Saturday, May 3, 2008

New Age: Pathway To Paradise?

New Age: Pathway To Paradise? is a Christian documentary that was made back in 1983. It covers the territory in pretty good detail - how it's a matrix of ideas and movements, etc. - though (being a Christian doc) it can tend to get equally silly with it's own declarations and testimonials for the big JC.

As I said, it was made over 25 years ago, so it may give you a bit of perspective on where we are today - especially regarding it's influence on politics - now that many believers are too embarrassed to openly call themselves NewAgers and opt for the more recent attempts at re-branding ("alternative" medicine, etc.). I was impressed when I first saw New Age: Pathway To Paradise? and thought you might be as well.

If you can handle the big JC,...

3 comments:

  1. OK, CMC, you cannot spring this on people without a warning. It'll take me at least two days now to recover from the physical and emotional effects of trying to watch this video. (And yes, I'm almost completely serious -- I've experienced a severe flare-up in my guru allergy symptoms within the first 60 seconds of watching this crap. I've made it through about 15 minutes, and will have to dose the rest in less traumatizing amounts.)
    I can't stomach, literally, the New Age types as much as I can't stomach the religious nuts. There is really no difference between them, despite Christians' statements to the contrary. Listening to Christians (or other "serious" religious types) criticize NewAgers is like watching the kettle calling the pot black. Ridiculous and with no merit, logical or psychological. I will try to write more about it when I recover somewhat from the crippling nausea.

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  2. Nope, cannot watch it. I tried. I really did. But the crap overload proved too much for me. I got to the point where the blond woman, a former NewAger and now a happy Christian, was telling us, in all earnestness, that *we* (as in God-fearing Christians, I suppose) must evaluate the New Age ideas and beliefs on the basis of their truthfulness. This from a woman who believes in JC, Son of God, Our Savior, eternal salvation, original sin and other assorted nonsense.

    But two things about this video: first, the great number of men involved both in New Age practices as documented here, and certainly in all the Christian indoctrination (no surprise, the latter, since the Christian Church is a male-dominated enterprise). Which brings me to the second point: the New Age movement, which, as you have often noted, appears so attractive to women, was (has been) a response to the spiritual shackles imposed on people by the authoritarian and male-dominated religious systems, such as Christianity. NewAgers did away with the authoritarianism (or so they thought), creating their egalitarian feel-good concoction of mashed-up beliefs where everyone is God, love is flowing freely everywhere (often too freely, one notices), there is no sin and no struggle -- and hell does not exist either. Christians cannot stand it, obviously, because it undermines their God-fearing philosophy, based on a myth of the male God-Father always ready to punish the sinners and reward the righteous ones.

    But really, we are talking about nonsense fighting nonsense here. The difference is the content of the myth here and its emphasis -- but both are myths nevertheless. Unbearable both. This video should be watched in psych classes on cult indoctrination (and I mean for both its NewAge critique and its unintentional exposure of Christian mythology and its insidious grip on people's lives).

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  3. P.S. I can handle the big JC, CMC, it's the stupidity that bothers me (LOL).

    Specifically, people who argue "my nonsense is better than your nonsense."

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