World in Transition

The period of Protestant Transformation is one of the most controversial eras in the history of mankind. Meanwhile I strongly believe it includes a series of enormously important events that had their impact not only on religion itself, but on human ideology on the whole, philosophy, ethics and culture, world politics and social system as well.

The state of the Christian religion by the 16th century was really depressing. The matter is, the Catholic Church went well with the feudal system that was in blossom at that time. The feudalists exploited their peasants, and the Church justified this phenomenon. It was profitable for both of them. The churchmen received all the wells, whereas common people had to live in fear and poverty, to pay for luxurious cathedrals and all churchmen’s needs. To make matters worth the Catholic Church abused with indulgences, so it couldn’t leave people indifferent. It was all becoming too immoral when that wealthy nobility had a life full of sins and didn’t even think to regret. They paid money to be forgiven in Heaven. Perhaps, they bought comfort for their elastic conscience, but it couldn’t change them at all in their attitude to morality and other people.

Moreover, the 16th century saw the rise of new class. It was bourgeoisie, reasoned by the development of industry and trade, and it didn’t need such an expensive religion any more. They didn’t refuse Christian religion, but they strongly needed reformation of the Church. And they did struggle for it. Besides, this fight was supported by intellectual rise. Educated people got access to ancient books, and so they saw how far their Church was from the truth of written sources. It was the time of the Renaissance. It was the time of humanism, and it couldn’t leave people with that dump they were living in. It was to declare their rights for freedom and mental progress; to worship the beauty of a human being and his boundless possibilities. Therefore it was time for a new kind of religion, giving the person ability to believe and not to loose the dignity.

To my mind, it was a real rebellion of the spirit, and it was really impressive, that’s why I’m so much interested in this period.

Further on, I consider we have a lot to learn from that era. And it seems to me now we are at the gates of new reformation, but of another kind. Now we are living in the information age, and information technologies have become our new god. We can’t imagine our life without them. Meanwhile up-to-date mass media, like the Church several hundred years ago, have forgotten about their direct mission. The Church was to serve a mediator between people and the Lord. But instead of that it became a new extra ruler with its demands, strict laws and complex institution of punishment. Well, the objective of any mass media is first of all to provide truthful, actual and full information.

However, our reality is far away from those ideals. Instead of serving up public needs, mass media have turned into a powerful master of our minds. They dictate how to live, what to buy and what to believe. They have turned us into the society of consumption, and we no more follow our inner wishes, but we do blindly follow those imposed by omnipresent media.

We have become their slaves, and they have deprived us of our will. I strongly believe it’s time to remember that after all we are Homo sapiens. It’s high time for an intellectual revolution. It’s time to rise against informational passivity. We should declare our rights to receive information we really need, in the amounts we need and when we really need it. And this information must correspond to all the demands of a responsible media. I think it’s a matter of cultural development, and the best representatives of the society already realize the seriousness of the problem we have faced.

And as I see it, they are already preparing revolution. This is a kind of Protestant Reformation. This is a protest against mindless consumption. It is reformation of public consciousness. And it is already set up by many progressive writers throughout the world as well as other representatives of intelligence. Their works make me optimistic as for the results of this Reformation, and frankly speaking, I would like to take part in this great campaign myself.

Therefore, I feel I need to learn more about that Protestant Reformation of the 16th century in order to become more competent and more erudite. I’d love to study the life stories of Martin Luther and John Calvin, and other reformists as well, to understand methods they used or wanted to use, and how they succeeded in their programs; I find it rather useful to get acquainted with their works, 95 Theses in particular.

Finally, I’m going to learn more about mind control and methods applied by different types of manipulators. It will stand me in good stead to counteract to informational flood, to protect my mind from outside control and to work out tools to open public’s eyes to the truth, as we shouldn’t live as blind moles.



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