Why are the New Age movement and other exotic ideas so attractive?

[thirddec]

its multifactorial but I would suggest some of it is the instant gratification of experincing some so called spirituality with no attached responsabilities.

 

[Kouyate42]

I’ve seen people fall away from their churches (of all different denominations) simply because their spiritual needs were often not addressed. They were poorly instructed in the Scripture, and then they wandered looking for the wonder that they are told that the Bible is suppposed to bring (and which it can) great joy and happiness, but which leaves them simply confused.

They then replaced their church beliefs with something else, something which promises them easy, ‘junk’ spirituality.

 

[TEPO]

Oh please, that’s exactly what makes the whole movement bogus. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to separate the two.

People think martial arts are tied to the New Age but in fact, I’ve watched enough documentaries on such arts to say that the explanations of the moves based on physics and anatomy make way more sense than any amount of obscure Eastern mysticism. (No offense to Jackie Chan.)

It’s easy for well-informed Catholics… But what about modernist Catholics, or cafeteria Catholics who are quick to readjust their core beleifs upon what they see physically. This issue has been going on for the past 50 years right before our eyes, every day -and there’s nothing we can do about it but watch in disbeleif.

Let’s not even get started on all the other sources that cause Catholics to fall-out. Like Tech-addictions, science-addictions, nature-addictions, physical appearence-addictions, etc, etc, etc…

Seems like whenever some subject is not covered in the bible, that people or groups tend to over-ride or discredit Catholicism. It’s sickening. This is one of the major causes of Catholic fall-outs.

People need to realize that the Bible and Church teaching was never meant to explain every single angle or aspect of life in detail. If God really wanted us to know more, he surely would have passed on the message through the prophets. But He did not. Instead, He chose to wait to explain large amounts of knowledge until after we’ve reached Sainthood.

There is no excuse for embracing any New Age philosophy or religion, whether for good reason (like ones health) or not. New Age is a dead-end.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

It’s easy for well-informed Catholics… But what about modernist Catholics, or cafeteria Catholics who are quick to readjust their core beleifs upon what they see physically. This issue has been going on for the past 50 years right before our eyes, every day -and there’s nothing we can do about it but watch in disbeleif.

The key word is “well-informed” isn’t it? Perhaps all of us here in the Church would just do better to show that we can live healthy, be beautiful, and be physically skilled on medical/scientific principles alone.

Then again, I’m not such a good example of that as I’m too lazy to stretch my skinny muscles most of the time but still… it’s just a suggestion.

 

[TEPO]

Well, part of it is the craze for veganism, which is done for health purposes in the Western lands but for “Religious” reasons elsewhere. Because these practices are older in Eastern tradition, they have been picked up by our side. (There has also been a packaging of Oriental faith practice as health-related in order to sell it to Westerners).

Because our naturalbodies are indubitably part of nature, it also makes sense to some to associate the care of the body with “nature spirituality”, particularly if one doesn’t think too hard about it.

God Bless and ICXC NIKA.

Right. The Church does recognize natural law in terms of what is correct and incorrect, but offers no choice on common issues such as nutrition and health… These are common sense issues that have somehow been hijacked by false religions.

Anything that’s not included in the bible in detail, becomes fair game… It’s really a shame what goes on.

 

[TEPO]

The key word is “well-informed” isn’t it? Perhaps all of us here in the Church would just do better to show that we can live healthy, be beautiful, and be physically skilled on medical/scientific principles alone.

Then again, I’m not such a good example of that as I’m too lazy to stretch my skinny muscles most of the time but still… it’s just a suggestion.

I think the Church does a good job in adjusting herself with the ‘times’… I don’t mean in doctrine, but I mean in how She relates to people.

It’s been said that the Catholic Church in America acts much differently than in other parts of the world like Spain for example. We’ve somehow managed to be able to adjust the ‘face’ of the Church while leaving all dogma and doctrine the same universally. This changing trend has always been applied by God through the Holy Spirit to our Church heirarchy in order to manage our effectiveness towards the salvation of souls.

