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DO YOU THINK DISORGANIZED (NEW AGE) RELIGION IS AS BAD AS ORGANIZED RELIGION?

We see a lot of religious hoo-woo masquerading as "spirituality" in the New Age.

Much of this nonsense is as dangerous to sanity & common sense as the specious dogma promoted by organized religion. Do you agree?

Remiforce 7 Sep 18
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34 comments

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0

I certainly agree. As a younger man I studied all kinds of nonsense that was a part of the supernatural. Today I see it all for what it is. It is all "woo." There comes a time in your life that you have to openly admit that "you do not know." If this is not done you just keep on making things up to attract others.

There is a lot of mind candy out there to attract the naive. A lot of charlatans are selling their special brands of secret or sacred knowledge. Beware the Fool Bait . Often it is very seductive

8

Systemically? Not by a long shot, as it doesn’t have enough numbers or influence to be a problem, like Christianity is in the US gov’t or like Islam is in Muslim countries. Even if the new agers did have that kind of powerful majority, the danger would be in ignoring medicine for pseudoscience and antivax type shit more so than enslaving the working class and proactively killing people who are different. I’d rather live in a world run by their type of nut if I only have the two options, but it would be nicer to let neutral reasoning loose on our governance for a change.

On an individual basis, yeah it probably does a similar amount of both good and ill for the person practicing it. Mostly just a delusional circle of confirmation bias, placebo effects, with some real ill being caused occasionally. The reasoning is just as flawed, but with the exception of the antivax shit they’re mostly not doing any real harm to anything besides their own critical thinking skills. I think organized religion is still the most real danger on either scale. Both types of lunacy can and should be equally mocked but it’s way more important systemically to take down organized religion’s influence right now. It’s like when atheists feel the need to rail against Hinduism instead of the abrahamic death cults. Sure, just as silly, but are they really our biggest problem right now?

I believe most of the antivaxers are right wing Christians. New age people seem to be more intelligent and thoughtful than the average person.

I don't think that anti-vaxers are related to religion. Both conservatives and new age are in the mix. I'll bet there are some agnostic and atheists that are anti-vaxers.

It does seem to intuitively make sense that new age people might be anti-vaxers because they seem to jump into odd beliefs that make no sense to me but my experience is that it is much more random than that.

I would welcome a more subjective, statistical analysis of why people are anti-vaxers.

@CK-One yeah didn’t mean to imply that all antivaxers are new age, just that that’s emblematic to me of the most harmful things a new age person might believe. Or more likely just the general practicing of pseudoscience over medical science. Homeopathy instead of medicine, astrology instead of psychology n all that junk. (I believe in naturopathy and using natural remedies where possible, but medical science is also obviously necessary and I think new agers err on the side of not trusting medicine or psychology as much as they should.) That type of ignorance seems like it would be the worst thing about letting them run the asylum. Otherwise they’re pretty reasonable, if overly positive folks.

6

A belief system that separates people from rational thought and replaces it with nonsense fairytale is, by definition, a harmful thing.

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Can we just assign a couple continents for religious to live on while the other ones can be inhabited by people who don't believe in that crap? Imagine how much that would benefit the world.

That's largely how huge swaths of Africa were before religious missionaries and colonization. It was actually pretty common to be without organized religion.

@CK-One and so many of those people were captured and sold into slavery by religious folks. Look how well it worked out for the Aztecs.

5

It’s just as stupid but less harmful

5

I have not seen any "spirituality religions" trying to pass laws and legislation promoting their particular brand of woo.

3

Magical thinking is magical thinking and equally stupid no matter how many spells and crystals you put on it.

3

The only positive I see in “new age spirituality” is that the focus is on finding inner peace, so they’re not militantly banding together to oppose groups of people (they’re not anti gay, anti reproductive choice, etc.). If they leave me alone, I’m A-OK with whatever they believe.

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Absolutely especially as they rip off Native culture to do their thing - I despise cultural appropriation!

3

It's all bullshit.

3

Since I have been an atheist since age 13, I reject all religious dogma and nonsense.

Hiking is a transcendent, uplifting experience for me. I feel deeply grounded and happy in the mountains.

2

I totally echo @Wurlitzer comments. On a micro level, I have a good friend that is a hard core adherent to the Course & Miracles dogma taught at these Temples of the Living God. The crap he espouses is so far off the reservation, I have a hard time keeping up. The teachings on relationships are so bizarre. On a personal level, the NA stuff is so "flaky" but not as dangerous on a macro level. He has really become strange over the last 7 years, but he is still my friend.

2

As long as they don't require me to believe what they believe, I couldn't care less.

2

New Age is not trying to shove it's beliefs do my throat like christianity.
New Age is not telling me I'm going to Hell.

2

If it involves obeying some diety, just another con game.
If it involves bringing peace into your life with, for example, meditation, and does Not involve getting your $$$ away from you, might be helpful.

1

Magical thinking will just lead to another religion eventually.

Religions are like cancer, they metasticize

1

All religionis based on ignorance, fear, and false premises.

And the promotion of false hope

1

Yes, but in a different way. First it is fiscally exploitive, your not tithing but and entire industry of books, and crystal and candles and so on has grown out of its growth.

Second it does not encourage critical thought, but belief, which is a detriment overall to human society.

You have forced me to channel my inner Tim . . .

1

I don’t see either as bad in and of themselves.

1

Not really. Not a lot of it, which is vague mysticism, a restless search for meaning and purpose. I've largely abandoned most of my New Age beliefs, but not all. I still think some things about it are not bogus, in my opinion.
Plus it's SO disorganized it hardly is a threat, politically, culturally, etc., and is benign.

1

Disorganized religion is a gateway drug to an organized religion. But a disorganized religion is not yet as dangerous as the organized one.

1

I think the "spiritual but not religious community" is about the fastest growing quasi-religious group in the West. Like religion, it promotes community which I think is good. And it fortunately foregoes all of the old superstitious claptrap and associated dogma. However, it also brings in its own brand of nonsense: chakras, astrology, mysticism, gurus and all the rest, many of which appear to be designed to separate the gullible from their money.

People want easy answers -- simple ideas that appeal to our sense of right and wrong, good and evil, beneficial and harmful. E.g. yoga is a wonderful, healthy practice, but the yoga commercial industry is one rip-off after another with special clothes, equipment. lifestyle practices, schools, phone apps, and on and on. Similarly with New Age religions, alternative medicine, and the ever-increasing craploads of books and videos that provide simple and comforting answers to the hard questions about love, life and death.

1

A divided enemy is easy pickin'

Most new age religious persons have their own personal beliefs, which means they are easy to persuade with no central authority to dictate what they are supposed to believe, you can convince them of whatever you want by parroting their language to push your own agenda.

What we need is new age agnosticism, trick agnosticism up as the new religion seeking truth & liberation from mind snuffing traditional dogma. Develop symbols & ritual for our agnostic faith. Show agnosticism as the way of personal liberation

@Remiforce its called being a humanist

1

All delusional

bobwjr Level 10 Sep 18, 2019
1

I tend to AGREE 100%.

0

Give them time and a chance and they will be committing atrocities with the best of them

If they develop any real power, they will commit atrocities. We must divide & conquer

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