Requilibrium

Requilibrium - Development of Project

I understood that all belief systems have a complex structure with a variety of elements which help to aid a better understanding of the religion/cult. My first concern was to therefore clarify precisely what my beliefs were in a religious manifesto, this would also contain rituals and teachings of my religion.

The task of creating my own religious manifesto was far more difficult than I thought. It took me a while to fully understand my own beliefs as I have always been an agnostic and never strictly followed the teachings of one separate belief system. I grounded my beliefs on 'A Theory of Justice' by political philosopher John Rawls, the idea that equality and justice are key principles to making society and the world a better place. Simplifying his theory, he believed that equality could be used as a means to achieving justice. Although I agree with the majority Rawls theory of justice and  his other political theories, there are points he makes which I personally disagree with. I presented Equality and Justice as my two main principles. The name 'Requilibrium' was coined through research into Rawls' theory of Reflective Equilibrium, a method which followed his theory of justice, creating a balanced ethical view in individual thought processing.

Following the traits of a common cult I presented myself as the messiah of my religion/cult. This immediately contradicts the key principle of Equality if I create a sense of hierarchy within my religion/cult. I had no cosmic or supernatural powers as the messiah, I just stated I should be followed without question simply because I am the founder of Requilibrium and should be trusted loyally. I did this to get people questioning the validity of my own beliefs and the idea of placing all your belief and trust into a person without question. This absurd and rather arrogant status I had created for myself would also get people questioning their own beliefs.

In the later chapters of my religious manifesto I begin to contradict myself further with my explanation of the heirarchy, initiation test and rituals of Requilibrium. I don't want to delve into too much detail about what these are as they can be viewed on the Requilibrium website - http://lewistoumazou.wix.com/requilibrium  in more detail. I focused on making them as absurd and contradictory to my key principles as possible. They again followed the structure and stereotype of a cult. The reason I did this was to get people questioning the difference between a cult and a religion. Personally I believe cults are immediately demonized for their historical context by society, but mainly mainstream religions which feel threatened by their beliefs and rising power. I don't see any difference between a cult and a religion, they are both fundamentally based on belief systems which in their eyes try achieving good in the world and for their followers.