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freebird
Ex Member
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Hello friends,
Reading some of the posts on this board recently has made me even more acutely aware of something I have been thinking about for the past few years: the danger of fundamentalism, or an excessive commitment to ideological views that are merely opinions, not necessarily truths that can be supported by logic and evidence. As I have grown spiritually over time, I have increasingly realized that the number one mistake people make that diminishes their potential for spiritual growth is fundamentalism. This tendency can be found within ALL religious and philosophical traditions, including that which is known as the "New Age." Open mindedness and reason are the antidotes to fundamentalism and allow for people to grow in a search for truth. When we open our minds to ideas other than what we already believe, and we analyze these ideas with the tool of reason, we may progress into a deeper understanding of the truth. If we are willing to do this, we may experience a belief system crash as we realize that some of our old opinions were false and that we must cast them aside.
I have had three belief system crashes in my life. The first one was when I was 17 or 18 years old, when I realized that some of the New Age ideas I had enthusiastically embraced as a teenager were suspect or erroneous. I became an agnostic. Later on, in college, I accepted the Baha'i religion and became overly ideological about that, until finally in my early 20's I had another belief system crash. Then I converted to Christianity, and again, became too ideological and was basically a Bible-thumping fundamentalist for a couple years. See a pattern developing here? Yes, indeed, I went through another belief system crash during the past year when I realized the Bible is not inerrant and many fundamentalist Christian doctrines such as eternal hell are wrong. Now I consider myself a universalist Christian, a follower of Jesus who recognizes that no one book or one religious tradition has all the correct answers, but believes that the original teachings of Jesus such as love, forgiveness, mercy, and a morally upright self-sacrificial lifestyle are the best way to find God and spiritual growth.
The point I want to make is that if there is any single lesson I have learned so far in my short 26 years on this planet, it is that becoming too staunch and ideological in your beliefs is a bad idea. Fundamentalism is an attitude, and it is crippling to spiritual growth. There are Christian fundamentalists, Muslim fundamentalists, New Age fundamentalists, and all other kinds of fundamentalists. They are all deluding themselves and keeping themselves spiritually stagnant.
I think the New Age religion is heading for a belief system crash, because it has become too fundamentalist. You can tell this is going to happen when you see people promoting ideas that don't really make any sense, just because it is part of their ideology that they subscribe to -- and especially when they shun objectivity and reason as a way to find truth, in favor of only personal experience and opinion. It's sad to see, especially among people who profess to be more open minded than traditional religious people.
For example, take the issue of NDEs. If you look at any one person's NDE, you could draw theological or metaphysical conclusions from it, but if you look at 10 more NDEs, you become much less certain about any conclusions. Study hundreds of NDEs and a few basic truths seem to emerge, while many issues remain unresolved. The point is, it is misguided to base your beliefs on a few individual experiences that promote doctrines you already happen to be comfortable with, rather than consider a wide range of evidence that might challenge you to reconsider or even change your mind on some important issues.
Here's another example: channeling. New Agers often follow channeled messages as if they were holy scripture, and mediums as if they were infallible prophets. The problem is, the messages conflict! Sometimes the contradictions between different purported messages and messengers from the other side are so great as to render it impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions from the body of material as a whole. Cults form around different mediums and channelings, and that is just another form of fundamentalism -- ignoring the bigger picture and the need for rational analysis of various ideas and experiences to find what is true and what is false.
Please understand, I am not criticizing the folks here. A lot of you I really like and respect. I have gained much from being here and talking with others on this board, and I expect to stick around at least in the near future. But I just wanted to make an observation that has been crystalizing in my mind over the past few months from my participation in this message board. The observation is this: We don't know as much as we think we know, and if we cannot back up a truth claim through logic and evidence, perhaps we should not be so bold as to claim it as truth. There is such a thing as rational analysis of ideas in a search to separate truth from mere possibility or opinion. This seems to be sorely lacking on this forum. People like to talk about "my truth" and "your truth," as if anyone can just believe anything they want without regard for whether it is actually, objectively true in the real universe. That is where the New Age goes wrong, where the New Age becomes just another form of fundamentalism.
The reason I participate on this forum is because I am a Christian who has many New Age ideas and is much more open minded than most Christians are, and I am genuinely interested in stepping outside the box of Christianity to find truth wherever it may be. I would be considered a heretic by many Christians because I am very non-traditional in some of my beliefs. I believe in NDEs, OBEs, astral projection, UFOs and aliens, universalism, and the legitimacy of diverse ways of approaching the divine. But I do value the traditional idea that we need to seek the One Truth which is beyond ourselves. Religious people who think they have found the absolute truth of God can easily become fundamentalists. So too can New Agers who think they already have the truth within themselves become fundamentalist in their attitude, and unwilling to look outside of their own thoughts, beliefs, experiences, and biases to find a higher reality that transcends the self -- a reality that is truly real, in an objective sense that is meaningful to all people.
I decided to start this thread because maybe it will get people here thinking about the danger of fundamentalism, including New Age fundamentalism, and how it stunts spiritual growth. Having been through a few belief system crashes myself, still at a young age, I would say: Go for it! It's the only way to grow. Don't cling to ideas that you know, deep down inside, could be faulty. Be willing to put them aside or modify your point of view if you find ideas that seem to make more sense according to evidence presented and rational argumentation -- even if those ideas are not consistent with New Age orthodoxy -- even if those ideas are sometimes to be found in the realm of traditional religion, science, or other realms of thought that are typically disliked by proponents of the New Age.
Okay, that's enough sermonizing by me. Maybe something I said will resonate with someone or spark some thought or discussion.
Peace,
Freebird
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New Age fundamentalism and belief system crash (Read 5850 times)