Just think about this: There were times for conquistidors, martyrs, and crusades… Today, however, we stress things like stewardship of the earth, and charity…

I see this as God influencing the Church towards gaining the souls of as many as possible, in whatever time He sees fit.

I think that if we follow the Church teachings, we are ultimately doing Gods will. I’ll leave it at that.

 

[edwest2]

The devil loves to repackage evil for each new generation. Young people are often told to have an identity that is separate from what their parents taught them. You see commercials like: “Not your father’s car, drink, boat, clothes…” They are encouraged to forget the dusty old past and cling to the new!

If you go the New Age section of any bookstore, you will see attractively packaged books that offer stones for health or divination, books of supposedly real spells, and how to be a witch or a pagan. People who are curious usually don’t recognize these books for what they are.

I’ve done the research and own some of them. Yes, you are the I Am according to actress Shirley MacClaine. The Christ is in the World - Maitreya, in reference to a full page ad published in USA Today on January 12, 1987.

Get a copy of Dark Secrets of the New Age by Texe Marrs.

Peace,
Ed

 

[Edward_H]

Two thoughts

1. I wonder whether it’s in part because they may appear to promise something without a lot of effort. There’s an “easy allure” to some of the movements. Something for nothing. In one way it’s similar to OSAS (once saved always saved).
2. Or, they appeal to our pride, vanity, or comfort seeking nature.

The message of love taught by Jesus Christ is captured by the Cross. Giving everything for the love of God.

 

[Stjudeprayforus]

The devil loves to repackage evil for each new generation.

I believe you are right.

Satan is very clever… he doesnt have to package a big scary religion… he just has to convince people they are equal to God… and then God isn’t so great if He is on our level.

 

[SteveVH]

Not sure if this is the correct forum, but here we go. The question I’m posing has really struck me for some time. I’ve wondered why all of these crazy ideas proposed by New Age “leaders” (for lack of a better word) and their followers are so attractive to people. I guess it’s true that in a way this reveals a great hunger in people for Truth and their purpose in life.

The last item that I emphasized here is truly affecting my sister. She’s been driving herself further and further away from the teachings of the Catholic faith and immersing herself into these New Age ideas. I guess I’m not even sure how deeply she is into this but I know that she’s always wondering about what her purpose is, that she is trying to find her “inner self”, and other stuff like that. She claims of having premonitions, visions, hauntings by demonic beings in her dreams, having a past life, belief in reincarnation, etc. etc.

I’ve been praying for her, but this is quite frustrating as she no longer has the desire to attend Mass. I don’t know what happened to cause her and her husband to no longer attend. Long story, but I thought I could start this discussion by asking the question I posed in this thread’s title.

“New Age” beliefs allow a person to pretty much do as they wish with their life without consequence. That is the attraction. It is a false spirituality. It is really nothing more than another face of gnosticism; secret knowledge which can never be verified. “God” is a vague, impersonal “energy force” in the universe. All power is contained in the person; we just have to learn how to unleash it, so to speak. We can plug into the “collective consciousness” of all humanity and gain wisdom. There is nothing “new” about “New Age”. This has been around for a very long time. Ask someone with this belief what they really believe. Try to make them nail it down. They are all over the map and really don’t have any idea what they actually believe.

 

[AntiTheist]

For the same reason that all human beings are attracted to supernatural ideas, religions (and especially Catholicism) included: it makes them feel “special,” it makes life more “exciting,” and it gives them a sense of “purpose.”

Most people find reality too “boring” as is. They need to spice it up a little by imagining that they’re in the midst of some cosmic battled between good and evil, that they’re the prize in a battle of the soul collectors (i.e. god and the devil), and that by being “faithful” and attending exotic ceremonies conducted by men in funny-looking (er, exotic) costumes, they can sign up with the “winning side” and thereby make sure that their god will party with their ghost forever after they die.

