New Age Religions

[Noremac]

New Religious Movements are out there in the world. Why are most of them so strange? Like Raëlism, the religion dedicated to UFO's and cloning. What is the world coming to?!

[Ardruire Iacób]

Nowadays any idiot can set up a 'religion'... Have you not heard of the 'Invisible Pink Unicorn'? Or 'Pastafarianism'...

[Mithie]

Nowadays any idiot can set up a 'religion'... Have you not heard of the 'Invisible Pink Unicorn'? Or 'Pastafarianism'...

I'm a tenured Pastafarian myself.

Please don't make fun of my religion. It's very offensive.

[IndianPrince]

Agreed that it sounds wierd and wacky now. But im sure the ancient romans and other religions of ancient times might've thought of the modern abrahamic monotheistic religions as the same. I wouldn't be suprised ,if we survive that far in the future, that not christianity, islam, judaism or anything we see today will be the dominant religion but something radically different.

Prince

[MaximiIian]

New Agers can believe whatever they want, just like anyone else.
I'd just prefer they label it properly. New Age religions are closer to theosophy than paganism, yet some New Agers refer to themselves as neodruids, Wiccans, or whatever- when, upon close examination, they really are not.
Not to say that what they believe is wrong; it just fits into a different category than neopaganism, and it bugs me when people get those confused. Which happens a lot, as any bookstore will show. All of the books on neopaganism are invariably shelved in the New Age section, except at, like, Half-Price Books where they actually give that literature its own section like it should.

But I have no problem with them believing whatever they want to believe.

[Ardruire Iacób]

I just don't like them plagarising religions like druidism or Celtic Christianity, since they always get them wrong... They even make up new Celtic gods, which really annoys me. That and the fact they can't pronounce things like "Bealtaine" or "Samhain"...

[IndianPrince]

They even make up new Celtic gods, which really annoys me.

Well now u have an idea how pissed atheists should be

Prince

[MaximiIian]

I just don't like them plagarising religions like druidism or Celtic Christianity, since they always get them wrong... They even make up new Celtic gods, which really annoys me. That and the fact they can't pronounce things like "Bealtaine" or "Samhain"...

That, too. The only real problem I have with New Ageism is that it almost steals cultural beliefs and rolls them all into a single system, which doesn't make sense. T.G. put it well in the Zeitgeist Debunker thread, that New Age syncreticism looks for and finds connections that really aren't there, due to lvaguely similar cultural elements. It's a very haphazard syncreticism, which sadly has leaked into neopaganism through some of the more fringe eclectics in Wicca and Neodruidism, which while often syncretic, don't try to take it overboard for the most part.

[Chaigidel]

wicca and neo pagans are a new age religion since you have zero connection to any ancient faith.

[MaximiIian]

wicca and neo pagans are a new age religion since you have zero connection to any ancient faith.

Antiquity does not necessarily equal validity, and just because neopagan religions are new iterations of paganism does not make them New Age religions. They hold to very different concepts and beliefs. And if you think they are the same, you have literally no idea of what you are talking about, and are going on foolish assumptions.
'Course, I've told you this a thousand times, so why should I expect you to be any less of a bigot now?

[The Good]

wicca and neo pagans are a new age religion since you have zero connection to any ancient faith.

You have a point. I believe that it's a necessity for the only true religion (whatever that may be, I believe it's Christianity, yet that was originally Judaism) to have a connection to the ancient times. Any religion that doesn't (New Age religions/cults are a good example of this), is obviously not true to me, or else, why would the god of that religion keep the "truth" (whatever the religion's beliefs/worship) a secret for so long? That's inconsistent, or at least very unmerciful, don't you think?

Sorry if my post sounds confusing.

[Ardruire Iacób]

Well now u have an idea how pissed atheists should be

I was pointing out that these hippies are destroying my people's culture with their sham of an ideology. I have no problem with pagans, but I hate these hippies who think that taking marijuana and getting HIV/AIDs from drunken orgies while pretending to worship gods they can't even pronounce (try Edain Edaineach or Lúgh)...

It's their lack of respect for culture, not religion, that makes me dislike them.

[IndianPrince]

You can be summed up as an idiot, I was pointing out that these hippies are destroying my people's culture with their sham of an ideology. I have no problem with pagans, but I hate these hippies who think that taking marijuana and getting HIV/AIDs from drunken orgies while pretending to worship gods they can't even pronounce (try Edain Edaineach or Lúgh)...

