What is New Age Religion? A long overdue look at the abuses of power by mainstream Christianity throughout religious history. Look at how religious Christianity treated common man during the Spanish Inquisition, and during the Salem witch trials to see what a joke Christian religion can be as a representation of spirituality. New Age beliefs arise out of a needed response to church abuse for too many believers. It is a branch off of Traditional Christianity, much like Protestant Christianity is a branch off of Traditional or Catholic Christianity. If you have had difficulty fitting into church groups, this may explain why. You are like us, in having your boundaries violated and your personhood ignored by not fitting in. Not everyone fits in to the conventional presentations of God in traditional Christianity. The authoritarian posture is not what God wants in His relationship with His highest creation. Many do comfortably, but not all, and that is who we serve are the others, the misfits, the outcasts, those who have felt abused, unappreciated by the church. We use the term 'church' in this talk here to mean any religious organization with a management structure. For accuracy, it means the body of God's followers universally, which is truly you.
To best understand what New Age Religion is, and what does new age mean, we will contrast it to traditional Christian religion in general and then also contrast it to how we differ in religious application to the believer as well. We will look at what we find missing for many people with traditional Christian beliefs and what we find unacceptable in how Christian beliefs are inaccurately applied to the individual, the searcher, the believer. We will also look at what we see was the original purpose of those who started the Christian religion and how it was hijacked by the religious government even then to control citizens. Early on Jesus had disagreements with the religious authority of his day, and it is that same religious authority that oppresses individuality in its congregations now. Jesus had trouble as a teacher then, and we have trouble as believers today.
We disagree with the posture Christianity proposes for itself in the lives of the believer because we feel the church should serve and grow the individual, and not demand the individual conform to the desires of the church. With them conforming behavior is strongly enforced, recognition of and freedom for being ourselves is highly discouraged! That is not what God desires for you, if you have trouble conforming. You are being abused by the church. The church mindset fits many, but not all, and it is those who do not fit in to whom we reach out. The church has made itself more important than either the message, or the one seeking God.
Traditional Christianity both Catholic and Protestant are big on uniformity and suppression of our individuality. This is different than our emphasis which is big on encouragement of individuality because our individuality is God’s gift to Humankind and should be welcomed, embraced, and celebrated. We are to share our unique God given gifts with Humankind. How each person is different from all others is God itself. That alone should be worshiped by worshiping each other. We should not change God’s gifts to himself, which is us, we should embellish them! In a very real sense, after God created the universe, God wanted to experience it deeply in all its beauty, and the beauty of Himself, so he came to earth as Humankind to do so. That is why it is written in sacred texts, “What you do to the least of these, you do also to Me.” Also “Let us make Man in our own image.”
Mainstream Christianity, by its design, in all its forms places God outside of ourselves and places itself as a religion between us and God. By positioning itself so, we need high ranking authority in religion to tell us how to get in communication with God. We see mainstream Christian religion as a self-serving institution of society and culture whose purpose is to grow itself as an organization by feeding on the emotional needs of followers for approval, which they provide, often at the possible cost of your conformity. With them, it is not about serving God or Humankind, it is about serving the church!
We see God as already within us as we are God’s supreme gift to Himself. We see that once the relationship to God within is learned, you should not need religion, any religion, even ours to be at one with God. Once you have found and fully actualized yourself, you will be completely free to love and help others to do the likewise. If you have found your highest most authentic self, you then have the deepest connection with God. Worshiping God is worshiping yourself in your uniqueness and sharing that gift of YOU joyfully with Humankind. It is not either-or, as Mainstream Christianity claims, it is both-and, as we claim. That is for what Jesus died, for your forgiveness, purchasing the spiritual bridge to cross to come home to your unique God created self!
We disagree with Christianity’s
blanket teaching that you must always have as the first step to put yourself
last and others ahead of you, because of your sin. That is not healthy
emotionally or spiritually for many emotionally needful persons. Until you become
complete, you should put yourself first until that happens. We talk about that
in Boundaries. Putting yourself first if you are needy is healthy and nurturing, not
selfishness. Once you are fully nurtured, then you will take joy in nurturing
others, to that same state of completeness as you are. New Age Spirituality is realizing you are more important than just being an invisible audience to any religious organization. They are not the church, and never were, you are the church.
Just for the record, this is an emotional and spiritual encouragement ministry. We are selling nothing here and are not at the present time even set up to take donations, and probably never will. Your healed life are our reward enough, and we are very pleased with that. If you want to, please share your strength with others in your future so our nurturing can live on.