Or they spice it up by imagining that there’s some sort of “cosmic force” out there that’s rewarding or punishing them via “karma” and that life is a series of incarnations working towards the “perfection of the soul,” a state that will make sure that they won’t have to incarnate again.

Or they spice it up by pretending that “the universe” is conscious or semi-conscious and obeys their wishes (“The Secret”) if they just think hard enough with their minds.

The fact is that people just aren’t satisfied with reality the way it is, so they need to invent all these fantasy stories to help them cope.

Oh, and incidentally, the award for most unintentionally revealing post in this thread goes to Lost Wanderer, who, in discussing the possibility of reincarnation, notes:

I would not risk the possibility of being inside a girl’s body. (I may sound sexist right now but seriously, the idea just grosses me out.)

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Oh, and incidentally, the award for most unintentionally revealing post in this thread goes to Lost Wanderer, who, in discussing the possibility of reincarnation, notes:

What? It does! D8
Seriously, just having the idea suggested from encountering gender-bender stories (my sister and her friends list that among their favorite bizarre genres) is enough to disturb me.

I’m a man and I’m proud of my sexuality! DX

 

[SteveVH]

For the same reason that all human beings are attracted to supernatural ideas, religions (and especially Catholicism) included: it makes them feel “special,” it makes life more “exciting,” and it gives them a sense of “purpose.”

I wonder what the Chrisian martyrs would say about your comment. I think feeling “special”, or making life more “exciting” would begin to dwindle as the lions gathered to devour you or you were skinned alive or boiled in oil. Yet they did not reject their faith even in the face of such brutality. Sounds to me like there was a little more there than just a human need to spice up their lives.

 

[GaryTaylor]

Human emotion like “boring”, add to the equation greed and temptation and you have a recipe for satanic soup.

Its starts through rationalizing on a negative idea proposed and then giving yourself permission to act on it. Then believeing you can always change direction and get back to where your were. So you continue to rationalize. Well lots of people are doing it? It feels great? Gods not real, don’t feel guilty about immoral sex, or anything else…like that! And down and down you go!

What did they say about Alice as she fell down the well? She had plenty of time to look around and see what was happening as she fell. But there was no time to grab anything to stop the fall.

The only problem with getting back? God isn’t working on your time table. Be carefull what you ask for, had you know the cost you might not be so willing to indulge.

Gary

 

[sojo]

This is such an interesting question!!!

All I know is in my personal experience, I certainly dabbled in the new age. My parents were willing to allow me to visit friends synagogues and churches. They were OK with my attending a Baptist youth group for a while. But the whole business of joining, submitting, committing to a certain faith was very difficult, and I was also aware that my family held those various faiths in joking regard.

So I experimented with new age - no sign up, no creepy people demanding I say a magic prayer or behave a certain way. Frankly, for my entire childhood and most of my young adulthood, Christians just came across as creepy. The only ones that didn’t were Catholics, but they also were the ones who just accepted me as I was and never tried to convert me. But all the evangelicals and Baptists and Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses and such - they were so pushy and yucky.

The new age is just… easier.

But in the end, it wasn’t the whole deal, so I prayed and read and studied and had my conversion experience, attended RCIA (for 2 years!) and finally came home to the true Church. Thank God.

But to answer your question - when you really, really hurt for God, and you don’t have other avenues that feel right, the New Age does provide balm.

 

[AntiTheist]

I wonder what the Chrisian martyrs would say about your comment.

Well, let’s not stop there. I would also want to consider what the martyrs of other religions would say about my comment – the Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and others who have died in the name of their beliefs. I’d also want to consider what people like the members of the Heavens Gate Cult – who castrated and killed themselves in hopes of catching a ride on a UFO following a comet – would say about my comment.

I imagine that all of them would deny that their beliefs were held merely to make them feel special and give their lives meaning, and they probably would also claim that a willingness to die for their beliefs somehow indicates that their beliefs aren’t just there to make them feel special.

