ASSESSMENT OF THE NEW AGE MOVEMENT

by Fr. Jim Whalen

The New Age Movement (NAM) is a subtle but very real danger to the Catholic faith and to Christian values, and in particular, to human life, substituting myths for reality. “The time is sure to come when, far from being content with sound teaching, people will be avid for the latest novelty and collect themselves a whole series of teachers according to their own tastes; and then, instead of listening to the truth, they will turn to myths” (2 Tim 4:3). The objective truth is that one day each of us will come face to face with God, Who will judge us and hold us accountable for the truths He has made known to us (Rom 1:18). NAM’s adherence to myths, rather than objective truth, is evident in its ethical relativism, which allows individuals to choose from different alternatives, accepting whatever each person has chosen. Ethics becomes a matter of personal opinion. Consequently, if a person chooses to be pro-contraception, pro-abortion, anti-life, etc., each individual’s decision is regarded as acceptable and righteous. There is little concern for veracity and consistency. Things and people are valued according to their efficiency, usefulness, and profit potential. The greatest error underlying the NAM mythology is the assumption that there are no truths that we must be concerned about, obligating us to reject it because it lacks a basis in objective reality.

Pope John Paul II points out that the NAM “is only a new way of practising Gnosticism that distorts and replaces God’s Word with purely human words” (Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, (Knopf) p. 90). NAM’s false teachings deny the distinction between truth and lies, between good and evil. The NAM disguises itself and permeates and contaminates many aspects of our daily life without attracting much attention, and accordingly, is a real threat to unaware and vulnerable Catholics and Christians. “New Age ideas often open up a way for themselves in preaching, catechesis, congresses, and retreats, and thus, come to influence even practicing Catholics, who may not be aware of the incompatibility of these ideas with the faith of the Church” (John Paul II, Address to the United States Bishops of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska on their “Ad Limina” visit, 28 May 1993). This is evident in the devaluation and breakdown of family structure when NAM’s confused behaviour patterns and apathy often lead to neglect of natural law and children. Open relationship practices encourage immoral sex outside of marriage and this is justified, in their opinion, as an expression of love with the principle “as long as what you do is done with love, and doesn’t harm anyone, then it’s okay” (Randall Baer, Inside the New Age Nightmare, (1989) p. 126). Their immoral ethical imbalance denies the existence of sin, and consequently, promotes the destruction of marriage and family life.

Scripture warns us to be watchful and ready: “Make sure that no one traps you and deprives you of your freedom by some secondhand, empty rational philosophy based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ” (Col 2:8). Whereas, it is true that mankind and the earth have been abused, and greed has destroyed much of our respect for life and environment, the answers do not lie in pagan mythology but “in Biblical appreciation for creation, and man’s role in it, without falling into the opposite and more damning error of worshiping the creature rather than the Creator” (Elliot Miller, A Crash Course on the New Age Movement, (1989) p. 87).

Working Definition

The New Age Movement is an unstructured eclectic movement that incorporates various experiences, beliefs, ideas and practices from many different sources. It is a syncretism of esoteric, occult, and secular elements. It can be described as a network of individuals and groups that share a common mentality and a flexible communication system. NAM claims belief in the oneness of everything: Monism: everyone is God; Pantheism: everything is divine; and Millennialism: the Age of Aquarius (a period of enlightenment and evolution). It involves a complete break with established traditions, operating on the level of feeling, instincts and emotions.

Characteristics

The NAM is often characterized by some common themes: the cosmos is one and animated by a divine soul or spirit; mediation of a multiplicity of spiritual entities; humans can ascend to higher spheres, be perfected by techniques and therapies; humans can control their lives beyond death; new age spirituality flows from humanism and subjectivism; devotees of enneagram personality types; there is a perennial knowledge; successive reincarnations of a soul in different bodies; self-salvation and self-redemption; through psycho-physical techniques and recognition of universal consciousness; cultivation of mind-expanding techniques reveal to people their divine powers; humans are subject to determining influences of the stars; transpersonal psychology: universal mind, higher self; emphasizes a new paradigm shift: tendencies, signs and patterns are recognized as pointing to alternative scenarios of the future.