It's their lack of respect for culture, not religion, that makes me dislike them.

Well what i am trying to say ,w/o abusing anyone ... which is what COURTEOUS and POLITE debaters do, is that these "hippies" are no different than the founders of christianity or islam or judaism when compared to other religions which were prospering in those times. Hence, one cannot assume that the so called 'hippie new age' religions are wierd and not normal only because their methods of attaining 'GOD' is different from what the majority of the modern society accepts. And culture and religion are very much intertwined in our times and are almost inseperable which is very unfortunate and leads to problems which u hate.

Prince

[Garrigan]

Just out of intrest. Is Neopaganism a "fusion" of old Pagan religions (ie Valhalla etc. Olympus etc.) a new one based on the principals of the ancient ones, or just a revival of an old religion?

[MaximiIian]

Just out of intrest. Is Neopaganism a "fusion" of old Pagan religions (ie Valhalla etc. Olympus etc.) a new one based on the principals of the ancient ones, or just a revival of an old religion?

It depends. Neopaganism is more an umbrella term. It covers a lot of myriad groups and religious paths whose only main commonality is not being one of the Abrahamic religions, and revering the natural world. Beyond those, it gets hazy and can vary widely from path to path.

Some neopagans are reconstructionists, who try to revive old faiths and emphasize historical accuracy. The thing that is true for all of them, though, is that they are not a linear continuation of whatever they are trying to rebuild. No neopagan group is; that's why they are neopagan- they are the most recent iteration of pagan beliefs.

Other neopagan paths are clearly modern innovations, such as Wicca, but utilise old beliefs and practices to find something spiritually fulfilling. Continuing with Wicca as an example, since it's based on late-19th century occult and esoteric movements, it integrates a lot of ideas from Hermeticism, as well as British folklore due to its origin in the British Isles in the 1920's.

[Ardruire Iacób]

It depends, but I've yet to see a neo-pagan religion which is a true revival of an old religion.

[MaximiIian]

Well, in neopagan religions, especially Wicca, the standpoint is that it's not the "one true" religion, and that there isn't one "true" religion for all people. Different people have different needs and wants, and experiences, and so what is right for one person might not be right for another. Keep in mind, a lot of neopagan religions aren't eclectic like Wicca or neodruidism; most are reconstructionist paths, which do indeed take most of their background from ancient faiths, which collapsed historically mainly due to socio-economic reasons.

The more eclectic paths, like Wicca, differ from recons in practice, not so much in the gods they believe in; Wicca is dedicated to worshipping two specific deities in a very particular maner. So, in a way, they do have some connection to revival paths, in that they believe in the same broad pantheon. In addition to the fact that Wicca borrowed many beliefs from long-existing British and European folklore and Hermeticism (which existed as far back as Alexander the Great), and most of its ritual practices are lifted from esoteric practices as far back the Renaissance and as recent as the 19th century, as well as the pre-existing concept of folk magic.

The connection to the ancient ways isn't linear, obviously. No one with a right mind contests that. But there is a connection. You just have to know a lot more about the religions involved to see where it is.
Either way, merely it being a new development does not make it a "New Age" religion. Wicca has a very particular method of practise and ritual structure, and a specific view of the divine. New Age religion, on the other hand, grabs eclectically and haphazardly from anything and everything, with no structure or pattern to it at all.

[The Cobra]

I think that each one in TWC should make a religion of himself, it might get criticized in the beginning, but in a couple of years, millions of fools would join it.
All hail the new religion of Cobranism.
Our E-holytext is wikipedia
Our prophet is Chuck Norris
Our devil is
Our miracles are RTW and M2TW, we don't believe in any other tw game, because we think they've been corrupted in their transfer.

[Burnum]

I think it's full of bored House wives and Crackpots, personally. Although I can't ignore the racist elements in New age religion.

This is also interesting.

[Rich86]

Any 'new age religion' is surely just as valid as any of the more 'established' religions.

@ Artorius Maximus - I don't see why any religion would need to have a connection to the past to validate itself. One could quite easily say "I believe in Religion X - and in Religion X we believe that our God is the true God and that he has kept his presence unknown until now."

That would be just as believeable as the stuff the more 'established' religions claim.