Problem
New Age spirituality
Other Names:
Experimental religionReligious dilettantism
Spiritual dabbling
Unorthodox religion
Unauthorized religion
Non-traditional spiritual belief
Undirected spirituality
Self-designed religion
Nature:
New forms of religion (developed as a result of the inadequacy of traditional religious doctrine, "new" spiritual insights, or as a result of commercialism) may be austere or orgiastic, based on mysticism or scientific data. They constitute a threat to traditional organized religions, and because they are cut off from the long-term experience of these religions they may lead their supporters into error.
Incidence:
Experimental religion is most marked in 'Western' industrialized countries where traditional values are being challenged and there is no one, overriding ideology. Followers of the New Age movement are generally affluent and well educated. A monthly New Age magazine in the USA has 180,000 subscribers, more than 50% of whom have attended graduate school and whose average household income in over $60,000.
The emergence of the New Age movement has provoked new social boundaries for many evangelical Christians leading them to label many contemporary social movements and institutions as either demonic or potentially evil.
Broader Problems:
Superficial religionUnauthorized practiceDependence on religion Narrower Problems:
Cargo cultsManipulative cults Related Problems:
OccultismSecularizationDisruptive religious fundamentalism Aggravates:
MagicWitchcraftNeo-paganismFortune-tellingReligious conflictReligious superstitionBelief in self-healingGlorified emotionalityCommunion with the deadHorological superstitionCollapse of common valuesMultidenominational societyUnethical practices in religionConspiracy theories Fragmentation of religious beliefDeceptive information through mediumsAbuse of traditional cultural expressions of peoplesDecreasing participation in collective religious worship Reduces:
Official religionReligious orthodoxyTrivialization of religious beliefIgnorance of traditional herbal remedies Strategies:
Establishing New Age communitiesRegenerating spiritualityGiving religious counsellingAuthorizing religionHolding non-traditional spiritual belief References:
Melton, J Gordon: New Age EncyclopediaCastro, Stephen J: Hypocrisy and Dissent within the Findhorn Foundation: Towards a sociology of a New Age community Subject(s):
Individuation → Individuation Law → Legality
Recreation → Folk traditions
Religious Practice → Religion
Research, Standards → Experimental
Theology → Religious observance
Related UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Problem Type:
F: Fuzzy exceptional problems Date of last update
04.10.2020 – 22:48 CEST