What's the alternative?
Debunking religious practice and doctrine is one thing, but proving or disproving the existence of a supreme being or of supreme beings has been far more difficult. Atheists like the philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) argue that there is no evidence for a supreme being so therefore there is not one. Agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in a god, arguing that nothing can be known beyond material phenomena or of the existence or nature of God. Many people now argue that whether or not God exists is irrelevant.
But just as rationalism seemed to have superseded faith, there has been a growth in the West of alternative religions. As faith was undermined death became more difficult to understand, and the 19th century brought a proliferation in of strange and spurious claims of psychic skills, ghosts and poltergeists.
Stonehenge: site of Druid ceremonies
The 20th century has seen a more global phenomenon, where people draw on beliefs that they may not have known about in earlier times. These include Zen Buddhism, which teaches enlightenment through intuition and meditation, and Hare Krishna, founded in New York in 1966 and taking its name from the chant based on the name of the Hindu God Krishna. Some people are exploring pagan religions, including witchcraft and the occult, which were suppressed as Christianity swept across Europe. There has been a proliferation of cults and sects as well as alternative groups within the institutional religions.
