Why Are We Ignoring NewAge Cult Fanaticism?

Two posts ago, I told you about the case of Penelope Dingle, the Australian woman who died from a treatable bowel cancer because she opted instead for Homeopathy. I've also told you about other aspects of NewAge thinking, and I think further testimony in the Dingle case ties things up nicely:

"CANCER victim Penny Dingle was 'fanatical' with her faith and being told she needed life-saving surgery was a great challenge to that faith, an inquest has heard. 

Mrs Dingle, who attempted to treat her cancer with homeopathy and natural remedies, died in August 2005 after suffering a rectal tumour.

Giving evdence for the third day her husband Peter Dingle told the WA Coroner's Court that his wife was 'fanatical' with her faith and challenges of faith were very important to her.

The court was read a diary extract from Mrs Dingle in which she described it as 'a challenge of faith' to be told you will die if you don't have an operation, and you still won't have one.

Mr Dingle, a toxicologist who uses the title 'doctor',  said his wife had faith in her ability to heal and spirituality played an important role in her life.

'She would work constantly on her faith and that would help her heal,' he said."

Isn't that interesting? Here we are in the field of medicine, and people are talking about her faith - to what faith are they referring?

Sounds like NewAge to me, seeing how homeopathy is NewAge "energy medicine".

And seeing how NewAgers are always fanatical in their beliefs.

But don't take my word for it, let's let Dr. Dingle continue telling us about his powerful wife:

"Mr Dingle spoke of his wife's belief in the self-realisation fellowship and her understanding that the body's health and sickness depended entirely on how her mind perceived it.

He described Mrs Dingle's views as 'extremely strong' and said he didn't think he could go against her beliefs without losing her."

Just as I lost my NewAge wife - because I did not believe in NewAge.

And doesn't this "self-realisation fellowship" sound a lot like believers in the twisted philosophy of The Secret? And isn't The Secret NewAge?

Of course it is.

"At the inquest yesterday, the State Coroner Alastair Hope questioned why Penelope Dingle's husband - a Perth toxicologist - didn't confront the homeopath who was treating his cancer-stricken wife.

At an inquest into the death of Mrs Dingle in 2005, her husband Peter Dingle told the Perth Coroners Court he was eager not to break the trust of his ailing wife, pledging to 'remain positive' as she battled colorectal cancer."

Ahh, yes, staying positive. Now we're in the world of Barbara Ehrenreich's "Brightsided", and the NewAge fanaticism she encountered after she got cancer.

Ehrenreich even spoke of NewAge's "relentless promotion" - there's no escape from it - and can't relentless be another word for fanatical?

Tell me:

With so much of this behavior going on around us, why are so many missing (or dismissing) it?

Can't others - especially in politics - see something's odd about this picture and address it?

Do Westerners truly think death-hugging fanaticism is only available to followers of Al Qaeda?

Even as we're noticing Leftists joining Al Qaeda?

And, if a delusional NewAge fanaticism is what we're encountering (and I'm convinced it is) then why aren't we approaching it as such?

Maybe it's because NewAge fanaticism primarily exists on the Left?

It's definitely becoming obvious that everything the Left is demanding of us is bullshit. What's not obvious to most is why, like Penelope Dingle, politicos are demanding we do things that hurt us.

I'm sorry but simply looking at politics doesn't cover this phenomena at all.

We have to pay attention to the left's spiritual-not-religious component, and the fact today's journalists are part of the Left, who maintain a laser-like focus on the Right's religious evangelism - which many have given credit for the Right's defeat.

This is cultism, people - a spiritual battle - and the rest of us are in the middle of it:

It's the subject that's time has come.