NAM Values and Causes

Some of the more critical values maintained by New Age thought point to their causes. New Age politics is based on survival with a background in secular humanism that rejects materialism but accepts evolution. New Agers interest centres on a multiplicity of issues such as overpopulation, environmental pollution, starvation, resource depletion, and the nuclear arms race. Their most destructive belief is that “all is one”. Consequently, unity and interdependence become ends in themselves. This finds them attracted to ecological causes and searching for a worldwide political system. They see unity based on human autonomy, not on the will of God. They claim there is no final power external to the self, whose laws must be obeyed. Each person creates his own reality, good or bad, by the way he or she handles the law of his or her own being. They maintain that no laws should be passed in regard to contraception, abortion or homosexuality, since people have the right to do what they please with their own bodies. They have neglected the fact that a woman destroys a body separate from her own in the act of abortion. They reject objective biblical moral values. The Christian accepts that God has revealed specific standards of behaviour in His word and that we have no moral right to transgress them. The NAM emphasizes humanness, a turning away from consumer values to a lifestyle of simple living, rather than acquiring of material things and status symbols. They go too far however, for it is one thing to appreciate and respect humanness but it is another “to adore and worship: an idolatry of the image of God in man” (Ibid., p. 121).

NAM Meditation

Many individuals who are dedicated to teaching the Catholic faith have accepted the techniques of NAM meditation. This takes place in retreats, spiritual exercises, workshops, liturgical celebrations and even in children’s catechetical courses. These involve serious drawbacks for Christians for they guide one toward an impersonal absolute rather than to a relationship with a personal, loving God. In reality, these are exercises in concentration, not prayer. They aim at losing oneself in the silence of nothingness through achieving an altered state of consciousness, which means a deprivation of the full use of freedom. Christian prayer demands conscious, voluntary, and active participation of a whole person. Archbishop Norberto Rivera points out some of the elements most opposed to the Christian message: “it depersonalizes the God of Christian revelation. It disfigures the person of Jesus Christ, devalues His mission, and ridicules His redeeming sacrifice. It denies the unique, unrepeatable event of His Resurrection by affirming the doctrine of reincarnation. It empties the Christian concepts of creation and salvation of their content. It rejects the Church’s teaching authority and its institutional form. It relativizes the Gospel’s original, unique, and historically based content. It deforms writings of Christian mystics and turns their true meaning upside down. It irreversibly waters down the practices of Christian prayer. It discards the human person’s moral responsibility and denies the existence of sin. It misleads children and young people in their religious formation. It divides Christian families and exploits them for financial gain” (Pastoral Instruction on New Age, Mexico-Tenochtitian, January 7, 1996, p. 19).

The NAM appeals to people imbued with the values of modern culture: authenticity, self-reliance, openness and dialogue. It is concerned with healthy recommendations for dieting and physical fitness, preserving the environment, optimism in the fact of difficulties and evils afflicting the world. Where the Christian faith is found to be weak, the New Age religiosity has a special appeal. Whether it is the NAM practices of channell.ing, psychic experiences, the occult or transcendental meditation, Christians should beware the New Age claim to religious neutrality. God cannot be reduced to further the advancement of the individual. Whereas NAM thinking expresses a longing for transcendence and religious meaning, what it attempts to do runs counter to Christian revelation. Christians “must root themselves ever more firmly in the fundamentals of their faith and to understand the often silent cry in people’s hearts, which leads them elsewhere if they are not satisfied by the Church” (Pontifical Council for Culture, Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Jesus Christ The Bearer of the Water of Life, A Christian Reflection on the New Age (Rome, Feb. 3, 2003) p. 7). V