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 skeptical, 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 behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Norway; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice, 1963-1986’)
