This page is part of “Creating a New Positive Religion or Spiritual Tradition”.

This is still a DRAFT.

Religions have inspired, and sometimes required, many good things. Some examples:

Community welfare funds (Judaism)

The Talmud requires every town to keep a charity fund (kupah) and a soup kitchen (tamchui). In effect, this was an organized welfare system centuries before the modern state.

Almsgiving (Islam)

Obligatory almsgiving (zakat), one of the Five Pillars of Islam, together with the waqf (religious endowment) system, funded hospitals (bimaristans), schools, and public fountains across the Islamic world.

Orphanages and hospitals

Religious teachings inspired the building of orphanages and hospitals. For example, the Red Cross was founded by Henri Dunant, a devout Calvinist, who was motivated by his Christian faith, inspired by Christian teaching regarding social responsibility.

The abolition of slavery

In Britain, Quakers and evangelical Christians led the campaign to abolish slavery, taking inspiration from the Bible:

“So God created man in his own image… male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27)

This implies that all people are in the image of God, so there is no justification for slavery (though in other parts of the Bible, slavery is allowed: see Dogma).

Missions of help

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) sends many of its young members on missions of about two years, often to developing countries. Besides sharing their faith, many of them help local people and teach useful skills. For example, a friend of ours was sent at age 19 to a developing country to teach computer programming to young people. See also our own idea of missions of help.

Cathedrals built over centuries

Faith inspired entire communities to build cathedrals over generations, sometimes over centuries:

  • Cologne Cathedral: begun in 1248 and completed in 1880, more than 600 years later.
  • Milan Cathedral: begun in 1386; its last details were completed in 1965, almost 600 years later.
  • Notre-Dame de Paris: begun in 1163 and essentially completed about 180 years later.
  • The Sagrada Família in Barcelona: under construction since 1882, and still not finished.

Works of art

Extraordinary works of art, in music and in the visual arts, were inspired by religious belief, such as Handel’s Messiah.

What Lumessianity can inspire

Religion is not the only possible source of such inspiration. We hope Lumessianity will inspire good things too, for example beautiful community centers, art and music, scientific and technological projects for human wellbeing, and new communities built around our values.

Requirements create durable institutions, but we reject coercion. Our way is voluntary commitments.