In this day and age, there can be no question that religion is dying out. People can no longer blindly believe in doctrine that on the surface appears to go against science, logic and reason. The fading importance of religion might be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective; I propose that it could potentially be a good thing, but in and of itself it is not positive. Here I want to challenge some of the common criticisms of religion and weigh up the pros & cons of both traditional religion and the modern New Age spiritual movement.
In defence of religion
There is so much vitriol directed against religion these days that I just have to speak out about it - I will mainly refer to Christianity as it is the dominant religion in the Western world and is the one I know best. Look, Christianity in its current form may be part of the control system and a tool of the elite to keep the people in their place, but Jesus/Yeshua did not come to start a new religion. He CHALLENGED the religious leaders of his day, as anyone who took even a superficial glance at the scriptures would see. He was the ultimate revolutionary - a threat to the power elite of his day and to the status quo, and he was killed because of it. Is that clear? There is a widespread view in conspiracy circles that religion is solely a creation of the elite to control people’s minds; I disagree. Why go to the lengths of inventing all those different religions, the doctrines, the prophesies and the prophets, when there are better and easier ways to control the masses? Why are there profound truths scattered throughout the scriptures like "the kingdom of God is within you"? The logical answer is that the elite did not invent religion but rather infiltrated and subverted every true spiritual movement that ever emerged (and yes, they’ve done the same to New Age today). A character like Jesus was indeed very dangerous to them. Early Christians were killed, and then Christianity was suddenly adopted as the official state religion; books were taken out of the Bible, the wording of scriptures was altered to fit the orthodox view... Why?
Perhaps I would find religion more of an oppressive force if I lived somewhere other than the UK and came into contact with a wider variety of people in my daily life. But I can honestly say that amongst my peers in school, at university, and at work, religious belief or spirituality in any form is completely absent. Spiritual belief is generally not something that can be discussed openly without being mocked - "God? You might as well believe in the tooth fairy" - it's like groupthink. And I can both understand that point of view, having grown up in this society in the 21st century, and yet at the same time despair of it because it is based on such a shallow understanding of life.
Science and spiritual belief are not incompatible
The theory of Darwinian evolution is taught pretty much as fact everywhere these days, and it’s presented in the context of a worldview that has no need for a creator. Believers are painted as irrational, and if only they just understood science a bit better, they’d ditch their groundless belief in God (this appears to be the message of atheist guru Richard Dawkins). But I have some doubts as far as the official evolution theory goes. I can accept that some sort of evolutionary/growth process makes sense, but what DRIVES that process? Natural selection? So whatever traits favour the survival of a species will be propagated whilst unfavourable characteristics die out, leading to changes within a given species...that's known as "microevolution", and is basically common sense - but whether microevolution (evolutionary changes within a species) leads to macroevolution (development of new species altogether) is not proven, perhaps not provable. Personally I don’t think the current theory of evolution, based on random mutations, is sufficient to explain how life as we know it got here. How did tortoises get a shell? Why are polar bears white? Why do zebras look like they do? How did mammals come to reproduce the way they do and grow their babies and produce milk to feed them? Why did there come to be males and females who balance each other perfectly? Why are there so many different and beautiful species of animal? The richness and diversity of life is quite amazing. If evolution happens the way it is said to - surely there is an intelligent force driving it? Natural selection obviously occurs, but it does not explain how all of *this* originated from a single-celled organism via a random process.
Besides that: WHY is there *something* instead of *nothing*? Why does life exist at all? Why are we *us* - complex, multidimensional beings - when on a physical level we appear to be just a bunch of cells? What is the cohesive force that brings together cells and organs and makes a sentient being? What is consciousness? Why hasn’t the fossil record provided more convincing support to the evolution theory?
As you see, I am all "why why why" and it annoys a lot of people. I just want people to question their beliefs and see that existence is not as simple as the "Big Bang, evolution, natural selection" science theories imply (nor the absurd "God created the world in 7 days" theory). It's dangerous to think you've solved life's mysteries and you now know everything there is to know. Always keep an open mind.... Belief in something higher does not have to be foolish, irrational and unscientific.
