In this chapter Molnar opens with the discussion of a utopian society and mentality. He lays out the historical context of this idea and ties it into the groundwork that stems from religious aspects. To open this introduction it is important to understand what a utopia is. Molnar states that Aurel Kolnai thinks a utopian is “the utopian mentality is fascinated by that reality which consists of values, including the value of their complete realization”.(Utopia: The Perennial Heresy, Molnar 43) In the first paragraph that once this mentality is acknowledged we must make it a reality and if this is not put into practice immediately otherwise the idea and practice that goes against what he calls the “Non-perfect” is given the most extreme and sever punishments.
The idea of achieving perfection stems from the medieval age. It is not the utopian that we think of modernly but rather religious connotation because in this team the social framework stemmed from corruption. The reworking of their social construct involved a utopian sense, the idea of being absolved from evil to have “pure morality and pure spirit which sustain themselves by their mere spiritual superiority.” (44) The achievement of pure morality and spirit created a separation from those who were considered sinless and those who were deemed, sinners. This separation involved the abolishment of religious institutions such as Catholicism and its hierarchies. People who were considered puritans decided that people who were involved in catholicism were unable to be saved and were to be punished as a result. The idea of being sinless is tied to being self-righteous and self-divinizing as it is a goal to strive toward by ones own actions throughout their life. This is considered an easy project because obstacles are for the sinners since they do not truly believe in this utopian. If the sinless lead a “perfect life” in their own eyes then they are noble and achieve their divine goals.
With technology and society, advanced Pantheists believed that a utopia could be achieved by their social classes because they are superior to others. A concept of the social class of Pantheism would leave their notions of religion as they knew it and the concept of “God” because modern technology has been a great achiever and traditional religion would hold them back from becoming the “Superior Mankind”. Another facet of purity that differs from traditional religion is the idea that one can not measure their acts and pass judgment until their acts show how much love was put into them. Molnar poses a few questions after presenting this statement, he states “how this amount is to be measured. And why should he? Presumably we are all “adult men,” able to judge our own· actions according to our own lights”. Molnar’s questions are ones that I had on my own while reading, is there truly an all-encompassing way to judge our actions?
Another point of the chapter that I wanted to highlight is the section titled Dissolution of the Self. This section dives into other religions’ ideas of the sinner and sinless, more specifically Buddhistic views on what will happen if one gets rid of their traditional views of god. The idea of being self divine the way presented earlier is challenged here as in the Buddhistic view if one abandons God they abandon oneself and all of the things that make them human. The obstacles that puritans would view as sinners mindset is also challenged is what Buddhist view as instrumental to their foundation. Suffering and obstacles are how one can achieve nirvana and when there is no suffering there is no actual self left in the person.
In conclusion, this chapter looks at the theological approach of a utopian society and the mentality different religions have toward this aspect. Molnar lays out the historical and more modern sense of this concept and poses questions and pushback along the way. This chapter is an overview of the groundwork of secular religion and man’s self-divinization that later he will go more in-depth on in the next chapter “Man-God”.