dogma, and recreating and enriching their links with other people on a more direct basis. Instead of harmonising via the church they are cutting out the organisation for a more humanistic approach. I don't think it is a rejection of the Christian truths of kindness and brotherhood. It's a rejection of the organisation. The new humanism in religion can also be seen in a number of areas.

The growth of communes in our cities are an attempt to create a community in microcosm. Our most progressive town planners are now decrying urban sprawl and calling for housing development which fosters a sense of community. The movement to get one per cent of our gross attempt to do on an international scale what we must do internally, create a greater sense of community.

The Values Revolution also manifests itself in our community through such groups as Care and Hart, Gay Liberation, Nga Tamatoa, the Vietnam Peace Movement, Coenco, the revitalised penal reform movement and the Women's Liberation Movement.

But the Women's Liberation Movement differs fundamentally from most of the other groups. It is more ambitious. In order to gain the fulfillment you want you don't just have to reshape a system which developed this century. You have to change aspects of the system which have been in existence since time immemorial.