Religion not the cause of all evil
A common argument against religion (and against faith in God) is that it has brought us nothing but suffering: witch hunts, religious wars, and September 11th are often cited. Yes much evil has been done in the name of religion, but does that mean God doesn’t exist? The typical atheist argument that "God can’t exist because there is evil in the world" can be refuted by the concept of human free will and the law of cause & effect AKA karma. Humans are free to make their own choices, but they can’t escape the consequences of those choices (note that although free will exists, dark forces subvert it by trying to limit the options people have or by convincing them that there ARE no consequences to their actions).
As for religious wars, this video puts forth a cogent argument that I had not heard before: that war is never waged by the common people (they are the ones who suffer most from war), but by a small powerful elite who have their OWN agenda, and who will use RELIGIOUS PRETEXTS to make the masses compliant. Case in point: the Iraq war. If you think George W Bush decided to invade Iraq on some religious crusade, WAKE UP. If you think George W Bush is a Christian at all, WAKE UP. It’s a facade designed to make Christians look like idiots, part of an agenda to make religious belief synonymous with insanity.
Religion CAN be a force for good. Beyond the hypocrisy, apostasy, deceit, arrogance amongst many religious believers, there are even more who are decent, committed, good-hearted and living by their beliefs. You just don’t hear about them. Remember the mass media only tell you the BAD stuff that’s going on in the world. Religion can (and is supposed to) stand for social justice, helping others, being kind, selfless etc.
Orthodox religion misrepresents God & otherwise valid esoteric concepts
I can understand why people struggle with the concept of God as a man in the sky, judging people and sending them to heaven or hell based on their obedience, or lack of, to his almighty will. But that’s projecting human qualities onto God, which I think is fundamentally wrong. To me what we call "God" is a very high and powerful force/energy that, while ineffable and beyond earthly comprehension, could be described as the embodiment of all that is good, true, righteous, pure, powerful, and just; a true loving father/mother/parent figure without the human flaws that earthly parents have. Of course there is more to God, like the personal and impersonal aspects of it...but that’s beyond the scope of this piece.
Many rational people also reject religion because it places seemingly pointless restrictions on behaviour, for example, sexual behaviour. Sex is bad because it’s a sin" is not exactly going to sit well with people in this liberal age. But there is an esoteric basis behind many such religious doctrines - for example, when you understand/perceive the flow of spiritual energy in the body and the chakra system, you see that excessive sexual activity keeps the energy concentrated in the base chakra (located in the genital area) and prevents it flowing as it should upward to the crown chakra (top of the head) which is a prerequisite to spiritual enlightenment. Thus instead of being channelled into positive spiritual evolution, the powerful sexual energy is dissipated, and probably goes to feed some parasitic entities in the astral realm. So how does our culture of unlimited sexual indulgence affect people’s spiritual growth, hmm? How does it contribute to keeping the masses unenlightened? Could that be why sexual stimuli are pushed on us from all angles? Interesting considerations. Of course, sexual repression and hatred of the body as seen in many strict religious believers is not right either, and that’s why balance is crucial as I will discuss later on.
Religion as part of an evolutionary process
Religion might not be the highest form of spirituality, but perhaps in the past it was the best thing we had - the simplistic and highly metaphorical/mythological stories (like the fall of Adam and Eve) were adapted to humanity's level of consciousness back then. Spiritually immature souls needed the black-and-white rules of religion (like the Ten Commandments) to keep their behaviour in check, but as we evolve spiritually we won't need to be told what is right and wrong but will intuit it for ourselves. When you are in harmony with divine law, doing "right" is natural; doing "wrong" is inconceivable.
Is New Age the new Religion?
In the age gone by, black and white rules of religion (do right and go to heaven, do wrong and go to hell) were the biggest obstacles to true spiritual enlightenment. Now, the most dangerous lie is the polar opposite, that "anything goes" and nothing is really right or wrong. This core belief is at the heart of the New Age movement: Everything beyond the material world is benevolent and spiritual, channelling couldn’t possibly be harmful, dark entities don’t exist, aliens couldn’t be bad, hallucinogens raise your consciousness and carry no risks, etc etc. I also dislike the feminist/earth-worship overtones of some New Age stuff - it’s too intertwined with the environmentalist movement (this is the kind of pseudo-religion that the United Nations promotes). In fact I’m so sick of the vapid, touchy-feely, head-in-the-clouds watered-down New Age material that the word "spirituality" makes me cringe sometimes. I suppose it’s just the opposite polarity of the black-and-white, patriarchal form of religion, but truth is above and beyond both polarities.