But, of course, they’d all be wrong. A fantasy – such as the fantasy that you’re part of a cosmic struggle of good and evil or the fantasy that you’re in league with aliens who have a bizarre desire to see you mutilate your genitals, one way or another – is often rendered more exciting if it’s made to seem like a matter of life and death.

There was a thread on here I saw a long, long time ago (it may have been years ago, if memory serves) where some of the religious participants actually seemed welcoming of the idea of persecution, as if it were something to be eagerly desired, to suffer for Christ and prove their devotion that way.

Of course, not everyone is so hopelessly deluded, and I’d be willing to bet that a number of people who went to the death for their beliefs – any beliefs – ended up regretting it in the last few moments. But I’d also be willing to bet that quite a few of them went to their deaths joyously, glorying in the thought that they were doing something noble. It certainly would take some of the sting out of death, I suppose.

 

[Soldier_Of_God]

Part of the reason why the adoptions New Age religions have seen growth is the fact it’s quite intertwined with the environmentalist movement. It’s also an easy path to follow where the unwritten mantas are “anything goes” and “do what feels good” are prevalent in the application of their beliefs. It allows for vapid doctrines that are mutable depending on mood and allow the adererent whatevern indulgence suits their ego.

 

[AntiTheist]

The new age is just… easier.

There’s a moment in The Empire Strikes Back – which is the best of the Star Wars films by far – where Luke asks the Jedi Master Yoda if the dark side of the Force is stronger. Yoda replies, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Stronger, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.”

The assumption underlying these lines – and the assumption underlying a lot of moral ideas that people have – is that what’s “good” is necessarily hard and that therefore anything that is easy should at least be regarded with suspicion (if not outright condemned as evil).

These are not assumptions that should go unchallenged.

It might very well be that some things are “hard” – like some codes of morality – because they are arbitrary rules that run counter to human nature, rules that no one has any reason to follow, outside of claims about supernatural beings that cannot be demonstrated.

In fact, true spirituality – and this is something that I touched on in my thread on Zen meditation (forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=537049) – is the easiest thing in the world, once you get the hang of it. And, in fact, it’s so easy that it can be extremely difficult to figure out how easy it is.

That something is “easy” should in no way be an a priori reason to avoid it.

 

[Soldier_Of_God]

That something is “easy” should in no way be an a priori reason to avoid it.

It’s not about avoidance but about explaining New Age religion adoption. The fact is, New Age religions are easy to participate in because they have an inconstant spectrum of approaches and convictions. This makes it enticing to those that are seeking easy answers to difficult questions.

 

[SteveVH]

Well, let’s not stop there. I would also want to consider what the martyrs of other religions would say about my comment – the Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and others who have died in the name of their beliefs. I’d also want to consider what people like the members of the Heavens Gate Cult – who castrated and killed themselves in hopes of catching a ride on a UFO following a comet – would say about my comment.

I imagine that all of them would deny that their beliefs were held merely to make them feel special and give their lives meaning, and they probably would also claim that a willingness to die for their beliefs somehow indicates that their beliefs aren’t just there to make them feel special.

But, of course, they’d all be wrong. A fantasy – such as the fantasy that you’re part of a cosmic struggle of good and evil or the fantasy that you’re in league with aliens who have a bizarre desire to see you mutilate your genitals, one way or another – is often rendered more exciting if it’s made to seem like a matter of life and death.

There was a thread on here I saw a long, long time ago (it may have been years ago, if memory serves) where some of the religious participants actually seemed welcoming of the idea of persecution, as if it were something to be eagerly desired, to suffer for Christ and prove their devotion that way.

Of course, not everyone is so hopelessly deluded, and I’d be willing to bet that a number of people who went to the death for their beliefs – any beliefs – ended up regretting it in the last few moments. But I’d also be willing to bet that quite a few of them went to their deaths joyously, glorying in the thought that they were doing something noble. It certainly would take some of the sting out of death, I suppose.

I will pray for you.

In the mean time, would you admit that there is at least a possiblitiy that it is you who are deluded?