ABSTRACT
Like secular utopianism, religious utopianism stems from deep personal beliefs and can be linked to worldwide movements for change. Like secular utopianism, it seeks to transform daily lives in the here-and-now and to confront larger issues, such as the meaning of life. However, its sources of inspiration, authority and support are quite different. Whereas secular utopianism relies on human ingenuity, creativity and malleability for much of its world-changing programme, religious utopianism looks to divine sources of inspiration and evokes supra-human authority for its programme of change. This, as we shall see, has had mixed outcomes. One can be the creation of illegitimate authority within a community, which can lead to a routinisation of abusive practices. Another outcome can be the development of high levels of commitment and stability (Kanter 1972).