Now seems like a good time to mention this important point. There’s a belief circulating that there are two valid paths back to the Source and that both lead to the exact same place: you can follow the Left-Hand Path of ego indulgence (service to self) as taught by the likes of Aleister Crowley, or you can follow the Right-Hand Path of self-transcendence & service to others, and it doesn’t matter which one you choose because it’s all "experience" and God doesn't mind either way. This has got to be THE most deceptive lie out there. And I see this concept expressed all the time on New Age forums and in low-level channelled material.
Of course New Age has some positive aspects, like the open-mindedness of many New Agers in comparison with orthodox religious people (although it’s best not to be so open-minded that your brains fall out). There’s more potential for positive transformation in the New Age movement than in stagnant religions that are unwilling to let go of outdated doctrines. There is also some worthwhile material in the New Age category, like Eckhart Tolle whose books really had a lasting positive impact on me - he’s often been lumped in with "New Age BS" because of his association with Oprah Winfrey, which is unfortunate. As with everything, you’ve just got to discern for yourself what is useful and true and what isn’t, and not always judge by appearances or first impressions.
A problem common to both New Age and religion is the fact that many followers want to reap the benefits without putting in any real effort. New Agers can spend their lives dabbling in channelling, tarot, aura reading and God knows what else without ever really getting anywhere or evolving spiritually. Mainstream Christianity teaches that you only have to believe in the doctrines and in Jesus, and you’ve got a free ticket to heaven. Either way, you’re missing the whole point of the spiritual path: self-transformation.
In Conclusion...
Sooo what’s happening here? If religion goes, what will be left? Atheism? Despite atheists in general claiming they don’t need God to be moral, it still degrades us to the level of animals, and engenders the idea that nothing is really right or wrong. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. Each man for himself. No - replacing God with the human ego is not the way to an enlightened society. If religion is to die out, a new form of spirituality must take its place.
Is New Age the answer to the impending spiritual vacuum, then? Potentially, but not in its current state of naïveté. Discernment is crucial. The world is not all love ‘n’ light, unfortunately. And "we are all one" does not mean we are meant to become blissed-out New Age zombies with no individuality or independent thought. We’ve got to find the middle way which is indicated in the following extract from this site, which I think serves as an articulate and fitting conclusion to my essay:
"...You must begin to embrace paradoxical thought in order to embrace this higher reality. While on one hand it can be said that the Church is satanic, on the other hand the Church is necessary for the greater good of man. The prodigal sons and daughters who are lost in this, the "far country... outer darkness", are incapable of knowing the Truth and walking in TheWay -- so it is necessary to fragment and corrupt that Truth in order for carnal man to grasp important teachings and principles, and begin the process of making change and seeking the Knowledge of self and the Inner Kingdom. So while for the masses the Church is a good and positive force, in a forum such as this the Church is the embodiment of evil and spiritual depravity. And both realities are not only true, but are necessary in the experience of mankind. At present the Religious Right in many respects is the epitome of ignorance and evil -- but they are a force for Good that is Ordained by the Laws and the Hand of God, in order to oppose the secular Marxist Left that is attempting to wipe out the belief and knowledge of God. In the same way, while Islam has become diabolical in its murder of innocent people in the name of their satanic god, the evil force of Islam is being used by the (Left Hand of) God in order to balance and oppose the Sodom and Gomorrah of the secular Marxist un-liberal left. And if it weren't for the Sodom and Gomorrah left, I would not be able to publish these web sites that offend the Religious Right. ... And this is why the answer and higher reality of all paradoxes, are always in the third-force that exists on a higher plane in the manner of the point of the triangle that exists on a higher plane than the opposite points which oppose each other."
_____________________________________________
Recommended Reading:
The Sinister Side of the New Age
New Age Love and Light Fallacies
Standards of Channelling
Existence of Evil
The Illuminati Effect
http://www.askrealjesus.com/D_KnowJesus/unloving.html
Is Love All You Need?
