New Age Movements

Weakness of the New Age

THE PROBLEM OF SCALE

SOCIALISATION OF THE NEXT GENERATION

WEAK COMMITMENT

STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS

New Age movements are not springing up enough to fill the gap left by the decline of traditional institutionalise religions

KENDAL PROJECT: There was a decrease from 14,500 churchgoers to 3,000 - the 270 involved in the holistic milieu don't make up the difference.

For a belief system to survive, it must be passed down to the next generation

KENDAL PROJECT: only 32% of parents involved in the New Age said that their children shared their spiritual interests; two children per couple would be needed to maintain the number of believers in the next generation

Women in the holistic milieu are more likely to be childless; 3/4 of women who are married in the holistic milieu do not have husbands that share her beliefs

Glendinning and Bruce found that although many people dabbled in meditation etc, serious commitment to New Age beliefs and pracitces was very rare.

Those who described themselves as spiritual often did not describe such practices are important in their lives.

New Age spirituality in itself causes secularisation because of its individualistic nature:

  • Lacks an external power to extract commitment
  • Cannot achieve consensus about its beliefs as everyone is free to believe what they want; lacks cohesion
  • Cannot evangelise because they believe that enlightenment comes from within

The Kendal Project

Heelas and Woodhead investigated whether traditional religion had declined, and if spirituality was compensating for it, in the town of Kendal.

They distinguished between two groups:

  • The Congregational Domain - traditional and evangelical Christianity; 7.9% of the population attended church
  • The Holistic Milieu - spirituality and the New Age; 1.6% participated in these activities

Within the Congregational Domain, traditional churches where losing support, while evangelical churches were doing well. In addition, the holistic milieu was growing:

  1. Subjective turn in today's culture --> exploring your inner self
  2. Traditional religions that demand duty and obedience are declining
  3. Evangelical churches more successful than traditional churches as evangelicals emphasis the importance of spiritual healing

The winners are those who appeal to personal experience rather than the teachings of traditional religion.

Reasons for the Growth in New Age

POSTMODERNITY

MODERNITY

Drane argues that one of the features of postmodern society is a loss of faith in meta-narratives due to the failure of scientists to bring a better world; people are turning to the New Age idea that each of us can find the truth for ourselves by looking within

Modern society values individuals, that is important among those groups such as artists who the New Age appeals to most.

Bruce argues that New Age beliefs are softer versions of more demanding religions. This explains why New Age activities are often audience or client cults, since these make few demands on their followers.

Heelas sees the New Age and modernity as linked in 4 ways:

  • Source of Identity - individuals have many roles, resulting in a fragmented identity, New Age beliefs offer a source of authentic identity
  • Consumer Culture - creates dissatisfaction as it never delivers perfection promised
  • Rapid Social Change - modern society disrupts norms and values, New Age provides a sense of certainty
  • Decline of Organised Religion - modernity leads to secularisation, removing alternatives to New Age beliefs

New Forms of Religion