Europe has suffered so appallingly in past centuries from
persecutions and conflicts inspired by religious differences and fanaticism
that there has been a revulsion against religion. Many Europeans have become
sceptical, scornful of religious practices, and reluctant either to discuss
religious subjects or to give credence to the power of faith. This turning away
from religion has been powerfully reinforced by the growth of materialism, and
has produced a combination of physical well-being and spiritual aridity that is
having catastrophic results, socially and psychologically, on the population.
- The Universal House of justice (from a letter dated 1 September 1983 written
on its behalf to a National Spiritual Assembly; ‘Messages from the Universal
House of Justice 1963-1986’)