Left-Handed Path
Comments on the New Age Movement
In defence of religion
There is so much vitriol directed against religion these days that I just have to speak out about it - I will mainly refer to Christianity as it is the dominant religion in the Western world and is the one I know best. Look, Christianity in its current form may be part of the control system and a tool of the elite to keep the people in their place, but Jesus/Yeshua did not come to start a new religion. He CHALLENGED the religious leaders of his day, as anyone who took even a superficial glance at the scriptures would see. He was the ultimate revolutionary - a threat to the power elite of his day and to the status quo, and he was killed because of it. Is that clear? There is a widespread view in conspiracy circles that religion is solely a creation of the elite to control people’s minds; I disagree. Why go to the lengths of inventing all those different religions, the doctrines, the prophesies and the prophets, when there are better and easier ways to control the masses? Why are there profound truths scattered throughout the scriptures like "the kingdom of God is within you"? The logical answer is that the elite did not invent religion but rather infiltrated and subverted every true spiritual movement that ever emerged (and yes, they’ve done the same to New Age today). A character like Jesus was indeed very dangerous to them. Early Christians were killed, and then Christianity was suddenly adopted as the official state religion; books were taken out of the Bible, the wording of scriptures was altered to fit the orthodox view... Why?
Perhaps I would find religion more of an oppressive force if I lived somewhere other than the UK and came into contact with a wider variety of people in my daily life. But I can honestly say that amongst my peers in school, at university, and at work, religious belief or spirituality in any form is completely absent. Spiritual belief is generally not something that can be discussed openly without being mocked - "God? You might as well believe in the tooth fairy" - it's like groupthink. And I can both understand that point of view, having grown up in this society in the 21st century, and yet at the same time despair of it because it is based on such a shallow understanding of life.
Science and spiritual belief are not incompatible
The theory of Darwinian evolution is taught pretty much as fact everywhere these days, and it’s presented in the context of a worldview that has no need for a creator. Believers are painted as irrational, and if only they just understood science a bit better, they’d ditch their groundless belief in God (this appears to be the message of atheist guru Richard Dawkins). But I have some doubts as far as the official evolution theory goes. I can accept that some sort of evolutionary/growth process makes sense, but what DRIVES that process? Natural selection? So whatever traits favour the survival of a species will be propagated whilst unfavourable characteristics die out, leading to changes within a given species...that's known as "microevolution", and is basically common sense - but whether microevolution (evolutionary changes within a species) leads to macroevolution (development of new species altogether) is not proven, perhaps not provable. Personally I don’t think the current theory of evolution, based on random mutations, is sufficient to explain how life as we know it got here. How did tortoises get a shell? Why are polar bears white? Why do zebras look like they do? How did mammals come to reproduce the way they do and grow their babies and produce milk to feed them? Why did there come to be males and females who balance each other perfectly? Why are there so many different and beautiful species of animal? The richness and diversity of life is quite amazing. If evolution happens the way it is said to - surely there is an intelligent force driving it? Natural selection obviously occurs, but it does not explain how all of *this* originated from a single-celled organism via a random process.
Besides that: WHY is there *something* instead of *nothing*? Why does life exist at all? Why are we *us* - complex, multidimensional beings - when on a physical level we appear to be just a bunch of cells? What is the cohesive force that brings together cells and organs and makes a sentient being? What is consciousness? Why hasn’t the fossil record provided more convincing support to the evolution theory?
As you see, I am all "why why why" and it annoys a lot of people. I just want people to question their beliefs and see that existence is not as simple as the "Big Bang, evolution, natural selection" science theories imply (nor the absurd "God created the world in 7 days" theory). It's dangerous to think you've solved life's mysteries and you now know everything there is to know. Always keep an open mind.... Belief in something higher does not have to be foolish, irrational and unscientific.
