Religion is irrational. In both Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Erich Fromm's "Today's Spiritual Crisis", the connection is made between some form of religion and the affects on its believers. Huxley's novel and Fromm's essay point out the conflicting patters between religious belief systems and the behaviors they conjure. In "Today's Spiritual Crisis" the contrasts shown between world religions and modern day society and rational parallel the inconsistencies between the "religious" beliefs and conditioning and the subsequent behavior of certain characters.

In Huxley's Brave New World three characters best exemplify the wide range of human beliefs that control the actions of society: Bernard, Lenina, and John. Bernard feels the call to be an individual because of his unique stature. He sets up a belief system contrary to the stability that conditioning and "post-Fordian" culture demands. As youths, each Bokanovsky Group is trained to reject nature and embrace promiscuity. Bernard, in turn, does the opposite. His love of nature appalls Lenina, the typical member of brave new world society: while at the Channel, gazing at the ocean and horizon, he says to her "It mak

In Fromm's "Today's Spiritual Crisis" he illustrates the conflicting interests of religions and their followers' logic. He starts off explaining the critical condition that our society is facing today: "the deadening of life, the automatization of man, his alienation from himself, from his fellow man and from nature." All of these characteristics are also present in the belief system created in Brave New World. Fromm goes on to reveal that no man today knows why he is living. He argues that God is a figurehead, allowing people to "cope with (his) helplessness by means of" believing in an omnipotent being. By contrasting the Eastern and Western religions Fromm explains how one's system of belief can affect his or her rational. The aims of both religions are the same: "overcoming limitations of an egotistical self, achieving love, objectivity, and humility and respecting life so that the aim of life is living itself." These are also the goals of the Brave New World society. The only difference between world religions and the conditioning of the fictional characters is the end result. Contemporary religious believers are taught to find meaning within themselves, creating and individual and unique identity. In the novel, the members of society have their identities forced upon them as a whole, leaving no room for individuals. The irony of Fromm's essay is contained in the last few sentences which state that the principles and practices of Eastern religions better satisfy the rational though of Western religions. The irony of Brave New World is contained within the characters themselves. Each of the main characters are sucked into a belief system or behavioral pattern opposite

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1144
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)