About na errant religious culture and the redefinition of the religious belonging at the end of this century

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to discuss the capacity of religions to present themselves as important symbolical resource to face the main ethical problems related to the new social global order. Through the interpretation of the "Meeting for the New Consciousness" of Campina Grande, in Brazilian Northeast, which gathered different religious people- from an orthodox Christian background, through Afro-Brazilian Religions and New Religious Movements, like Santo Daime, to the adepts of the heterodox New-Age spiritual practices - the following main argument will be developed: the Meeting of Campina Grande highlights a challenge that has to deal with an antinomy characteristic of our epoch: the simultaneousness of experiences related to both the valorisation of relationship in the same group like communities and the valorisation of cross-community relationships.