Religion not the cause of all evil
A common argument against religion (and against faith in God) is that it has brought us nothing but suffering: witch hunts, religious wars, and September 11th are often cited. Yes much evil has been done in the name of religion, but does that mean God doesn’t exist? The typical atheist argument that "God can’t exist because there is evil in the world" can be refuted by the concept of human free will and the law of cause & effect AKA karma. Humans are free to make their own choices, but they can’t escape the consequences of those choices (note that although free will exists, dark forces subvert it by trying to limit the options people have or by convincing them that there ARE no consequences to their actions).
As for religious wars, this video puts forth a cogent argument that I had not heard before: that war is never waged by the common people (they are the ones who suffer most from war), but by a small powerful elite who have their OWN agenda, and who will use RELIGIOUS PRETEXTS to make the masses compliant. Case in point: the Iraq war. If you think George W Bush decided to invade Iraq on some religious crusade, WAKE UP. If you think George W Bush is a Christian at all, WAKE UP. It’s a facade designed to make Christians look like idiots, part of an agenda to make religious belief synonymous with insanity.
Religion CAN be a force for good. Beyond the hypocrisy, apostasy, deceit, arrogance amongst many religious believers, there are even more who are decent, committed, good-hearted and living by their beliefs. You just don’t hear about them. Remember the mass media only tell you the BAD stuff that’s going on in the world. Religion can (and is supposed to) stand for social justice, helping others, being kind, selfless etc.
Orthodox religion misrepresents God & otherwise valid esoteric concepts
I can understand why people struggle with the concept of God as a man in the sky, judging people and sending them to heaven or hell based on their obedience, or lack of, to his almighty will. But that’s projecting human qualities onto God, which I think is fundamentally wrong. To me what we call "God" is a very high and powerful force/energy that, while ineffable and beyond earthly comprehension, could be described as the embodiment of all that is good, true, righteous, pure, powerful, and just; a true loving father/mother/parent figure without the human flaws that earthly parents have. Of course there is more to God, like the personal and impersonal aspects of it...but that’s beyond the scope of this piece.
Many rational people also reject religion because it places seemingly pointless restrictions on behaviour, for example, sexual behaviour. Sex is bad because it’s a sin" is not exactly going to sit well with people in this liberal age. But there is an esoteric basis behind many such religious doctrines - for example, when you understand/perceive the flow of spiritual energy in the body and the chakra system, you see that excessive sexual activity keeps the energy concentrated in the base chakra (located in the genital area) and prevents it flowing as it should upward to the crown chakra (top of the head) which is a prerequisite to spiritual enlightenment. Thus instead of being channelled into positive spiritual evolution, the powerful sexual energy is dissipated, and probably goes to feed some parasitic entities in the astral realm. So how does our culture of unlimited sexual indulgence affect people’s spiritual growth, hmm? How does it contribute to keeping the masses unenlightened? Could that be why sexual stimuli are pushed on us from all angles? Interesting considerations. Of course, sexual repression and hatred of the body as seen in many strict religious believers is not right either, and that’s why balance is crucial as I will discuss later on.
Religion as part of an evolutionary process
Religion might not be the highest form of spirituality, but perhaps in the past it was the best thing we had - the simplistic and highly metaphorical/mythological stories (like the fall of Adam and Eve) were adapted to humanity's level of consciousness back then. Spiritually immature souls needed the black-and-white rules of religion (like the Ten Commandments) to keep their behaviour in check, but as we evolve spiritually we won't need to be told what is right and wrong but will intuit it for ourselves. When you are in harmony with divine law, doing "right" is natural; doing "wrong" is inconceivable.
Is New Age the new Religion?
In the age gone by, black and white rules of religion (do right and go to heaven, do wrong and go to hell) were the biggest obstacles to true spiritual enlightenment. Now, the most dangerous lie is the polar opposite, that "anything goes" and nothing is really right or wrong. This core belief is at the heart of the New Age movement: Everything beyond the material world is benevolent and spiritual, channelling couldn’t possibly be harmful, dark entities don’t exist, aliens couldn’t be bad, hallucinogens raise your consciousness and carry no risks, etc etc. I also dislike the feminist/earth-worship overtones of some New Age stuff - it’s too intertwined with the environmentalist movement (this is the kind of pseudo-religion that the United Nations promotes). In fact I’m so sick of the vapid, touchy-feely, head-in-the-clouds watered-down New Age material that the word "spirituality" makes me cringe sometimes. I suppose it’s just the opposite polarity of the black-and-white, patriarchal form of religion, but truth is above and beyond both polarities.
Now seems like a good time to mention this important point. There’s a belief circulating that there are two valid paths back to the Source and that both lead to the exact same place: you can follow the Left-Hand Path of ego indulgence (service to self) as taught by the likes of Aleister Crowley, or you can follow the Right-Hand Path of self-transcendence & service to others, and it doesn’t matter which one you choose because it’s all "experience" and God doesn't mind either way. This has got to be THE most deceptive lie out there. And I see this concept expressed all the time on New Age forums and in low-level channelled material.
Of course New Age has some positive aspects, like the open-mindedness of many New Agers in comparison with orthodox religious people (although it’s best not to be so open-minded that your brains fall out). There’s more potential for positive transformation in the New Age movement than in stagnant religions that are unwilling to let go of outdated doctrines. There is also some worthwhile material in the New Age category, like Eckhart Tolle whose books really had a lasting positive impact on me - he’s often been lumped in with "New Age BS" because of his association with Oprah Winfrey, which is unfortunate. As with everything, you’ve just got to discern for yourself what is useful and true and what isn’t, and not always judge by appearances or first impressions.
A problem common to both New Age and religion is the fact that many followers want to reap the benefits without putting in any real effort. New Agers can spend their lives dabbling in channelling, tarot, aura reading and God knows what else without ever really getting anywhere or evolving spiritually. Mainstream Christianity teaches that you only have to believe in the doctrines and in Jesus, and you’ve got a free ticket to heaven. Either way, you’re missing the whole point of the spiritual path: self-transformation.
In Conclusion...
Sooo what’s happening here? If religion goes, what will be left? Atheism? Despite atheists in general claiming they don’t need God to be moral, it still degrades us to the level of animals, and engenders the idea that nothing is really right or wrong. Nothing is true, everything is permitted. Each man for himself. No - replacing God with the human ego is not the way to an enlightened society. If religion is to die out, a new form of spirituality must take its place.
Is New Age the answer to the impending spiritual vacuum, then? Potentially, but not in its current state of naïveté. Discernment is crucial. The world is not all love ‘n’ light, unfortunately. And "we are all one" does not mean we are meant to become blissed-out New Age zombies with no individuality or independent thought. We’ve got to find the middle way which is indicated in the following extract from this site, which I think serves as an articulate and fitting conclusion to my essay:
"...You must begin to embrace paradoxical thought in order to embrace this higher reality. While on one hand it can be said that the Church is satanic, on the other hand the Church is necessary for the greater good of man. The prodigal sons and daughters who are lost in this, the "far country... outer darkness", are incapable of knowing the Truth and walking in TheWay -- so it is necessary to fragment and corrupt that Truth in order for carnal man to grasp important teachings and principles, and begin the process of making change and seeking the Knowledge of self and the Inner Kingdom. So while for the masses the Church is a good and positive force, in a forum such as this the Church is the embodiment of evil and spiritual depravity. And both realities are not only true, but are necessary in the experience of mankind. At present the Religious Right in many respects is the epitome of ignorance and evil -- but they are a force for Good that is Ordained by the Laws and the Hand of God, in order to oppose the secular Marxist Left that is attempting to wipe out the belief and knowledge of God. In the same way, while Islam has become diabolical in its murder of innocent people in the name of their satanic god, the evil force of Islam is being used by the (Left Hand of) God in order to balance and oppose the Sodom and Gomorrah of the secular Marxist un-liberal left. And if it weren't for the Sodom and Gomorrah left, I would not be able to publish these web sites that offend the Religious Right. ... And this is why the answer and higher reality of all paradoxes, are always in the third-force that exists on a higher plane in the manner of the point of the triangle that exists on a higher plane than the opposite points which oppose each other."
_____________________________________________
Recommended Reading:
The Sinister Side of the New Age
New Age Love and Light Fallacies
Standards of Channelling
Existence of Evil
The Illuminati Effect
http://www.askrealjesus.com/D_KnowJesus/unloving.html
Is Love All You Need?
Left-Handed Path
Comments on the New Age Movement
